[TowerTalk] Rohn 45/55/65 vs. AB-105 or Stainless 25?

[Artmouton]

Bob - we used a gin pole - this is an antenna intensive area - I can see 
three other ham towers from the 20' level so quite a bit of tower knowledge. 
hi hi

Anyway - we had a 4 person crew (minimum for the weight of the 55G).

Used a pulley at the bottom of the tower to help the pull and keep us away 
from falling tower section, climbers, coke cans, etc.

It was a used tower (as most are) so the only problem was the usual 
non-fitting part of one section into another.  Roy (NG5X - to whom I owe a 
debt of gratitude for getting this thing going and doing the climbing work) 
used a hammer and come-along to get the sections to fit - weird but - "any 
port in a storm"

The top section is the hardest because the thrust bearing and plat add a lot 
of weight to the top of that section. We did get it after some struggle. It 
is hard to get the rope in the right area so it does not flip.  Almost had 
to use a trail rope on the bottom section to steady it.

It is much easier to climb (and to me much safer) than the 25G.  No real 
comparison in "feel"

I am now refurbishing a Cushcraft A3 with 40 meter addition - I was planning 
on a larger beam but this one has 40 which seems to be the cw dxcc band of 
choice at this stage of the sunspot cycle

I will send you a few photos.
Art K5FNQ

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rob Frohne" <frohro at wallawalla.edu>
To: "Artmouton" <k5fnq at cox.net>
Cc: "towertalk" <towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 10:47 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Rohn 45/55/65 vs. AB-105 or Stainless 25?


> Hi Art,
>
> Did you put it up with a gin pole?  How easy was it to erect?  Did you
> have a big crew working on it or a small one?  I have seen Rohn 45 and
> know that 55 is a bit heavier.  I just wonder about the other aspects of
> it, like climbing comfort, ease of erection, etc.  I suspect it feels a
> lot more solid than the 25G does.
>
> Thanks for the reply!
>
> 73,
>
> Rob, KL7NA
> On Thu, 2008-02-28 at 22:38 -0600, Artmouton wrote:
>> Rob - I just went up with 60' of Rohn 55G.  I still have a 68' Rohn 25G 
>> with
>> foldover, but just think that it is too small especially considering we 
>> are
>> 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.  The 55g (with the base section as per
>> their recommendation) is hell for stout compared to the 25G.  A very
>> noticeable difference based on the size and strength.
>> I can send photos of the base and tower if you like.
>> Art K5FNQ
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Rob Frohne" <frohro at wallawalla.edu>
>> To: "towertalk" <towertalk at contesting.com>
>> Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 9:54 PM
>> Subject: [TowerTalk] Rohn 45/55/65 vs. AB-105 or Stainless 25?
>>
>>
>> > Greetings,
>> >
>> > I am planning a 100 foot tower for about 20 square feet of antennas, 
>> > and
>> > possibly more later if the tower is strong enough.  I'm trying to 
>> > decide
>> > if I prefer Rohn 45, 55, 65, AB-105 or Stainless tower.  Most of my
>> > experience has been on Rohn 25 tower.  One of the towers I haven't yet
>> > looked at is supposed to be Rohn 45, but 20 foot sections.  (I haven't
>> > yet laid my eyes on the tower, so I have some suspicion that it may not
>> > be Rohn 45.)  I have also located some towers that were at a big VOA
>> > transmitter site in the midwest that are made by Stainless and are 24"
>> > on a side, and seem very beefy, but I don't have any engineering data.
>> > They are in 25 foot sections and each weighs around 450 lbs. so I would
>> > need a crane to erect the that tower, and it doesn't have the rotor
>> > plate and other hardware particular to most amateur installations so
>> > that would have to be fabricated.  The AB-105 tower has been in amateur
>> > use for years, comes in 5' or 10' sections, and all the necessary
>> > hardware is there including mounting plates for my prop pitch.  It is
>> > the older AB-105, and I would have to drive about three hours to get
>> > it.
>> >
>> > How comfortable are each of these towers to work on?  Which is your
>> > favorite and why?
>> >
>> > 73,
>> >
>> > Rob, KL7NA
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > TowerTalk mailing list
>> > TowerTalk at contesting.com
>> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>> >
>>
>
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