[TowerTalk] Camouflage Painting of Towers

[David Gilbert]

Check out

http://ab7e.com/AB7E_Tower_Page_8.html

http://ab7e.com/AB7E_Tower_Page_11.html

http://ab7e.com/AB7E_Tower_Page_15.html

Exterior grade latex paint sticks well to hot dipped galvanized steel.  
The application you see on those pages was done seven years ago and is 
still in excellent shape here at 5000 feet ASL here in southern Arizona 
(LOTS of UV exposure).

Flat paints are best.

Dark colors are best.  Just look at various structures around you, 
especially at a distance.  In general, dark objects are the least 
objectionable or even noticeable.  Don't try to match the blue sky with 
a light blue color on the tower ... that's a rookie mistake that I once 
made in my youth with quad spreaders.

Mottled colors are best.  Try to break up geometric shapes by applying 
colors in more or less random shapes and sizes.  Try to match the size 
of the blobs of colors to the general size and shape of whatever is in 
the surrounding area.  I used streaks and sections of dark green, light 
brown, and black to try to match the tree foliage, grass (which is dry 
here most of the year), and shadows on the hillside behind my tower.  
Don't make the color blobs too small or they will just blend in from a 
distance and destroy the goal of altering the geometric shape of the tower.

I've gotten many compliments from neighbors who say they never even 
notice my tower since it isn't outlined against the sky from below and 
doesn't stand out against the hillside behind me.  I've even had ham 
friends visit who weren't able to spot my tower until they got close 
enough to see it against the sky.

By the way, I also painted my Optibeam antennas with similar colors, 
although I used spray paint for that and it hasn't held up as well. 
Before I did, though, I modeled the antennas in EZNEC+ with and without 
a thin dielectric on the elements to make sure there wasn't any shift in 
parameters.  Once the antennas were up, the SWR and pattern plots 
matched what I had been given by Optibeam so I'm reasonably confident 
that the paint doesn't affect anything.   It's not easy to get paint of 
any sort to stick to bare aluminum, though, so that part gets kind of dicey.

Check out the first picture on this page ... it shows the tower with two 
large antennas on it.  Most people would have a hard time even finding 
it unless they knew what they were looking for.  The situation would be 
different without the hillside for a backdrop, of course, but I still 
think that the dark colors are mitigation on visual impact.

http://ab7e.com/AB7E_Antenna_Page_5.html

Hope some of this helps.

73,
Dave  AB7E


On 4/21/2015 4:52 PM, Fred Kleber wrote:
> Hi List,
> Does anyone have before & after photos of lattice towers that have been painted to 'match' the background of terrain / trees behind them?  If so, could you please send me a 'before' and 'after' photo, as well as the type of paint you used?  Any other comments, suggestions, ideas, etc. you have would be also appreciated.
> Thanks & Very 73,Fred, K9VV
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