TOWER
THE COMPLETE GUIDE
To TOWER CONSTRUCTION
by
STEVE MORRIS
K7LXC
.
w)
CHAMPION
:r~
RADIO
I PRODUCTS
Up THE TOWER
THE COMPLETE GUIDE To TOWER CONSTRUCTION
ISBN 978-0-615-28514 -6
21 W EATHERPROOFI NG 146
22 R OTATO RS 150
23 I NSTALLING B EA~I S 157
24 GRO UNDI NG 164
25 B UILDI NG A SIN G LE T OWER STAT ION 187
26 B E KI ND TO YOUR T REES 189
27 TRE E INSTALLATI O NS 198
28 THE TE N YEAR PLAN 206
29 R EFURBISHING A TOWER 210
30 Mt\lNTENANCE AND ANNUA L INSPECTIO N 213
31 W HEN SOMET HING FAILS 217
32 INSURANCE 221
33 A NTENNAS 227
34 T OWER REMOVAL 232
35 WORKI NG ON A CRANK-U P 235
36 A FEW' FINAL TI PS 238
I N DE X 243
INTRODUCTION
by Bob Locher, W9 KN I
Although I was first licen sed in 1960, being in the serv ice, col-
lege and havin g a new family put me off the air for almost ten years.
Not until 1978, with th e assistance of childhood buddyJim Hadlock,
K7 WA, did I get back on the air with som e simple wire an tennas.
"Wire antennas world " was the entry in my logbook after making
my first few contacts. My enthusiasm was increasing by leap s and
bounds and befo re I kn ew it, I had purchased a used to wer and a
used cubical quad ante nna. Since I had never before attempted any-
th ing like thi s, I tried to find o ut what to do . I had m ore que stions
than an swer s but armed with only the help of the R OHN catalog, J im
and a co uple of o the rs, we go t it up. Boy, now I was cruising th e HF
band s and having fun !
A year or two later, a big winds torm came through and bent
ove r th e installation. After repairing everything and adding a set of
guys, I was back in bu sine ss. Lo o king ba ck, I see that my lessons
were learned th e hard way and fortunately without any damage to
life or prop erty; I was lucky. I did more and more tower and an-
tenna wo rk and I still had to learn ever ything the hard way. I even
progre ssed to the po int where I started up my own tower serv ices
contracting company. Starting out with hams, I soon got more and
F OR E WORD 7
mo re involved in cellular, communications and bro adca st work and
1 learned even more from each of those projects.
In 1991 I started writing a column on tower construction for
th e National ContestJOllrnalbecause I wanted to share my experiences
and lessons with other hams, and hopefully help them avoid learning
th e hard lessons them selves. T hat is wh y I wrote this book; I don't
want you to learn everything the hard way by doing things you
sho uldn 't be do ing and having failures that coul d be endangering
your life and property and co uld have been pr evented . I want you to
have all o f the answers at you r fingertips in this book; I want you to
be able to install a tower and antenna system safely and reliab ly.
T his wa sn't an adventure that I took on by myself; I would like
to thank these folks for their co ntri butions over the years: Bre tt Gra-
ham, KB7G jVS6BGjVR2BG, who was my first tower partner on
several tower adventures; Rush Drake, W7RM (SK, Silent Key), whose
vision and ingenuity (no t to mention hea vy duty ginpole and winch!)
helped me more than once; Tom Taormina, KSRC, my first editor
at the NationalContestJournal, who encouraged my column and helped
me improve my writing; Pat Meeks, KS7L, who crea ted much of
the art and enhanced most o f the remaind er; to my original editor
and publisher, J ohn Polloc k, K7MCX, for his encouragement and
th e long hours spent in whipping this bo ok into initial shape; and of
course Bob Locher, W9KNI, who has encouraged, cajoled and
mentored m e o n this project. In addition, thanks to the pe ople who
read and provided input into the form and content of the book,
incl uding Rob Brownstein, K6RB, Jim D uffy, W6 EU, Bob E pstein,
K 8IA and Fr ank D onovan, W3LPL. Thank you!.
T his book has been writte n for those wh o wish to safely bu ild
their own tower and ante nna system. It is not intended to be used fo r
co mme rcial purpo ses. To have bo th a safe and reliable pro ject, th e
autho r reco mme nds th at yo u adhere to the variou s safety guidelines
o utlined in this book. Your safety is important and should no t be
jeop ardi zed .
The reader is ultimately responsible for his ow n safety, and fo r
all decisions he makes co ncern ing his safety. T he reade r must, him-
self, verify the accuracy of informa tion provid ed, and the text con-
stituting ge neral informatio n int ended to make th e tower climb er
aware of the dan gers. The book provides no particular ad vice, for
8 Up THE TOWE R
The negatives
O ne o f the biggest ch allen ge s fo r man y people is the co st.
Even a used tow er and antenna system can mean an investment of a
10 Up THE TOWER
th ou sand dollars or more. Hire someone to ins tall it for you and the
cost goes up. Ano ther problem is th at it may be difficult to get the
nec essary permits and permi ssions to buil d your dream an tenna sys-
tem. H earings with building departmen t board s and civil law suits
are no longer uncommon. N eighbors can be a big negative if th ey
are opposed to your installation. Just one complaining neighbor can
be a real irritant, not o nly to you but also to the local building depart -
ment. T his can be a case where th e " squeaky wh eel" gets grease d,
usually to your disadvan tage.
W hile som e proposed towers wind up being ch allenged du e to
perc eived radiatio n emissio n problem s, man y of th e confrontatio ns
are bec au se o f aesthetic reasons. Even if a tower doesn't bloc k their
view, a neighbor may feel that it is an unnecessary eyeso re. Of course
for the ow ne r it' s a case of beauty being " in th e eye of th e be-
holder." Some people use the argument that a tower will lower th e
resa le values in a neighborhood. In my opinion, thi s is a pretty weak
argument and more of a smokescreen. Not only hav e I never seen
an y professional survey s that re-
flect that negative view but also
my exp erience in selling my ow n
home was th at my first two of-
fers included the tower!
The positives
The biggest posiu ve for
in st alling an y typ e of o utd o or
antenna syste m is th at you'll be
ab le to tran smi t and re ce ive
much mo re effe ctively. H igh an-
tennas almost always wo rk bet -
ter tha n low anten nas, and very
rar ely will yo u ge t an anten na
" too high. " Whe n it comes to
antenna and tower p rojects, the
" sky is the limit. "
A properly installed tower
and antenna system will also re- Photo 1:Alovely station toaspire to. Your
wa rd yo u with years of reliable dream station?
I-Do YOU REALLY NEED A TO\\ 'ER? 11
performanc e. In case o f a public eme rge ncy, your ant enna system
may well be the key to saving lives and property. The ultimate re-
ward, though , is that a decent tower and antenna system will resu lt in
your having much m ore enjoym ent from your radio statio n and your
hobby.
2
ANTENNA SUPPORTS
Trees
T he first amateur radio antennas were simple wires and their
ow ne rs typically stru ng the m in whatever trees tha t were handy. We'll
loo k more dosely at trees in Cha pters 26 and 27.
Push-up masts
With length s from 20 to 50- feet, pu sh-up ma sts used to. be
very popular for TV ante nnas and could also be used for sma ll ham
ante nnas. With th e advent of satellite Tv, the pu sh-up ma st has fallen
out of favor. T hey used to be available fro m Radio Shack bu t they
don 't sto ck them anymore. Rohn makes them bu t no wada ys th ey
have to be shipped fro m somewhere and man y times th e shipping
cost exceeds the cost of th e mast so they're no t really feasible any-
mo re. The materi al used for the se pu sh -up s is relatively heavy but
not very strong. Sinc e each ten -foot section needs to be guyed, a
for ty-foot push-up will have fou r sets of guy wire s. It's a tricky propo-
14 Up THE T OIFE R
Tower basics
Tower sectio ns consist of legs and diagonal and ho rizontal
braces. They can eith er be round members such as ROHN 25G o r
angled m embers that use 90 or 60 degr ee angles for legs, diagonals
or ho rizontals. Round membered towers such as ROHN 25G, etc. are
the m ost common for ama teur towers. T he tower face is th at out -
ward facing area between the legs th at has the braces.
TV antenna towers
There are man y towers th at were spe cifically designed and in-
stalled for TV antennas. T hese tend to be at the low end of suitability
for ama teur use. They were no t design ed for the larger loads of ham
antennas, but are used by tho usands o f amateurs nonetheless.
T hese TV ant enna towers are generally forty -feet or so in heigh t
and are installed witho ut guy wires. The most common are th e ROHN-
SPAULDING (NOW ROHN) AX OR BX series-typ es and a tubular-legged -
type, similar to ROHN 25G.
T he BX- typ e is made fro m stamped steel, and has X bracing.
T he X's are not co nnecte d to each o ther and the commo n failure
po int is between th e braces. Also, th e rotator and top plates are made
fro m sheet metal and can crack from wind-induced metal fatigue
For small tribanders and VHF arr ays th ey are just fine, but be careful
of overload ing the ones using the sm aller sections. Rohn caution s
that these towe rs sho uld be limited to ante nnas with boom length s
of less th an 10 feet since they hav e minimal torsion resistance .
T here are several T V-type tower varieties including th e Rohn
2- A N T EN N A SUPPO RT S 17
6G and 20G. O ther types typically have tubular legs but only have
ho rizontal bracing and lack diago nal braces. T hese are o kay for sma ll
antennas but engineering caution should be used in all installations.
The Rohn 6G is in this category. Rohn 20G on th e other hand doe s
have th e Z -bracing and is the sam e size as 25G and in fact the acces-
sories are compatible, bu t there are only 7 horizontals instead of the
8 hori zontals o f 25G and thus does not have the torsi on resistance
of 25G. Rohn cautions that 20G is not suitable for commercial,
ham, CB or gu yed in stallatio ns.
Self-supporting towers
ROHN used to produce th e popular BX series of towers con-
sisting o f models BX (standard), HBX (heavy-duty) and HDBX (ex-
tra-heavy -duty). T his tower series was origina lly designed for TV
antenna use and ha s its limitations for ama teur applications. There are
eight tap ered BX sectio ns that are used in all configurations. The BX 8
is the largest section, and is used as the bottom section of the HDBX
series. The BXt section is the sma llest section and is the top section
of the BX series. Although the HBX series is rated at ten-squ are feet
of antenna load and the HDBX is rated at eighteen -square feet, the
win d pressure is only 20 PSF, or 70 MPH, and the ma ximum boom
length "should be limited to ten -feet." The maximum height of an
HBX is 56 feet and the maximum height for an HDBX is 48 feet . If
you wa nt to go higher than 60 feet with a self-supporting tower, a
crank-up tower, Tr ylon , AN Wireless or ROHN SSV may be your
choice s. A self-suppo rting commercial tower such as th e Trylon or
SS V will not only be pric e competitive against a similar sized cran k-
up but also will be rated and certified at higher wind speeds.
H ere are a co up le of more points about the BX series. They are
riveted together, no t welded, and they are not hot-dipp ed galvanize d
after assembly as are ROHN 25G or 45G. The integrity o f th e galva-
nizing does not last as lo ng as th e hot-dipped variety. Because th e
braces are installed at th e X angle and are not flat, your feet tak e a real
beating whe n you have to work on o ne of these towers. And whe n
you get up around the rotator , so me times you can't get your feet to
fit in anyw here.
D on't let me discourage you from putting one o f the se up . In
th eir favor, th ey are relatively in exp en sive, are common almost ev-
18 Up TH E T OW"ER
Rohn SSV
Rohn SSVis a professional, relatively heavy-du ty tower line that
has been traditionally used by commercia l commun ications and broad-
cast users. Freestand ing up to 320 feet, this is a m ore challenging
erec tio n job, since the sections can weigh hu ndreds of po unds and
are twen ty-feet long instead o f ham-stand ard ten-foot sectio ns. T he
easiest way to erect this tower is to assem ble all of the sections while
they are laying on th e ground, then to use a cran e to pick up each
2 - AN T EN N A SUPPORTS 19
sectio n and lower it int o plac e. Figure abo ut a half-day to assem ble
each sectio n, and four ho urs of crane time to stack o ne hu nd red feet
of it in th e air.
AN Wireless
AN Wireless mak es a line of very robust self-supportin g tow-
ers. Since a tower cost is a function of ho w much steel is in it, they
also have ro b ust price tags. Check wwwanwire less.co m for m ore
info.
20 Up "[HE T Olf/ l i R
House-bracketed towers
Rohn 25G, 45G
and 55G can all be in-
stalled using a hou se-
bracket attached to the
building as part of the
st ru cture. C urrent
Ro hn spe cs allow the
to p of th e tower to be
above th e ho use- Rgure 1:Rohn housebracket
bracke t 14 feet o r
mo re dep ending o n windspeed conditions and antenna load . Co n-
sult a Rohn catalog or the Rohn website (www.ro hnnet.co m) for
mor e details.
Freestanding 25G, 45G and 55G towers are a sub-set o f hou se-
bracketed towers since you're again using a guyed tower in a non-
guyed scenario. Again, chec k th e Rohn specs to see what th e limita-
tio ns are.
Crank-up towers
Crank-up towers have th eir advocates and they can be an el-
egant solu tio n to many tower installation challenges. Basically,a crank-
up tower is made up of two or more tower sections that nest inside
each other and are pu lled up progressively with a system of cables,
pu lleys and a winc h. These winch crank- up systems are either electri -
cally powered or are manu ally ope rated. They are genera lly self-su p-
porting and require a large base foun da tio n similar to th ose disc usse d
above. T he purpose, by the way, fo r a large foundation fo r a self-
supporting tower is so tha t th e center of gravity o f th e tower is
below the ground level. O therwise a big wind and big wind pressure
co uld cause it to tip over.
Many amateurs feel a crank -up increases th e safety o f the ir
installation by being able to crank it down in case o f a windstorm.
Well, yes and no . If yo u keep it cranked down except whe n you're
actually using it, you can minimize an y windstorm effect s. Un fort u-
nately if your tower is crank ed up and a wind storm comes along,
you probably won 't be able to crank it down bec aus e o f the wind
pr essure on th e sections; th at is o f course, if you're home in th e first
2 - ANTEN NA SUPPORTS 21
place. Some crank-ups have positive pu ll-down which would allow
you to lower th e tower in spite of having wind force o n it. Also,
going o utside at night in th e middle of a storm to crank it down may
be a deterrent in its elf. A motorized system wit h the up-down switch
in th e shack is an elegant, alth ough expe nsive, alte rn ative. When rais-
ing or lowering a crank-up tower, you AL\XfAYS ne ed to be looking
at th e tower as it's mo ving. It is no t uncommon for som ething to
snag if yo u're not looking at it and able to respond immediately, you
can have a serio us breakag e - usually in the cabl es. If you 're using a
hamshack rem ote control and not paying attention, you're askin g for
trouble.
Alo ng with being able to lower the antenna system , man y crank -
ups have the ability fo r the whole tow er and ant enn a system to be
lowered hori zontally or tilted -over to facilitate antenna work. Again
you'r e adding ano the r layer o f mechanical complexity and cost th at
ma yor ma y no t be wo rth it. T he forces that are generated by tilting
a tow er over and lifting it
back up again are tremen-
dous and are not to be
taken lightly. U nless yo u
h ave goo d en gineering
and fabricati on experi-
ence, don't try to fabricate
the tilt- o ver h ardware
yo urs el f. The manufac-
tur er spent a lo t of mone y
to de sign and fabricate a
safe tilt-over fixture and
that is the one you sho uld
use. Don't try to rein vent
the wheel!
T he sma ller a n d
less expensive crank-up s
can either be tubular in
de sign o r use m ore con-
ventio na l la t tic ed sec-
tions. The m edium and Photo 4:An impressively loaded and effective
large con figur at io n s are USTower crank-up system owned by K6KR.
22 Up THE T OWE R
Guyed towers
The accepted standard fo r am ateur tower installatio ns is guyed
towers in genera l, an d R OHN 25C, 45C and 55C in particular. ROH N
products are stro ng, reliable, relatively easy to erect and have a wide
array of ama teur compatible accessories.
With a face width o f twelve inches and a ten-foot section weight
of forty pounds, a R O J'JN ginpole and a ground crew is the recom-
me nded way to install R O HN 25C. A prac tical heigh t limit o f 190 feet
at 90 MP H wind spee d gives you 7.8 square feet of antenna load
capacity. A l Ou-foot in stallation yields 9.1 square feet of antenna
cap acit y, eno ugh fo r a small stack of monoband yagis or a high
perform ance tribander. An experien ced crew can erect up to a h un-
dr ed feet a day o f this popular tower.
R O H N 45C is 18 inc hes across th e face an d a ten-foot section
2- A N T EN N A SUPPORTS 23
weighs 70 po unds . T his ro bust
tow er is rate d up to 240 feet in
90 MPH wind s, w ith a
windload rating of 16.3 square
feet. At a height of 100 feet the
wind loading is 21.5 square feet,
after you've adde d bac k in th e
8.0 square feet deducted for
symmetrical antenna mounts
pe r the catalog general no tes.
Ro hn SSG weig h s 90
pounds per sectio n and can be
installed up to 300 feet in 90
MPH winds. It has a gross ca-
pacity o f 17.4 square feet in that
ma ximum configuration. The
Ro hn ginpole erec tion fixture is Photo 5: Apopulated guyed tower at the
not rated for SSG because of former XE2DV on theeastern shore ofthe
its weight so a mo re suitable one Sea ofCortez. W7ZR was theowner.
mu st be used .
them. N ot only did he make th e ro tatin g guy rings but he also pro -
duc ed the tow er sectio ns. Sinc e he was a school teacher, he built
them ove r th e winter, th en went aro und and installed th em in the
summe r. T here are dozen s of these systems in Finland and the p rice
was very reasonable; a 120 foot rotating tower approximately fifteen
years ago was aro und $1200- installed!
Originally designed by Di ck Webe r, K5 IU, his Ro tating Tower
Struc tures ro tating tower hardware is now available fro m Paul Nyland,
K7 PN, thr u Cus tom Metalworks (www.custom m etalwo rks.co m) .
There is ano ther vers ion fro m Rich Bennett, KOXG that is also well
designed and beefy (www.K OXG.co m). Both are relatively expen-
sive. And if you embark o n this pa th, you'll pro bably want to use
Phillystran non-condu ctive guy wires th at minimize po tential destruc-
tive interaction but also adds to the co st. This is not a project for the
faint hearted.
Big Berthas
T he Big Bertha is a self-supporting tubular rot ating monop ole
and it is typically regarde d as th e ultim ate tower. T heir o rigins are
fro m th e 50's, and th ey are currently available up to 300 feet (yikes!)
fro m Sco tt Johns, \'(13TX at www:superberthaguy.co m. It sits o n a
very large block of concrete with a large cylindric al so cket tub e set
into it. T he socket is partially filled wit h oil and then the sealed bo t-
tom end o f the tower is dropped int o the socket where the tower
partially floats in the oil, resu lting in very low effort needed to rotate
it. Seeing one of th ese works of art in the flesh is an impressive sight.
3
PLANNING
Goals
Bu ild ing an amate u r anten na sys te m is an exciting propo-
sitio n; starting with a b lank sh ee t o f paper o nly adds to th e
possibilit ie s. The first que stion yo u 've go t to ask yo ur self is
w hat d o yo u wa nt yo ur statio n to d o? I s yo u r m ain goal to
chase D X, handle transcontinental rad io traffic , wo r k VHF /
U HF like n ever b efore o r t alk to yo ur buddi es in Ari zona
eve ry m orning o n 20 -meters ? Each purpose h as it s own set of
possibilities and so lutio ns. You h ave to d ecide what yo u want
yo ur statio n to d o. The inform at ion in thi s b o ok will th en
26 Up THE TOWE R
A small tower
If you've go t eno ugh property available (zoning aside), you' ll
proba bly start thinking about a tower and similar possibilities. Forty
to fifty feet of ROHN 25G attached to the side of your house with
ho use brackets will ena ble you to pu t up a beam and give you a plac e
to hang wire antennas with a minim um of cost and fuss. Go up an y
high er and you'll need to guy th e tower.
To put up a guyed 60-fo ot tower, you'll need 1/4 acre or a p iece
of lan d 130' sq uare in o rder to acco mm o date the gu y wires and
anc ho rs. Fo r a 100' tower, you' ll need 0.6 acre and a piece of land
190' square. (An acre is approximately 44,000 square feet .)
In any case , my advice is to go with what you've got and get on
th e air. It's much better to have some sort of wo rking antenna than
not and if yo u can 't get it very high , it'll still radiate and you'll still be
3-PLAN NIN G 27
on the air. If you've got a fun ky trap vertical, mount it on a fenc e
post and start transmitting. Lo ok for possibilities and not limit ations.
You'll always be able to im pro ve or upgrade later.
Your tower height is up to you, bu t don't forget tha t more
he ight means m ore gain and more efficiency, up to a point. Ma ny
articles and boo ks have been written with antenna height as th e sub -
ject and I'm not going to reinvent the wheel here. Again, do your
homework and your planning aro und your spe cific conditions and
goa ls. I will mention that you sho uld try to shoot for 50-feet as a
minimum for H E An effective antenna system on a l OO- foot tower
will ena ble yo u to work anything you wa nt and yo u may even win a
contest or two.
Taller installations
Fo r taller installatio ns th ere are two things to keep in mind.
Fir st, o nce you exceed 200-feet above ground level (AG L) you' ll
have to comply with FAA regulations for lighting and painting. FAA
AdlJisory Circular 70/7460-1H spe lls o ut th ese regul ations. Fro m a
practical sta ndpoint, most ham s stay below this heigh t fo r obvious
reasons. T he seco nd point is that if you are anywhe re near an airport,
you have to comply with the FAA proximi ty heigh t limitatio ns. Con-
tact your nearest FAA o ffice fo r mo re info rm atio n on this one.
Plan ahead
At some tim e in the future you may decide to expand your
an tenna far m , o r to put up larger arti llery. It's usua lly too late, and/ or
too expensive, at th at point to up grade your in stallation . Fo r a rela-
tively sm all additional cos t and effort of a larger hole and more
concrete, you can in stall a pad larger tha n that called for by your
initial tower. If and w hen yo u ever dec ide to upgrade, yo u'll have a
base for a larger tower. Do it while it is easy; yo u'll later likely be
co ngratulating yourself fo r being clever and planning ahead!
4
LAND USE REGULATION OF
AMATEUR RAD IO TOWERS
[I have never attended IC/JJJschool, let alonepassed a bar exam. J reIJ on kllollJI-
edgable attorneysfor legal advice. .And Jampleasedto have permissionfrom CQ to rep rint
portions of all alticle 0' ll/) Ialld Dale Clift, NA 1L, nibo is a recogllized expel1 both ill
legal andamateur radiomatters, Ivhich hasiI/w illableadvice 011this impol1al/t stlbject.-
5.M .)
Lo cal, sta te and Fed eral laws affecti ng ama teur radio ante nnas
and towers are a result o f co ntin uo us legal developments as new
cases are deci de d by the co urts. The m odern era of amateur radio
ant enna law was ush ered in by a dr am atic developmen t in 1985 .
After year s of sus tained lobbying by the AMERICAN RAD IO RELAY
LEAGUE and others, the Federal Communications Co mmission (FCC)
ordered limit ed Fed eral p reemption of state and loc al ante nna ordi-
nan ces in a ruling it called PRE-f .! T hat order finally curbed th e run-
away trend by loc al govern me nt o fficials to place ever greater re-
strictions on antenna height and placem ent through zo ning ordinances.
30 Up m E TO fl/I::R
Had this tre nd co ntin ued, it would have meant the virtual prohibition
of functional, high freq uency ama teur radio antennas in most cities,
towns and villages with zoning regulations. For tunately, the FCC passed
PRB -l . But since 1985, the strengths and weaknesses of PRB -l have
been tested and examined in several reported court case s. PRB -l got
a boost w hen the recent rewriti ng of Amateur Radio Rides inco rp o-
rated the original 1985 PRB- l order into the text of Part 97.15 of the
Amateur Rides. But other cases, such as the 1990 decision in th e U.S.
Cour t of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, denied a ham op erator
relief from a zoning board of ad justment's decision in spite of PRB -
1.2 To the surprise and consternation of ham-attorneys, the court
interpreted PRB- l in such a way as to allow the Z BA's dec ision to
stand. The ham operator in that case was not permitted to exceed a
17-foot antenna heigh t limit! While this decision is by no means a
setback to pr e-PRB-l days, it req uires some readjustments in prepar-
ing an application for a tower permit, especially if it in volves a hear-
ing for a special permit.
Knowing and understanding the legal foundation of your right
to erect an antenna and tower are just as important as knowing the
correct construction tec hnique s. This chapter will teach you ab out
zoning and building permits. It will also help you prepare for a hea r-
ing if one is required in order to put up the antenna to the height you
need. If yo u are well prepared yo u lessen your risk of denial. Hear-
ings are also an op portunity to enhance the public relations ima ge of
amateur radio.
Every ama teur operator seeking to pu t up a tower sho uld first
check out the requirements for obtaining a building permit. Failure to
obtai n the necessa ry permits could sub ject you to fines, forfeitures and
the threat of arrest . This is not meant to scare anyone, but zoning ordi-
nances and building codes are laws. And anyone who think s he is above
the law could find him self on the losing end of a very expensive legal
battle. Furthermore, if you do your homework, virtually any ham radio
operator who has eno ugh real estate necessary for the safe installation of
a ham radio tower sho uld be able to legal1y erect a functional antenna
system without interference from state or local governments.
