[TowerTalk] 4 Square in the future?

[Patrick Greenlee]

People = noise  Want it quiet?  Go where there are few (or no other) 
people.  Check population density information on the web. There is lots 
of info available.

Sure there are lots of folks who live where the climate is pretty 
challenging but areas of nice climate tend to be people magnets. Take 
for example San Diego, CA.   A near perfect climate.  I saw snow once 
briefly with no accumulation whatsoever  over a period exceeding 30 
years.  The (legal) population of San Diego county (realizing the 
population chiefly hugs the coast with just a few population centers 
inland) exceeds the entire population of the state of Oklahoma where I 
moved after retirement.

The western plains and mountains have some pretty sparsely populated 
areas.  Take for example the Llano Estacado (Staked Plains) of eastern 
New Mexico.

I am a little over a mile out of the nearest town (Pop a little under 
400.)  There are only two hams in my zip code, me and a friend who  I 
infected a couple years back.  We are fairly rural and remote as it is 
about 25-30 miles to any of 5 Walmarts.  We get funny noises we suspect 
are military ops (AWACS or whatever) flights out of Tinker AFB only 60  
miles away.

Choose wisely... if you relocate to a desirable location with good 
climate, views, etc
that just doesn't happen to be crowded now will likely, due to its 
desirability, become so before too long.  Not a believer?  Look at 
sequence of aerial maps (say every 10 years) of a candidate location and 
note the population density going up at or around it.  Be careful, as if 
you get too close to civilization you might be subject to incorporation 
with significantly higher taxes. Municipalities are always looking to 
increase their tax base. See also Gerrymandering.

Distance is your friend, close proximity is not.  Near neighbors can be 
a real challenge if they have many noisy items.  Even low tech ranching 
can be a noise source.  On all HF bands I can hear the steady zip, zip, 
zip on one second intervals of my own electric fence charger.  Luckily 
it doesn't interfere with comms much.

Find a nice place, build a nice house, and there is a good chance you 
will get close neighbors within a few years.  We have three homes added 
in the last 7-8 years within a half mile or so, all with HP Sodium 
lights on all night (I am amateur astro-photographer)

The best strategy to avoid close in neighbors is to buy enough land that 
you have a buffer zone around you.  The closest a neighbor could build 
to us is over a quarter of a mile away.  Existing neighbors are over a 
quarter mile away. Our property is 1/2 mile by 1/2 mile, 160 acres, not 
the answer for everyone.

I wish you the best possible luck in making your getaway.  Do drop a 
line to report progress.

Patrick        NJ5G    Happy New Year


On 12/27/2015 3:00 PM, Gary Smith wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm looking to relocate out of Connecticut & need to find a location
> that is as RFI quiet as is realistic. I currently use a HI-Z
> Triangular for my Rx and love the advantage of steering in Rx. I
> would like to have not only the benefit of Rx but Tx with steering as
> well. I'm not moving in the immediate future but I need to know some
> thing before I start looking for the new digs and what I'll need to
> accomplish my antenna farm goal is one of them.
>
> What size Tx towers are a good compromise on 160 & I'd like to use it
> on 80 & 40 as well, I can't see how I could afford to put up full
> size 160 towers. I'm 65 and just can't put up towers by myself like I
> have in the past. Well, maybe I could but it wouldn't be as fun as it
> used to be.
>
> Also, what controller should I look into for this? I need to factor
> in the land needed and the expense of having the towers and equipment
> installed. I've never looked into this before and am just starting my
> search.
>
> Any thought or links to topics that might help will be appreciated.
>
> 73 & Happy New Year!
>
> Gary
> KA1J
>
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