[TowerTalk] A couple of tower questions

[Al Kozakiewicz]

I've had a number of people respond to me personally.  I assume those responses didn't make it to the reflector since they were only addressed to me, but maybe I'm just clueless on this whole email thing ;^)

At any rate, I wanted to thank everyone who responded.  All the information was top rate.  I'm especially thankful for Bud, W2RU, who could relate his personal experience with the APA which helped clear up a big dark cloud of uncertainty.

Al
AB2ZY 

-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Al Kozakiewicz
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 8:10 PM
To: 'TowerTalk'
Subject: [TowerTalk] A couple of tower questions

I've spent some time going through the archives, but most of my searches tend to return 4 figures of results.  If anyone could help me narrow that down, it would be appreciated.

I'm preparing an application for a zoning variance to erect a tower at the house we'll be moving to later this year.  It's in a rural, very small town in the Adirondack mountains of NY.  There are no other hams with towers in the town.  Things might get "interesting" as in addition to the town zoning board there is a regional agency (the Adirondack Park Agency) that acts as a land use overlord for the park.  In theory, their jurisdiction does not extend to "residential radio and television" antennas, but details like jurisdiction are mere curiousities to a New York bureaucrat.

I want to be as big a gun as possible with a roughly 75' self supporting tower on 20 meters and up.  Bands of greatest interest are 20, 17 and 15.

My questions, as brief as possible:

1.  I've "budgeted" 15 sf of antenna wind load. The tower would be cranked down when not in use.  For setback reasons, the boom can't be longer than 40' to avoid overhanging the neighboring property.  I might also put 2m and 6m antennas on the mast, but I'm not a major VHF operator.  I don't need specific recommendations yet, I just need to know if that is a reasonable budget for the antennas?  For obvious reasons, I don't want to get a variance for a tower that won't safely support what I want to put on it.

2.  I've been thinking in terms of a US Tower TX-472 or HDX-572 with the motorized crank up/down.  The HDX might be stretching the budget.  Are there others I should look at?

3.  On the foundation plan for the US tower TX-472, the parts list shows you need 10 #3 bars as ties, yet it looks like you need about 10x that amount from the drawing.  What am I missing here? 

Many thanks,

Al
AB2ZY
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