I finally ordered the new tower today.

[K8PG]

Finally new tower.

Good luck with your tower installation-use care and be safe.
My 72 ft USTower-I have a 6x6x8 filled with 3600lbs -Sq In.
concrete-special mix-that was $1200.00 a few yrs ago in
UP of Mi. we dug the hole ourself-what a job since our ground
is 75% rocky loam and bolders some 3ft across-we had Great
father and son bonding and lots of %4#XXXXX and XzxxxZZ
it took us 11 days.Have fun be safe and enjoy-73/Dx

Paul -K8PG

 

[wavrider]

Hey CK; are you gonna do a review of the tower and the install?
Both would be cool . . .

It may be a duel review, one looking up and the other looking down
Oh review not view

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Hey CK; are you gonna do a review of the tower and the install?
Both would be cool . . .

That indeed is the plan. Not sure if I'll take notes as it goes and do one after all is said and done or most likely post as it progresses and give an overview when it is all finished. Yes there will be pictures.

 

[Mr Clean]

Hope all goes well with the install. Those are nice towers! Me and a bud dug the hole for my tower. 4x4x4. It was dirt all the way down but still a pain. 4 hrs of fun.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Update:

There was a hold up on the tower as the rotator and bearing plates were not in stock at the dealer and were back-ordered from the factory. I got an email from Harold at Macfarlane's Electronics that informed me that the plates had arrived last Friday and that he had them installed on the tower for me already. that saves me from doing it. The tower was to be shipped either today or tomorrow and will take about a week to get here taking into account shipping times and delivery schedules. I have started digging the hole and all was fine until I got to about 2 1/2 or 3 feet down and hit slate.:headbang It is soft and crumbly but it does require a rethink of the digging.I may end up borrowing a Hilti gun/jackhammer from work if it is too hard to break up with a sledge hammer. I may end up driving rebar or pipe into it on odd angles after drilling holes for it to anchor the concrete to the rock. Either way it will be a bitch driving ground rods. I have also started putting the Explorer-14 antenna together and so far it has been a bitch dealing with the hardware. You can expect a review some time down the line on that and Hygain/MJF can probably expect a letter regarding that as well in the future. For now lets just say that being cheap may pay off in $ but it will eventually bite you in the ass in lost sales and reputation.

More info as things progress and some pictures as well.

 

[wavrider]

Thanks for the update C. K. Hopefully the slate is not to deep and it can be broken through.

Looking forward to the reviews.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I just got off the phone with Day and Ross trucking, the shippers. The tower was due to arrive on Friday and as luck would have it I am working Thur., Fri, Sat night, and Sun. night. I have made arrangements for it to be delivered Monday and arranged for it to be delivered on a truck with a power lift tailgate so all 1000 pounds of it can be lowered to the ground where I can drag it off with the truck. Well, gotta go and resume the digging of the hole. :headbang

 

[binrat]

Sounds like its coming, thats good. Rent an electric jackhammer. They work great and are fairly cheap as well.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

The digging is not bad for the first three feet but at about 2 1/2 feet I hit shale/slate. The top is crumbly so far so not too bad. If I need a jack hammer I'll borrow one from work. It's cheaper that renting. The slate may prove to be a benefit actually. If I can't go as deep as I should I can undermine the slate and the cement will bond to the slate bed making it better than if it was in plain dirt.

 

[gamegetter]

greetings:

just make sure the shale is stable. if it is "layered" and crumbly you may want to make sure and jack hammer through as deep as possible. a grinder can also be used

best of luck with the project sounds like you should be 10-8 in no time at all

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I know the layer of slate is deeeeep. The whole area here is slate. When my basement was dug about 20 years ago one corner of the basement floor was poured on top of the slate bed that was dug down to level off the floor. When the well was drilled they hit slate about six feet down and the well is only about 40 feet from the tower location. The river that is literally a stones throw from my back deck has a bottom of solid slate,not much gravel or stones at all, just slate. Yep, hitting slate was never a question only how deep would I hit it. At least it starts of loose and crumbly and the deeper it gets the more solid it gets. I just hope I can dig into it about three feet. That's all I will need to complete the job and then I\ll be QRV but not 10-8.

 

[gamegetter]

sounds like a beautiful location--dx heaven maybe, eh..

yes sir the solid stuff is good, that is what your after.

good day

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Only 19 hours and 6 minutes before the new tower is scheduled to be delivered to my yard but who's counting? :laugh:

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Well look at what finally arrived about noon today. A Trylon T-500series 64 foot tower and all the trimmings. :

The largest section seen in the back is 42 inches across the face and the smallest top section in the foreground is 18 inches across the face.

Here is a view of the old existing tower and location as well as the new location marked with a black arrow. The tower will be located just back from the front edge of the house about 43 feet from the house. This places it far enough from the tree line so as to never have to worry about tree growth as well as far enough from things that may interfere with raising and lowering the antennas.The old tower is 40 feet high and the new one is 64 feet.

Here is the Explorer-14 I just finished the other day.It has the 40m add on kit installed. For size reference, the trampoline is 14 feet diameter.

Here you can see one of the reasons I wanted a new tower. Rust is not a tower's best friend. The old Delhi served me well over the last 30 years and it was used when I got it. The new Trylon should outlast me.

 

[binrat]

And the fun is just starting. Good luck with the install.