[TowerTalk] Is there tower mfg aluminum tower like Rohn 25

[Joe Giacobello, K2XX]

FWIW, I have purchased two used Heights aluminum towers over the years.  
Neither is intended for the support of any stacked arrays of large 
Yagis, etc., but that is not to say that they may not be capable of that 
service when properly guyed.

The first was acquired from a relatively local ham whose QTH was about 
150 miles from mine.  It was a 69 foot tower and included a HB tilt 
base.  I paid $300 for it.  Aside from the bargain price, I appreciated 
its light weight and the fact that it breaks down into eight foot long 
sections, which all are easily loaded and transported in the bed of a 
conventional P/U truck without exceeding any load weight limits.  This 
tower is currently used as a bottom section of an 80/160M vertical.  
After horizontal assembly and while supported by easily available saw 
horses and/or step ladders, I called my friendly, local tow-truck 
provider, and it was easily raised on the the tilt-base with a 
pre-attached steel cable at about the tower's 40 foot level for the 
towing cost of $75. The conductive cable is shorted to one of the tower 
legs by wrapping it around the leg so it's conveniently available for 
future use and to prevent it from affecting the radiator length.

The second tower is 56 feet long and was acquired by a pre-arranged pick 
up at Dayton last year and using a similar pick-up truck.  With the help 
of the seller and because of rain, we easily transferred the entire 
tower from his P/U truck to mine under the canopy of the Xenia Ramada.  
Although I have fallen behind my original schedule for installation of 
that tower, a tilt-base was fabricated by a local welder and has already 
been installed in a concrete base.  The purchase price was, IIRC, around 
$700 or so for the tower and I hope to support a low-band RX array on 
it, if all goes well.

The obvious attractiveness of such used towers is its easy, inexpensive 
one-man loading and transportation with similar one-man assembly and 
installation, e.g., by using the leverage obtained by the 69 foot torque 
arm at the end of the tower, one person was able to easily raise the 
horizontal assembled tower on its tilt-base and support it on saw 
horses.  The cost of the towers on the used market seems far below what 
Heights typically charges for new.  YMMV, but I wouldn't hesitate to go 
with Heights or Universal aluminum towers for my modest applications in 
the future.

73, Joe
K2XX
> Richard (Rick) Karlquist <mailto:richard at karlquist.com>
> Monday, February 11, 2019 12:25 PM
> FWIW, I have an 11 inch aluminum tower of unknown manufacture
> that has been holding up a 2 element SteppIR at 40 feet for
> many years.  It is guyed at the top with so-called "truck
> rope".  Erection is via a 30 ft falling derrick made of the
> same 10 ft tower sections.  It just barely accommodates
> an HD73 rotator in one particular location within the
> section, inserted in the section before assembling the
> sections into a tower.
>
> Rick N6RK
>
>
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> john at kk9a.com <mailto:john at kk9a.com>
> Sunday, February 10, 2019 3:13 PM
> I have owned a few Universal towers. I had one at my Aruba home along 
> with a
> Rohn 55g tower, guess which one did not require frequent painting for
> corrosion maintenance? N9IWW is apparently looking for an aluminum 
> Rohn 25.
> A 12" Universal tower is not very strong. The Universal Tower joints are a
> poor design, in my opinion. They upside down so water and dirt collect
> inside them and the supplied cheap zinc plated hardware will quickly
> disintegrate.
>
> John KK9A
>
>
>
> n8de wrote:
>
> I have had great success with Universal towers ... the sections are
> 10' in length (most Heights tower sections are 8'), and, using the
> proper taper schedule, a 60 to 80 foot tower with great wind load
> ability is not difficult.
>
> Presently, I have 3 up ... a fourth goes up this year .. and plans
> include three more.
>
> Don't think cheap ... they aren't .. but, are all SELF-SUPPORTING, and
> no guy-wires are needed. ... nor recommended.
>
> 73
> Don
> N8DE
>
>
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