Building codes
Zoning regulations, you will recall, invol ve whether a use is
pe rmitted in a zone, and the y establish the dim en sional limits, such as
height and pla cement from th e borders o f your property. T he re is
yet another aspect to the regulation of your antenna and tower : buildin g
codes. Building codes are laws ba sed on standards related to safety
that have been agreed upon by engineers from the architectural, stru c-
tural, civil and other engineering disciplines. T here ha s always be en
som e co n fusion because in many municipalities, esp ecially in sm aller
towns, building and zo ning functions are co n solida ted in one dep art-
4--LAN D USE REG ULATION 33
me nt, or even one person. T he building offi cial might also be the
zoning official or zo ning en forcement o fficer. Even if they are sepa-
rate departm ents or if th ere are both a zoning en for cement officer
and a bu ilding official, th ey usually work in tand em . For example, if
you apply fo r a buil din g permi t without eve n checking what the
zoning or dinances allow, th e building official will usually run it by th e
zoning enforceme nt officer first to m ake sure th at what you are pro -
po sing is allowed per the zoning ordinances. If zoning ordinances
wou ld be vio lated, the build ing o fficial or th e building department
will not give you a building permit, even if you me et all the requ ire-
m ents of the building codes. You mu st first m eet zo ning, and th en
building req uirements . O nce th e bu ilding official checks wit h zoning
and find s that your ante nna / tower is a prop er use in th e zo ne and
will not violate the zo ning regulatio ns pertaining to dim en sions, your
co nst ruction must be done in acco rda nce with building codes. Fo rt u-
nately, this is rarel y a pro blem . Tower ma nufacturers provide de-
tailed spe cifications and plans for proper installation in accordance
with all building codes.
apply for permits for towers, you m ay even find yourse lf referre d
to the " town planner," who helped write and adopt the zo ning or di-
nances and who is usually co ns ulted to help figure out ho w th e regu-
lations apply to a reques t th at is somewha t o ut of the or dinary. If
your municipality's ordinances require a hearing, ho wever, yo u will
speak with som eone who can add ress zoning issues. Remember, the
emphasis for zoning will be dime n sions and use, so be prepared to
discu ss the proposed location, height, and purpose of the an tenna
structure. Be prepared to discus s building-cod e conce rns , too. For
this area of the law you should take alon g ba sic engineering data that
is pr ovided by th e to wer manufacturer to satisfy any building-code
concerns, and be prepared to discuss ho w it will be anchored and, if
required, guyed. It will be helpful to tak e along a drawin g of your
property that sho ws the locations of your boundary lines, th e house
and o ther buildings, and the proposed loc ation for the tower. If you
go t a survey of your property when you bought your house, m ake a
photocopy o f it that can be marked up to show the proposed an-
tenna structure.
Incidentally, in readin g th e zoning regul ations you may find that
you must submit a certified site plan. This can cost several hundred
dollars. H owever, you may be able to save th e cost of a certified site
plan if yo u have read the zoning regulations carefully. Some zo ning
regulations contain a provision that allows you to sub stitute a hand-
drawn sketch , provided yo u ask for a waiver of the more stringe nt
rules calling for surveys and engineering data . The zoning official or
boa rd may need to agree first that a certified site plan is not necessary
to accurately depict the proposed antenna structure befo re you put
in your formal application. Look for thi s provision and, if your
town's zoning regulations have it, discu ss it with the zoning official
be cause it co uld save you an unnecessary expe nse.
Meeting st rategy
The zoning offi cial is going to interp ret ho w zoning laws are
appli ed to th e facts of your situation. What he or she says will be the
first indi cation o f th e step s th e municipality will want yo u to take to
ge t a permit for your installation. Be sure to listen carefully to what
th e zo ning official says, and take written notes. Zoning officials are
supposed to help you understand the requirements for applying for
4 - LAND USE REGULATIO N 35
a zo ning permit. Again, if you have previou sly obtained and read the
zoning ordinance bo oklet and understand the regulations, you are
going to get a lot more out of your meeting than if you go into it
"cold." T he zo ning o fficial will be more willing to discuss the matt er
with you, too, because you have taken the time to study the regula-
tions. If the zoning official starts to say something you interpret to be
negative, mak e sure that you understand his or her reaso ning. Even
tho ugh this reaso ning may be wrong, listen to it and thorou ghl y un -
derstand the basis for thi s opinion. E ffective opposition to an ad-
verse position taken by the zoning official will be possibl e onl y if you
follow thi s vitally important step. This is not the time to discuss PRB-
1 with the zo ning official. First of all, he or she is not likely to know
what you're talking abo ut. Second, he or she is not go ing to agree
with you that their regulation s are flawed. Remember, the zo ning
regulation s are the " bible," and the municipality has endorsed the m
with the forc e of law. Further, if you are go ing to talk about legal
issues, he or she is going to want to talk to their lawyer; wh o is, of
course, the town att orney.
eyes of the law, including the FCC's PRE-I Preemption Order (dis-
cussed later) . It does provide a forum for potential opposition from
neighbors, however, so preparation for the hearing is all-important.
Also keep in mind that the higher yo u want to go with the tower, the
more evidence and preparation will be required to establish your
need for the stru ctur e.
In case of difficulty
If there is a problem, it will be one of two varieties. It may be
a matter of interpretation of the ordinance by the zoning official. Or
the ordinance ma y be written in such a way that no one could rea-
sonably come up with any other interpretation. If the ordinance is
prohibitive under any reasonable interpretation, you should immedi-
ately seek the advice of a lawyer. If the problem is that you disagree
with the zoning official's interpretation of the zoning regulations, that
is not as serious. Though you may need a lawyer to reso lve an issue
regarding interpretation, you first can carry the issue your self a little
further if you wish. Tell the zoning official that you have a different
interpretation, and ask him or her for specific comments. See if yo u
can narrow it down as to where the problem lies.
If it is a problem with the way in which the ordinance is writ-
ten-that is, under no possible interpretation can you get your per-
mit-it is the more serious problem. This ma y mean that the ordi-
nance is illegal and, therefore, invalid. The town or city officials won't
like that, and they are more apt to fight vigorously against having
their ordinance invalidated. They would much rather have to change
an interpretation for a particular situation than scrap their ordinance.
If you run into an unresolvable problem with the zoning official,
inspector, or other supernumerary, you should then, as a last resort,
tell him or her about PRE-I . As already mentioned, however, more
often than not you will find that it does not help at this level. At
most, all yo u can get across is that the Federal go vernment, through
the FCC, has acted in this area under a Preemption Order called
PRE-I . You can say that local governments cannot prohibit antenna
towers, nor can they unreasonably re strict them in terms of size and
height. However , it is best not to get into a lengthy discussion of the
nuances of the legal doctrine of Federal Preemption with th e zoning
official.
4 -L AN D USE REG UL AT I ON 37
A matter of interpretation
If there is a reasonabl e interp retation of th e regulations under
whic h yo u should be allowed to put up the an ten na l tower, but
the zo ning o ffic ial does n o t agree, yo u can us ually apply, get de-
ni ed by the zo ni ng o fficial, an d th en ap peal the zo ning official's
decision to a zo ning bo ard o f appeals. T he p ro cedure fo r ap -
pealing a rul ing by a zo ning o fficia l will be o utl ined in the regula-
tions which , again, yo u ha ve b ecause yo u bought the entire zo n-
ing ordinances booklet, righ t? Bas ica lly, if yo u appeal the zo ning
official's decisio n , it m ean s yo u are give n a second ch ance to ex-
pl ain w hat am ateur radi o is, wha t kind o f ante nna stru cture yo u
want to erect, and what your alte rnative in terpretation is that wo uld
p ermit you to er ect your an tenn a ins tallat io n .
PRB -l sho uld b e u sed to p ersu ad e th e zoning b o ard o f
appeal that it should adopt yo ur m ore rea so nable interpretation.
Now yo u sh o uld point out th at Fede ral law requir es to wns to
adopt as reaso nable an interpretatio n as p o ssible. If th ere is no
possible in terpretation o f the zo ning reg ulat io ns tha t wo uld al-
Iow a func tionin g ama te ur radi o an ten na, then th e zo ning b oard
of appeal sho uld be to ld tha t PRB- l is a bin ding Federal regula-
tio n th at supe rse des th eir own law if th er e is a co nfl ict. T his puts
treme n do us p ressure o n the zo ning bo ard o f ap pe al to tr y to
ac commodate yo ur n eed s. The zo ning bo ard o f ap peal's inter-
pret ati on of th eir own zo ning ordinances will b e affecte d by the
binding order that was ma de by the FCC in PRB -l .
T he heart of PRB-l is comprised of o nly a few sent ences, and
their importance justifies quoting here: "U po n weighing the se inter-
ests [state vs. Federal int erests] we [th e FCC] believe a limite d p re-
em ption policy is warra nted. State and local regulatio ns that operate
to pr eclude ama teur co mm unica tio ns in th eir co mmunities are in
direct co n flict with Federal objectives and mu st be preempted."
Amateur Radio Preemption, 101 FCC2d 952, 960 (1985) ... "We [the
FCC] will no t, however, specify any particular height limitation be -
low which a local government may no t regu late, nor will we suggest
the pr ecise language th at mu st be contained in loc al or dinances, such
as mechanism s for special exceptions, variances, or co nd itional use
p ermits. Nevertheless , loc al regulatio ns which involve placem ent,
scree ning, or heigh t of ante nnas based on health , safety, or aesthe tic
38 Up TH E TOWER
the countr y.Also, if you need help establi shing th e need for the height
of your an tenna, th e L EAGUE has a paper writte n by Gerald Hall,
K 1TD, on the relationship between antenna height and th e effective-
ness of communications. Finally, th ere is a list o f "voluntee r coun-
sel," attorn eys listed at www:ARRL .org and who are willing to pro-
vide an initial consultation to the ham-radio ope rator free of charge.
T here m ay be a volunteer counsel near you. At th e very least, you
sho uld obtain these m aterial s to help you pr ep are for a hearing.
[Contact the Regulatory Information Department, ARRL H eadquarters, 225
M ain Street, Nelvington, cr 06111. p hone: 860-594-0200, fax: 860-594-
0259}
If you haven't already done so, tr y to gauge th e opposition of
th e neighborhood prior to a hearing. Be prepared to an swer all rea-
sonable que stions. W hile rad io frequency int erference (RFI) m att ers
do not fall under the jurisdiction of th e local zo ning board, your
reaction to que stions about RFI might be use d by the zo ning board
m embers to judge your character, which could form the un writt en
and un stated basis for a denial. A zoning board member is more
likely to give the benefit o f the doubt to someone who sounds like a
responsible, goo d neighbor.
If a neighbor is concerned about RFI, one of the m ost effec-
tive ways of dealin g with this concern is to explain that while years
ago, the ho mebrew nature of ham statio ns ma y have re sulted in
som e ham s being responsible for som e radio frequency int erference
problems, tha t is hardly th e case today. To day, th e level o f ama teur
radio sophistication is such that RFI is rar ely a problem , and when it
is, th e fault alm ost always lies with th e device that is experiencing th e
interference. This has been borne out so often that in 1982 the U.S.
Cong ress pas sed a law, Public LaIV 97-259, that gave th e FCC th e
exclusive jurisdiction over matters of RF I to home electronic de-
vices. The FCC has the expertise to deal with such m atter s, and you
the n expl ain to th e zoning board m embers that you would work
with th e neighbor and the FC C so th at the y (the zoning board mem-
bers) wo uld not be shouldered with that problem in the rare event
RFIoccurs.
Special problems
If you live near an airport, check th e requirements o f Part
97. 15(b) of the A mateur Rules. Depending on your distance from the
airp ort and th e length of the lo ngest ru nway, you may need to keep
your tower below a certain height or follow speci al rules for lighting
and marking it. If you fit certain criteri a, you mu st file both Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) Form 7460-1 with th e FAA, and FCC
Form 854 with the FCC and await their approvals.
An easy way to avoid having to file these forms is to keep your
antenna height below a formula given in Part 97.15 (b). If you live
near an airp ort runway more th an one kilometer long (3250 feet),
you should keep your antenna height below a slope of 100 to 1. In
other wo rds, if your an tenna elevation is mor e th an one meter (3.25-
feet) higher than th e airport run way elevation for each 100 meters
(325 feet) you are located from th e nearest runway lo nger than one
kilometer (3250 feet), you must get specia l permission. If the airport
runway is less than on e kilometer (3250 feet) in length, you should
keep your antenna height belo w a slope o f 50 to 1. In other wo rds,
if the elevatio n o f your antenna is more th an two m eters (6.5 feet)
high er than th e airport runway elevation for each 100 meters (325
feet) yo u are located from the nearest ru nway that is sho rter th an one
kilometer (3250 feet), you must get special permission. Finally, if you
live hear a heliport, yo u mu st keep your antenna height below a slope
of 25 to 1. In other words, if the elevation of your ant enna is more
th an four meters (13 feet) high er th an the helicopter landing pad's
elevation for each 100 m eters (325 feet) you are located from the
landing pad, you must get special permission.
If you keep these slopes in min d, 100 to 1 (long runwa ys), 50
to 1 (shorter runways), and 25 to 1 (heliports), you can avoid special
notifications. Simpl y take the distance from the nearest runway or
landing pad, and divid e it by th e approp riate slope. For example, if
you are one mile away, or 5280 feet, and th e runway is shorte r th an
3250 feet, th ereby requiring a 50 to 1 slope, simply divide 5280 by
50, and yo u ge t 105.6 feet. But if the runway is 3250 feet or longer,
44 UPlliETOWER
and the slope req uire ment is 100 to 1, you m ay go o nly to a height of
52.8 feet (5280 divided by 100).
There are also so me exemptions fro m th e slope rul e. You can
always erect an ante nna up to twe nty feet above th e ground o r above
any o the r natural o bjec t o r existing man-made structure (except , o f
course, a tower). Be sensible in taking advantage o f thi s exemption.
If in do ubt, check with a lawyer. If you live in cert ain parts o f Mary-
land, West Virginia and Virginia near th e N atio nal Radio As tro no my
O bse rvatory at Green Bank or the Naval Research Labor ator y at
Sugar Grove, yo u will not be perm itted to increase th e heigh t of
yo ur ant enna unless you give wr itten notice of yo ur plan to the Inter-
feren ce O ffice, Natio nal Radi o Astrono m y O bservatory, Box 2,
Green Bank, WV 24944. The reason fo r this restricti on is a concern
over possible interference to th ese sensitive governme nt facilities.
Remember that if you plan to erect an antenna that is high er
than 61 meters (200 feet) abo ve ground level, you will always need
prio r FCC approval. See Part9 7. 15(a) of the Amateur Rules.
Summing it all up
E mphasis from th e start sho uld be o n the mor e practical as-
pects o f planning a successful campaign fo r getting the necessary
approvals for a tower. Be realistic about th e physical limitation s o f
you r parcel o f land. Go o n an info rmation gathering mission at the
loc al building department to see which offic ials and which regula-
tions are applicable to your proposed antenna installation. Discuss
your pl an s with the local zo ning o r building official. D etermine
whe ther th e zo ning official's inter pretation of how the rule s will ap-
ply to yo ur plans is fair or should be challenge d. Also, de term ine
whether a hearing for a spe cial permi t will be necessary. If yo u are
dissatisfied with the loc al zoning o fficial's in terp retation, obtain in-
formation fro m the ARRL and seek legal advice fro m an attorney as
to whethe r th ere is any reasonable int erp retation o f th e regulatio ns
tha t wo uld permit you to put up th e antenna/tower. If th ere is no
reasonable interpretati on of th e ordinances as th ey stand, then you
need to seek eithe r a variance from the regulati ons themselves o r
m ake a frontal assault on the o rdinance as being in violation of PRB-
1. O nce you get into this area of the law, professional legal advice is
necessary.
4--LAND USE REGUL ATI ON 45
1 Amateur &dio Preemption, 101 FCC2d 952, 50 Fed Reg. 388 13(1985).
2 IVilliams v. City of Columbia , Soutb Carolina, 906 F.2d 994 (4th Cir.
1990) (1990 US. App. L EX IS 10884).
3 Bodouy v. Incorporated V illage of Sands Point, 68 1 F.Sllpp.
1009(E.DN. Y. 1987).
4 Blllchis v. City of Edmonds, 671 F.SIIPP. 1 270 (W.D Wash. 1987).
5 Hmuard v. City of Bllrlingame, No. C-87-5329 (N.D CaL JIIIY 29, 1988)
(1988 1l7ESTLA W 169074).
6 Maouiltan v. City of Rock River, 748 F.SJ/Pp. 1241, 1990 U S. Dist.
LEX IS 13591 (N.D. Ohio, Sept.21, 1990).
7 DR Evans v. Board of cOllnty Commissioners of the cOJ/nty of Boulder,
Colorado, 1990 U S. Diet. LEXIS 16123 (D. Cole. November 13, 1990).
Glossary of terms
Accessory Use, Building or Structure: A subordinate use, building o r
structure cu stomarily incidental to and lo cated on the same lo t occup ied by the main
use, building or structure. In a residenti al zo ne the house wo uld be the main bu ild-
ing, and its use as a residence wo uld be the main use. G arages, swimmi ng po ols,
tennis co urts, and ama teur radio antennas are exampl es of accesso ry structu res.
BOCA Code: A set o f engineering standards for structu res established by the
Building Officials & Cod e Administra to rs In ternation al, Inc., a nonpro fit standard-
setting group based in Illinois. Many states and town s base their own state or town
building code on th e BO CA co de, with so me variations.
Building: The wo rd "building," as used in local zoning and building regula-
tions, can mean more th an what co mmo n-sense tells you. T he "de finitio ns" sections
of some regulation s will define building in such a way as to include ante nnas and
other structures. If you find that th e height limitations app ly only to "buildings,"
check the definition s sectio n before you co nclude th at it doesn 't apply to antennas.
Building Code: Th e regulatio ns th at deal with the engin eering, safety and
int egrity of structures. Win d-loading standards are part of the bu ilding cod e.
Buildin g Inspector: The part-tim e or full-time empl oyee o f th e munici-
pality who int erp rets whe the r your proposed construction co nfor ms with the zo n-
ing regulations and building cod e. Hi s or her interpretatio n can be ap pealed (usually
to the Zoning Board of Appeals). If the decision challenged is only with respect to
the building code, however, appea l may be to a different board , usually called the
Building Board of Appea ls. Larger tow ns may have a Zoning E nforce me nt O fficer
(Z E O, see below), leaving the Building In spector to deal only with building code
enforcement . Also, don't be surpri sed if there are mul tip le build ing inspecto rs for
the electrical and structural aspe cts of yo ur proposed antenna .
Building Permit: O nce your plan s have been reviewed , yo u are given the
"go-ahea d" in the for m o f a building permit. The pe rmit is usually displayed on the
co nstructio n site. Inspections can oc cur at any stage o f con stru ction .
Co venants: Private restrictio ns th at wer e placed on the land reco rds by a
pr evio us ow ner (usually th e subd ivision developer) that can control eve rything
fro m how man y cars you may pa rk in the driveway to whe ther or not out door
ant enn as are permitted. Th e covenant s are held to be a private matter between th e
46 UPTHETO II7ER
lot ow ne r and the o the r ow ne rs in the neighborhood for whose ben efit the restric-
tions purportedly were ado pte d. Covenants are also known as " CC&Rs", which
stands fo r cove nants, co ndition s an d restriction s. A title search by an atto rney
before purc hase of the lot is the best way to avoid th ese pro blems.
Exception: See Special Ex ception or Special Use Permit.
Height restrictions: Usually, height restrictions are imposed by a chart of
minimum dime nsional requ irements. Other sections of th e regulation s may provi de
for excepti ons to the chart. Loo k for a distinction to be made between primary
buildings and accessory structures bec ause permitted heigh ts for accesso ry structures
may be differe nt . Also , the regulations may provi de that cupo las, flagpoles, anten-
nas, and similar structures are exempt from the height req uirement s.
P lanning Commission (so metimes a combined Plann ing and Zoning Com -
missio n): A land-use board that is charge d with recommend ing cha nges in the
districting of zones . It may be charge d with approving sub division pro posals. These
functions may be co mbined int o o ne board with the Zoning Commission functions .
Co ns ult your zo ning regulation s to determ ine th e exact fun ction of each o f the
following bo ard s: Planning Co mmission , Zo ning Commission, (a co mbined Plan -
ning and Z oning Commission), and Zoning Boar d of Appeals (Z BA).
Plot Plan: A dra wing showing the property or lo t, th e structures pr esentl y
erected on it, and the locatio n of the proposed anten na structure. Dimen sion s from
struc tures and bo un daries are usually required to be indicated. Some regulation s
require that th e drawing be accurate and drawn by a certifi ed surveyo r. Before
spending mone y o n a surve yor, co nsult the regulation s or building inspecto r to
determine how pre cise the plot plan has to be.
PRB-l : A declarator y ruling by the Federal Co mmunication s Commission
tha t imposes a du ty o n state and local gov ernments to (1) no t p rohibit amateur radio
communications with in their municipalities and (2) be reasonable in their regula-
tio ns to the exte nt that the restrictio ns imposed o n ama teur radio antennas co nsti-
tute the minimum practicable regulation necessary to achieve the municipality'S
legitima te goals of providing for the health , safety and welfare o f th e community.
Amateur Radio Preemption, 101 FCC2d 952 (1985). Recently PRB-l was cod ified in
th e Amateur Rules. See Section 97. 15(e).
Preemption: A legal term that indicates that one law takes priority ove r
another law: B y the Sup remac y Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Federal law takes
prio rity ove r state or local government when the re is a conflict.
Special Exception, Special Use Permit , or Conditional U se Per-
mit: A permitted use in a zo ne, bu t o ne which is not auto matically per mitted. In
other wo rd s, th e zo ning reg ulations require tha t the appli cant demo ns tra te special
need or mee t o the r requi rem en ts to the satisfaction of the Zoning Co mmission.
H owever, the land -use board th at passes judgm ent on th ese may be a board o the r
tha n the Z o ning Commission, e.g., the Planning Co mmi ssion or th e Zoning Board
o f Appea ls. Co nsult yo ur zo ning regulation s to find o ut what th e particular sche me
is in your town. It is not un usual fo r zo ning regulati o ns to require a spec ial
exce ptio n, special use per mit o r co nditio nal use permit fo r an ante n na. Suc h a
requ ireme nt is not illegal per se. However, PRB-l requires th at any res trictions
imposed be reasonable.
Structure: Th e definiti on o f "s tructure" may exclude such things as cupo las,
4 -L AN D USE REG ULA T I O N 47
belfri es, ant ennas or oth er things that normally extend above the ro of line. Look for
th e heigh t limitation s impo sed o n struct ures o r bu ildings; the n determin e whe ther
th ere are any exceptio ns to th ese heigh t limitatio ns. A lso, see "Building" above.
Vari ance: A mech anism whereby on e may obtain special relief fro m the
zo ning regulatio ns. Usually granted by the Z o ning Boa rd of Appeals (Z BA), the
app licant mu st show pr actical difficulties or unn ecessary hardship. T he difficulty o r
hardship usually may not be self-imp osed , which aut om atically render s th e amateur
radio op erator ineligible for the variance. (But for the fact that th e ham ope rator
want s to con str uct the antenna, there would be no hardship, or so the reasoning
goes.) There are two kind s of variances: Use Variances and Dimension al Variances.
The kind so ught by amateur radio operators are almost always dimen sion al, which
mean s that yo u want a variance fro m th e heigh t o r setback requirements imposed by
the zoning regulation s. Some states distinguish betwe en the two kind s by making it
easier to qu alify for dimension al variances. Othe r states ma ke no distinc tion.
Volunteer Counsel: A list of ham radio ope rato rs who are atto rn eys and
who have registered with the ARR L as willing to pro vide an initial co ns ultatio n free
of cha rge to ham s with ant enna problems. Contact: A RRL H q., Regulatory luforsration
Department, 225 M ain Street, NeJlJington, CT 06111.
Zone: A district indicated o n th e zo ning map that provides for a un iformity
of regulatio n for that par ticular area. It is imp ortant to determine into which zone
yo ur propert y lies. Fo r example, one type of residen tial zone may be mo re lenien t by
permitting higher structures than ano the r type of residenti al zo ne.
Z oning Board of Ap p eals (ZBA): T he land -use board usually cha rged
with hearing applications fo r va riances and appeals fro m the int erpretatio n of the
building inspector o r zo ning enforcement office r (ZEO). In othe r words, when a
buildin g inspecto r o r ZEO is believed to have incor rectly applied the regulation s to
a propo sed antenna structure, the app eal is mad e to the Z BA.
Zoning Commission (so metimes a co mbined Plan ning and Z oning Co m-
mission): Th e land use board that established the various zo ning districts and zoning
regulati on s and hears app licatio ns for change s in th e toning map s and regulation s. It
sometime s hears applicatio ns fo r special exceptions, depe nd ing on the regulation s'
par ticular o rganization. The Town Co uncilor Board of Selectm en may not have
delegated this law making power to th e Zoning Co mmission, in which case the
Town Council or Zo ning Co mmission makes th e decision s as to what the regulation s
are or ought to be.
Zoning Enforcement Officer (ZED): A full-time o r part-tim e employee
of the mu nicipality who is resp on sible for int erpreting th e zo ning regulations and
deciding whe the r the particular structure or bu ilding pro posed is allowed in the
parti cular zo ne. O ften the duties o f the Z EO are rolled into o ne perso n, th e
Building Inspector , who then handles th e que stion s o f bo th the appropriateness for
the zo ne and compliance of th e plans to the building co de. Th e decision s regardin g
zo ning are appealable to th e Z BA. D ecisions regarding the building code, however,
are usua lly appea lable to a special boa rd , usua lly called the Build ing Board o f
Appeals.
