Building and raising antenna tower (tower project part 3)

[@towbar2]

You make that look waaaay too easy. God Bless you!!!

[@StuntProgrammer]

Aw, thanks for saying so! It's all just movie magic; it was actually a bunch of work 😅

[@richardfox1045]

Gday Aaron from Sydney Australia : Mate your wife is a keeper, helping put the tower up. : - ) Richard VK2UAL

[@StuntProgrammer]

I knew that, but thanks for saying so 😀

[@schoocg]

Awesome. Funny ordered a Universal 12-40 today and then watched you walk one up , haha. Great antenna and mazing strength and wind load capacity. Reason I choose it I live on the windy side of Lake Michigan. Even Rohn 45G can not handle it but this lite weight tower its in its elements here. Made In Michigan too:-)

[@StuntProgrammer]

Good luck with your project! Hope to see you on the air 😀

[@giulianoggg2035]

Great job bravo, how big is the cement base plinth what size

[@StuntProgrammer]

Thanks! If I recall correctly, it's about four feet square and four feet deep.

[@loueckert4970]

Nice setup 73 de KT1R

[@PapasDino]

Ohhhh, so close! Can't wait for video of first QSO! ;-) 73 - Dino KLØS

[@StuntProgrammer]

Good idea, I should get some video inside the station too! I haven't quite finished that up yet, but I'm working on it. Got a temporary setup in the meantime.

[@westesh]

As I understand it universal towers do not require brackets or guy wires?

[@StuntProgrammer]

Yeah, I think they only make self-supporting towers.

[@stevejoos8953]

Can you tell me how heavy of an antenna you plan putting on that 40' tower, and whether or not you two think that you would be able to walk it up likw shown in the video (w/o a winch system) ? Also, do you think it is possible to walk it "down" (by hand) w/o a winch with like 25-Lb hex beam antenna on it ?

[@StuntProgrammer]

The antenna I put up (an A3S) weights 27 pounds. I'm not sure about the mast and rotator. Personally, I would not have tried to walk it up with any weight on it. It was not trivial for two of us to walk it up empty. Consider that the tower acts as a third-class lever and that your mechanical dis-advantage /increases/ as you walk it up. As it reaches vertical, I think you'll be at something like an 8:1 disadvantage, so your 25 pound antenna will feel like 200 pounds. Plus the mast, rotator, and so on.

[@stevejoos8953]

@@StuntProgrammer Ok, thank you for that (although, your sped-up video of you two walking it up *did* make it appear "trivial"). Would you be willing to explain to me what your final tower elevating solution was (or "is")? - Do you have some sort of winch system etc. ?

[@StuntProgrammer]

I put it up empty and have climbed it to work on it and install antennas. I used a tramline to get the big beam up to the top. The next couple of videos in the series show how, more or less.

[@stevejoos8953]

@@StuntProgrammer I see. Thanks for that info. I had to hunt around for the video, but I did find it. It would be nice if the "next" video link would somehow pop up near the end of the previous video. I see people do that, but I myself don't know how to do it (but would love to learn how to do that). One last question(s): Why did you go with a tram-line option instead of a cable/winch option ? I thought that was the main selling point of these light aluminum towers - easier to winch up. As far as climbing, I couldn't seem to find out how much weight these towers could support as far as someone climbing them. I'm 220 Lbs, and I'm wondering if a #9-50 would even support my body weight at 50 feet. Are there any specs on that, or general guidelines on that? Thanks again!

[@StuntProgrammer]

I thought it would be interesting to learn to climb and do tower work. When I was looking at towers, I think I found that the crank-up and tilt-up options were more costly and more complex than a static tower. Given those factors, I decided to buy a static tower and climbing gear. If you're looking to adapt a static tower to be winched up, it's probably a good idea to ask the manufacturer how high up you need to winch from and what an appropriate method of spreading the load would be (or perform your own engineering calculations if you're comfortable with that). Likewise for determining the safe load when climbing -- it may be specified or the manufacturer may be able to give guidance. I suspect most tower designs focus on strength against overturning (and maybe twisting) and end up "pretty strong" in vertical loading as a side-effect. But it's worth checking!

[@cjwetzel22]

Nice video! Are those short extensions at the base of the tower necessary? I am getting ready to install mine and I don't have those.

[@StuntProgrammer]

Check with the manufacturer, but on the model I installed they were definitely necessary.

[@felipefigueroa9449]

My compliment

[@torres_arriostradas]

que altura tiene tu torre? y cuanto pesa?

[@StuntProgrammer]

Tiene una altura de 40 pies (unos 12 metros) y pesa 89 libras (unos 40 kilos). Espero que esto ayude! Salud y 73!

[@torres_arriostradas]

@@StuntProgrammer muchas gracias por la información!!!,,👍

[@schoocg]

What antenna did you end up putting on the tower? Mine (12-40) will arrive in 6 weeks but have to wait till snow melts :-(

[@StuntProgrammer]

I put a Cushcraft A3S on mine. I like the design, but the one I bought brand new needed a fair bit of rework to operate correctly. Fixed up, it's been playing great so far and has survived the wind.

[@andykrew336]

Universal 9-40?

[@StuntProgrammer]

You got it! Good eye 😀

[@andykrew336]

@@StuntProgrammer I've got an HD21-50 I will be putting up soon. Eager to see how you get along with yours.

[@StuntProgrammer]

@@andykrew336 Very cool! I'm happy so far with mine. It seems to have done fine through the winter. I'll probably be heading up it again when the weather gets a little nicer and get a closer look at it. Good luck with your project 😀