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tip over tower - wooden homebrew

HomerBB

HomerBB

Sr. Member
Jan 4, 2009
3,934
2,662
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Rogers, Ar
I needed a tower, and lack the funds for one. Tired of climbing onto the house to take my antennas up and down when playing around with them, I decided to build one like I had seen elsewhere. This is what I put together. I need to weather proof it because I chose not to use pressure treated lumber in order to reduce the weight of the mast when cranking it up and down. I get 35 feet of height to the feedpoint with this. It works fine, although after a few days of use I've decided to beef it up a little at the center joint with some steel plate, and redo the block at the bottom with stronger gear just for security sake. As for how well it is working, the crank I used is the same as on the front of a boat trailer, and I was able to raise it without straining. It lowers as easily, too. I was concerned about the leverage being in the towers favor. Nope, I'm in charge completely. Sure gonna beat wrestling with a long pole from on the house. I'll be able to work on windy days, too!

I shamelessly offer no apologies for the quirkiness of this device. It is an improvement over my previous method.

Happy with this homebrew.

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White? I would use aluminum paint and make it look like metal. (y) I used to have a pair of home made four element quads for 2m that were made of wood and I painted them with two coats of Tremclad aluminum paint. They looked great and lasted for years. That stuff is as thin as water and really soaks in well.
 
Captain Kilowatt said:
White? I would use aluminum paint and make it look like metal. (y) I used to have a pair of home made four element quads for 2m that were made of wood and I painted them with two coats of Tremclad aluminum paint. They looked great and lasted for years. That stuff is as thin as water and really soaks in well.
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How about red and white banding? You know - like a commercial communication tower. I like that better...
 
linearone said:
pressure treating lumber doesnt do much to make it weather resistant, just stops the bugs from eating it.
I think there is some level of arsenic in it.
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It's true that pressure treated lumber has had toxins in it, however, due to pressure on the industry by environmental awareness there is a newer type pressure treatment that does not contain these toxins. Yellow Wood is an example of it. At the Home Depot it is called ACQ. I suppose it is known as Yellow Wood because it isn't the traditional green we've come to associate with treated lumber. In fact, the greenish coloration is more like a tinting of the wood by comparison, and whitens out in the sun much more rapidly than the traditional treatment. What remains the same is its liquid saturated weight.
 
HomerBB said:
It's true that pressure treated lumber has had toxins in it, however, due to pressure on the industry by environmental awareness there is a newer type pressure treatment that does not contain these toxins. Yellow Wood is an example of it. At the Home Depot it is called ACQ. I suppose it is known as Yellow Wood because it isn't the traditional green we've come to associate with treated lumber. In fact, the greenish coloration is more like a tinting of the wood by comparison, and whitens out in the sun much more rapidly than the traditional treatment. What remains the same is its liquid saturated weight.
Click to expand...

I had no idea there is a new wood called yellow wood! cool. I was always afraid when cutting the green stuff.
 
Great work, that is a test tower that will allow more testing to get done instead of climbing.

Looks fantastic.
 
linearone said:
I had no idea there is a new wood called yellow wood! cool. I was always afraid when cutting the green stuff.
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Yep. If you use it you must use either of three types of fasteners.
1. Hot Dipped Galvanized nails or screws (not Electro-galvanized)

2. Special coated fasteners such as deck and fencing screws

3. Stainless Steel fasteners

Other types of fasteners will deteriorate in the wood and cause rot out around the fastener due to the new treatment.

Lowes does not carry this wood, yet. Go to The Home Depot for it, or look online for dealers for Yellow Wood or ACQ PT lumber. It is not priced higher than the other stuff.
 
HomerBB said:
It's true that pressure treated lumber has had toxins in it, however, due to pressure on the industry by environmental awareness there is a newer type pressure treatment that does not contain these toxins. Yellow Wood is an example of it. At the Home Depot it is called ACQ. I suppose it is known as Yellow Wood because it isn't the traditional green we've come to associate with treated lumber. In fact, the greenish coloration is more like a tinting of the wood by comparison, and whitens out in the sun much more rapidly than the traditional treatment. What remains the same is its liquid saturated weight.
Click to expand...

that's %100 correct . it changed several years ago in VA , maybe 10 or more .


damn nice looking Homer ;)
 
i don't know much about that antenna,...... does it have an electrical (not rf) ground?
 

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