5
OTHER REGULATORY CON CERNS
Legal help
Besides the ARRL Volunteer Counsels previously mentioned,
there is an internet reflect or called H am- Law. It 's where th e legal
50 Upm E TOW ER
Building departments
Regardless of whe ther your local building depa rtment invoke s
the UBC or another set of buildin g codes, it really comes down to
the engineer or permit specialist that you talk wit h who makes the ir
inte rpretation of what is needed to co mply with the ir regu latio ns to
issue a permit. It is likely that they probably haven't run into anyone
building a tower befor e and you'll p rob ably have to start o ut by
helping them interpret their regulatio ns vis-a-vis your tow er project.
And I' ll guarantee you that if yo u talk to three different peop le in the
departme nt, you'll likely get three different interpretations or ans wer s
to your questions. Call the office a co uple of time s unti l yo u find
so meo ne that seems reasonable that you can wo rk with, th en stick
with them. Otherwise you' ll have to educate someone else and they
probably have a different interpretatio n anyway.
EIA/TIA-222-G
The standard that is used by tower ma nufacturers and engi-
neers designin g tower s and tower installation s is the ANSI/ EIA/
TIA-222-G, Stmctural Standard Antenna Supporting Structures and An-
tennas. T his is the official standard from the American National Stan-
dards In stitute, the E lectro nic Industries Association and the Tele-
comm unications Industry Association and is th e industry bible. The
current standard, Revision G, contains the T IA Minimum Basic Wind
Speeds for each county in the United States as well as ma ny addi-
tional tower specifications. T he lowest windspee d is 70 MP H (the
entire states of Kentuc ky and Arkansas) and the highest is 140 MPH
for D ade Co unty in Florida.
Soil tests
Alt hough not specifically called for by the UBC, many building
departments are now requi ring soil tests . This is to insure that the soil
will support the installation and this require s another engineering stamp,
this time by a geotechnical engineer. These are not cheap studies. A
geotechnical firm will typically charge severa l thousand bucks for this
study. If the building department req uires it, you'll need it anywhere
you build in the city or county. E ven if you're forty-miles from the
nearest town on a mountain-top somewhere, you may be required
to submit this in order to get your permit. You can see that although
providing this documentation is not difficult, it is measured in hun-
dreds of do llars and is another disincentive for getting a buildin g
permit. I work with a local E E. who also does soil tests. Hi s fee of
$1500 for all of the necessary paperwork is a bargain; there aren't
too many other similarly talented engineers around. Also, if these are
the standards now, you can rest assured that the TIA-222 and the
UBC will both be continually rev ised upward in co rpo rating ever
higher requirements and compliances.
Options?
What are the options? Ignoring the law ma y work for you, but
any complaint might result in your being ordered to take your tower
down . If you've doc umented the base and anchors by taking photo-
graphs before the concrete was poured and can provide the neces-
sary engin eering data after the fact, you may only be fined for not
obtaining a permit and you can retro a permit. You may want to
find a more tower-friendly place to live although these are getting
more scarce all the time. Or you might want to bite the bu llet and get
the permit.
5 -0THER REG ULATORY CO NCERNS 53
Environmental considerations
H ere's a wrinkle that's beginning to appear in some place s in the
u.s. If you are planning on building your tower on a "wetlands "
area, you ma y have to go through a State E nviro nmental Protection
Agency (SEPA) review. The agenc y has to de termine whethe r the
environme nta l impact is "significant" or " no nsignificant." As part of
the process, you may have to put an ad in the paper announcing your
plans; interested parties then have thirty days to respo nd. A local
contester who was building a new station in western \'{1ashingt on
had to write letters to his neighbors in forming them o f his intenti on
to put up a tow er. Ju st befor e the deadline expired, he was "invited"
to appear before a meeti ng o f all of the concern ed neigh bor s so th at
th ey could quiz him about his installation. Fortunately, after telling
them abo ut him self, his hobby and the specific installation , their con -
cerns were addressed and they were satisfied tha t his installation was
no t going to po se any threat; their concerns had more to do with
cellular and microwave perceived problem s. Citizen gro ups every-
where are inc reasingly fighting cellular and microwave towers on not
only aesthetic but also on potential RF radiation grounds. In fact, a
couple o f companies tha t manufacture cellular mon op oles have in-
trodu ced mo no poles that look just like trees with sides that look like
bark and branches up above just like a real tree just to respond to this
citizen sensitivity.
So wha t should you do if you're contem plating puttin g up a
tower? Eve n if the proj ect is just a gleam in your eye, I'd call the local
building department for spe cific permit requirements. Then, I'd get
the permit. A building permit is usually good for a year or more and
may be renewe d, so you might be 'grandfathered' in sho uld codes
and requireme nts change in the future. Since permits will probably
on ly be harder to obtain in the future, this may be a good insurance
policy for you. If nothin g else, just be aware th at the cos t of putting
up a to wer from now on won 't just be the cost o f th e stee l and
con crete.
6
NEIGHBORS
Your dream antenna system may just be your neighb or's night-
mare. To the average sub urbanite, the sudden appearance of a l OO-foot
radio tower above the neighborhood skyline will probably raise all kinds
of fears and concerns. D o we have a spy living on the block? Will there
be interference to my stereo, TV or telephone? What will hap pen to my
pro perty values? \X1hat if it falls down? \X1hat if my kids climb up there
and get electrocuted? What abo ut cancer-causing radio emissions? We've
all heard abo ut, known person ally or read abo ut someone who put up
a tower (or tried to) and wound up in court with their neighb ors. We
even had a local ham castigated on TV as the "Neighbor Fro m Hell." In
the absence of a regulation requiring you to noti fy your neighbors, you
have two choices.
Spouses
Spou sal ap proval can some time s be m or e diffi cult to obtain
th an neighbors' or building department's. Perhap s you could con-
vince her or him th at this is a dr eam you've had since yo u were a kid
(it's pro bably tru e anyway.) It is almost certain ly far cheaper th an that
boa t yo u've been looking at; besides, now you won't have to spend
all that time hunting, fishin g, golfing, etc . Or maybe this new tower is
a good plac e to pu t th at new yard light, TV anten na , birdhouse,
whate ver. (H olding m y br eath un til I tu rn blue usually works fo r m e!)
7
HIRE SOMEONE OR DO IT YOURSELF?
As soo n as you start planning any type of o utdoor ante nna and
tower pro ject, ge t yourself a file folde r, a three-ring bind er or so me-
th ing else in which to keep everything. You 'll have to refer back to
your notes and calculatio ns as you go along , so it's easier to have
everything in o ne place. Sketches, notes and manufacturer's spec ifica-
tio ns are invaluable add itio ns to your file. Also, keep no tes from all
telepho ne conversatio ns, includ ing date and subjec ts covered, espe -
cially those wit h bu ilding dep artment personnel and others who may
be able to in fluen ce your installatio n. A hardware listing of guy wire
sizes and type, lengths, mast ID and O D, etc. is also worthwhile.
The tower
T his part is easy. O nce yo u've decide what you want to put up, all
you have to do is call up the retailer or manufactur er and order it. R OHN
puts out packages of 25C and 45C that include additional hardware
such as guy wires and torque arms that will save you some work.
More hardware
If you're going to track down everything yourself, plan on spend-
ing lo ts of time on the phone or on the internet. O ne place that can
prove to be invaluable is a local so urce of scrap me tal. T here are
likely one or more good salvage yards in your area; a few ph one
9 -C OLLECfI N G THE H A RD WA RE 61
calls and visits can give you an idea of what they can provide. Many
tim es the y'll have galvanized angle iro n, tubing and pipe as well as
stainless steel and aluminum. It doesn't hurt to stockpile some o f this
stuff because it'll be real handy at some point in the fut ure, and
chances are pretty good that if you go back to get some, it'll be gone.
Ano ther tremendou s help is a goo d fastener or nut-and-bolt store.
Their main market is ind ustrial companies, so they'll likely be in the
industrial part o f town. Again, the Ye//01V Pages wit h a few phone calls
and visits will give you an idea of what's available.
Two excellent online resources are Grainger Industrial Supply
(www.grainger.com) wh o seems to have just about everything, and
McMaster-Carr (www.m cma ster.co m) who also has an ext ensive line
of products.
Additional hardware
Here is some additional hardware that you 'll probably need
(when I need to buy something, I always try to buy at least a few
extras to add to my spare hardware collection; I encourage yo u to
do the same):
Clevises: A clevis is a device used to couple things together. It
is generally U-s haped and has a pin to connect the holes at the two
ends of the U. It functions just like a carabiner but has a removable
pin that screws into the clevis body. Clevises are sometimes also re-
ferred to as shackles. \X!hile you can get clevises in many different
sizes and capacities, their main drawback compared to a carabiner is
that it consists of two pieces and one of the pieces can be acciden-
tally dropped. They should be used in places where you need a per-
manent coupling, such as between the turnbuckle and guy anchor or
between the tower guy attachment and the gu y wire thimble.
Clamps: Cab le clamps are used to clamp two pieces of wire
together. Their most common use is to secure a guy wire tieback. This is
where the guy wire is bent 1800 and clamped to itself, producing a loop
for attachment to another part of the guy wire system . You should
always use a minimum of three clamps on any f:,ruy wire tieback.
Thimble: A thimble is the device that goes into the loop of
9-COLLECTIN G T HE H ARD WARE 63
th e guy wire tieb ack . Its purpose is to evenl y distribute the strain on
the guy wire loo p.
All-thread: All-thread is threaded rod stock. It is available in
stainless ste el, galvanized and plated finishe s. Mo st hardware stores
carr y it in fou r o r five-foo t lengths. It can be very hand y for tower
ancho r bolts or o ther application s.
10
CORROSION
Bi-metallic corrosion
When two m etals with the right properties are in contact in the
presence of an electro lyte, bime tallic corrosion takes place. It's th e
same chemic al process th at takes place in batteries. Spec ifically, elec-
tro ns from on e metal (called the ano dic m etal) flow acro ss the joint
or junction to the o ther metal (called the cathodic me tal). In bime tal-
10- C ORROSION 65
lic joints, the more anodic metal is always the one that corrod es.
The electrolyte is typicall y some kind of salt or other co m-
pound (such as zinc) dissolved in water makin g th e solutio n co nduc-
tive . Rain (particularly acid rain), mist or co ndensation are suffi cient
for bime tallic corrosion to begin .
Galvanic incompatibility
G alvanically incompatib le metals are ones th at readily corro de
whe n in co nt act wit h other metals bec au se o f thei r ranking on th e
galvanic chart. When you mus t use different materials, it is best to use
metals th at are close together o n th e ch art. You can see th at on a zinc
galvanized tower, alumin um and mild stee l are th e most co mpa tible.
If you use materials such as copper and brass when in stalling
your tower gro und system , you can see that you will ha ve pr ob lem s
with co rrosion almost immediately.
An tioxidants
Vario us compounds are available for combating co rros io n.
These are antioxida nts and most commonly used metals ha ve several
products designed spe cifically for each of them.
Fo r alumin um anten na s, most manufacturers p rovid e a packet
of antioxidant with th eir products. Ret ard ing oxida tion is no t only a
good electrical ide a but also it fu ncti ons as an anti-seize when you go
to take th e antenna apart in th e future .
These antiox ida nts are so metimes incorrectl y called "cond uc-
tive past es o r g reases." In gene ral, th ese antioxidant compounds are
co mpr ised o f a vehicle material with m etallic chips in suspe nsion . It
is these condu ctive chips, not the vehicle material, that give it its con-
ductive properties. What hap pens is that the particles will pierc e the
layer of oxidation whi le preventing corrosion by isolating the joint
fro m th e air. BUTIERN UT'S " BurrER-IT's-N oT" uses co pper du st in a
m olybdenum suspens ion whil e M 2 pa ste use s copper and graphite
flakes in a petroleum base.
T here are othe r commercial produ cts availab le for co pper joints
which should be used o n ground systems . Just be certain to use the
right one fo r the job.
While you can see the obvious positive effe cts o f th ese com-
pounds on ante nnas and ground systems, yo u should also use so me
66 Up THE TO lf7ER
Rust
Steel towers and hardware will rust unless steps are taken to pre-
vent it. In the case of towers, they should be galvanized steel or alumi-
num. Hardware, including U'- bolts, nuts, bolts and other fasteners shou ld
either be made out of stainless steel (SS) or be galvanized. Because the
galvanizing process deposits a thin coating of zinc on the hardware, you
can't interchange SS and galvanized nu ts and bolts.
Surface ru st is ru st th at is either dep osited whe n you have wa ter
fro m a ru sted piece of hard ware run down a surface such as a tower
leg or active ru st th at hasn't yet pen etr ated the layer of galvanizing.
Neither condition is serio us but you should repair those sp ots during
yo ur annual inspection. J ust tak e yo ur wire brush to scrub off the
ru st and the n spray the sp ot with a co ld-galvanizing paint. Co ld-galv,
as it is called, is available at almost any spray paint rack. Look at th e
contents to make sure that it's got zinc in it. T he LPS COMPANY ma kes
a very good cold-galv spray that is relatively exp en sive (ano ther case
1 0 -CORROSIO N 67
o f ge tting what yo u pay for) but adheres very well. Besid es using
antioxidants o n towers and ante nnas, the y sho uld be used in ground
system joints as well as in marine environments.
Connectors
Since just abo ut every coax join t you use will be a PL-259, N -
connector o r F fitting, my recommendation for o utdoor use is to
use th e silver connector s in stead of the nickel plated variety. \'(1hen
nickel oxidizes it produces nickel oxide, which is a nonconductor:
whereas silver oxide is a conductor.
Antioxidant products
Because mos t antioxidant products are usually available only
fro m various spe cialized distr ibutors and suppliers, it is not pos sible
to walk int o your local hardware sto re and exp ect to see much o f a
selectio n. The following list o f manu facturers and suppliers sho uld
be of some help :
Manufacturer: GB ELECTRICAL
Ga rdne r Bende r
PO Box 3241
Milwaukee, WI 5320 1-3241
68 Up mE mlr'ER
800-624-4320, pr ess 1
www.ga rd ne rbc ndc r.co m .'
Product: OX-CA RD
Source: Available from many electric al supply hou ses and retail o utlets such
as Home D ep ot and ot he r hardware sto res
Manufacturer: FC l
Versailles, Fran ce
h ttp :/ / po n al.fcico n ne ct.co m /
Prod uct : BII17Idy Penetrox
So urce: Available from man y supply hou ses and some retailers
N o te: Z inc particles suspe nded in a natural ba sed co mpo und
For ver y basic purposes of this book, soil and its loadbeari ng
capacity is divided int o three main categories: no rm al, rock and sand .
Normal soil - Normal soil can be made up of loam, clay or
just about anything that isn't rock or sand.
Roc k - Spec ial design considerations need to be taken into
account when dealing with either roc k or sand . Rocky ground is
usually either solid roc k, like gra nite, or shatte red, where you have
soil aro und the rock bu t no t enough to be able to excavate easily.
Either way the rock itself can provide a very secure anc ho r.
Rock can be dri lled, whic h gives you two optio ns fo r your
anchor. The first is to use rock exp ansio n bolts. These use mechanic al
pressure to hold them in place . They are very stro ng and will provide
a bombproo f rock anc hor. T he other option is to use suitable sized
all-thre ad o r suitable ancho r bolt (available at any hardware store),
th en epoxy it int o the hole. T he re are spe cial industrial epo xies that
you sho uld use. Co nt act a local rock anchor supplier for m ore infor-
m ation on these two metho ds. (These techniques work very well for
concrete as well.)
You co uld use the rock itself for the tower base and anchors as
well. \X1hy would you jackhammer away a bunch o f rock for the
ba se and then pour concrete back in the hole when you've already
got some nifty rock just sitting there ready to use?
After ensuring that the rock is indeed big enough and intact eno ugh
to be useful, you can either drill right into the rock for base anchor rods
or pour concrete over the rock to make a nice square form. T he con-
crete and th e rock
need to be joined so
you'd need to drill a
su fficient number
of holes for an ad-
eq uat e number of
pieces o f rebar to
bond the rock and
co nc re te to gether.
An engineer should
calculate hole and
rod sizes and design. Photo 1:Typical self-supporting base with rebar, base
There ar e a section and ground level form.
11 - F oUND/\TION S AN D GU Y AN CH O RS 71
number o f tools available for drillin g in ro ck including a jackha m-
mer, an impact hammer with a coring bit or hand-held rock drill.
Check with your loc al rental sto re and see what th ey recommend.
Sand
Sand presen ts anothe r problem because it has very little hold -
ing power. Larger than normal concrete anchors cast with the co n-
crete block sitting partially o ut o f th e gro und is one optio n. T his type
is usually poured into a form and th en backfilled aro und it. If you
use a large enough blo ck of concret e, it wo n' t go anyw he re. A big
dea dman can also be ins talled. T his is a buried anchor with a big
plate o r dish buried at the ground en d. Again, co ns ult with an engi-
neer to insure the holding power o f these anchors.
Forms
The o nly co ncrete for m you really need is for the part that is
ab ove ground level. You can just use so me 2x4's to m ake a nice
rectang ular fo rm th at is slightly tilted to allow water to run o ff. T he
po int is tha t if you make th e fo rm perfectly level, th e wa ter will pool
instead of ru nning off. For larger bases, the concrete may sag in the
midd le of the base so take extra care to provid e a water pa thway
o ff th e top of the base. D o no t use a form in th e hole unless th ere is
a structural problem with the so il; e.g. river bottom rip rap th at is
prone to slo ughing. T he tower specs call for the co ncrete to placed
against undisturbed soil so no form is needed in the hole.
ph ysical addr ess of the locatio n where you plan to dig; if it is in their
data base they will send computerized noti ces to every utility which
co uld possibly be affected. T his can range from two or three in a
rura l area to as ma ny as fifteen in a dense urb an neighbo rhood . T he
utilities then have 48 hours (this may vary in differe nt regio ns) to send
out the ir loc ating crews to identify any buried lines. T here is normally
no charge for this service, unless you call to tell them you plan to dig
the next day, in which case there you could be charged fo r "emer-
ge ncy service."
To tes t this service, I phoned in an address in the small tow n in
wh ich I live. Their co mputer came up with eight utilities that needed
notifi cation: the city, the water district, th ree telepho ne companies,
the po wer company, th e gas co mpa ny and the state dep artment o f
tran sportatio n. (It wo uld never have occurred to m e th at so many
folks could be int erested!) If you have tro uble find ing a 1-800 num-
ber, phone any local utility; th ey'll be able to give yo u the number for
your area.
Fo r a guyed tower, you mu st make the same evaluation for th e
base and then determine where your gu y wire ancho rs should go.
T he easiest way to select the optim um site it is to take o ne of the
tower sectio ns and stand it up in o ne of your chosen spo ts. T he n
loo k through the tower face to the opposite leg and yo u can see the
pla ne of the guy wires. By loo king at all three legs, you can see if you r
anchors are goi ng to be in the clear. If they're not, simply lift up your
tower section and rotate it until yo u've go t the guy anchors located
where yo u want the m. Be sure to check for any trees in the guy wire
lane s. Next, take your tape mea sure and go out the desired distance
(80% of th e heigh t of the tower is a minimum) and mark the spo t.
Do that for each guy an chor and you're all set.
E xcavation
Now you've got so me soil to move. You co uld do it the old
fashioned way with a shovel and wheelbarrow if th e hole(s) aren' t
too big but it's much easier to make a ph one call and either hire a
contractor or have an excavator delivered by your local rental yard.
D oing it yourself is fun and easy. You need an excavator with eno ugh
reach to dig down far eno ugh. T here are plenty o f Kubo tas, Bob-
cats, etc. available and within 10 minutes you' ll be doing a decent job.
ll - F o UND ATI O NS AND GUY ANC HO RS 73
Reinforcing bar
After you've got everything
sited, dig the holes spe cified by
the manufacturer and install the
required reinforcing bar, o r rebar,
Reb ar is spe cified by a size; #2,
#4, etc. T he sizes refer to eight hs Photo 3:Thefinishedcage after acouple
of an inch . For instance, #4 rebar of hours. Note the X bracing on each
is 4/s" o r V2", #6 rebar is 6/8" or face. The extra lengths will be cutoffwith
%", etc. The most common is a hand grinder.
74 Up m E TOWER
Guy anchors
The ROHN spec ificatio ns for ancho rs calls for o nly I/ Z yard of
co ncrete with the hole refilled with dirt, o r backfilled. D irt, o r no r-
mal soil, offers almo st as much integr ity or strength as the concrete
does so backfilling minimizes your concrete requiremen t. Some peop le
dig th e prescrib ed hole and then go ahead and fill it with concrete.
This is o kay too, just a little mo re expensive. T he to tal co ncrete called
for by ROHN for a base and three ancho rs for a 25G tower is only 2.5
cubic yards. As man y co ncrete co mpanies have three or fou r yard
II-Fo UND ATIO NS i\ N D GUY ANC HO RS 75
rrururnum s, you may wa nt to have a use for the excess or mix it
yourself, which is a lot o f work!
Tower base
If you're installing a round-legge d tower, such as ROHN 25G or
45G, pu t at least four inches o f sand in the bottom of the hole for
water dr ainage. Rain water and conden sation will run down the in-
side o f the legs and it needs some place to dr ain. If it can't drain out,
the water will start to cor rod e th e in side o f the legs and can eventu-
ally eat th rough th e m etal and you' ll never see it because it's on the
inside. Also, if yo u have standing water in th e legs, a goo d win ter
storm can freeze the trapped water and the ice can split the legs.
Some tower manufactu rers offer a cement ba se sectio n or base
bolts that are designed speci fically to be installed in the co ncrete base.
Fo r crank-up towe rs, be sure to use th e manu factu rer's spe cs or manu-
factured base sectio n. If yo u are pu tting up a used tower, such as
BX, 25G or 45G, and don't have a genuine base sectio n, simply bu ry
a sectio n o f the tower itself in the concrete. When you move, just
hacksaw it off at the top of the base and use it for the next base
sectio n. Alth ough your tow er will shrink a few feet each time you
reinstall the towe r, this is still a pr actical thing to do. If you are putting
up a used cra nk- up and don't have a factory concrete base fixture to
install, you mu st use exactly the same size and grade of hardware th at
they spe cify. Again, do what the m anufacturer says. Call the m for
more information. If you have an y questions about your installation,
ge t a licen sed Professional Engineer involved .
Concrete c onsiderations
Now that you've go t th e hole du g and the reb ar cage installed ,
it's time to call the building inspecto r. If an inspection isn't required,
then you're ready to or der th e co ncrete.
A typica l tower co ncrete spec calls for 2500- 3000 psi strength.
You just call your local co nc rete supplier and or der it. You wo n't
need an y accelerants o r exotic mixes, th e standa rd mix is fine. E ngi-
nee ring spe cs call for 28 days for a full cure. Ke ep th e co ncrete damp
for maximum stre ngt h.
H ere's an easy way to ge t your tower installed faster by de-
creasing th e cure time . Instead of th e typical 2500 psi co ncre te, orde r
76 UPTHEJD IFE/{
5000 psi . It's only slightly mo re expensive an d it'll cure to 50% of its
specified strength (2500 ps i) in 4 days at 70 deg rees F, thus saving
yourself weeks of cur e time.
T he easiest scenario is if the concret e truck can back righ t up to
the hole and chute it in. In 15 minutes it'll be poured and all you have
to do is finish th e top o f it. If th e truck can't back up to the hole , you
can eithe r get your buddies over to hump it with some wheelbar-
rows or you can call a concrete pumping company.
T he most economical concrete pumper is a trailer or truck-
mounted line pump. It can pump up to 400 feet and can be used in
most situations. A snorkel pum per is useful if you have to go over
something but is ge nerally mo re expensive. It takes a smaller gravel
size in orde r to be pumped thru the ho se so be sure to let your
concret e supplier know if it's being pumped. T he pumping com-
pany wo rks with the co ncrete batching plant all th e time so they
might be able to coordinate it for you.
through th e oppo site face along a leg edge and ad just your tempo-
rary ro pes until all of th e legs are in-lin e with th e plumb line . If th e
wind is blowing your plumb line around, put the bottom of it in a
bucket o f water and it'll stay pu t. Whil e a bubble, o r spirit, level can
be fairly accurate, an electronic level will give you plumb within 1/ 10
of a degr ee fo r really accura te results. T he only thing that's plumb o n
a tapered towe r is th e right and left edge of th e leg as you're facing
th e leg so that's where you p ut your level. Ano ther method is to
shoot it with a tran sit. In any case indu stry standards let you be out of
plu mb 3 inches per 100 feet fo r a guyed tower so you can be o ff
slightly witho ut causing a fatal probl em .
Torque arms
Attaching the guy wires to the tower can be done in several
ways. The sim plest, bu t not reco m me nded, is to simply put the Pre -
formed grip aro und th e leg. A better method , but still not recom-
mended, is to use a big shackle with the Preformed grip and thim ble
hoo ked sha ckled around the leg. The best parts to use are what th e
manufacturer provides. R O H N, for instance, has a guy bracket assem-
bly th at uses medium sized ova l rings between the br acke t and the
end of the guy wire. These brackets also add torsion al rigidity to the
tower structure.
The R O H gu y br acke t historically had steel bars approximately
1
twe lve-inches lo ng; these were referred to as " to rque arms" because
th ey supposedly provided additional tor sional rigidity to th e tower.
When R OH N incorporated a later EIA/TIA- 222 revisio n into their
tower designs, they red esigned the guy brackets to what is available
now and ph ased o ut the old torque arms. H am s had be en using
these to rque ar ms for years and couldn't be lieve th at R O HN was no
lon ger going to sell th em . It seem s that th e old tor qu e arms didn't
m eet the new E IA/ TIA -222 spe c and in fact didn't really provide
much in th e way of additio nal to rsion resistanc e. What they did do
was to dec rease th e twisting of the tower while it was being climb ed .
