Total antenna system rebuild final ideas.

[Captain Kilowatt]

Well I think I have finalized my plans to completely rebuild/replace my antenna system. I have been needing a new HF antenna system for the past couple years but just did not have the funds to make it happen. The big problem was that I needed a new tower and that is the most expensive item.The tower is needed before I can put up new antennas and the old tower will not support the new antennas due to overhanging tree limbs and the fact that it would be far too overloaded even with just the one HF antenna on it. I have already taken posession of a brand new Hygain Explorer-14 with the QK-710 kit to add 40m as well as a new Ameritron RCS-10 remote antenna switch. I wanted a new beam for 12 and 17m and was going to buy the Hygain DB-1217 which looks almost identical to the Ex-14 but with a price tag of $450.00 plus $125.00 shipping plus taxes and any applicable duties I thought perhaps I would rebuild and retune the old decrepit Cushcraft A3 and turn it into a dual bander for 12 and 17m. I am thinking all I should have to do besides adjust element lengths is throw away the 10m traps and remove a few windings from the 15m traps and retune them to 12m. If this works out I will save myself some money and if it does not then I will buy a DB-1217 at a later date. I also need a new rotator and plan to buy a Yaesu G-2800. I just need to finalize the tower plans and place an order but it looks like it will be a 56 foot Trylon Titan T-500. I was going to get the 64 footer but the extra 8 feet was going to cost me nearly $700 for the extra section plus a bigger concrete base as well as the extra length of Cougar safety rail. Yes, I am going to install a professional Cougar Safety rail on the tower for peace of mind while climbing. This tower is 39 inches at the base and 18 inches at the top and is rated for 52 sq. ft. of windloading at 70 mph. I plan to hang three or four half slopers around it for 80m and maybe an inverted L for 160m. It's all finally coming together and hopefully by mid-May I will have the tower ordered and a rotator as well.I'm waiting until after the Halifax ham flea market on May 11 just in case there is something there that interests me. Finally things are looking like they are going to happen THIS year.

It goes without saying that there will indeed be pictures once things happen.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Forgot to add that he tower will be 85 feet from the south end of the house while the shack is in the north end of the house. This means about 200 feet of cable. I plan to use two runs of Andrew LDF4-50 Heliax as I already have a bunch of it as well as possibly a run of 75 ohm CATV cable tuned to 6m for the 6m beam if I put it on the new tower. It may stay on the old 40 footer for a while at least. The cables will be buried between the house and tower base in a pipe.

 

[bamacj]

Sounds like a good plan. I'm doing the same thing. The new tower is 70' of rohn 25. 2meter ringo on top, m2 2m5wl horiz, 2m5wl vert, 5 element 6 meter horiz. 6 meter ringo on side arm under the 5 element. 80 meter full wave loop at 60', fan dipole for 160-80-40. 2nd tower is 40' gonna put 3 ele. 17 meter horiz there. maby a tri bander. All vhf is fed with 1/2" hard line, the rest is lmr400uf, ladder line to the loop. Post some pics when you get it up.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

The Trylon Titan is a freestanding tower. I absolutely HATE guy wires being in the way of raising and lowering antennas. Sure they are cheaper but dealing with the guy installation as well as putting up with them being in the way is more of a pain than I care to deal with. I once got an A3 tribander caught up in a set of guys and vowed I would never again deal with that.

The thing I like about the Trylon Titan is that EVERY piece is available for replacement right from a tower leg and cross braces down to the nuts, bolts, and washers to hold it all together as well as many configuration options for special types of mounting. I plan to get the top bearing plate, the mid-section rotator plate, and another set of angle frames and U-bolts to clamp the mast in place if I should ever have to replace the rotator or remove it for service. That way I can leave the antenna mast in place in a fixed position and pull the rotator out from under it.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I finally filled out my income tax today and all I can say is WHOOOHOOOO!!

It looks like I can start the ball rolling and make a complete list of all tower components that I need (and a few others that I just plain want and contact Trylon for some pricing and shipping info. I just might have this project done before fall arrives after all. Now I have some serious planning to do as I want to include a Cougar safety rail for climbing as well as a work platform at the top to make it easier to stand there and work.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Update:

I just got a new Yaesu G-2800DXA rotator and 130 feet of control cable in the mail yesterday. I have been watching QRZ and Eham for rotators and lucked out when Gary, K3FGO, had a brand new unused 2800 for sale. He said he thought he needed a new rotator and bought the heavier 2800 but when the riggers arrived to replace it they found he had simply broken the mast clamp bolts. After doing my best to check him out online we struck up a deal that ended with me saving almost $500 taking into account the higher basic price here in Canada plus taxes and shipping. Even if bought from HRO it was still going to cost me a bundle with the customs duties and sales tax which I still have to pay when it crosses the border. Being purchased from a private individual I was able to avoid a big sales tax bill plus he sold it to me for about $250 or so less than what HRO wants. True to his word the unit was stilll wrapped in it's plastic shipping bags that were never opened and the only thing opened was the hardware bag.He removed a couple bolts to use on his old rotator and then replaced them with a slightly different type. I will probably replace all of them with a high grade stainless type anyway. All I need to do now is order the tower and then think about the cost of six yards of concrete for it. I was planning to get a Cougar safety rail for the tower as well but today the wife and I were talking about summer vacation and she would like to go to Maine/New Hampshire/Vermont area so I guess that is out for now but I can always buy one next year or whenever. This project is going a bit slower than I planned but it is also costing a bit more than I planned too.

 

[Superidgit]

Update:

This project is going a bit slower than I planned but it is also costing a bit more than I planned too.

GRRRRR they always do

But seriously I like the Anti guy wire tower and I cannot wait for an update.
Question: how high can you go without needing guy wires? I am sure it depends on yer antenna. But is there some limit as to height and saftey?

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

The Trylon Titan can be built in many heights and windloading ratings. You could have three or four 56 foot towers and each would have a different wind loading rating. Trylon goes to one model of 96 foot freestanding tower which is rated for 15 square feet of windloading at 70 mph winds.Anything less than 96 feet comes in various windloading options and the shorter the tower the more options for windloading.

 

[Superidgit]

The Trylon Titan can be built in many heights and windloading ratings. You could have three or four 56 foot towers and each would have a different wind loading rating. Trylon goes to one model of 96 foot freestanding tower which is rated for 15 square feet of windloading at 70 mph winds.Anything less than 96 feet comes in various windloading options and the shorter the tower the more options for windloading.

Ok I went to the website and looked at those towers. Pretty sweet looking stuff. How do go about calculating the wind load or drag that your antenna would create?

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Take the info from the manufacturer's specs. All antennas will have a wind loading rating on them as well as a wind speed rating. If it's just something like an I-2000 or A-99 or a groundplane and there are no specs then don't worry about it as they are not big enough to be of any consequence.