[TowerTalk] Towable towers available from the government

[Roger (K8RI)]

On 8/15/2013 11:09 AM, Jim Lux wrote:
> On 8/14/13 8:00 PM, Roger (K8RI) wrote:
>> On 8/14/2013 1:41 PM, Doug Ronald wrote:
>>> One small hitch (pun noted), they need to be destroyed before you can
>>> haul
>>> them away.
>>>
>>
>> I wonder why the de mil portable towers?  They aren't a threat and could
>> be put to good use by some EOCs around the country.
>> Our EOC has a ham station right in the 911 call center which is part of
>> the law enforcement center.
>>
>
>
> Could be that they are of uncertain quality/condition, and they want 
> to make sure that they don't get resold as "almost new condition" by a 
> less than reputable dealer.
>
> Maybe they were exposed to something that might cause internal damage 
> (e.g. they were flooded in Katrina or Sandy or something, and they've 
> been immersed in salt water) or even just sitting outside in the rain 
> and elements for a few years.
>
> Maybe the steel is in ok shape, but the cables/sheaves/moving 
> mechanical parts are sketchy?
>
> It might cost more to evaluate them than to just sell as scrap metal. 
> After all, they're being sold as a single 100 ton lot, rather than 
> individual, and that's almost certainly because there's no budget to 
> separately inventory and sell them.  They're probably in a big heap, 
> and the word went out: "we want to use that land under the pile" or 
> it's "Let's get rid of that pile of junk, put it on the excess list"
>

I used to bid on govt surplus, but they were much more liberal in those 
days. I don't know if its changed, but the bidder took full 
responsibility from getting it off site to what ever it was used for.  
Back in the late 60's they had a lot of 6 P-51s that were all airworthy 
and mostly full gas tanks.  If capable you could fly 'em home.  They 
went for $7500 each and the only demil was to remove any armament which 
was usually  six 50's.. Hard points and drop tanks were yours.  However 
the FAA insisted that the "drop" as in drop tanks be disabled before 
flight.  Of course you could remove them and truck 'em home.  Before 
surplus planes became desirable some companies would purchase some 
models for parts and the fuel in them.  Can you imagine cililians 
removing the six 50's and dropping them off on the way out?  They may 
have had a mechanic there, but security was minimal.


Back then I made $600 a month which was well above average wage, but 
that means each P-51 would have cost me a bit over a year's wages and 
probably a property settlement.  Just  think, each one that's airworthy 
now would be worth about a million dollars.  "Spit shined" and in really 
good shape would add about 50%.  Unfortunately keeping one airworthy 
would likely cost more than purchasing  most single engine, high 
performance private planes per year.

Back in the early 80's or 90's I had a tour of Willow Grove Naval Air 
Station. After the tour they stuck my clearance in my shirt pocket with 
the admonition to always keep it in sight, Then turned me loose with my 
cameras with instructions of you can shoot anything except XXX
http://www.rogerhalstead.com/p3s.htm

>
> At JPL, we get rid of a lot of old stuff that is potentially useful, 
> but it's not like we have funding to go through and pick out the good 
> slotted lines from the ones that are broken. Nor do we have the 
> funding or space to just keep the stuff in storage cabinets on the off 
> chance that someone might use it in the future.

When I was an instrument tech, excess "stuff" went into a pile and 
they'd auction it off a couple times a year to employees only. Potential 
liability became an issue some time back and I believe they finally quit 
the excess auction.  but private corporation's liability and the 
government's are quite different.

73,

Roger (K8RI)