After much pro testing fro m th e field, R O H N starte d offering th em
again . If you've got so me o f th e old torque arms, go ahead and use
them; the new o nes are just an improv ed design.
80 Up THE TO IVER
Star brackets
For really big antenna arrays th at gene rat e large amounts of
torque to a tower whe n the wind is blowing, you may want to use a
guy fixture called a star bracket or to rqu e ar m stab ilizer. T hese de-
vices are somewhat larger tha n the torque ar ms me ntioned previ-
ously b ut th ey also h ave two guy wires attached to each point instead
of one. Each of the two gu y wires goes to a different guy anchor
and th is arrangement practically eliminates any applied torque to the
tower. T his approach is commonly used on guyed towers that have
microwave dishes on the m that can't move in the wind. Your 75-
meter beam tower should have these as well.
12
SAFETY AND SAFETY EQUIPMENT
OSHA
O SH A is the Occupa tio n Safety and Health Age nc y of the
Federal G overnment that set s minimum safety standa rds for wo rk-
ers. E ach state has an age ncy that is res po ns ible fo r enfo rcing the
O SHA regul ations in that state. In additio n, your state agency may
have stricter regulations than O SHA; OS H A regulations are just the
minimum requ irements. Washington State laws exceed OSHA reg u-
lations in man y case s; as a result th ey have an excellent safety record.
T he key wo rd he re is occu pati on. If yo u are getting paid or
paying someone to do tower work, you or they must comply with
th e fede ral and sta te regulatio ns. If you are simply working on your
own system, or so meone else's wit hout pay, then you don't fall under
the O SH A / sta te laws. But you sho uld still ob serve th em! You sho uld
use only OSHA/state ap proved safety equipme nt an d follow th e
82 Up THE TO WE R
the tower and the climber uses a special trolley that attaches to the
cab le from the FAH. The trolley will slide up freely but will clamp
the safet y cab le if weight is put on it, thus preventing you from
sliding down the cable and tower. T hey are rare on amateur towers
but are worth co nsi deri ng.
Boots
Boots sho uld be leath er with
a steel or fiberglass shank. Diagonal
bracing o n ROHN 25G is on ly 5/ 16"
rod - spending all day standing on
that small step will take a toll on your
feet. T he stiff sha nk will sup po rt
your weight and protect yo ur feet;
tennis shoe s will not.
Leath er boots are mand ator y
on towers like Rohn BX that have
sharp X-cro ss braces. Your feet are
always o n a slant and th e tower is a
real meat grinder o n your feet .
Hard hats
The hard hat is highly reco m-
mended. Ju st m ake sure they are Photo 4:Ourclimberonthetower. His
OS HA approved and th at you and positioninglanyard isattached tothe
yo ur crew wear them. As you'll be tower and the fall arrest lanyard is
looking up and down a lot while hooked tothetower above him.
wea ring yo ur hard hat, a chin strap is essential to keep it from falling
off. Look for th e ANSI or OSHA label o n the hard hat; th at sho uld
be the minimum safety complianc e for your helme t.
Safety goggles
Approved safety goggles sho uld be worn to prevent eye injury.
Look for AN SI or O SHA approval.
86 Up TH E TOWER
Gloves
If you do a lot of tower work, your hands will take a beating.
G loves are esse ntial and I like to keep several spare pairs for ground
crew m em bers who show up without the m . Cotton gloves are fine
fo r garde ning but not for tower work; the y do n't provide enough
frictio n for clim bing or wo rking with a haul rope. Leathe r gloves are
the only kind to use; either full leather or leather-palm ed are fine .
T he softer th e gloves the m ore useful they'll be. Stiff leather
construction gloves are fine for the ground crew but I prefer the
pigskin and other so ft leathers because you can thread a nut or do
just about an y othe r delicate job wit h these gloves on.
Inclement weather
Tower work is the easiest whe n the weather is nice and the sun
is shining. Unfortuna tely, that doe sn't always coincide with your con-
stru ction sched ule or repair priority.
Fo r raising tower section s or antennas, a relatively windles s day
is pr eferred. Profe ssional climbers usually do the ir tric kiest lifts first
thing in th e morning when the chance o f wind is th e least. This'll
work fo r ham wo rk too. Don't push on in marginal conditions; you
may wind up doing more harm th an good. Obviou sly you don't
ever want to climb during a lightning storm.
As far as rain goes, unless it's coming in ho rizon tally it's mo re
o f a nuis ance . For ham towers, you'll always be belted in and yo u
won't be walking acros s any rain slicked sur faces, so working in the
rain is possible. J ust dr ess with good rain gear and you 'll be able to
still get some work do ne.
Don't he sitate to call off your project, though . If you're not
sure if the weather is good enough , it prob ably isn't.
88 Up TH E TOWER
More tips
1. Don't climb with anything in your hand s; attach it to your
safety belt if you must climb with it or ha ve yo ur ground
crew sen d it up to yo u in a bucket.
2. Don't put any hardware in your mouth ; not only does it taste
funny but also you could swallow something.
3. Remove any rings and/or neck chains; they can get hoo ked
on things.
4. Be on the loo kout fo r bees, wasps and th eir nests; there
aren't too m an y bigger surprises whe n you're clim bing a
to wer (imagine a nest big enough to engulf a portion of
25G!) . If you do run into a hornet, wasp or other stinging
insect, use Ado lph's Mea t Tenderizer on the sting. T here is an
enzyme in it that'll cut the pain within a minute or two. I
always have a bottle with me just in case.
5. Don't climb whe n tired; th at's when most accidents occur.
6. Don't try to lift anyt hing by yourself; one person on a tower
has very little leverage or strength. Let the ground crew use
their strength; save yours for whe n you really need it or yo u'll
quickly run o ut of arm strength .
7. If something doesn't work one way, re-rig, then try again .
13
TOWER CLIMBER AND GROUND CREW
kept fully informed at all times. A tower crew that has previously worked
togeth er likely has their communication s protocols and signals worked
out, whereas an inexperienced gro up of buddies and / or vo luntee rs
mu st be directed in their assignme nts at each step along the way if they
are going to work togeth er safely and efficiently.
Remember that an y tower project will take longer th an ex-
pected; usually by a factor of two or three. D on't try to rush an y-
thing to get th e p roject finished; this will only decrease yo ur margin s
of safety and greatly increase th e chance th at you'll end up doin g
things more than o nce . Even experienced crews run int o delays such
as missing tools, inco rrect size hardware, etc.
Although it may be still and qui et where you are on the gr ound,
the ambie nt noise level on th e towe r is always significantly higher.
The three main sources of noise at altitude are do gs, traffic and
wind. Co mbine th ose with being 50 to 150 feet up in the air and you
h ave m ajor communicati on o b sta cles. I've found VHF / UH F
handhelds to be useful. Stan Griffiths, W7NI, suggests using the in-
expens ive VOX-ope rated headsets th at run less than a watt o n the
47MHz band. Make sure you have good communications between
the g ro und and the tower. And mak e sure that all batteries are fully
ch arged !
Commands
H ere are th e commands that I use. I make certain that everyone
understands each of th e commands and that they all use th e same
ones . All o f th e command s refer to th e 'load' (antenna, tower sec-
tion, etc.) and are applied to the 'haul rope' (the line to which the load
is attached).
"Tension" tells your crew to put tension on the line, to take up
any slack.
O nce yo u have so me Tension, you can move th e load with
"Up" o r "Down" commands.
"Slack" means giving the load some slack.
"All slack" m ean s th e ground crew may g radually and gentlv
release their grip on the load.
"Stop" is obv ious and "Stand by" ind icates that the y should
maintain their assignme nt while awaiting the ne xt co m ma nd. Again ,
th e guy o n the tower is in ch arge; don't do anything witho ut his
instruction .
If yo u drop so me thing, alert the grou nd crew imm edi ately.
Yell "Look out below! or "Headache!" so that they ca n get
o ut of th e way of th e wa yward bolt, nut or tool. Th eir hardhat s
o nly p ro vide minimal p ro tection aga in st this occ ur ren ce. Co n-
ce ntrate o n not d ropping an ything. Dropped item s are not o nly
dan gerou s but it also m ean s that yo u' re doi ng slo p py work . A
good rigger might only d rop so mething o nce o r twice a yea r-
or eve n les s.
There are also several common hand signals that you may want to
use. Simple ones for up, down and stop can be useful, particularly in
high-noise situations.Ju st make certain everyone know s wha t they are.
Crew size
For small antenna job s, two people (one on the tower and one
o n th e ground) are usually enough. Even erecting 25G (40 pounds
13-GROUND e RE', ' 93
per sectio n) can be acco mplishe d with two people, bu t this is a case
where a third person to handle th e tag line is real handy. For 45G,
you'll want to have two people o n th e haul ro pe as these sections
weigh 70 pounds each , and a section with guy brackets is close to
100 pounds. Commercial riggers commonly use so me type of winch
or windlass to haul up heavy load s. Fo r working with large ante nnas,
such as 40-meter beams, two people o n the tower along wit h one or
two tag line folk s plu s two to four o n the haul rope means that you' ll
need a large crew:
Basic toolbox
Most ama teur tower and an tenna work can be done with a
14-ToOLIlOX 95
minimum of h andto ol s. N ut sizes o f 7/ 16", liz " an d 9/ 16" are all
yo u 'll usu ally ne ed.
Essential tools
1 set of com b in ation wrenches: 7/ 16 " , liz" and 9/ 16"
1 se t of so ckets 3 / 8 " drive
1 each de ep sockets: 7/16 ", 1/2" , 9/ 16"
1 each screwd rivers (blade and Phillips)
2 ad jus tab le pliers or Cb annellocks
1 di agonal cutters (dikes)
1 razor blade utility knife
2 pulleys
1 driftpin or centering punch (for lining up to wer
se ctions)
1 hammer (1 have a couple of feet of line on mine so it'll
ho ok onto my belt or a tower member)
3 each ad justa ble (Crescent) wrenches-small, medium,
and large
1 bubble level
6 carabiners
6 one-inch nylon web bin g slings - 2' long
250' rope (or more - this is enough for working on a 100'
to wer)
1 canvas bucket (for parts hauling and st orag e)
1 Loos PT-2 g uy wire tensioner
1 set nutdrivers
1 (or more) come-a long or h an d cable wi nch
1 (or m ore) cable grips
1 ci rcular saw with aggregate blade or hand grinder
(fo r cutting m etal, in cl ud ing guywires)
1 tag line ( If." is fin e -yo u chos e the size an d length)
1 cordl ess drill, w ith assorted b its an d socket driver
1 set drill bits including step -drill, e .g. Uni-Bit
1 an tenn a analyzer, e.g. M FJ -269
1 gi npole
1 so ldering gun and solder
96 UpJHli TO IITR
Come-alongs
A come-along, or hand cable winch,
is very useful for pulling tower sections
together , tig h ten ing tram lines and
tensioning guy wires. You'll prob ably find
more uses for it. Cheap ones are fifteen
to twen ty dollars and are fine for occa-
sional use. T he best ones for tower wo rk
are the ones that have spring-loaded safety
latches over the end of the hooks. Learn
how to work it beca use you'll have to
explain it to other people since come-
along use eludes the first time user.
Cable grips
Two tools tha t go together are the Photo 1:Canvas tower bucket.
come- along and th e cable
grip. A cable gr ip is a spring-
loaded device th at slides up
th e guy wire but clamps down
whe n you put tension o n it.
Klein is the primary supplier
o f them and th ey come in lo ts
o f sizes and design s for use
with vario us materials. Fo r Photo 2:Klein Chicago cable grip on leftand
amateu r use, th e Klein 1613- Klein Heven'sgrlponrlght.
40 is for 3/ 16" and W' E HS
guy ma ter ial wh ich happen s to be
what 90% of amateur towers use .
\X!hen erecting a tower I carry 3 of
them along with 3 come-alongs so
that I can put initial tens ion on all 3
guy wires at the same time.
Steel cutter
Event ually you' ll need to cut
so me stee l. G uy wires, rebar, pipe, Photo3:Drift-pinortaperpunch and
tu bing, tower sections, etc. are all ratchet box-end ratchetwrench.
14- Too I.BOX 97
materials that can be cut easily with th e right tool. I started out using
a circu lar saw with a steel cutting agg regate blad e. It was cumber-
so me and heavy bu t it wo rked. And since the steel cutting blad es are
cheap, it was an easy way to go. But the best cutting tool is a 4-1/2"
hand, or angle gri nder. Get one-eighth inch steel cutting blades fo r all
your cutting job s. Yo u can also get grinding wheels, wire br ush es and
other accessories for it.
Cordless drill
Yo u' ll use this all the
time, and it's just not for drill-
ing. Other tasks you can use it
for are tighte ning nuts, ho se
clam p s and o the r hard ware
and wire bru sh ing. While a
typical household drill is oka y
for oc casional small jobs, it's
worth th e investment to ge t
o ne with higher vo ltage. The Photo 4: Drill socket driverfor 3/8" sock-
minimum vo ltage for the drill etsand 5/16" nut setterfor hoseclamps.
sho uld be 12 vo lts. Hi gher
vo ltages like 18 and eve n 36 vo lts are
currently available. And be sure to
have a spare battery. My Milwaukee
co rd less dr ill even has a half-in ch
ch uck - a very desirable feature!
Drill bits
You'll obviously need a set of
dr ill bits. Other very handy item s are
step -drill bits (also known as Unibits),
so cket d rivers and single-sized nut
drivers.
Eve r tried to expand an exist-
ing hole? You take a bigger size drill Photo 5: Step drill bits. The one on
bit and start drilling. Un fortu nately theleftgoes from 1/8" to "h".The
many time s th e hol e will ovalize as one on theright goes from 3/16"
you try to m ake the hole bigger. T he to 7/8".
98 Up THE TOWE R
Antenna analyzer
T hese fabulous devices have made working on antennas easier
than ever before. I have used an M FJ-259 for years and prefer it
since you can sweep the frequency spe ctru m while you loo k fo r a
dip .
Ginpole
The purpose of a ginpole is to pro-
vide a pick-point up high enough so that
you can lift an object abo ve th e top of the
tower, th en drop it into place. Typ ical
ginpole loads would be tower section s (10
feet long) and masts (6 to 22 feet long).
You want to pick up the se loads just abo ve
their mid or balance point, so that the y
will come up in the correct upri ght posi-
tion for installation. T he ROHN ginpole is
twelve feet long, just righ t fo r lifting a
ten-foot tower section. For twenty foot
ma sts, a twelve-foot ginp ole is very mar-
ginal becaus e the re is barely ten feet o f
working length available fro m th e ginpole
and a big m ast will probab ly exceed the
rating for th e Ro hn ginpo le which is rated
for a 45 G section th at weighs 70 pou nd s.
Large, he avy-duty masts require special Drawing 1: Ginpole,draw-
handling; th ere are several options for th eir ingbased onRohn EF2545.
in stallation. (5ee chapter 18, T ower Erection ')
For ROHN 25G and 45G, a ROHN ginpole will be quite suffi-
cien t. Often these can be bo rro wed or rented from a local radio
store or club so you don't ne cessarily have to own one . For ROHN
BX, Trylon Titan or tower s from other manufacturers that have angle
legs, a different ginpo le is needed. A uni versal ginpole can be fab ri-
14-ToOLBo X 99
cated utilizing a 12-foot to 15-foot piece of 6061-T6 aluminum pipe,
o r equivalent (2.0" OD, 1/8" wall is probably sufficient). If the ginpo le
doesn't have the correct leg mounting fixtu re, you can sim ply lash th e
ginpole to a leg with some short-lines- this will suffice for m ost ham
towers. Take care to insur e th at the ginpo le wo n't slip down the leg.
I use a sling with two carabin ers o n it - one carabin er hook s the
bottom of the ginpole and th e sling attaches to a convenient tower
member with th e other carabiner.
Pulleys
Pulleys are used con-
stan tly in tower and ante nna
projects. There's always one
at the to p o f th e tower for
the haul rop e that willbe used
to bring up parts, equipment
or h ard ware. Steel pulleys
are relatively inexpensive and
pl entiful. Their bi gge st
drawb ack for amateur
p roj ec ts is weight; a sma ll
o ne weighs two or more
p ounds. Climbing w ith a Photo 6: Closed snatchblockpulleys.
few o f th em o n
your belt turns int o
wo r k. The y cost
$25 to $35, and can
be found in m an y
hardware stores or
rigging sho ps.
T he best pul-
leys I' ve found are
m ade from nylon
and are used by util- Photo 7:Open snatch block pulleys.
it)' company line crews. Their nonconducting advantage for high volt-
age work is obvious, but th ey are just wo nderful for ama teur proj ects
and available from Ch ampion Radio Products. Two important things
to consider wh en shopping for pulleys are shea ve size and sheave
100 Up THE TOIVER
Carabiner ratings
Mountain climbing carabiners used to be rated fo r br eaking
strength; a typical ratin g was 2000 kilogram s (4400 pounds) or m ore.
T he probl em was that this was a static load condition and did n't
really reflect th eir use in dynamic climbing o r falling situation s. Cara-
biners are now rated in kiloN ewtons (kN); th is re flects a more real-
istic dynamic load stress . (O ne kN equals 225 pounds o f force.)
Curren t ratings for mountain climbing carabiners are typically in th e
6 to 10 kN (1350-2250 pou nds of force) range with the gate open
and 18-2 5 kN (4050-5625 pounds of for ce) with th e gate closed.
A word of cautio n: mountain clim bi ng carab iners are not
OS HA approved. As they are for p rivate use, they do n't have to be
co mpliant. And in the case o f tower construction th ey're just going
to be used for loads an yway. O SHA approve d carabiners are also
available, the se are called safety hook s and can be pu rchased fro m
your safety equipment supp lier. OS HA approved devices are usually
made o ut o f steel, ins tead o f the aluminum used in m ountain climb-
ing carabiners, and generally are th e locking type. A typical rating fo r
a co m mercial carabiner is 40kN (9,000 pounds o f fo rce), a mu ch
higher rating than mountain climbing types. On th e o ther hand , m oun-
tain climbers have been tru sting th eir lives to carabiners for almost
fifty years and the current versions are mad e out of sophisticated
materi als and thoroughly tested. You may feel th at they are safe for
yo u to use also. They typica lly cos t $6 to $10 and will last for years
with little or no maintenance. But if and whe n th e gate no longer
opens and clos es smoothly, the y sho uld be discard ed .
Slings
T he othe r indi spensable tool is the loop sling made fro m o ne-
inch nylon tubular webbing. T he sewn webbing loop s can be wrapped
i s -C A RA BI N ERS AN D SLINGS 103
aro und large o r irregu larly shaped ob jects. They have around the
same breaking stre ngth as cara biners (approximately 4000 pound s,
or 18.1 kN force) and are very handy for ama teur app lications and
loads. Wrapping o ne around a tower ru ng o r leg provides a conve -
nient place to hang tools, part s o r a pulley.
Like carabiners the y are not OSHA approved but they're used
for mountain climbing protection everyday so if you don't feel that
o ne-inch webbing slings are appropriate for yo u, you can purchase
OSHA approved slings from yo ur safety equ ipment supplier. Like
carabiners, th ese are no t typica lly used in tower work for fall protec-
ti on - the y'r e
u sed fo r lo a d
ha uli ng. The
OSHA ap -
proved ones are
typ ically made
from yellow ny-
lon and are cer-
tified for a given
strength factor.
They are avail-
Photo2: Nylonsling on tophasaneye ineach end. Bottom able in different
sling isendless loop. sizes, and con-
figurations from having loops at each end to being a continuo us
loop like one -inch m o untain climb ing slings. Alth ou gh they are more
expe nsive than the one-inch webbing slings , the y will last for years
and are an excellent rigging and safety investment. I personall y use
the lighter mountain climbing type s for eve rything except big load s
like a tower.
pulley to it.
3. Use a sling to ho ist each tower section and to keep
it vertical.
4. Pu t a loop through your level, the n clip it to yo ur
belt with a carabiner.
5. Always have a cara biner clipped into the bowline at
the end o f your hau l rop e and tag line for quick
load attachme nt.
6. Clip a carabiner into the U-bo lt o n your rotator to
haul it up.
16
ROPES, KNOTS AND ROP E MANAGEMENT
Manila
Mani la is still the best known natural fiber rope. At one time it
was th e best rope available but it is steadily losing gro und to the
synt hetic fiber ropes. Manila mu st be handled and stored with car e as
an y dampness will cau se it to ro t and, o f course, m aterially damage
its effectiveness and safety.
Polypropylene
P ol yprop ylene is u sed to make lightwei ght, stro ng r opes
that have exte nsive use s. T hey float on w ater, are rot-proof
and are unaffected b y water, o il, g as o lin e and mo st chem i-
cal s. Pol ypropylene r op e is relativel y sti ff an d do e sn't take a
knot we ll.
108 UPTHETOIf7ER
Nylon
Ny lon is the stronges t fiber ro pe commercially available. Due
to its elasticity, nylon ro pes can absorb sudden sho ck load s that wo uld
bre ak ro pes of o the r fibers. They have very good resistance to abra-
sion and will last four to five times lo nger than natural fiber ro pes .
Nylon ro pes are rot -proof and are not dam aged by oils, gasoline ,
grease, marin e growth or most chem icals.
D acro n
A dacron ro pe is adv ertised in the ham radio magazines. It
comes in three sizes (-'/32",3/16" and 5/16") and its claim to fam e is
th at it is UV resistan t. This would be an excellen t candidate for any
rope left o utside such as permanent haul ro pes o r wire antenna hal-
yards.
Rop e lay
All rop e is twisted, or laid; and just abo ut all laid rope is three-
strand construction . This laid rop e is what yo u'll find at your local
hardware store. An other type o f rop e is known as braid-o n-braid,
or kern mantle. T his has a laid co re that is covered with a braided
jacket to produce a stro ng, handso me, easy han dling rope. In m ost
instances, braid-on-b raid rope is stro nger than twisted rop e of the
same material and diameter. It is available in various synthetic fibers.
Mari ne supply stores and mountain climbing sto res carry a large va-
riety o f braid-on-braid types as well as a variety o f types and sizes.
16- Ro PES, KNOTS AN D RO PE M AN AG EM E NT 109
Which rope to use
There are severa l fac tors to h elp yo u make an in fo rmed
ch oice about whi ch ro pe to buy. First, decide whic h size will suit
yo ur needs, based on wo rking load sizes . Mo st ama teur loads ar e
less tha n 100 pounds, ve ry rar ely do they get above 25 0 po unds .
So a haul rope h avin g a wo rki ng loa d range between 100 and
250 pounds will h andle just ab out anythi ng. Second, ch oose th e
typ e an d m at erial of yo ur ro p e. Pol yp ro pylen e rop e is stiffer an d
m o re difficult to kno t th an nylon. N ylon and braid- o n-b raid ro pes
are so fter and will take a kn ot ve ry eas ily. Th e so fte r rope s also
coil more easily and ar e m ore resistant to kin king. Fin ally ch oo se
the length th at will be
th e m o st useful fo r yo u.
I f yo u double th e size
o f yo u r typic al tower
a n d a d d 25 %, yo u ' ll
h av e pl enty. A 100-
foot to wer t im es tw o
give s yo u 200 fee t pl us
50 fe e t (2 5% of 200 )
for a total d esired haul
ro pe len gth of 250 feet.
I h av en 't men -
tioned price because you
ge nerally get wh at yo u
Photo 1:One convenient wayto store your rope.
pa y for an d yo u kn o w
what your budget will allow. Prices vary from $18 for 600 feet of
1//' po lypropylene to $125 or m ore for 165 feet o f high qu ality
kernmantle climbing rope.
I carry two lengths of 9/ 16" braid-an-braid for haul ro pes. O ne
is ap proximately 175-feet long and can be used on to wers up to 80
feet . The othe r haul rope is aro und 350-fe et long and can be used for
tower work up to 165-feet. T he shor ter ro pe is coiled when not in
use and the longer o ne is simply fed int o a plastic crate fo r storage. If
you feed the rope into the crate properly, the ro pe will feed o ut of
the crate without kinking o r kno tting.
Make certain th at the ro pe en ds will no t unravel. Most sup-
ply stores will cut th e len gth with a h ot kn ife; tha t will do th e be st
110 Up THE TOWE R
Knots
O nce you've got your rope, you'll be tying and un tying it do z-
ens, even hundreds, of times. You can do about 98% of your towe r
and antenna work with only three knots-and you already kno w one
of them. It's all but impossible to use a rope without tying any knots
in it, remember th at an y knot will decrease the breaking str ength of
the rope-usually 40% or more. Choos e and use th e correct rope
and kn ot s for the job , and you should have no problem s.
Overhand knot
When yo u tie yo ur shoes, you're using overhand knots. These
are tied by making an overhand lo op, then pa ssing the end under and
up through the loop and then tightening. A ver y handy use for the
overhand knot is wh en
you need a loop in
~
the midd le of
yo u r rop e. Ju st . "-='. ~~
~
The bowline
This is perhaps th e mo st use-
ful knot you can know; if yo u're
going to be stuck on a desert is-
land and yo u can only take one
kn ot with you, this is it. The bo w-
line form s a loop that will not slip
or jam, yet unties easily. It is used
for hoisting, joining two ropes and
fastening a rope to a ring or cara -
biner. This is th e " rab bit comes up
16- R oPES, KNOTS AN D ROP E M AN AGE M ENT 111
through the hol e, around th e tree and back down the hole" knot th at
you likely learn ed as a Boy Sco ut. To tie it, form a sma ll loop in the
ro pe. Run the end up through the loop, behind th e standing part,
then back down through the loop. Pu ll tight . Practice this one unti l
you can make it alm ost automatically.
