Check out this tower

[Mudfoot]

Guying instructions are for the other models they sell. Go to Solid Signal Link and type in TACO. There, u will see all free standing models.

If I end up in the place I'm looking at, I see two of these towers in my future. Quads, verticals and wires galore.

 

[BJ radionut]

Up to 6 SQ/FT of Antennas
48' STANDARD SELF-SUPPORTING TOWER
http://www.randl.com/shop/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=7030&products_id=7457
ROHN BX48
$1,049.95

http://www.bxtower.com/

Thomas Shelby & Company, Inc.
309 South Park Drive
St. Marys, Ohio 45885

 

[Mudfoot]

Stubs, mast and plates are extra, but likely a better tower. I'd pay Ohio sales tax for R&L. I could borrow my friends rollback and pick up, though and save freight.

 

[BJ radionut]

http://www.palcoelectronics.com/pe300.aspx
Made here: Mich.
https://www.universaltowers.com/

 

[Mudfoot]

Thanks for these links.

 

[543_Dallas]

I've had a universal 7-40 up for a couple years. No complaints but it's no were near being over loaded. A cb ground plane on top, doublet on the side and 2m/440 vertical on the other side.

If did it over again I would have built the base for it. Nothing wrong with theirs but I have heavier tubing and flat stock collecting rust.

A friend made some base insulators for a universal tower and made a nice vertical antenna.

 

[Mudfoot]

That's always been a dream of mine. Erect a few verticals. I'm 58, so I need to start hurrying.

 

[BJ radionut]

The Tilt-BASE package on the BX/HDBX series is a must … they are a B*TCH to climb …
Those X-Braces are very strong assemblies, but without a really GOOD set of climbing boots like RED-WINGS etc...they are tough on the feet!!!
I have the 32ft version now w/ lower 2 sections in barn for maybe this Summer to go to 48.
At 66+ years old now(4 back surgeries last 15 yrs.)...Cherry Picker or Bucket Truck is the only way now for me.
I had the 54ft version up for like 15 yrs with Mosley Classic 33 Tri-Bander/Stacked 15's for 2 meters plus 10m GP on top @ 80ft at the base.
Took Hurricane IKE in the 90's (6+ hours of 60 / 70+ mph winds) to bring it down.
The brake on my rotor never released in the wind(damn Alliance HD73) the tower finally twisted about 12-15 ft. from the bottom and dropped the whole package across the roof on my barn.
They can handle extreme conditions.
All the Best
Gary

 

[Mudfoot]

I here you. I can still climb, but have little upper strength. My shoulders and elbows are toast. I have a friend that owns a sign company. Probably do what I need for $100. I sure would like a tilt base. Haven't had a tower since late 90's.

 

[BJ radionut]

 

[jessejamesdallas]

I have a Universal free standing tower that I have my MaCo Shooting Star mounted on, it's a 40' tower and has a wind load rating of just 4.5...But, I added guy wires mounted to the rotor plate which greatly improved the wind load rating...No idea by how much, but the tower has been up since 2013, and gone threw some of the worst wind storms Mother Nature has to throw at it, just shy of a full-fleg tornado and it has never failed... I had talked to Universal to find out if this was a good idea or not before installing the guy wires, and they were the ones that told me to mount them to the rotor plate since it was steel, and would be the strongest point for the wires to connect....Connecting guy wires anywhere else on the tower could cause the welds to crack or pull loose from the tower..

Tower has seen winds close to 100 MPH, ice storms, hail storms, and has not budged...Even added a steel pole inside the 10' aluminum mast to help sturdy it up so it wouldn't get bent in high winds.

This is it with a Lightning L4 Quad, which is what I had on it originally, it now has the MaCo Shooting Star which is a little heavier than the L4.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Was it guyed? I noticed the tower was advertised as free standing but there are guying instructions down the page a bit.

NOPE. Freestanding in three cubic yards of concrete.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I am beginning to wish I went with a smaller tower with a tilt-over base but height is might where I live. A crank-up/tilt over was WEAY out of my budget. I settled for a Trylon Titan T-500 series at 64 feet. The base section is 42 inches and the very top is 18 inches. It is rated at 52 sq. ft @ 70 mph winds. We rarely get peaks over that here. At least I don't have to worry about piling stuff on it. Trylon refers to it as a "light duty" tower. LOL They make massive communications towers primarily.

http://www.trylon.com/lightdutytowers/pdfs/CDN Titan 16 to 96 ft Towers.pdf

 

[Dr_DX]

This is it with a Lightning L4 Quad, which is what I had on it originally, it now has the MaCo Shooting Star which is a little heavier than the L4.

Not trying to hijack the thread but how did you like the L4 (was it a L4 or a L4+)? I have been looking at getting a L4+ or the Cubex Magnum 4CB. There are a number of differences. How did you like the L4's SFS matching system?

Thanks,
Dr_DX

 

[jessejamesdallas]

Not trying to hijack the thread but how did you like the L4 (was it a L4 or a L4+)? I have been looking at getting a L4+ or the Cubex Magnum 4CB. There are a number of differences. How did you like the L4's SFS matching system?

Thanks,
Dr_DX

Loved the antenna...Made lot's of contacts across the pond, from Ireland, to Germany, and quite a few down around Australia...since I replaced it with the MaCo Shooting Star, I have made -=ZERO=- contacts across the pond...

Now I know part of that reason is probably just a Mother Nature deal and lack of conditions, but allot of the guys I talked to overseas when I got to talking to them and asking them what kind of antenna they were using, I was surprised allot of them were also talking on quad-antennas...

Would never had switched to the MaCo had it not been for having to bring the quad L4 down after every-other thunderstorm that came threw to fix broken wires...

The wire that Lightning uses is a solid-core copper wire...What happens is the wire flex's in the wind, and after a period of time it ends up breaking usually at the eyelets where it's fastened to the spreaders...It's like if you take a solid piece of copper wire and bend it back and forth a few times, eventually it will break into...That's what happens with the wire on Lightnings quads...

IMO I think if they used stranded wire, instead of a single solid core, it might not break as easy...

Case in point...My MaCo Shooting Star has wire ran around the reflector spreaders, it's stranded wire, and not solid...It's been up now for over 5 years, been threw some hellacious storms, and never once broke.

I said something to Lightning once about this, and they said something to the tune, that using stranded wire would change the characteristics of the antenna and the length would be different... Made it sound like "It wouldn't work"....Now what I'm thinking is, they were using spec's from the old Signal Engineering antennas and don't have a clue on how to do a "Upgrade" or modification...

Also if you go to Lightings facebook page...the picture on their page is a picture of my antenna that I sent them back when I first put the antenna up! They couldn't even take a picture of their own stuff to stick on their page, and rely on others to send them pics!