[TowerTalk] Joining sections of aluminum mast

[larryj at teleport.com]

I went by Rohn's published specs so I could get a tower permit. The City required that they be followed to the letter, and sent out inspectors to verify the hole, rebar, concrete foundation and the final installation. Our local radio club did lots of work (with a local volunteer ham Attorney) to get the HDBX48 approved, at a time when they weren't approving any other ham towers.

I never would have gotten the permit if I hadn't used an antenna with a boom length of 10 feet or less. Maybe the City Engineers saw the same BX towers across the river that I saw, that had come down after being overloaded. They weren't rated to be used as guyed towers.

It was worth all the trouble for the permit, though, the quad busted many a pileup, first call.



-----Original Message-----
From: Doug Renwick <ve5ra at sasktel.net>
Sent: Aug 25, 2022 4:08 PM
To: <larryj at teleport.com>
Subject: RE: [TowerTalk] Joining sections of aluminum mast

I see you fell for the 10 foot max boom length. For years I have used BX
towers with antenna boom lengths well over 30 feet. Towers are guyed.

Doug

Free Climbing - The ultimate test of strength and technique.
-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of
larryj at teleport.com
Sent: August-25-22 9:42 AM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Joining sections of aluminum mast

That tower load caught my eye, too. I have an HDBX tower, and I was only
able to get the City's tower permit by staying within the Rohn published
load limits. So I went with a 2-element tri-band quad antenna, which only
had a boom length of 8 feet.

At a previous QTH, I had a Mosley TA-33 tri-band yagi. But I couldn't put it
on this BX tower, since the boom length (I think it was 16 feet) exceeded
the 10-foot allowable boom length in the tower ratings' specifications.

When I read this thread about a SteppIR was being put up on a BX tower, that
caught my eye, immediately. I've seen two - folded-over/destroyed BX towers
in this area, with antenna loads that exceeded Rohn's specs. Fortunately,
neither of them were mine.

LJ


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