Figure-eight knot
Altho ugh the bowlin e is a hand y knot, it isn't foolp ro of; it re-
quires a bit of practice to get it right every time . A simpler knot th at
may be used in most situa tio ns in place of a bowline is the figure-
eight kno t. It is tied just
like a doubled ov erhand,
excep t that the rope is
tw iste d an additional
half-turn before the knot
is pu lled th rough the
loop. It is one o f th e few
knots that can be easily
untied after holding a se- Sup 1 Sup 3
Truckers' hitch
Many time s you're wo rking with a rope and you want to tighten
th e rope as much as you can bu t using a ro pe grip and come-along
112 Up TIfF TO WE R
Rope care
Inspect your rope periodically and replace it if there is an y
visible serious abrasion or damage. Mountain climbers ro utinely re-
place their ropes after the y sustain a single hard fall, which can cause
invisible internal damage; also afte r their ropes are exposed to a sea-
son or two of deteriorating ultraviolet sunlight. H ere are some addi-
tional tips for using ropes:
1. Be certain your rope size is adequate for the job; don't use a
rope that is too small.
2. Dry your rope before sto ring it. N atural fibre (Manila) ro pes
will mildew and rot if stored wet. I occasionally put my
nylon ropes in th e clothes dr yer for a bit (low heat) when
they've become really soaked .
3. Don't store ropes in dire ct sunlight; UV deterioration will
significan tly we aken th em .
4. Cut out and discard any badly wo rn or abraded portions
of a ro pe; better to have two shorter ropes yo u can tru st
than o ne long one that is suspe ct . Heat and/ or tape th e
new ends to prevent unraveling.
5. K eep yo ur rope clean. Don't drag it through the mud, nor
ov er a rough or gritty sur face. D on't ever step on it, either!
6. Watch for kinks; they can cause permanent damage and
16- R oPEs, KNOTS AN D ROPE ~IANAGEMENT 113
weakening.
7. Protect ro pe s fro m all ch emi cals such as acids, oils, gasoline,
paint s, solvents, etc.
8. Avoid sudde n stra ins; shock loadin g or jerking may cause
failure.
9. Avoid overloading. A safe working load for a ro pe is ten-
to twenty-percent of its b reaking stre ng th.
10. Avoid abrasion. If th e ro pe mu st ru n over a towe r leg or
any sur face with a sharp edge, protect it with a layer or two
of canvas o r o the r such material.
11. Avoid sharp angle ben ds; th ese can g reatly affect the strength
o f a rope.
17
G UY WIRES
Cable fittings
The three most common methods of terminating guy wires
are to use cable clamps, swaged or crimpe d presse d fittings or Pre-
formed guy gr ips.
Cable damps
T he most common, and the chea pest cable fittings are cable
clamps. Always use three per joint and make certa in that the saddle is
o n the live side o f the guy wire.
\'V'hen you pu t your guy wire th rou gh a thimble or in sulato r
and double it back to pu t your cable clamp s on it (this is called a
116 Up m E TOII7ER
Swaged fittings
Swaged fittings produce a strong, clean connection; if yo u do n't
17-G uy ""IRES 117
lik e the cobbled
lo o k of lo t s of
cabl e clamp s ,
sw agin g may be
fo r you. T he most
comm on swages Photo 1:Aswagedguywiretermination.
are N icopress fittings.
Whil e th e fittin gs th em selves are relatively inexp en sive, you have to
buy or rent a Nicopress tool to crimp them o nto the guy wire. And
you can't remove the m o nce th ey're crim ped on.
Preforms
Preformed guy g rips (or Big-Clip Dead-Ends) are the easiest to
use, and naturally the mo st expensive. Yo u sim ply curl them onto th e
end of the guy wire to produce a pe rma ne nt termination . P reformed
cabl e grips have virtually replaced cable
c Location of t his
C Iamps lor po\ver, color code/cross-over mark
telep hon.e, .and Ide~tiOn ~ is underneath
Short Leg ~
communlca ti o n s . . - Color Code and
compa n ies. Fac- ~~ro;;-OverMarkS Long L~
Installing Preforms
Preformed guy grips are precision device s, de signed to be in-
stalled by hand ; do not use an y tools to install th em . They shoul d be
in stalled onl y in conjunction with heavy-duty wire rope thimbles.
1. In sert a heavy-du ty thimble into the eye of th e Pre-
form, th en through th e att aching hardware (shackle,
etc.).
2. Wrap the first leg (eithe r one) around the guy wire
with two complete wrap s. Simpl y wrap th em around
th e guy wire. Line up the cro ssover m arks, then wrap
the second leg with two complete wraps , ending op-
posite th e first leg.
3. Com plete the installation by either sim ultane ously
wrapping both legs (keeping the legs opposite each
other) or alternate th e legs a couple of wraps at a
tim e. Bending the E HS guy wire as yo u wrap th e Pre-
form leg around it will m ake it easier to att ach.
4. Finish th e sho rt leg first, then the long leg.
5. Seat th e ends of the legs by hand. If th at won 't do it
th en use a flath ead screwdriver under th e end o f the
strands. For Phil!ystrall you may need to sepa rate the
strands to finish the ends of the Preform.
6. Attach a black tie-wrap o r end sleeve around the grip
at the end to secure it.
Phillystran
Introduced in 1973, Phil!y.rtrall gives the strength o f E HS steel
wire with th e added adva ntage that it is nonconducting, thu s it's elec-
trically trans parent to RF. It consists o f a polyureth an e resin im preg-
nated aramid rope with a thick extruded jacket o f specially fo rmu-
lated p olyurethane. Its nonconductive property ma kes it ide al for
tower syste ms where so me ante n nas will be under o r clo se to guy
wires. G uy wire interacti on with stacks and wire antennas will be
eliminated by using Phil!y.rtrall.
When the original Phil!p tran was in troduced , only speci al (and
expe nsive) cable end soc kets could be used. Besides costin g $18 each
thirty years ago, yo u had to pot each so cket end with a special, m essy
potting compo und.
A new, improved Phil!pfran was introduced several years ago
th at not onl y co nsists of a new core formula but also a different
jacket material,
7x19 stainless steel cable), it can be used for other materials . As the
tensio n o n a cable is increased, it becomes more rod-lik e. I put som e
3/ 16" E H S in series with so me 3/16" 7x19 galvanized cable and a
length of HPTG4000 Phillystr an and put 400 pounds of ten sion o n
it. I used a recently calibrated Dillon to set the tensi on. Then I me a-
sured each segment of cable and the y all me asured within a couple
o f perc ent o f the Dillon, pro ving the accuracy and usability o f the
Loos for different materials. The only caveat is th at since Phillystran is
typically thicker than its wire cou sins, o nly th e HPTG4000 will fit into
th e keeper at the top o f th e Loos to be m easur ed directly. Since
recommended Phillystran install ation calls for steel cable from the
end of the Phillystran (abo ut 10-15' up) to th e anchor, you can me a-
sure th e tension on th e steel with no problem. The reason for the
steel down to the anchor is not only can the Phillystran be cut easily
with a razor knife, but also the PVC jacket can also catch fire either
from vandalism or a ground fire causing a tower failure .
Even if you have to estimate guy tension, the important point
is to tighten all the guys so th ey're all approximately the same. H aving
them all equalized is mech anic ally important.
Section stacking
After rigging th e ginpo le (the haul ro pe goes up the m iddle of
the pipe, acro ss th e pulley, the n down to the load), attach the leg
bracket to the top of the top section , below th e top brace. Make
certain that it's secure be for e you push the ginpole ma st up to th e
18-T OWER ERECTIO N 125
extended position where it'll be ready for the lift.
Your gro und crew will attach the haul ro pe to the
sectio n and, on th e command of th e tower climb er,
will start to pull on the haul rope.
Route th e haul line th rou gh a snatch block (a
snatch block is a pulle y that op ens up at th e top so
you can put it in the middle of a rope) at the bot-
tom of th e tower to transfer the hauling effort from
pulling down to pulling ho rizo ntally. Pullin g verti-
cally is all arm streng th plus you're a likely target for
falling obj ect s being close to the tower. Us ing the
snatch block will let you pu t th e ro pe aro und your
hips and just walk back wards to pull the load up. i/
You'll be using larger muscle g ro up s, and hoisting
will be much easier in addition to being able to ~ I
feedlin e already atta ched. It' ll give yo u lots o f heada ch es during in-
stallatio n and you'll invar iably wind up rerouting it anyway.
Rotation loops
There are 2 ways to make a rotation loo p for your cables. O ne
way is to tap e all th e cabl es coming down the mast togeth er and th en
allow an extra 3-4 feet before securing it to a tower leg. The bundle
will have so me rigidity and tha t will help keep it out of harm's way.
Make sure that it doesn't snag o n anything and you'll be good to go .
The seco nd method o nly wo rks if yo u have a flat-topped tower.
You wind the cable aro und th e mast 2-3 times in a diam eter that is
smaller than the top plate so that it lays o n the flat surface. T his is the
sam e me thod used by th ose pneumatic masts mo unted on electro nic
newsgathering trucks.
ping them with a layer or two of electrical tape will prevent any UV
damage.
For bigger bu nd les of cables or bigger, heavier cables, use of
a hoisting grip is a good method. A Ke llum grip is a closed woven
sleeve that ho lds the cable like a Chinese finger pu zzle - the more
you pull it, the tighter it gets. T hey are sized very specifically. It's easy
to pass a naked cable thr u it but it's no t easy to put a piece of RG-8
with a PL-259 on the end thru it. Andrew also makes woven hoisting
grips but theirs are open and you sew them togeth er with a supplied
piece of small wire. T he advantage here is tha t they can be installed
anywhere on the cable and the grip can be pushed together to allow
a co nnector to pass thru it.
A simpler, cheaper way to go is to use a ho se clamp at the top
of the tower to take the weight . Be careful no t to deform the cables
and this will work fine.
19
MASTS
The Math
T he m ath and physics involved with mast specificatio ns is o ut-
132 Up TH E TOWER
side the scope of this bo ok. For the best discussion of this topic,
read the excellent tre atise Ph ysical Design of Yagi Ante nnas by Dr.
David B. Leeson, ex-W 6QHS, now W6NL. ! This is a great additio n
to your tower library.
ule 40, Schedule 80 o r ano ther such rating. \Vhi le pip e can be very
heavy, that doesn't directly tran slate into strength, spe cifically yield
strengt h. For sma ll sized installations where you are either installing
small antennas or have th em mounted right at the top o f th e tower,
yo u can probably get away with pipe but it has its limitations and
sho uld be avoided if at all possible,
Ma st streng th
When specifying a mast, it is importan t to choose a stro ng alloy.
1. D avid R. Lesson, "Ph ysical D esign of Yagi Antennas," (American Radio Relay
League, 1992),
19-M AsTs 133
All me tals hav e a prop erty called "yield stre ngth" which is a measur e
of the poin t at which a metal will perm anentl y defor m (bend) unde r
stress. It is th e yield strength which determines the suitability o f a
ma st for an application; exceed th e yield streng th and you' ll have a
failure. The high er the yield strength, the better tha t alloy will be for a
mast; also the mo re expe nsive.
Another fact o r beside the alloy th at has a significant effect on
the relative strength of a mast material is th e mast fabr ication pro-
cess. Fabrication categories o f carbon steel tubing are electric resis-
tanc e welded (E RW) , cold-drawn butt welded (CD B\XT) , cold dr awn
(CD) and drawn over mandrel (DONI). In additio n, heat treatm ent
is a major variable in ste el. It makes a big difference in strengt h and
can be worth the additional cost.
Mast size
Just abo ut every thing having to do with H F beam installatio ns
is geared to a two-inch on (o uter diam eter) m ast. Ma st m ounting
brackets, U- bolts, rotators, tower ro tator shelves and th rust bearings
are all de signed aro und a two-inch mast. If you wind up using water
pip e, it has a 1.9" O D. and will caus e your rotator to turn slightly
eccentrically if you use a thrust bearing. Mos t VH F /U H F ant enna
hardware, o n the other hand, is design ed for m asts of 1.50" to 1.75"
O.D.; the standard for m ost TV antennas.
If you have a large array, you m ay cho se to use a three-inch
mast. R OH N makes a three-inch thrust bearing so th at is no pro blem.
The Y AE SU and th e O RlON rotators use a self-aligning ma st clamp
that will accommodate just about any size ma st. If yo u standardize
on two-inch hardware you won't go wrong.
Wind load
This is the term enginee rs use wh en designing towers and other
str uctures. T hese are the mini mum s, and yo u should increase the wind
spe ed figure if you live in a spot th at has po tentially higher wind
speeds, such as on to p of a ridge o r near water.
Calculating wind load ing is an en gineering exer cise expl ained
exten sivel y in th e Leeson bo ok . What's im p o rtan t here is that
wind sp eed , alo ng with antenna load in sq uare feet, are the two
det ermining factors for tower construction and ma st se lecti on.
134 Up TH E TOWE R
I 1 - -
Mean Velocity
50.0 MPH 10.0 PSF
60.0 MPH 14.4 PSF
70.7 MPH 20.0 PSF
86.6 MPH 30.0 PSF
100.0 MPH 40.0 PSF
I l1. 8 MPH 50.0 PSF
122.5 MPH 60.0 PSF
Steps
If you're goi ng to have mor e tha n o ne antenna on your mas t, at
so me point you're going to want to b e ab le to wo rk on th e top
antenna. If it's o ut of reach , you'll need some ste ps to climb th e
mas t. The simplest one is made out o f two o r three-inch steel angle
iro n o r aluminum and a length o f 15 to 18 inch es is ideal. Drill two
hole s to take a two -inch U-bo lt (if you have a two- inc h ma st) and
install the steps at convenient distanc es up the mast. Install them with
saddles if possible and the y'll be both safe and comfortable. You
136 Up ?HE TOIrER
Attenuation
Attenuation is the measurement of sif,'11al loss in a cable as a result
of inner conductor loss, oute r conductor loss, dielectric loss and radia-
tion loss. Abo ut 90% of the attenuati on comes from the inner and outer
conductor loss, while about 5% to 7% is from the dielectric loss.
Attenuation may be expressed in the form of a perc entage of
transmission efficiency.
Total Attenuation Efficiency
1.5 dB 71%
3.0 dB 50%
6.0 dB 25%
138 Up THE TO II7ER
Power ratings
Power ratings come in two categories; peak po wer and aver-
age power rating. The peak power rating is limited by a vo ltage
breakdown between the inner and outer conductors and is indepen -
dent of frequency. The average power rating is go verned by the safe
long-term operating temperature of the dielectric material and de-
crea ses as the frequency increases.
A cable with a solid dielectric will handle higher po wer than a
cab le with a foam dielectric. RG-8/ U with a solid dielectric will handle
5000 volts ma ximum w hile the same cab le with foam dielectric only
has a 600 volt rating.
Many amateur transmitter dut y cycles are so low that substan-
tial overload is permissible on current peaks so long as th e SW R is
relatively low, such as less than 2:1.
Shielding
This is the ability to keep unwanted signals out and wanted
signals in. Most high grade coax has 96% shield while BELDEN 99 13
and its relative s have 100% shield. If yo u don't mind hearing from
2 0- C O A XI A L CABLE 139
your neigh bors occ asionall y, less shielding may be worth the bargain
price. Otherwise, stick to th e good stuff; remember, you get what
you pay for.
Connectors
Co nsiderations sho uld be given to co nnec tors as well. Not o nly
the type (UHF/ PL- 259, N-type, etc.) but also th e mate rial is impor-
tant. T he connector material be co mes a factor over tim e as the m a-
terial oxidizes. Gold or silver oxides are co nductive while nickel ox-
ides are ferro magnetic and can cause non-lin earities and IMD prob-
lem s. Silver connect or s sho uld be your long-t erm choice. T hey also
take solder mo re easily than their nickel-plated cousins.
So far as peak power han dlin g rati ngs of co nn ecto rs, bo th
UHF and N -t:ypes are rated at 2.0 kV D C vo ltage with a p eak power
of 10KW at a VSW R of 1.0. Anyo ne who 's tried to run 5KW int o
RG -8/U with PL- 259's o n it will tell you th at those figures are prob-
ably opti mistic.
For VHF/UHF or even serious HF applications, N -type conne c-
tors are the preferr ed ones. T hey have slightly less insertion loss than PL-
259's but their main advan tage is that, unlike PL-259's, they are water-
proof; there is a rubber a-ring gasket betwee n connectors that insures
that no water can get in. T hey're more expensive and you'll have to stock
up on adaptors, elbows, barrels, etc. but it might just be worth it. For
VHF/UHF applications, it is a given that you should use them.
Impe dance
Altho ugh coa xial cable can be manu factured fo r any imped-
ance value from 35-ohms to 185-ohms, the most common coaxia l
cable impeda nce used by amateurs is 50-o hms. Transmitters, low-
pass filters, amplifiers and antennas are generally designed for 50-
ohm unb alanced ope ration. T he reason for th e 50-o hm characteris-
tic is that it is a compromise between low attenuation (75-o hms ) and
po wer handling capa bility (30-ohms) .
140 UP7HE 7DIJ7ER
Bending radius
A normal amateur insta llation will crea te bends and turns in the
fecdline run. Bendi ng coa x is acceptable as lo ng as the minimum
bendi ng radius is not violated. A typical bending radiu s is a mu ltip le
o f the coa x diam eter. Fo r example, a common spe c for RG -8 mini-
mum bending radiu s is 4 inches, which is a multiple of 8 (1/ 2" O D
X 8). T here is a bending rad ius parameter for all coa x cabl es so do
yo ur homework and treat the coax with care. Coa x with mor e rigid
shield materials will have a larger bendi ng radiu s.
RG-8/U vs RG-213
T he m ost common coax used for amateur applicatio ns is RG-
8/ U. Altho ugh one brand of RG-8/ U is basically the same as any
other brand, there is often a significant difference in the qu ality and
co st o f the materials and in the manufacturing consistency and qu al-
ity. As with m any other things, with coa x yo u get what you pay for.
The easiest way for m anufacturers to cut the cost o f their coax is to
cut down th e amo unt of copper braid in th e shield. A shield cover-
age o f 97% indic ates a high-quality coax, but if you can see a lot of
dielectri c showing through th e br aid, it's pro bably a lower gra de
coax. RG -8/ U has a cellular polyethylene (o r foam) inner dielectric
and a black PVC jacket.
Many ama teurs insist on using RG-21 3/ U which, altho ugh it is
slightly lossier th at RG-8/ U, offers two significant benefits. First, RG-
213/ U is a des ign ation th at can only be used by cable s manufactured
to th e military spe cificatio n for that cable, both for materials as well
as manufacturing processes. This results in a mo re consistent product
th at doesn 't have sloppy splices in th e middle of it. Using RG-213/ U
minimizes this kind of potential problem.
Ano ther advantage of R G-213/ U is th at the jacket is made
fro m no n-co ntaminati ng PVC unlike regular RG-8/ U. Any cable used
outdoors is subject to years o f sunlight abu se. The UV radiation
fro m sunlight causes a chemical reaction with the standard PVC jacket
material and the chloride from th e jacket material (polyvinyl chlor ide,
remember?) starts to migrate, o r leach, toward the inner dielectric
and throu gh th e copper braid . Not o nly does th e braid get all gumme d
up, bu t also it degr ades th e performanc e of th e coa x and it only ge ts
worse over tim e. In an extreme case, the chloride will coat each
l O -C O AXIAL CABLE 141
strand of braid and actuall y insulate each strand from th e o thers.
You 'll have continuity o n each strand bu t not from one to the other.
The SWR of the coax (no t the antenna) will rise over tim e du e to th is
feedline degradation and you'll have to replac e it. If you are in the
Sunbelt o r are at a higher than average elevation, th e non-contami-
nating jacket is probably mand ator y. In the cloudy Pacific North-
west, it is not as critical for long-t erm reliability.
A disadvantage of RG -8 with foa m dielectric is that the
foa m will cold flow over time. T hat is th e ce n ter co nd uc to r will
actually move in the diele ctr ic over several years. T hi s usu ally isn 't
a big d eal if yo u do n't have any signi fica nt be nds in your RG -8,
but does become a p roblem if yo u've woun d a coaxial choke
ba lun for your antenna and it's in full sunlight. In tha t case the
cable gets ho t eno ug h to so ften up.
Many ham s co nsider only th e BELDEN br and o f cables. BELDEN
is recogni zed as a quality manufacturer of man y differen t kind s of
pro fessional cables and typ ically their prices are high er. Othe r manu-
facturers o ffer co mpeti ng products and are o ften many times less
expensive. In addition to COLUMBIA and TIME cable products, the re
are o ther brands that are worth a look. D on't be afraid to co nside r
o ther brands to save so me money.
Cheap dBs?
What does all this m ean? To a ham with a tribander at fifty-feet,
probably not a wh ole lot. Ju st use good coax and enjoy operating.
But if you want to improve your signal, you migh t want to dig a little
deeper.
T he first th ing to consider is to use larger diam eter cable, spe-
cifically CATV or other hardlin e. T his will significantly decrease yo ur
attenuatio n. A co nte ster and D X'er, Paul Reiter, \W 7I , gave him self
142 Up THE TOIr/ ER
H ardline connectors
T here have been dozen s of schemes over the years to use plumb-
ing hard ware or o the r ma terials to fabr icate so mething tha t you can
plug a PL-259 int o. Some of the ideas seen seem simple and reliable
whi le othe rs are not. If you're goi ng to do it yourse lf, stay away fro m
dissimilar metals and make certai n the co nnectio n is wate rproof. Oth-
20-COAXIAL CA BLE 143
erwise my recommendation is to bu y and use th e connecto rs from
th e manufacturer. You've alread y saved a ton of money by getting
the hardline free, now spend a bit to get som e go od connectors. If
you can only afford one, get o ne for th e end out in th e weathe r and
fabricate th e one in the shack. That sho uld minimize your potential
p ro blems.
Burying coax
T here are seve ral reasons wh y you migh t ch oose to go to all th e
wo rk of burying your coa x. O ne is th at direct burial cable is virt ually
free from st orm and UV damage, and usually ha s low er mainte-
nanc e cost th an cable tha t is out in the open. Ano ther reason might
be aesthe tics; a buried cable will be acceptable in almost all commu-
nities. Also, being underground doe s a great job of de-coupling the
feedline that minimizes inter-station interfe rence as well as RFI.
Although any cable can be buried, a cable th at is specifically
design ed for direct burial will have a longer life. The best cable to use
is one that has a high -density polyethylene jacket because it is bo th
nonporous and will take a relatively high amount o f compressive
loads. In some direct burial cables, an additio nal m oisture barrier o f
pol yethylene grea se m ay be applied under th e jacket; this allows th e
material to leak o ut, thus "h ealing" small jacket penetrations.
H ere are some direct burial tips:
1. Because th e outer jacket is the cable's first line of defense, any
steps which can be taken to pre vent damage to it will go a lo ng way
toward maintaining th e internal characteristics of the cable.
2. Bury th e cable in sand or finely pulverized dirt, without sharp
sto nes, cinders or ru bbl e. If th e soil in the trench does not meet these
requirem ents, tamp four to six inches o f sand into th e trench, lay th e
cable and tamp another six to eleven inch es o f sand above it. A
creosoted or pressure-treated board placed in th e trench above the
sand prior to backfilling, will provide some p rotection against subse -
qu ent da mage that co uld be caused by digging or driving stake s.
3. Lay the cable in the trenc h with some slack. A tightly stretched
cabl e is mor e likely to be damaged as th e fill material is tampe d.
4. Examine th e cable as it is being installed to be sure the jacket
ha s no t been dam aged during storage o r by being dragged ove r
144 Up TH E TO Ir"ER
sharp edges.
5. You may want to consider burying it in pla stic pipe which is
th en used as a conduit. Be careful to drill holes in the bottom o f the
pipe at all low spots so that any mo isture can dr ain out.
6. It is important th at burial is below the fro st line to avoid
damage by the expansion and contraction of th e earth during free z-
ing and th awing of the earth, and any water sur ro unding th e buried
cables.
While PVC pipe provides a mechanical barrier, water egress is
pr actic ally guaranteed - you can't keep it out. It'll eith er leak in directly
or will condense from moi sture in the air. Use the perforated type so
that any water will just dr ain out harmlessly.
Here's a hand y refe rence table of coax losses for amateur bands.
Thanks to Frank Donovan, W3LPL, who put it together and made
it available.
LDF 7-50A 3333 2500 1666 1250 1000 833 625 370 200 110
FHJ-7 2775 2080 1390 1040 833 667 520 3 10 165 92
LDF5-50A 2 108 1490 1064 750 6 11 526 393 22 7 125 69
FXA78-50J 1666 1250 769 588 435 370 256 130 7I 36
3/4" CATV 1666 1250 769 588 435 385 275 161 59 33
LDF4-50A 1145 809 579 409 333 287 2 15 125 70 39
RG-17 1000 769 556 370 294 250 200 77 40 20
LMR-600 973 688 492 347 283 244 182 106 59 33
SLA I2-50J 909 667 500 355 285 235 175 100 53 34
FXA I2-50J 834 625 455 300 250 210 150 83 48 25
FXA38-50J 625 435 320 220 190 155 115 67 37 20
99 13 625 435 320 220 190 155 110 62 37 20
LMR-400 6 13 436 3 10 2 19 179 154 115 67 38 21
RG-213 397 279 197 137 III 95 69 38 19 9
RG-8X 257 181 128 90 74 63 47 27 14 8
LDF7-50A
RG- 17
FXA I2-50 J
2500
1666
1250
1430
1430
1000
.
