Tower installation advice welcomed

[Trail boss 1]

Well,

I am going to finally get my Hygain 30' crank up installed this summer. I contacted Hygain to see if I could order the base installation kit, however it seems that the tower that I got was formerly for military use and they have no plans for this particular model. They will be glad to make a custom one for probably about 400 bucks plus shipping. Is that just the price a person has to plan on spending, or does someone know of a good site that has a tutorial for DIY tower base construction, preferrably for crank ups?

My tower has the number 135 under "product order" on the manufacturing plate. On the model number section of that plate it was left blank.

I will be mounting my Shakespeare Od green antenna on it for now, the tower is OD green also, the neighbors are probably going to thing GI Joe moved in...LOL



Feedback/ advice appreciated.


"I believe the promises of God enough to venture an eternity on them"

G. Campbell Morgan







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[W5LZ]

TrailBoss,

Hygain's price seems a 'bit high' to me, but that's about what I would expect from them. You gotta remember that they're worried about liability, etc., and they're in the 'bid'nez' to make money (not even considering freight!).

In general, it's always better to 'over build' than to 'under build', especially when you consider what could possibly happen to things around the tower if it should fall. If you aren't a competent welder, I'd certainly find one to to the construction. I'd also invest a few dollars in 'Hygain's tower specifications manual (if they have one), they usually show exactly how their products are made and how to install them. (Not sure if 'Hygain' has one, but I know 'Rohn' does, and it'$ certainly worth having! It should also show how to properly guy their towers and how much 'pier' they need under them.)

I had a tower at one point, didn't wanna spend the money for a commercially built base, and had one built locally. It was probably way 'over built', but didn't really cost that much (did lots of 'scrounging' for materials (also live close to a couple of R.R.s so heavy duty 'parts' were easy to obtain)).

The base plate of a tower has to withstand lots of force, not just the weight of the tower (which is considerable to start with), but bending and torsion stresses which can amount to several tons, depending on the tower and winds. It would have probably supported a '48 Packard, but that's good!

Do some research on towers, go look at a few, get some idea of what you might need, then have someone build it for you.

Good luck...

- 'Doc



PS - Doing it 'right' the first time means you won't have to do it again later!




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[Trail boss 1]

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>PS - Doing it 'right' the first time means you won't have to do it again later!<hr></blockquote>



I hear ya doc'

Wow you used RR parts, that thing must have been a subterranean beast, but I bet you sleep well on the nights that the prarie winds howl!

Thank you for the advice, I know of a welder that can probably help me out on the base construction. I will probably have Hygain mail me the plans for a forty foot or bigger tower. I agree with your "better to overbuild" attitude. I live in eartquake central, so I really don't want any surprises.





I probably should plan on pouring footings when I dig my hole?


"I believe the promises of God enough to venture an eternity on them"

G. Campbell Morgan







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