[TowerTalk] (Crank up) - Re: Starting at square 1 - Looking at TX or HDX 38' self-supporting tower + Steppir 3El Beam

[Bruce Sawtelle]

 Thanks everyone for the pointers so far. Looks like I have a lot of reading and web-site surfing to do for a few days!  :-) 

I realize i didn't call out one key part of my "plan". I'm looking to put up a "crank up" tower for the following reasons:

1) We can get some pretty severe winds due to strong thunderstorms (and the occasional hurricane that stays together as it enters across the Texas coast)
2) I'm in a sub-division that seems fairly receptive to existing towers (2 within a mile of my house + a HUGE cell phone tower about a mile or so away) and would like to be able to "nest" the antenna behind our 2-story house. 
3) It will make it somewhat easier to work on any antenna changes I want to make (I'm even considering a fold-over option for this purpose) 

 
Thanks again to everyone that has respond (and keep 'em coming!) 

73
Bruce - W3NJ



 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Sawtelle <w3nj at aol.com>
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Sent: Sat, Mar 20, 2010 5:13 pm
Subject: Starting at square 1 - Looking at TX or HDX  38'  self-supporting tower + Steppir 3El Beam


 
New guy on the block......

Some Background: The last time a I had a tower was in the early 70's in Penna, where I had a 40' Rohn 25G(?) tower, attached to the side of my 2 story house at the 20' point. Never poured a lick of concrete and it supported a TA-34 and 11 El  2M beam. 

Now it's almost 40 years later and I'm looking to put up a self-supporting tower (thinking 38' but may go for 55' TX or HDX series...other suggestions??). I still have both antennas (and both work!!), but I'm looking to upgrade to a Steppir 3El beam. Will still put up the trusty Cushcraft 11 El 2M beam as well. Also, I have a HAM-M rotor from the same "dark ages" (it works too, just fired it up last month), but I suspect it may not be suitable (need to dig up some specs on it). Will likely have an 80 meter antenna hanging off of it as well.

Where this best place to get a primer and details on:

Sizing the tower to handle the load (I have the info from Steppir's page
All the "prep work" for the base forms, concrete type, "tips/tricks"
All the "legal (permits, etc) stuff to raise the tower. (I'm in a subdivision and the good news is that there are a couple hams nearby with towers so I hope I can use "precedence" to allow another tower to go up.My lot is approx 60 x 120, so not a lot of space to work with
All utilities are underground (made that a requirement when we moved to Austin in 1985)
Pros/cons ($$s) of motorized raising option for the tower. 

Any other gotchas I need to be looking out for.......
One the the deals with the XYL is that we build a work shed in the back yard as well. Thought I might get some advantages out of it and have all the concrete poured at one time for example

In addition to the tower info, comments on the Steppir and other antennas welcome as well!!

tnx es 73

Bruce -W3NJ