Table 3 Coax Types and Attenuation
Feet Required for 1 dB Advantage LDF550A vs:
1250
1110
770
9 10
770
525
715
560
435
625
475
355
: .
475
420
255
279
120
120
158
60
75
90
30
40
9913 935 590 455 320 280 220 150 85 53 29
RG- 17
FXA I2 -50J
9913
-
-
1430
-
1000
-
2000
715
Table 4 Coax Types and Attenuation
Feet Required for 1 dB Advantage LDF4-50A vs:
1250
500
-
1100
455
-
835
345
:.
-
625
235
220
250
135
90
145
75
40
65
40
RG-2 13 618 434 306 2 12 171 146 106 58 29 14
21
WEATHERPROOFING
Electrical tape
Every ama teur installation has m any feet of electri cal tape used
outdoors in a variety of applications. T he '3 rolls fo r $1' hardware
store specials are n o t recommended for demanding outdoor use,
particularly for weatherproofing. SCOTCH (f~ I) Super 88 is just about
ma ndatory. Besides bei ng conformable to OaF (-18C), it will per-
form co nti nuo usly in ambient temperatures of up to 220F (105C)
and it is UV resistan t. The data sheet says it provides " moisture-tight
electrical protection" and it retails in the $4 to $5 range. Another
SCOK H tape, Super 33 + , is another "premium grade, all-weather vi-
nyl insulating tape" with many o f th e sam e pro perti es and spe cs as
the Super 88. T he o nly differen ce is that Super 88 is slightly thicker
th an Super 33 + (10 milsfor88 VS. 7 milsfor 33+). Both tapes are easily
2 1- WEAT HER PROOFING 147
applied at low temperatures, and will even stick to a wet aluminum
antenna boo m .
Ano ther spe cialized tape is the SCOTC H 130C Linerless Rubber
Splicing Tape. T his is a fairly thick (30 mils vs. 7 mils for Super 33+)
tape , is intended for high-vo ltage splices and is moisture-sealing. 3M
mak es many prod ucts for dema ndi ng electrical use - th ese are just
severa l of them. You may have your ow n favorite.
Shrink-fit tubing
Altho ugh shrink-fit tubing has been available for years, a new
wrinkle for coa x joints is shrink-fit tubi ng with glue impregnated
along the in side. As you app ly heat to the shri nk -fit, it shrinks wh ile
the glue melts and oozes inside between the fitting and the tubing. It
not only keeps the tub ing from slipping, but it also fills in the voids in
the joint and provide s an additional seal. It's an expe nsive alternative
(approximately $1 per inch) but is very simp le to use and remove if
necessary.
Feedpoints
The feedpoint of yo ur yagi or wire antenna should also be
weatherproofed. For commercially made baluns , just use the meth-
od s described abo ve. For wires attached to feed points or dipoles,
just do the best th at you can. For bare nu t and bolt connections, you
can put a little ball of vapor wrap over the connection. T hat'll do an
21 - W E t\ T H ERPRO O FI N G 149
excellent job of weatherproofing it. You'll probably have so me dis-
similar metals so I wo uld be sure to use o nly stainless steel hardware
and so me type o f appropriate ant ioxida nt o n th e co nnecti on. Also,
use silver solder if you have to solde r anything.
Silicon caulking
I never pu t silico n caulkin g m aterial (RTV - room tem pera-
ture vulcanizing) o n anythi ng tha t need s to conduct electricity,
especially antennas or coax joints. Silicon cures by abs o rbing mois-
ture o ut o f th e air. It also releases or outgasses a solve nt m at er ial
(acetic acid) during th e curing pro cess. This is th at 'greasy' feeling
th at yo u ge t after han dlin g silico n tha t's been curing fo r awhile.
What yo u win d up wi th is a connector th at not o nly is ab sorbing
m oi sture but also is giving off a so lven t that will migrate into
yo ur connector an d cau se it p robl em s- a double wha mmy! If
yo u mu st use RT V, use th e aqu arium typ e o r DO\', CORNING 3 145
RTV Adhesive Sea/alit for best results and reliability. T hi s RTV
do esn't have the o u tgas problem.
22
ROTATORS
Brakeless wonders
At the bottom o f th e ro tato r totem pole are th e "brakeless
wo nde rs." These are rotators designed pri marily for T V antennas or
lightweigh t amateur array s; th ey don't have a brake bui lt into them .
In stead of a brake, the y typica lly have some way of addi ng resis-
tance to ap plied wind forces, such as a co rk pa d. T hese rotators
include the H y-G AI N BY T ELEX TR44, CD 45, the YAESU G-450XL
and the now de funct A LLIANCE H D 73. Sma ll tribanders and VHF/
UHF antennas are suitable applications for this class of rotator. The
lack of a brake means th ey will turn in the wind, but they will give
22- RoTATORS 151
reasonable du ty for the price for modes t installation s.
O ther ro tators
Hy-Gain also ma nufactures th e H DR-300. T his is an o ff-the-
shelf transmis sion with a 1 rpm motor. Hy-G ain adds the brake and
indicato r/ co ntrol system and you get a medium d uty ro tator with a
co up le of limitations; th e splined o utput shaft and th e brake effec-
tiveness are both troublesome
C ra ig Hen ders o n , N8 DJB (www.ro to rdo c.co m). is o ne
of the leadin g H y- G ai n rotator rep air g uys in the coun t ry.
Afte r fixing h undreds o f them, h e has co me o u t with hi s own
ro ta tor - the CATS RD -ll 00 . It's we ll engineere d , ro bust
and h as a smaller footp rint tha n t he T2X, m a king it suitab le
fo r Rohn 25G in st allati on s.
Mike Staal, K6MYC, through his co m pany M 2 ANTE N t\S , pro-
152 Up THE TO U:'E R
Japanese rotators
J ap anese ro tato rs are impressively designed and manufactur ed,
and have made a den t in the US mark et. They seem to suffer fewer
probl em s in the reliability area co mpared to o the r rotators, however
repai r and part s availability has been the ir weakn ess. Anothe r min or
dr awb ack is th at you need me tric tools to work o n them. Altho ugh
the self-centering clam sh ell mast clamp that m an y o f th ese rotator s
use is an inn ovative design, most o f them are made from cast alumi-
num pot metal and can be easily broken durin g no rm al installation.
YAESU, E lI fOTO and CREATE rotators were all im po rted from Japan,
bu t the Yaesu are th e onl y o nes currently available. T he Yaesu s have
establi she d themselve s as reliable rotators with nice analog contro l
bo xes, an adj ust able pre set on most models, and a rotation ov erlap
that gives 450 degree covera ge.
2 2 -ROTATORS 153
Prop pitches
Many serious antenna systems have been built around prop pitch
rotators. Having an incredible 9,576 to 1 gear reduction and built to
military specifications, prop pitch motors have proven themselves to be
reliable as well as rob ust. T hey are the tran smissions from propeller
driven aircraft and primarily from World War II. T hey were the mo tors
that changed the pitch of the propellers and are behind those round
cans that stick out of the middle of the propellers.
Many have been up for twenty years or more and are still
o perating. T he biggest problem th ese days is that the sup ply is dwin-
dling. You won't find th em at every ham fest anymore but th ey are
still available if you go looking. \x?ith the decreased sup ply comes
increased cost. When you co nsider the alterna tives, an investme nt of
$1,000 or mo re in a prop pitch doesn't seem out rageous. Co nside r-
ing what other new heavy duty rotators sell fo r, you can get a rotator
that will turn your hou se if necessary and will last fo r years fo r about
the same amount of money. Nothing else comes close.
With a prop pitch, you'll have to sup ply the power and the
directional indic ato r. T he power is fairly easy; you need 28 VDC at at
least 10 amps. Although 28 VAC can be used, D C is much easier on
th e motor. You can use 14AWG or similar wire with little vo ltage
drop (no t a big deal with prop pitches); simply use th e th ree wires
fo r left and right rotation. Be sure to pu t bypass capacito rs o n the
brush leads or you'll have your own spark generato r trashing th e
band s every time you turn your antenna.
The indic ator problem also has an easy solutio n. Altho ugh it's
impossible to get a prop pitch at a flea market for under $100 any-
more, you can still get selsyns for $5 and less. A selsyn is a m echanism
consi sting of two units connected by wires whe re turni ng o ne o f the
two will turn the o ther one th e same amo unt. A fter you've found a
co mpatib le pair (sam e nu mber of wires with same vo ltage and co n-
nections), fabricate a mounting arr angement that will secure the tower
selsyn close to th e mast. Mo unting it up side-d own will pre vent water
from running down th e outp ut shaft into th e selsyn itself. H ose clamps
will be quite handy for thi s part of th e operation.
You have two cho ices fo r coupling the selsyn to the mast. O ne
method is to have two identical gea r sprockets; one on th e ma st and
the other on the shaft of the selsyn. The onl y tricky part is ge tting th e
154 Up mE TOU"ER
sprocket around the mast. Another way is to mount a pulley onto the
selsyn shaft that is the same diameter as the mast. T hen all you need
to do is put a be lt of some sort around both of them. I've seen long
spr ings used, as well as good sized fishing line, to provide the linkage.
Anothe r op tio n is to use a small belt o f some kind. As long as it is
fairly impervious to weather and UV proof, just about any arrange-
ment will work.
Rather tha n fabricating yo ur ow n controll er, the G reen Heron
RT-21 will wo rk with virtually any rotator and is also user friendly. It
is co mpute r co mpatible and has many nice features.
An easier way to use a prop pitch is to buy one all read y to
from Kurt Andress, K7NV Hi s work is gorgeous an d it comes com-
plete an d ready to use . A Green Heron co ntrol box and custom
mast clamp are also available. www.k7 nv.co m
Rotator loading
Rotator manufacturers have found that th e square footage o f
an an tenna doesn't accura tely reflect th e load s placed on a rotator.
I I I I '
Rotator torque
Wh ile the above rotato r ratings have to do with antenna wind
loading, the rotator must have sufficient sta rting to rque to start th e
mast and antenna system int o rotation . It mu st also have sufficient
braking to rque to hold th e an tenna in the wind .
Thrust bearin gs
T he purpose of a thrust bearing is to bear the ve rtical and
horizontal load o f the mas t and antennas of the syste m. Use o nly
156 Up mE TOIr'E R
o utdoo r rated thrust bearin gs. You'll recogni ze th ese as being galva-
nized or made from alum inum . Do not use any bearing made for
ind oor use, such as machinist pillow bloc ks or wheel bearings. Gen-
erally, do not use any bearing that uses a single Allen screw to secure
the shaft. The Allen screw and the bearings will ru st and seize in a few
sho rt years and you 'll have a stuck antenna system and a genuine
rep air problem. If you're no t sure, just leave th e bearing o ut in the
backyard for a few weeks and see wha t happens . If no rust appears,
you can probably use it. If you do get ru st spots, throw into the
recycle bin. This will save you a lot of future ang uish .
A word of warning
There is one primary rul e when it comes to ro tato rs; never
install a rotator th at is more th an five years o ld without having it
inspected and refur bished. If all you have to do is grease th e bear -
ings, you'll still be doi ng yourself and your rotator a favor. Any o lder
rotator is a time bomb waiting to go off-and fail. D on't believe the
guy at the flea market wh ere you bought it who to ld you it had just
been " rebuilt" . G o thro ugh it yours elf or have so meone capa ble go
through it. D on't say you
haven 't been wa rne d!
GJ
at 1000 pconao
factory in Lincoln, N E, and ~ appliea lo. a.
Sling rigged
Once again we use our old frien ds, th e nylon slings as chokers.
I prefer to use long slings (six-foo t or m o re) fo r rigging the boom.
In stall o ne sling o n each side o f the center mou nting point of the
antenna wit h two or three wraps around th e bo om; th en bring them
together so that th e pick point is righ t above where the boom plate
will attach to th e m ast. T his assures that the antenna is balanced and
will arrive in the co rrect mounting positio n. Us ing two slings on the
boom enables you to hoist the beam up int o p osition hori zontally.
Even if th e ant en na is mec hanica lly o ff balance, you can adjust the
158 UP7HETOlVER
U sing a tramline
In my opinion, tramming is usuall y the o nly way to go. A tram
system is where the load is susp ended below the tramline and I use it
for m ost an tenna raising projects on towe rs, and even on trees. This
is not the technique tha t uses two ropes stretched out parallel with
th e ant enna sitting o n top of two lines running fro m the groun d to
th e tower - tha t's th e trolley technique. That method is a real head -
ach e; th e ropes are diffi cult to equalize and th ey'll oscillate, the beam
gets real tips y as yo u get to the to p o f the tro lley lines and there's a lot
of dra g resistance as you pull the antenna up th e rop es. This is a
method to be avoided!
My prefe rence is to use one steel tram line with the antenna
suspended below th e tram wire. You'll need three pulleys, a haul line,
160 Up TH E TOIJ7ER
D~tail #1
-----A!
D~tail#2
Tramline
Anchor
/ Haul Rope- - . ,
a length of wire rope for the tram line, an anc hor on the gro und and
miscellane ou s slings and carabiners. First, secure a sling choker on the
mast about three feet above the place where the antenna will be
mounted. Use two or three wraps and bring the ch ok er through
itself as described earlier.
Clip a carabiner o r shackle to the tail of th e sling. Then clip a
pulle y into the carabiner. Bring up one end of yo ur tram line and clip
it int o the sam e carabiner.
Run your haul rope from below, through the back of the pu l-
ley, then out the front in th e dir ection of your gro und anchor. You
m ay lower the end of the haul rope direc tly to the gro und or you
may clip your haul-ro pe end carab iner onto the tram line and let it
slide down the wire. Small diameter aircra ft cable or wire rope such
as l/S" or 3/ 16" is sufficient to take the static load of just abo ut any
amateur antenna.
You may have to drop o ne or two of the guy wires closest to
23- I N STALLI NG BEAMS 161
th e an tenna tram path if
the antenna is going to be
installed close to the top
of the tower. T his goes
fo r any wire antennas
also. These should be de-
tached at ground level.
You'll need to se-
cure th e o the r end of th e
Hau~ tram lin e to an ancho r.
You can use a tree, a fenc e
post, a car (be careful no t
to scratc h th e finish), a
Drawing2: Detail #1. s tak e d ri v en int o th e
ground or an y other con-
venient strong poin t. This is whe n you' ll want to use your come-
along and your cabl e grip pe r. Tighten the cable until most o f th e
slack is take n up. Do n o t overtighten; you co uld dam age your mast.
If the sling o n the mast is now high enough to crea te a significant
mom en t of force on your ma st (more than fo ur o r five feet), back
guy it wit h anothe r wire line or ro pe in the opposite dir ection, th en
anchor it to a co nvenient spot.
Attach the tram pulley on the tram line . Tu rn the pulley
up side-d own (as th e ante nna will be suspe nd ed from
the tramline) the n clip in the load end o f th e haul
line . After using slings or any o ther method to
truss the antenna, lift the ante nna truss to the
tram pull ey and clip it in.
The boom should be at a right
angle to the tram line (element s par-
allel to the line) with the boom-
to-mast bra cket poin ted to-
ward the mast ready to
acce p t u-b outs. At thi s
point, the hau l rope
should be attached to the
tramline pulley. It goes up
through the pu lley on the Drawing 3: Detail #2.
162 Up TH E TOWE R
mast, then down the tower to the gro und. The third pulle y may be
used at the bottom of the tow er to change the direction of the haul
ro pe from vertical to hori zontal. This is a classic snatch bloc k ar-
range me nt and will make pullin g the haul rope easier.
Next, attach any tag lines. I prefer IN' polypropylene because
it's light and stiff eno ugh that it wo n't typically ge t hu ng up on any
clamp s or hardware sticking out on the elem ents . Tie the end to the
boom at a convenient spot that you can reach when you need to
untie it. \X1rap th e tag line aro und an adjacen t element two or three
times. You can add one or two wra ps of electrical tap e to ho ld it in
place o n the eleme nt to keep the fulcrum out o n th e eleme nt and
away fro m the boom. T he tag line will pull easily th rou gh th e tape
whe n you're done.
T he tag line may occasionally ge t hung up on an elem ent hose
clamp, or som ething else. If you can't reac h it with some thing lo ng
to free it, just lower the antenna, the n tram it back up again . Doing
this is only a minor inc onvenienc e because ever ythin g is rigged; it's
just a matter of lowering it, the n hauling it back up again - a five-
minute job .
Whe n it's time to launch the antenna, have so meone on your
gro und crew pull th e haul line wh ile you and ano th er person help th e
antenna off the gro und. O nce the ante nna is launched, the tag line
person can guide it as it goes up.
Having the antenna suspended beneath the tramline keeps the
antenna fro m twirling around on the way up. Another advantage is
that tramming will let you ru n the ante nna up off the ground so you
can ru n any on-the-air tests you'd like. Just atta ch a ru n of coax be-
fore you lift the antenna. To make any adju stm en ts, lower the an-
tenna, make the changes and pull it up again. T he tra mline being in-
line with th e eleme nts may cause intera ctio n or will act ually to uch th e
tramline - th at will throw your measurements off. Make measure-
men ts with the boom 90 to the tra mline if possible (eleme nts paral-
lel to th e tramline).
I use the tagline to pu ll th e elements down so th at th ey'll clear
the guys (you pu ll th em down on one side of th e bo om and the ones
on th e o ther side go up - so me tim es almost vertically). You'll be
pulling against th e haul rop e so don't pull too hard on the tagline .
T he tagline is used to move the boom so that th e antenna will be in
23- I N STALLI N G BEA~IS 163
th e proper m ast-m ounting orientation. You want the boom-to-mast
plate to wind up at the m ast so th e boom and elements have to be
aligned so th at that happ en s.
Som eon e mu st be o n th e tower to guide it whe n th e antenn a
ge ts close to th e tow er. O ne o r mo re elements will ine vita bly snag o n
the tow er, guys, wire ante nna s or anything else in the vicinity. Once
the antenna has cleared all ob stacles and if everything was rigged
corr ectly, the antenna should mate righ t up to th e mast . It doesn't
always happen o n th e first try, but it's nice when it does. Pu t th e mast
bracket clamp s or hardware together and it's done. You probably
too k two hours to rig the tram but o nly ten minutes to ge t the an-
ten na up o n to p once every thing was correctly rigged .
To take antenna s do wn, rig ever ything the sam e way, then lower
th e ant en na down the tra m line. T he o nly thing to loo k out for is to
make certai n that the haul line goes beh ind the boom be fore it go es
through the mast pull ey. O nce you've used this techni que, you' ll likely
use it again.
24
GROUNDING
What is Grounding?
T he word "gro und" whe n used in th e co ntext of electrical
engineering has multiple meanin gs. Altho ugh all are valid uses of th e
24-GRO UNDIN G 165
wo rd, th ese multiple mean ings have led to major confusion, misun-
de rstandings , and bad adv ice. The first three o f th ese m eanings ap-
ply to practices th at make our systems safe th ough th ey have nothing
to do with how well th ey work. How we respond to the se meanings
of the wo rd "grounding" are defined by building cod es, which carry
the force o f law;
A connection to earth
Th e fir st and m o st obvious o f th o se m eanings is an electrical
co n ne ctio n to earth. The sol e purpo se o f the earth co nne ctio n is
electrical sa fety - it p ro vid es a di sch ar ge path for ligh tning, and
for voltage an d current tran sients that m ay be p resent o n po wer
sys tem w iring.
Lightning
Lightning is the mo st obvio us transi ent disturbanc e from which
we want to protect ourselves and our eq uipment. Lightning storms
are co m pelling and awesome forces; man y o f us have see n what
destruction th ey can cau se. E ach year ov er 400 p ersons are killed by
ligh tning. Several hundred m o re suffer fro m in juries cau sed by
lightning suc h as burns, shock and other da mage to th e bo dy's more
vulne rable par ts. Fifty percent of all strikes will have a first strike of
at least 18,000 -ampere s o f current while ten percent will exceed
65,OOO-amps . It' ll ta ke a lot less than th at to des troy your radio
eq uip ment or to cause bodil y harm.
Ligh tnin g is cau sed by the atm os pheric friction caused by winds
that rub clouds together. This fricti on creates a cloud with a charge
sim ilar to wh at happen s w he n you rub a balloon o n your hair; they're
bo th full o f static electricity. These charged clouds can be eithe r
positively or negati vely charged; it doesn't matter which bec ause th e
resu lts are th e sam e.
Imagin e o ne o f th ese ch arged clouds d rifting th rough the sky.
It will be dr agging a shadow o f th at ch arge below it across th e
168 UPniE TU lrT,R
Lightning Protection
The most fun damental elements o f lightning protection are:
1. A low impeda nce p ath fo r ligh tning to our reference plan e
(earth) that does not include our hou se or ham statio n. This path is
provide d by earth electrod es.
2. Common bonding o f our equipment so that, in the eve nt
o f a ligh tning strike, th e p otential differen ce b etwee n eq uip me nt
170 UP1Hf::TOIl7ER
is minimi zed
3. Protection devices o n power, signal, and contro l wiring that
is connected to o ur eq uipment.
E arth Electrodes
An eart h 16 0
IS>
electrode is an electrical E
..c:
connection to th e soil, a
.s 120
whether in tentional or
un intent ional. A
g r o u n d rod I S a n
exa m p le of an
intentional connection
- what bui lding safety
O L---.---r-----.---r----~
codes call a " ma d e" o 2 4 6 8 10
electrode. T h e larger Dept h (Feet )
the building, th e more Drawing2:Ground electrodedepth resistance.
li ke ly it is to h av e
various unintentio nal co nne ctions to earth - structu ral steel, condu ctive
col d water pipe, conductive gas pipe. We can red uce th e im peda nce
to earth o f an electrode by increasing th e surface area in contact with
the so il, but thi s is not a linear increase. For example, dou bling the
rod's diam eter decr eases the im pedance to earth by only abo ut 10(Yo.
Driving a rod furth er into the gro und also dec reases th e
resistance to earth. In th e sim ple case wh ere earth co nd uctivity varies
little with depth , do ubling th e ro d length reduces the resistanc e to
earth by approximately 40% . A fte r dri ven to a de pth o f ten-feet,
additio nal decreases in resistance are ve ry small an d incremental; so
in this average situatio n, ten -foot lo ng g ro und ro ds are ple nt y. If,
ho wever, co nd uctivit y at the sur face is poor but im p roves with
increasing dep th , longer ground rods may still red uce resis tance
significantly.
Mu ltiple gro und ro ds int era ct with each othe r due to the m utu al
ind uctance be tween them. If the re were no mu tual indu ctan ce, th e
impedanc e o f fo ur ro ds in parallel wo uld be simply o ne fo urth th e
im ped ance of a single ro d . In reality, mu tual inductance causes th e
total imped anc e to earth of mu ltipl e ro ds to be som ewha t greater
than thi s simple para llel analysis would suggest. One way to loo k at
24-GRO UNDI N G 171
how this mutual inductanc e affects
the combined impedanc e of
multiple rods is to think o f a rod as
creating a hemisphere -shaped
vo lume tha t depends on its size, and
that the volumes of adjacent rod s
should not overl ap . Us ing thi s
analysis, it has been shown th at for
ma ximum effectiveness for a given
a mo u n t o f buried copp er, th e
spacing between rod s should be
abo ut 2.2x th e rod length.
This anal ysis is al so Drawing 3: Electrode interface
oversim plified - it works for D C hemisphere.
and the low frequency components
o f lightning, but it fails to consider the inductance of the wire th at
interconnects th e g ro und ro ds. At 1 MHz, the inductive reactance
of 22 ft of # 6AWG copper is about 70 ohms, so spreading out th e
elect rod es is not quite as beneficial as it might appear.
U fer grounds
Co ncrete can be a good electric al conductor o r good insulator,
depending on its formulati on. Most concret e used in construction is
a fairly good conducto r. A Vfer ground (name d for its inve ntor,
Herbert Ufer) is an electrical conductor encased in conductive concrete
to form a m ad e electrode . Ufer grounds tend to be very good
gro unds - th at is, th ey have a relatively low impedanc e to earth -
because th ey have a mu ch larger sur face area tha n a simp le ro d.
Structural steel within a co ncrete foundation acts as a Ufe r, including
a ham radi o towe r sitting o n co ncrete th at is electrically co nd uct ive-
if a ro bust connection is made to a conducto r ins ide the co nc rete.
Tower grounding
A U fer g ro und can be form ed by bonding a tower to th e
reb ar internal to the conc ret e to wer base. T he reba r cage should
be tied toge the r (so me rebar can b e brazed) so tha t arcing do es
not o ccur during a lightning strike. If all thi s is don e p roperl y, a
tower taking a lightnin g strike is unl ikely to ex plode o r cra ck the
172 UPTHETO IFER
Zone of protection
It is well established th at high objects will p rotect things aro und
th em. T his 'zone of protection' may be visualized as being somewhat
cone-shaped, with the tip at the top o f your tower system and the
size of th e circ ular co ne base radius equal to twice th e heigh t of the
antenna syste m. In othe r words, your tower and antenna system will
protect your hou se and othe r property if it happens to be wit hin the
zo ne of protection.
On-tower equipment
Every th ing o n the to w er sho uld be b ond ed to it . This
includes the rotat or and the shields o f all cabl es. Tower-mounted
an te n nas don't n ormally require any additi onal b o n ding becau se
th ey are mecha nic ally and electrically b onded to the tower th rough
th eir mountin g h ard ware. This is also true fo r m o st othe r to wer
hard ware and app urtena nces. Id eally all non-coaxial cable s (co ntro l
cabl es, p ower cabl es) should b e twis ted p air s but this is n 't rea lly
2 4--G RoU NDING 179
p o s si bl e . PO LYPH AS ER (w w w.w r b lo c k .c o m) and I.C.E .
(w ww. ice r a d io p r o d u c t s.co m ) b oth m an ufa ctur e a n 8-wire
protector fo r rotator control cab les. Coax cabl es sho uld have
g ro undi ng pi gtai l kit s to g ro un d th e o ute r sh ields. T he re are
commercial versions availab le that use mechanical bonds. Make
sure that yo ur pigtail gro und joint is weatherp roo fed.
Cables can be shielded by ru nning them in stee l raceway (a
combination of steel conduit and junction bo xes). To provide much
shielding, the raceway sho uld be continu ou s fro m the to p o f the
tower to the shack. The EMT sho uld be bonded to the tower at
both ends and at int ermediate points. While a real pain to ins tall,
cables run inside th e tower are so mewhat better protected as the
tower steel acts like a Faraday cage.
Guy anchors
Un ins ulated guy wires can conduct a ligh tning surge and should
be gro unded as well. D o not use co ppe r wire for guy wire grounding
because o f dissimi lar metal co rros ion and sub seque nt da mage . Bo nd
the guys to the ground wire and terminate th e gro und wire to a
gro und rod tha t is co nne cted to the gro unding system. If you take a
lightning hit o n your uni nsulated guy wires, the strike will p rob ably
weld your turnbuckles together. If you are using insulator s o n your
guy wires or PHILLYSTRAN nonco ndu ctive guy cable, yo u've alread y
eliminated thi s p otential problem.
Cables
Cables in tower installations should be bo nded in three plac es;
1) to th e top of th e tow er (or where th e cable terminates) o f the
182 UPTf-IE TOIl TR
Surge protectors
Surge suppression devices are designed to prevent da mage to
equipment caused by current or voltage spikes on cab les that conne ct
to eq uipment. T here are two fundamental type s - shunt mode, and
serie s mode.
Shunt mode suppressors conduct the lightning current, hopefully
dive rting it awa y from the protected equipment (and often onto the
eq uipment gro und conductor). Gas disc harge tubes and metal oxide
varis to r s (MOV 's) are the mo st commonly u sed sh unt mode
suppression de vices. At low voltage, they loo k like an open circuit,
but conduct when the vo ltage exceeds a certain thresho ld.
Series mode suppressors block the lightning current by addi ng
a high reactive im p edance (an inductor) in series with th e lightning
2 4 -GRO UN Dl NG 183
current . T he ene rgy in th e light ning strike is stored in the inductor,
then discharged slow ly (and thus ha rmlessly) back into th e power
line. SurgeX manufactures products o f this type for professional
use. (www.surgex.co m) Zero-Surge (www.zero surge.co m) m akes
se ries -mo de produc t s for the c om p u te r m ark et, Bri ck Wall
(www brickwall.co rn) fo r th e home hi-fi mark et.
Dissipaters
The theory behind dissipaters is that th ey dissipate any static
electricity energy befor e it turns into a 'fe eler', or small lightning bolt
tha t precede s the primary strike. They use mu ltip le wire s in a ball
configuration, or resemble a bottlebrush that sticks o ut into the air.
Wh en they are used in co mbinatio n with a good gro unding system,
they are p ur po rt ed to effective ly red uce the ch an ces of a direct
lightning strike. T he th eo ry is so und; people who use them gene rally
endorse th eir effe ctiv eness while other lightning experts tend to
minimize their usefulness. Like a lo t of things, they pro bably co uldn't
hu rt. If your tower and antenna syste m includes m edium or large
yagis on the tower, the antennas themselves are already big enough
to act as diss ipaters.
Do your homework
Fo r starts, read what you can and talk to yo ur buddi es abo ut
their expe riences and suggestions.
T he best reso urce fo r tower and H F antenna que stions is the
TowerTalk intern et re flector. It's a very active gro up with lo ts of
know ledgea ble folks in its almost 2000 mem bers. To subscribe, send
an ema il to towertalk -reques t@contesting.com with < subscribe> in
the subject and yo u'll be all set. O ver 13 years wo rth o f archives are
available at www.contestin g.com. I don't think th ere's a single towe r
or an tenna topic th at hasn't been co vered!
Two books that'll help yo u mak e antenna de cisions are th e ver-
tical and yagi co m pariso n rep orts available fro m Champion Radio
Products (www.cham pionrad io.co m) . Bo th were written by yo ur
author and H . Ward Silver, NOAX, and feature o n-the-air compari-
so ns alo ng with the testing protoc o l. They are HF Vertical Perfor-
mance - Test Methods & Results and HF Tribander Perfor-
mance - Test Methods & Results 2nd Edition .
T here are a bunch of othe r valuable antenna books available
for any frequency or co mplexity. Ad d th em to yo ur libr ary.
And o f course the Rohn catalog is invalu able . It gives yo u ma ny
enginee ring drawings and specificatio ns and asso ciated hard ware. It's
availab le online - www ro hnnet.corn - as well as o n CD.
26
BE KIND TO YOUR T REE S
/!J' D oug Brede, If/'3A S
Maki ng th e attachment
Although it's relative ly easy to get a wire up into a tree, it's
certainly mo re diffic ult to keep it th ere for th e long term . Us ually,
annual (som etimes weekl y) restringing is needed . It seems that tree s
"instinctively know" just when to drop a wire to the ground: during
midwinter when the snow is high and the skip is lo ng, or in th e
middle of a heat ed contest!
The bow-and-arro w method has be co m e a standard of the
wire -in-the-tree crew. But many other m ethods, slingsho ts, for ex-
ampl e- even at taching a string to a golf ball and whacking it with a
sand wedge-are common.
One o f th e easiest and most common ways to connect a wire
to a tre e is to throw a rope over a bra nc h crotch, then tie off the
loose end. This is th e main method used in tem porary (such as Field
D ay) installation s.
"D oing this probably won't
hurt the tree if it's done as a tem-
porary thing," says Washingto n
State Un iversity horticulturist Ray
Maleike. Bu t with any o f th ese
simple ante nn a-stringing metho ds, I, ,;
If you've got this girdling ro pe o r wire up there, yo u can act ually kill
that portion o f the tree above th e wire ."
Ano the r no-n o whe n atta ching an antenna to a tree is wr ap-
ping a wire aro und th e tru nk. T his stra ngles th e veins in the sapwood
the same way a noose around your neck wo uld stra ngle you. " It's
importan t not to wrap anyt hing aro und the tru nk," says Maleike.
Many commercial nurse ryme n wrap stabilizing ropes around
new ly tran splanted saplings to keep them fro m falling over. Recently,
however, this practic e has been questioned becau se of the restric-
tions these ro pes place o n the growth of th e tree . People forget
about these ropes; some rem ain on tre es fo r years afte r tran splanting.
E ncasing th e stabilizing (or ante nna) wir e in rubber o r plastic
hose is not the an swer eithe r. "Wire wrapped in hose is just as injuri-
ous to the tree as th e bare wire itself," says Shigo. " If you remember
your basic physics, you're ap plying the same number of pounds of
force to the tree with o r without the hose." Shigo recommends that
if you must wrap som ething around the tru nk o f a tree, use a wide
fabric strap to do the job .
Two methods have eme rged among leading horticulturist s as
th e pr eferred way to attach a wire to a tree. For light ante nna loads,
such as the end of a dip ole, a threaded eyescre w is the method of
ch oice. Just drill a hole int o the
tree about 1/ 1('"smaller th an th e oboet 1/ 2 inch
9
rowth
~ .1
/.
~"",~Pulley
\ Atta ch antenna
10 pull ey rape
Truck T ie - Down
Summary
Keeping your station in go od operating conditio n is-or should
be-a fun da mental practice o f every rad io ama teur. Part of that
practice includes annual inspec tion of your ante nna syste m. If trees
are a part of your antenna system, take a good loo k at them. Are yo u
keeping the m hea lthy?
Q: A CBer in my neighborhood cut the top out of his pine tree and
stuck a ground pla ne antenna up in it. Is this an acceptable way to
mount an antenna?
da mage by sprouting num erous lateral buds aro und the top, which
soon overrun the antenna.
Q : I've heard that if yo u ferti lize a tree, your an tenna will grow
higher each year. True?
This article nias origillall;'printed ill OST, Septelllbelj 1989, and is used Ivith
permission.
27
TREE INSTALLATIONS
In many part s o f the co untry, tr ees offer usab le, cheap ante nna
sup po rts. Co nifer s such as pines o r firs, being single-trunked, are
ideal fo r use as an tenna supports, while multi-trunked maples and
cottonwood s are almost impossible to climb o r use. In gene ral, trees
are not regu lated, nor subject to building cod es or permits. T here
hav e been three instances in \X!ashington State whe re am ateur tree
installatio ns have been challenged (initiated by overzealous neighbo rs)
by b uilding dep artments: in eac h case it was determined th at the
antenna in a tree was no t sub ject to any building dep artm ent regula-
tions. A tree is a tree is a tree!
Wire antennas
Yo u'll need two tre es, o ne fo r each en d o f yo ur wire an -
tenna. I t's very difficult to install an inver ted vee in a tree b ec au se
it's just about im p o ssibl e to get b oth sides of the antenna th rough
th e branche s. For attaching wire an te n na s, find a p rofe ssional tree
climber / arborist in the YelloJJJ Pages o r a talen ted buddy to in sta ll a
pulley and rope syst em in yo ur trees o f ch oic e. A 3/8" o r Yz" eye
27- T REE INSTALLATI O NS 199
lag bo lt screwed in to the tree with a pu lley attached is the b est
method. U se a chain link o r co ld shut to attach th e pulley to the
lag screw eye. I prefer a non-swiveling pulley because the lay o f
th e rope can cause the rope to turn and twi st together an d possi-
bly jam the pulley. U se only metal pulleys; preferabl y o n es made
fro m stai nless or galvanized materials. Plastic p arts will either break
o r be damaged by UV radi ation. Ch eck yo ur loc al hard ware sto res
for usable p ulleys; cheap stainless steel ones lo cally are avai lable
for $5 to $10 each .
K eep in mi nd that with pulleys and ha ul ro p es there should
be min im al clearan ce be tw een th e sheave and th e pulley body;
th e rope sh o uld b e larger in diam eter than the clearance so that it
can't ge t jam m ed in the pulley-a m ajo r anno yance. I u se 1//'
polypropy lene rope; only a v ery sloppy p ulle y wi ll allow it to
jam. A m uch better option for yo ur rope h alyard is black dacron
UV re sistant lin e.
Have yo ur climber go up the tree un til he re aches a su itable
spot, then screw in the pulley. I t's all but certain th at the tr ee will
have to b e p ru ne d to clear a dec en t window th rough whic h the
lin e can trave l. It's better to over- p r une since n ew g rowth will
inva riably g row into th e spo t in ju st a few years. Sma ll branches
are incredibly stro ng and resilien t and can cau se major problems
in any tree p roje ct o r in stallat ion; they'll even p revent a yagi from
turning.
H avin g b rought the lin e up with him, the clim b er will put
th e lin e th rough th e b ack side of the n ewly in stalled pulley, attach
a we ig ht to th e end of the line, th en throw it o ut in the direction
th at yo ur wi re anten na will take. T he wire antenna mu st clear all
branches to successfully install your antenn a. Wh en th e end o f the
line reaches the gro un d, rem ove th e w eigh t, the n tie the en ds o f
the lin e together, m akin g a loop. T his is be cau se in almost all
cases it is th e antenna that bre ak s, not the halyard. Witho ut a loo p,
wh en th e ante n na breaks the end o f yo ur hau l lin e will b e at the
to p o f the pulley and yo u' ll have to send so meone up to re trieve
it. If yo u have a lo op system , all you h ave to do is pull yo ur line
down and rea ttac h your wire an tenna. Ti e an overha n d kno t for
yo ur wire attachmen t point wh ere th e ro p es ar e tied togeth er
and yo u 're read y to start h oi sting.
200 Up TH E TOWER
Rotators
Be am s using the technique s described be low use a pip e m ast
27-TREE INSTALLATIONS 201
for the tree mount along with a ma st- mounted rotator. T his re -
q uires a mast-moun ting bracket to be att ached to the b o tt o m of
th e rotator. Since the rotator is no t m ounted ins ide a tower, which
would give it it s maxim um strength and ra ting , you m ust be m o re
conser vative wit h th e wi nd load ing for m ast-m oun ted lo ad s by
d ow n-rat ing the rotator sq uare footage cap acit y by approximately
50 %. W hile the H AJVI I V from H y-GAIN has eno ugh capacity
for m ast -mounting small
tribander s (15 squ are feet
inside a to wer v s. 7 . 5
sq u a r e feet w hen mast
mounted) , I usu all y rec-
ommend th e T2X
Tailtn/ister b e c au s e its
physica l strength and de-
sign bearings have more
capaci ty and reliability for
tree installations. You want
the m o st reliable in st alla-
tion possible, beca use if
yo u have a rotator prob-
lem it's no t as easy to re-
pl ace as one m ounted o n
a tower.
A stress test done on
a T 2X at t he factor y Photo1:Mast mounted tree installation. Note
showed th at it took 1,000 horizontalbrace for torque resistance.
pounds o f force on the ro-
tator before it broke. The rotator was plate mounted by its bottom
bol t mounting holes and the to p neck casting bro ke dur ing this tor-
ture test. (See Chapter 22 Rotato rs.)
T here are two mast mounting brackets available fro m Hy-G AIN;
one is a me dium-duty ve rsio n fo r their H A M I V; th e other is a
heavy-d uty bracket fo r the ir T2X Tailmister. Since the bolt patterns
are the same, you can use the heavy-du ty ve rsion o n a HAM I V
installatio n as well. This wo uld be the recommen ded co n figur atio n.
Get the recommended mast-mounting bracket if yo u are using other
rotators also.
202 Up TH E TO Jl7E R
VHF j U H F yagis
VHF and UHF vertical ante nna s can be success fully tree in-
stalled. A tall tree will give yo ur antenna coverage that may astoun d
you . The wo rst part of any tree insta llation is th at nothing is square or
plumb on th e tree. You might have to p ut up with a little lean or tilt
to your installatio n.
The easiest wa y to m ount a VHF ve rtical is on a pip e, lag
screwed to th e trunk at th e to p o f a tr ee wh ere it has been toppe d.
Take an 1 1/ 2" ga lva nize d wa te r pip e, or a size appropriate to the
rotato r tha t you're m ounting, d rill three o r four holes in it for th e
lag screws, then us e yo ur 3/a" x 4" or 5" lo ng ga lva nize d or
stainless lag screws to atta ch it to th e trunk . Without topping th e
tree, yo u must fabricat e so me typ e of sta n do ff to ge t th e an-
tenna a re aso na ble di sta nc e from the tree trunk; pl us yo u' ll have
to clear the branches up above. T his is a les s desirabl e co nfi gura-
tio n sin ce vertically p olarized VHF /UHF signa ls will be atte nu-
ate d so m ewh at by th e tree. Ge t it o n top and in the clear if
p o ssible.
H F beams
Trees can be very usefu l for small HF trib and yagis and even
two-element 40-meter beam s. Since a tree is a nonconducto r, there is
no steel tower or guy wires for the ante nna to interact wit h. As a
resul t, a tree-m ounted H F beam is a wo nde rfu l performer. Use the
same procedure describ ed above; to p the tree and use a four to five-
foot section of 1 1/2" LD. galvanized water pipe with four \/2" x 6"
galvaniz ed o r stainless stee l (SS) lag screws to attac h it to the trunk.
Notice I' ve moved up from 3/ 8" to !j2" lag screws. The HF beam
exerts much m or e force o n the installation th an does the VHF/ UH F
insta llation, and requires stronger hardware. Be careful abo ut using
hard ware sto re grade lag screws; you can easily twist the heads off
co mmon or ungra ded lag screws. T he galvanized or SS versions are
generally stro nger and their heads won' t twist off. An imp ro vem ent
o n the pipe- mo unt m eth od is to have a hor izo nt al flange welded
ont o the pipe. (See Ph o to 1.) T his will minimize the torque related
forces and incre ase the reliability o f larger in stallations. Next, bring
up the ro tato r with the con tro l cable att ache d and in stall it o n th e top
o f the m ast. Bring up and ins tall th e mast next. Again, a th ree or four
27-TREE INSTALLAT IONS 203
foot piec e o f galvanized water pipe is plen ty. It's better to hav e it to o
long than too sho rt bec au se you ma y want to use th e mast for a
gin pole for ins talling the ant enna; you'll want a pick point high enou gh
above the ro tato r to bring up th e anten na while providing eno ugh
install ation clearance. Now yo u're read y for the antenna.
Tag line
The o the r key to getting th e beam up is to attach a tag line to
one of the elements in the middle of the boom, and use it to tip the
eleme nts upri ght as they approach the tree. Us e a lightweight line,
204 Up T H l i TOWE R
such as 114" p olyp ropylen e, tie one end o f th e tag line to the cente r of
th e boom, then route it down the eleme nt that you want to use to
pivot the antenna. Twist it aro und the element two or three tim es to
give it a little extra friction, then tape the tag line to th e element near
the element end.
T he person handl ing th e tag lin e has a job tha t requires proper
timing and fin esse. Since you want the eleme nts to go almost vertical
as the beam approaches the tree on the tram line, the tag line handler
should be just behind the antenna itself, so when he p ulls down on
the tag line, the elements go nearly ver tical to clear the bran ch es. He
doesn't re lease the tag line un til th e an tenna has cleared the branches
and the antenna has landed at the to p of the tree . As the tag line is
released, the antenna should settle back to horizontal and, if done
properly, should be right at the top of the rotator. It do esn't take
much force to tip the antenna using the tag line; a minim al pressure is
all that should be applied.
\'(1hen the antenna has successfully lan ded at the top of the tre e,
the tree person can untie the tag line from the boom. T he gro und
cre w can give it a tug to pu ll it down. T he tag line should pull right
through the tape that's holding it and drop right to th e ground. To
I
~ ...
Photo 3:An aggressive tree installation.This isa KT34XA and ispretty much atthe
Iimitforthiskind ofinstallation. This antenna has been intheairfor over 15years.
27-TREE INSTALLATIO NS 205
insur e th at the tag line will run th rou gh the tape, pull it back and
forth a few times while it's still on th e ground to loos en the adhesive
grip on th e tag line .
Preventive maintenance
Co mpared to a tower-mo unted ins tallatio n, a tree is relatively
high maintenan ce. Every three to five years someone should go up
and do so me pruning of new growth . Little lim b s and sucker branches
are am azingly stro ng and can prevent your be am from rotatin g.
A nd, since this is a woode n structure, it should be inspe ct ed for
ro tting as well.
28
THE TEN YEAR PLAN
\Vh en you put time, en erg y and money into building a respe ct-
able tower and antenna system , you'd like it to be reliable and safe.
T he focus of thi s chapter is exactl y that, w hat do you do to bu ild a
tower and antenna system so that no major repairs should be need ed
for at least ten years.
T ow ers
W hile gu yed towers suc h as R OHN 25G and 45G are the m ost
popular for amateur use, the se comments will be applicable to self-
suppo rting and crank-up towers as well. The only necessary co nc ept
fo r towe r reliability is "DO what the manufacturer tells you to do"
as far as the installation and use. Also, don't do wha t th ey don't tell
you to do. In o ther wo rds, follow th e manufacturer's sp ecificatio ns
exactly for guy anchors, ba se pad, materials and wind loading. Ac-
cording to R OH N, the most com mo n am ateur tower failure is du e to
overl oad ing (a typi cal ham in stallation?) . If yo u foll o w th e
manufacturer 's specs, your chances of tower failure drop to near
zero. Us e the TIA or building dep artment windspeeds fo r yo ur cou nty
28- T HE T EN YEA R PLAN 207
to de termine th e minimum wind sp eed to which you sho uld build
your system. If in doubt, ov er-e nginee r everything; if you are in a 75
MPH windspeed zone, build everything to withs tand 90 MPH winds,
fo r exampl e. For the sma ll inc rem ental cost of pe rhap s th e ne xt
larger size hardware, you'll gain a very comfortable margin of safety.
If you have any qu estions concerning your installation or ins tal-
lation plans, talk to som eone who has experience in station building;
I guarantee yo u th at they'll have lo ts o f opinions and tips for you. In
fact, talk to seve ral p eopl e. Reading this boo k is an excellent way to
get started.
O ne o f the mo st importa nt aspects for guyed tower reliability
is proper guy wire tension. Chapter 17 is an in-depth look at Guy
wires and the ir care.
Antenn as
One fact of tow er and antenna ownership is that "everything
has a life-sp an ." These da ys, almost all co mme rcially available ama-
teur ante nnas are ma de out of decen t m aterials including stainless
steel hard ware and high-gra de aluminum tubing, but even as yo u're
reading this, your towe r, antenn as and cables are deteriorating. If you
bu ild your own, don't scrimp on the materials. Use only stainless steel
o r hot-dipped galvanized hardware. Cad mium plating and o the r
hardware finish es will not last the ten years that we're shoo ting fo r.
Avoid th em .
Fo r wind surv ivability and heavy duty construction technique s,
I reco m me nd Dr. D ave Leeson's, W6NL, ex-W6QH S, book Prysical
Design if Yagi Antennas. H e covers constr uctio n techniques and ma te-
rials exhaustively and includes all o f the technical data to back up his
con clusions. T here is much valuable information througho ut the bo o k.
Subjec ts inclu de rotato rs, masts, fasten ers and literally dozens of other
to pics. You sho uld also use antioxida nts on every electrical and an -
tenna connection .
Baluns
Baluns (balanced-to -unbalanced) - are matching devic es used
at antenna feedpoints to 1) balance th e symmetry o f antenna currents
and 2) preven t, or cho ke, the o uts ide o f th e coa x shield from radiat-
ing and they are a poten tial pro blem . The Hy -G AIN BN -86 tha t was
208 U P THE TOfI7E R
supplied for years for the TH6DX jTH7DX and others was well-
kn own for its "fuse" capabilities. Put a little to o much power thro ugh
it and it opened like a fuse.
Whole books have been writte n on baluns and I recommend
you get one to learn more about the se devices .
Most baluns are out in the weather for years and do their job
with no maintenance. Unfo rtunately th ey som etim es fail an d the re's
no way to test one easily. N ot only do you ne ed special test equip-
ment to pe rform a test, but also you have to get the balun off th e
antenna and into the shac k - many tim es a difficult process. T he only
way to easily test a balun is to substitute another one and see what
happens.
A circularly wound coax ch oke can some tim es be a m ore reli-
able ch oke but they need to be constructed for a certain frequency
sp ectrum and they have specific construction pa rameters.
There's no magic bullet fo r balun reliability but m any o f th e
available commercial products work well. And you can always roll
your own.
Connectors
Silver-plated connectors installed with silver sold er are better in
the long run. Problems th at arise are gen erally due to poor weather-
pro ofing , so be cert ain to follow all of the techniques in the Weath-
erproofing ch apter. N ever us e solderless or crimp-on connectors.
Always use plier s to tighten connectors; finger-tight just isn't good
enough .
Coax
N ew co ax, with a non-contaminating jacket, is th e minim um
for reliability.
Weatherproofing
Since inadequate weatherproofing is one of th e biggest prob-
lem s in station performanc e, follow the instruction s in th e weathe r-
pro o fing chapter and thi s wo n't be a problem .
Rotators
Its my opinion you' ll be luck y to have any rotator sho rt o f a
28- T HE T EN YEA R PL AN 209
prop pitch last reliably for ten years. Sorry. Fo r start ers, th ough, put in
a bigger rotator th an you ne ed. T he less stress you pu t on it will result
in longer life span. The o the r th ing th at you can do is anticipate rota-
tor failures and m ake the ir replacem ent an easy one-perso n job.
Grounding system
Because it's mo stly o ut o f sight when p roperly ins talled, a
gro unding system wo n 't impres s yo ur ham friends as will yo ur
towers(s) and beam (s). Follow the techni gu es detailed in Chapter 24.
Use antioxida nts wherever th ere is an exposed electrical connection.
Hardware
Use o nly stainl ess steel (SS) or galvanized hardwa re suitable for
outdoor use.
Wire antennas
For maximum wire antenna int egr ity, use a center ins ulato r that
will not o nly acco mmoda te a PL-259 as the feedlin e co nnec tion, but
will also take the strain o ff o f the co nnec to r as it hangs in the air. Use
a black tie wrap to secure th e feedlin e to the in sulator. Strand ed an-
tenna wire o r solid is your choice; both have th eir pros and co ns. Be
sure to use silver solder on all o utdo o r co nn ectio ns. Use UV resistant
black dacro n ro pe for the haul ropes.
Crank-up maintenance
Use a cable lubrican t at least once a year, preferably twice. In-
spe ct cables for o bvious dam age, bro ken strands, o r rust. Mor e in-
formation in Chapter 30.
Annual inspection
Perform a tower and ant en na system insp ectio n once a year,
pr eferably whe n th e weather is nice.
29
REFURBISHING A TOWER
P re-purchase inspection
Take a long, hard look at what you want to bu y be fore you
fork over your hard ear ned money. Often the owner doesn't know
or has forgotten the specifics relat ing to his tower, including manu-
fact urer, type , etc. The main thing you're interested in is its condition.
You want to see if there is any significant damage or corrosion. If
any tower, including a crank- up, is in good shape, it will loo k like it. It
will be clean and there will be little or no corrosion. Minor dents or
bends th at don't affect the structural integrity are usually okay. Many
times these can be straightened, repai red or ignored.
In th e ca se of corro sio n , prim ar ily rust , determine whethe r
it is sur face bl eed ca used by something else rusting o nto the tower
o r whether the rus t has p en etrated the ga lvanizing. Hot dipped
towers suc h as R OH N 25G and 45G have excellent ru st res istance;
29-REFURBI SHI N G A TOWER 211
their g alvaniz ing sho uld last twe nty yea rs or more. T owers
stamped from ga lvanize d m etal, such as ROHN EX, hav e thi n ner
zinc co atings and thu s ha ve sho rter se rv ice live s. E xamine guy
wi re hardwar e with the same critica l eye . D on't buy o r reu se any
badl y corrod ed guy wire or ha rdwa re .
Crank-up tow ers can be yet another can o f wo rms. The wea k
links for crank -ups are the cab les. Be very cautio us if there is an y
co rrosion, deformities or kink s in the cab les or significant ru st. Re-
cabling a crank-up can be a difficult job; contact the manufacturer
for instructions and replaceme nt cab le. See th at th e pull eys are in
good shape ; th ey should turn witho ut binding. The ru le here is caveat
empto r-let th e buyer beware!
Don't forget to weigh th e co st of refurbishing into th e equa-
tion. It is one thing if yo u've go t lo ts of time and not much money,
but if yo u spe nd a month wire brushing and co ld galvanizing a tower,
you co uld be spe nding as mu ch as the co st o f a new tower. If you're
talking to someo ne and they have a fifty-fo ot self-s upporting tow er
but th ey don't kn ow the br and, nine tim es out o f ten it will be ROHN
ax, not wo rth the effo rt o f taking down . These are usuall y badly
ru sted and onl y fit for a trip to the dump.
Getting it ready
O nce you ge t you r tower home, pu t each section across a pair
of sawho rses and go ove r it with your wire brush and co ld galvaniz-
ing paint. Fo r really ru sted portions, use a wire brush attachme nt on
a dr ill motor. Wear a respirator or mask to prevent inhaling the zinc
and other materials. \'V'hile it's o n the sawhorses you can do a visual
chec k for straightne ss by looking down eac h leg for anything unusual
or be nt. N uts and bolt s are often either missing or un usabl e. G et
replacem en ts only fro m th e tower manufacturer's specs. Off th e
shel f nuts and bolts fro m yo ur hardware sto re are probabl y not
suitable; fact ory hardware has a certain grade rating that th e parts
mu st me et, while hard ware sto re parts are likely go ing to be a lesser
grade . Professional standa rds ge ne rally do not allow reuse of struc-
tural nuts an d bolts o n co m mercial towers.
As far as cold galvan izing goes, th e most convenient mean s of
applicatio n is fro m a paint spray can . This is a case where you ge t
what yo u pay for. The cheaper o nes will run and so metimes don't
212 UP77IE TOWER
adhere very well. LPS makes a very good one but it's on the more
expe nsive end o f the spe ctrum . Welding suppl y stores carry go od
pro fession al varieties.
Order a new base sectio n or fixture fro m the factory or fabr i-
cate one. With R OHN 25G and 45G, yo u can simply sink th e bottom
of th e first sectio n in to th e concrete as yo u pour the base foundation.
Follow th e manufacturer's specifications, and the information in thi s
book, and yo u'll be able to install a safe reliabl e syste m.
30
MAINTENANCE AND ANNUAL
INSPECTION
Now that you've spent all that time and money on in stalling
your dr eam ant enna and tower system , you'll need to do peri odic
preventi ve maintenance (Plvl) and inspectio n to catch anything be-
fore it turns into a problem.
General maintenance
If yo u've foll o wed th e directives and steps de scribed in this
book you 've alre ady taken the m o st im po rtant steps in in suring
the sa fe ty and reliability of yo ur tower and antenna sys tem. Fo l-
lowing the manufacturer's sp ecificatio ns, using th e right hardware,
using antiox idants and over-engin ee ring everything are the ke ys
to suc cess. A t this point, yo u' ll p robabl y not require much in th e
way o f ge ne ral main tenance. The two m o st likel y things tha t yo u' ll
need for gen eral m aintenance ar e a wire brush and co ld galvaniz-
ing spray p aint, as rust is pro bably the only thing about which
yo u 'll have to worry.
214 Up mE W irER
Annual in spection
An an nual inspection is a critical pa rt of yo ur PM program.
Most commercial co mpanies do it religious ly; many insur ance co m-
panies req uire it as a condition of insur ance coverage. An annual
inspection entails examining everything in the tower and antenna sys-
tem, incl uding the ground system, concrete anc hors an d foo tings and
tower structure. In addition to ann ual inspections, all installation should
be inspected after ice storms or wind storms that exceed 60 mph.
You should get in the habit of do ing a quick visua l check ever y time
that you clim b the tower. A log book of inspections, exceptions and
repairs is a handy reference item. The information that follows is
based on commercial and ELA/ TLA-222 tower inspections stan-
dards:
Tower structure
1. Check for damaged or faulty mem bers. T hese are the tower legs and
braces. With welded towers such as ROHN 25G and 45G, the me mbers cannot
be replaced witho ut replacing the who le section; minor bend s or damage that
do not alter the structural int egrity can usually be tolerated.
2. Check all welds for integrity.
3. E xamine the condition of the finish and an y corrosion. Loo k for rust
patches; use your wire brush and cold galvanizing paint to repair it.
4. In addition to visually che cking any bo lted co nnections, you sho uld
put a wre nch to at least 10% of the m to check for tightness. Any loose nuts or
bolts sho uld be retig htened. Also look for missing hardware an d rep lace it
immediately.
Tower alignment
1. T he towe r sho uld be checke d for plumb. A guyed tower is allowed a
maximu m deviation of o ne part in 400 , or three inches pe r 100 feet. Wh ile a
transit is the best way to chec k tower alignment, an electroni c level willgive you
0.10 accuracy, o r a bubble level will indi cate relative plumb . Even simp ler is a
long piece o f string with a weight on the end, hel d at arms- length away fro m
th e tower; just sight th e string alo ng th e tower leg for a very quick and fairly
accurate indic ation of tower plu mb . For self-s up porting towers, th e allowed
declination allowed is 1 part in 250 o r 4.8" in 100'.
2. Check the guy wires and guy insulator s, using binoculars for the ones
that aren't close to th e gro und o r the tower.
3. Examine all guy wire and guy wire hard ware including Pr eformed
grips , turnb uckles, clamps, and clevises for damage. Make sure th at all turn-
30- MAINTENANCE AN D ANNUAL IN SPECTI ON 215
buckle safeties are intact.
4. Check guy wire tension with an instrument or another technique.
5. Exa mine the tow er base and guy anchors . Look for any cracking of
the concrete. Also look for evidence of movement in the soil o f the ancho r
rod s or base. Check for rust and/or corrosion. Excavate a buried ancho r rod
for twelve inches to inspect for hidden corrosio n.
Grounding system
1. D o a visual inspection of the gro unding system. Redo any connec-
tions that are corroded.
Crank-up m aintenance
C ra n k-up to wers are complex mechanical co n trivan ces. W hile
so me are h and cr ank ed , m an y have a m o tor, gearbox, cables, pul-
leys, and lim it switches - all of whic h should be ca re fully ins pected
twi ce a year.
T he electric m oto rs and ge ar box ar e ge nerally bulletproof and
the only in spections are to ch eck th e oil level in the gearb ox , th e
conditi on o f th e d rive b el t o r ch ain (some so rt o f conditioner is
216 Up THE m iVER
helpful for each), and th e operatio n of the cable drum (the re are
probably so me Ze rk grease fittings th at need atte ntion).
Pulle ys are so metimes custom made by th e man ufacturer so
you may not be able to run down to the local bearing sto re and bu y
o ne. Some sheaves are made by the manu facturer and then an off-
the-shelf bearing is inserted in the middle. T his one you probably can
replace.
P ulleys need to turn and no t bind so a good thing to do is to
watc h the pulleys if they're exposed enough wh ile the tower is being
raised o r lowered and see if there are any problems .
Crank-up cables
Crank -up cables sho uld be lub ricated at least annually; twice a
year wo uld be even bett er. Use a cable lubricant such as PreLube 6
and be sure to check fo r dam age while you're hanging aro und the
towe r do ing th e lub e job. See Chap ter 34 for m ore information.
31
WHEN SOMETHING FAILS
Estimate of repairs
You'll m ake things very
easy for your claim s adjus ter
if you include an estimate o f
rep air along with your let ter
and ph o tos. T he ad juster has Photo 4:Winddamage.This isnotgoing to
probab ly n ever ru n in to a beremovedbyone person on thetower be-
tower loss before and wo uld cause it iswayoutofbalance.
220 Up ?HI'" m lVU{
This chapter tuas iuritten ry Ray Fallen, N D 8L , who has been an agentfor
The State Farm Insurance Companies since 1988.
Property insurance
There are several cav eats regarding homeown er's in sur an ce
co verage as it ap plies to to wers and anten nas . Firs t, mo st U.S.
hom eowner's policies are bas ed up o n standard language pro vided
by the Insur ance Ser vices Office (ISO) . E ach co mpany mo difies
that language on a state-by-state basis; so coverage th at ap plies to
towers in Ohio, may no t apply to tow ers in Florida . Coverage may
va ry from compa n y to compa ny and on differen t policy types with
th e same company. Because o f all the state-to-state differences, I
can't tell you exactly how your tower will be covered, bu t can give
you so me ge ne ral guidelines.
W hich brings us to caveat number two...wha t's covered in your
homeowner 's policy is described in the policy itself. What's NOT
covered is in the policy. Your du ties following a loss are described in
222 Up THE TOIVER
the policy. How the loss will be paid is, you guess ed it, described in
the policy. If you're picking up a pattern here, go to the head of the
class. You NEED to spend time with your agent, be fore pu tting up
your tower. If you've already pu t up your tower...what are you read-
ing this for? Go see your insurance agent...RIGHT NOW!
Damage to towers, rotors and relate d antennas is covered by
Dwelling Extensio ns, Other Structures or Ap purtenant Structures
coverage. The name of the coverage depends on the Insurer. Fo r
example, State Farm's O hio Homeowner's Policy describes Dwell-
ing Ex tension s as "other str uctures on the residence premises, sepa-
rated from the dwelli ng by a clear space." Other structures are per-
manently attached to or otherwise form a part of the realty. Typi-
cally,ot her structures are covered for 10% (Ten Percent) of the dwell-
ing amount, which, for mo st of us, would more tha n an adequate
amount. If you're K3LR or W3LPL, that ma y be another story.
Remember, part of the rep lacement co st of a damaged tower
is professional help in removal and repair, in addition to the new,
replacement cost of the damaged items. In addition, fences, pole
barns, gazebos, satellite dishes , detached garages and in-ground swim-
ming pools are also considered in Dwelling E xtensions, not just your
tower. So add it all up and if yo u need more coverage, buy it is
BE FORE you have a loss. Ins ur ance companies are reluctant to sell
yo u more coverage right after you've had a loss. In most homeowner's
policies (unless you pa y for more) if the damage exceeds 10% of the
dwelling coverage, yo u pa y it. So do your homework. See your agent.
Ask a lot of que stions.
Antennas sup po rted by trees and ground mounted verticals are
not permanently attached to the real property (som etim es much less
permanently than we'd like) and, as such, are considered pe rsonal
property. The good ne ws is personal property is covered for 70 to
100 % o f th e dwelling cost...the bad ne ws is generally the coverage is
less broad than dwelling extensions , but wind and lightning damage
is usually covered. The distinction between dwe lling (including dwell-
ing exten sions) and personal property coverage is: if it's nailed down,
it' s considered dwelling coverage...if it's not it's personal property. A
Cushcraft R7 on a piece of pipe in a sack of sand mix is personal
property. E ighty-feet of Universal Self Supporting Aluminum Tower
in a twel ve cubic yard block of six sack, rebarred concrete is a dwell-
3 2- INsURANCE 223
ing extension. No claim s adjuste r worth his salt will ever co nfuse th e
two.
The bottom line is this: don't eve r rely o n your ham radio bud-
dies, yo ur neighb o r or your bro ther-in-law for advice o n ins urance.
Call your insurance agent, bring him up to date on your ins tallatio n
and ask hard que stions. Specifically, if my tower installation is dam -
aged, how will it be cove red? If he doesn't know, m ake sure he
finds out and shows you, in writing (in the policy contract) how it
will be covered or why it wo n't be. If towers/ ant ennas are speci fi-
cally excluded in th e policy, what will it co st to pu rcha se the coverage
you need? Take pictures of your tower and give your agent an
accurately priced inve ntory of your installation. Be p repared to pay
the appropriate premium and sleep so undly when the north winds
blow. If, on the other hand , your agent can't o r wo n't provide you
with the information you need, th en go shopping for a new co m-
pany or a new agent with the same compan y. Rem ember, every time
you pay yo ur prem ium, your agent gets paid...he OWES you th at
service,
Those hams renting their home still have a need for coverage.
Some rente r's policies (tena nt 's form s o r H O-4s) provide cove rage
for personal property ONLY So me HO-4 policies provid e 10% of
the co ntents coverage amount for bu ilding improvements, similar to
the dwelling extensions coverage in a homeowner's po licy. Again,
fo rewarned is forearmed ...talk to your age nt. I f you don't have
renter's insuranc e...get som e, especially if you have a tower up, if for
no other reaso n than ge tting liability insurance (see the next sectio n).
The landlord's rental dwe lling po licy insurer won't pay for a tower
installatio n that doesn't belong to the landlord, for the same reaso n
your contents aren 't covered by th at po licy. Maybe better to pu t up
a G5RV and save the tower for your first house.
Liabili ty in surance
A fundamenta l principle of insur ance is tha t you bu y coverage
for the things you can't afford to lose . Most folks driving 1985
Yugos do n't b uy co llisio n coverage...most folks driving a n ew
Mercedes do. T hat be au tiful new tower you're putting up is wha t
the personal injury plaintiffs bar calls an "attractive nuisance ." If o ne
of the neighborhood kids decides to scale Mount Rohn and takes a
224 Up TH1". mWER
tumble from for ty feet up, you're going to ge t sued. You can argue
about tresp assing until you're blu e in th e face...but you're going to ge t
sued and you're go ing to get sued for a lot of m oney. You do have
so me p rotection in yo ur hom eowner' s p olicy. Typ ically, mo st
homeowner's liability coverage is o nly $100,000 to $300,000. I say
only, bec au se if som e reas onably competent attorney parad es a teen-
ager in a wheel chair in front of a jury...$300,000 is only a down
pa yment and yo u'll be on the hook for th e rest, to the extent yo u're
co llectible. Yo u're collectible if you have a job, equi ty in yo ur home
o r bu siness, a ch ecking or saving s account, inv estm ents, a pen sion
plan or an y other asse ts. If yo u can afford to los e those thi ngs
fine ...otherwis e, I would strongly encourage you to purchase at least
a one million dollar pe rsonal liability umbrella policy. It doe sn' t co st
a lot, typically less than a dollar a day, and will give you great peace of
mind. After all, if yo u're sued for a million bucks and you los e, do
you want to write the check or do you want your insurance company
to write the check? N ow, go back and read this paragraph again...it's
very important.
Ray Fallen has been an agent for The State FarlJl lnsurance Companies
since 1988. The opinions expressed are those 0/ the author alone, and are not
those 0/ The State Far:Insurance Companies. The coverages described1JIq} not
be available or II/ CD' not appIJ' inyour state, province or country. YOI/ arestrong/y
enconraged to reuien:your bomeoiuner's policy and tower installation withYOl/r
insurance agent to determine appropriate coverages and amounts. Thepronouns
"be] his" are usedin a non-sexual, gender-neutral basis.
Ray's callis N D8L. H e's been a ham since 1964 and is a member 0/the
North Coast Contesters CII/b, K3LR 's Multi -Multi team, DX CC, A RRL
and the Doub/e-O Repeater Group (N8GO). H e mq} bereachedvia e-mail at:
nd81@jll1Jo.com or via the State Farn: IV eb Page (JVlvlJJ.statejartl/.colJI.)
33
ANTENNAS
Temperature cycle
An im portant tip relating to antenna construc tion is, afte r as-
sembling the antenna, let it sit overn ight, then retigh ten all o f the nuts
and bolts the next day. T he hardware will have te mpe rature cycled
from warm to cold and warm again and some of the hard ware will
have loosened up during th at tem pe ratur e induced expa nsion and
co ntraction .
Antioxidants
Co rrosio n is a big problem for antenna and tower systems. By
using galvanized or stainless steel hardware yo u' ll stay away from
most corro sion problems. U n fortunately (or fortunately) most an-
te nnas are made o f alumin um and are subject to alumi num oxida -
tio n in the element joints or or other electrical co nnections. W henever
you build an an ten na, use an antioxida nt suc h as the ones discussed in
th e co rro sion chap ter. Altho ugh so me anten na manufacturers pro -
vide thi s pa ste with their p roducts (FORCE 12 and MOSLEY to men-
tio n two), som e man ufacturers do not provid e an y, alth ou gh th ey
ma y reco mmend its use.
Feedline jumpers
With man y beam antennas, the feed point is o ut of reach from
th e tower. I prefer to use a jumper, o r pigtai l, just long en ough to
reach from the feedpoint to th e ma st o n the tower. That way, all you
have to do is plug the m ain feedline into th e jumper with a barrel
connector, weatherproof it an d everything 's read y to go . T he amo unt
o f lo ss in troduced by an ad ditio na l PL-259 or two and a ba rre l
connecto r is negligible on H F; it's not wo rth wo rrying abo ut. You'll
understand how co nve nient thi s is if you ever ha ve to drop the an -
tenna in th e future .Just disconnect the jum per and lower th e antenna.
If you've connected the antenna to o ne lo ng piece o f coax, you' ll
have to work yo ur way o ut to th e feedpoint and disconnect it th ere
before yo u can lower it. Use a jumper, it' ll save yo u a lot of hassle.
33-A NTEN N AS 229
Keeping the elements from coming apart
Most HF be am s have tapered elem ents mad e up of decr easing
sizes o f alum inum tubing th at are ge nera lly held toge ther by co m-
pression with a hose-clamp or rivet. Here's a tip that will not only
add to the mech anical int egri ty of the antenna but will also enha nce
the electrical reliab ility. After you've asse mbled the an tenna wit h
hoseclamps, tested it and are ready to install it, put a self-tapping
screw or rivet through each elem ent whe re th e tubing overlap s. The
best kind o f self-tapping screws are called TEK scretus; th ese have a
chisel point which will start the screw in just about any material and
are available in m ost hard ware sto res. Sheet metal screws tend to
break off when being installed which is not a probl em with th e TEK
screws. They are available in Phi llips head as well as nut sizes for yo ur
nu tdri ver or co rdless drill. They'll hold th e eleme nts together as well
as provide a fine additio nal electrical connec tio n between the differ-
ent sizes of tubing. O f course you can use rivets as well as po pu lar-
ized by Force 12. If you're concern ed abo ut the boom twisting, you
can pu t a few through the boom as well. These sma ll holes can be
stress risers and in so me instances may cause failure. If you 've got
winds strong eno ugh to overstress th ese small holes, chances are th at
the antenna will blow apa rt befo re the ho les are ove rstressed. In
P/! pical Desigll of Yagi .Autennas, Dave Leeson, \\!6NL, ex-\\!6QHS,
recommends drilling any holes (such as for self-tapping screws) on
the un derneath side o f an element.
Speaking of Fo rce 12 antennas and rivets, in my op inion th ey
are a great improvement to antenna mec han ical desig n. By replacing
the traditional hoseclamps, they have reduced the cost and the weight
o f the antenna while eliminating a device that always seems to get
hung up o n something while yo u're trying to install or remove an
antenna; that is the ho seclamp that tends to snag on guy wires, anten-
nas, and just about anything else in the vicinity. The only complaint
agains t rivets that I'm awar e o f is th at in perpetu ally windy regions,
the single row of element rivets will allow th e inner piece to move
eno ugh that eventually the joint will fail and the element will come
apart. In this case, or if you just want to insure more reliability, just
put another row of rivets o n the oppo site side of the existing row.
Or, in extreme cases, add two rows 120 degrees apa rt fo r a total of
th ree and your failure rate will d rop to just about zero.
230 Up THE TOWER
Baluns
Balun s for beam antennas have a checkered hist or y. A balun
(from "b alance d-to-unbalanc ed ") is used to match a balanced load
(like a dip ole or driven elem ent) to an unbalanced load (typically
coax). The o ther purpose is to keep the ou tside o f the coax shield
from radiating and causing RFI.
Fro m power handling limitations (the fuse syndro me) to poor
mechanical and electrical design, balun s can be seen as a necessary
evil. Modern balun s are designed to be "cur rent-type" baluns as
opposed to the previous "voltage-type" balun des ign. T here are sev-
eral goo d books available abou t balun s and feed lines; refer to thes e
for mor e definitive informatio n.
Another balun design is to use a coax ial RF cho ke. It's simply a
coil made up of eight to ten turns o f RG-8 or whatever coax you're
using with a diam eter o f six to eight inches. It's really reliable as th ere
are no inductors to sho rt and no toroids to saturate o r bu rn out. T he
mai n d rawback to a wound RF choke is that they can be pretty
imp recise as far as being useful o n th e freq uenci es o f inte rest. This is
where having so me test equipment to actually look at th e choke and
its param eters wo uld be ve ry useful. O therwise it's a hi t o r miss
pr opositi on. Some ante nna manufacturers provide baluns with their
products, o thers recommend a coiled RF choke. Yo u should follow
the manufacturer's reco mme ndations.
Split coax
Most manu factu rers use some type of feed point system that
will enable you to sim ply plug your PL-259 directly into th e feedpo int
or balun . T his is accep table if you do n't forget to do your weathe r-
proofing. But a few co mpanies want you to split th e coax and feed
the ends of the cable directly to atta chme nt points o n the driven
element. That is, cen ter co ndu ctor o n one side and shield on the
other. It works fine but th e junc tion of the coax (the bottom of the
Y) is very difficul t to seal. Water will simply wick down th e o uter
shield and into your shack un less yo u take great pains to weather-
proof it.
There is an optional method which works o n antennas such as
those fro m C USHCRArT. Just connect a dip ole connector to the driven
elem ent, the n plug a PL-259 int o it. A dip ole center co nn ector has a
33- A NTEN N AS 231
female PL-259 (an 50-239) embedded in a plastic material with two
leads coming out to connect to the sides of the dipole. The excep-
tion to the split coax feed is the M OSLEY line of PRO antennas. These
use a split feed, and it is very critical to successful installation of the
antenna. Once again, do what the manufacturer specifies.
34
TOWER REMOVAL
they'll catch each secti on before it can move down very far. You can
also gently lower th e tower until it rests on the safety pieces, thu s
jamming them into place and eliminating any tower mo vement at all.
Bob Wilson, N6TV, recommends using U-bolts on a leg per section,
again putting th em right under the bottom of a section. E ither way
will give you an adde d safety margin .
The biggest limitation of a crank -up, in my opinion, is that all of
the dead weight of the system plus any added wind loading is all sup-
ported only by the cables that hoist the tower up and down. If one of
those cables breaks, and occasionally they do, the whole system makes a
rapid descent un til it slams into the bottom section or base pad with an
incredible amo unt of force. Many times the tower will com e through
relatively un scath ed but the boom of the antenna will break in half
because of the sudden stop. O nce the cable snaps, you mu st re-cable the
tow er to get it back into operation, if you can do it yourself. Modern
cran k-up s, such as those made by US TmvER, have a sophisticated sys-
tem of cables, pulleys, idler wheels, jackscrews and spring-loaded hard-
ware to make their towers move up and down efficiently and safely.
Your chances of repairing a cable break on one o f these towers your-
self are just about nil.
O ver the years I' ve picked up many tip s related to tower and
antenna construction. Some have been discovered easily; others we re
the resu lt o f hard fou ght trial and erro r. I'm pa ssing the se alon g so
that yo u might avoid learning them the hard way. (If you have a tip
that I've missed, please send it to me for inclusion in the next edition;
you'll even get credit for it.)
Scotch Super 88 tape: 146, 147, Tor que arms : 60,79,80, 158
239 To\verJack: 126, 233
ScotchKo te: 148 TowerTalk: 89, 188
Screw earth anchor : 79 Trucker 's hitch: 111, 112
Self-sup porting tower: 17, 18, Tub ing: 61,62,96,132, 133,
19, 20,24, 69, 70, 71, 74, 77, 135, 148
158,21 1,214
Shackle: 62, 79, 102, 112, 118, u
122, 160, 214 UBC (Unifo rm Building
Sling: 74,90,95,99, 101, 102, Code): 48, 49, 50, 51, 52
103, 104, 105, 106, 120, 125,
Ufer ground: 171, 172, 176
126,1 57,1 58, 160,1 61,1 91,
Unde rground utilities: 41, 71,
200,203,205, 234
143
Snatch block: 99, 100, 105, 125,
Universal Manufacturing : 18,
162
222
Soil test: 52
Spaulding: 16, 18 v
SPGS (Single Point Volunteer Counsel : 40, 49
Ground System) : 175, 176, 182,
184 W
SSV tower: 17, 18, 19 W3AS : 189
Star bracket: 80 W3LPL: 7, 144, 222
Super Titan tower: 19 W3TX:24
Surge protector: 173, 182, 184 W6NL: 132,207,229
W7NI: 91
T
W7RM:7,27
TEK screws: 229
W7WVF: 19
Thimble: 62, 79, 115, 116, 118
W7ZR/XE2DV: 23
Thrust bearing: 93, 127, 128,
Windload: 23, 134
129,1 33, 155, 156, 240
Wooden po les: 12, 13
TIA-222:5 1,52, 79, 134, 214
Yaesu G450XL: 150
T itan tower: 19,98