 The Tower Project
This tower took 31 years to plan and 48 hours to install. Here
are the pictures and the story. For those who dream of one day meeting all of your
neighbors - here is a sure way of making your dreams come true. For those who have
wanted a tower but didn't know how much work it really was...or how expensive...here are
some of the answers.
Here is a Virtual Reality version of the tower and beam...with a
little twist. Caution - don't spin to fast or you'll get sick. (grin)
Before all of what you see here could happen there needed to be a
permit. I originally wanted a 72 foot tower and selected the US Tower medium duty
crank up. They sent me the plans ($25) and I attached them to a site plan of where
in my yard the tower would sit. I don't think it's legal to have a yard smaller than
mine. 72 feet wide, but only 25 feet from the back of the house to the back fence
line. I think the legal limit was 20 feet from the back line for the tower, so I
assumed it was from the center of the tower...otherwise, it wouldn't fit.
With the plans submitted I waited almost two weeks. Then the
call...come pick up your plans and follow the instructions. Those instructions were
to supply something called exposure C plans...I had turned in exposure B for the tower.
I called US Tower and they didn't have such plans for the tower I wanted.
First, the difference in the exposures is the height and wind load is measured
differently. B is more like our own back yards, but C is more like a mountain top
exposure. When getting a permit, you do what those in power say. The reason
there were no exposure C plans for the 72 foot mid duty tower was clear....it could hold
about a single foot of wind load at that rating. So, I dropped my height to 55 feet,
asked for plans for exposure C on the heavy duty tower, and off I went back to the permit
wizards. (USTower was very nice and actually gave me the second set of plans...guess they
knew I was going to get it one way or the other!)
I spent the next two weeks thinking up all the things I was going to
do, people I would call, and letters to write when they turned it down. Then the
call came in...it's approved, come get it. Hmmm, all that planning for nothing!
So, I got the permit ($118)
Next, order the tower, and have the base sent ASAP so I could get it
in the ground. A few days later an 88 pound base arrived. It was really going
to happen.
One night while talking on the radio with a buddy I mentioned that I
wasn't sure how to get the rebar ready for the hole...or who to call for the hole.
John, KC7ZNS heard my dilemma and called me. It turned out he did this for a living
and he'd be over the next night with the re-bar ready to put in the hole. True to
his word, it looked great when he was finished. I still needed the hole however.
I found a company to dig a 4x4x6 foot hole within 6 inches of the
house. And, get this, they did it Easter Sunday at 8:30 AM. Best get the
neighbors wondering early. ($260)
Then, get the inspector out to check the hole. He did at about
9 AM one morning...it passed...and again John came to the rescue. At about 3:30 PM
the concrete truck arrived and the hole was soon filled with about 18,000 pounds of soon
to be solid mass. John finished off the top of the base like a true craftsman.
Now the wait begins. It takes about 4 weeks to get a tower
from US Tower, and it just so happens that the concrete takes 28 days to cure. This
gives me time to order up the Force 12 10-40 meter 8 element beam for the top. ($960).
Of course there was a mast ($200), and thrust bearing ($50) to go with it.
Oh, and the coax stand offs. ($50) These were actually parts of the tower. I
also invested in a tilt over option ($450) so I'd never have to climb it. Climbing
a tower is for the young and stupid...and I'm not young any more. Of course I'm just
kidding...but not about me not wanting to climb towers.
The next couple weekends are spend playing with the new beam.
Thousands of beer cans must have given their lives for this thing. 48 pounds of
aluminum is a lot. but, I have to say, it was easy and fun to put together.
Force 12 uses pop rivets to hold their beams together. It makes for a very strong
arrangement.
 Then the
coolest day arrived...a week early! The trucking company called to ask if I had a
way to off load the 1000 pounds they were bringing me. Yowza! A few quick
calls to some crane people ($250) and I had one waiting for the truck when it got there.
I also called a good friend Roger, N7KT, to help with the logistics. (I was
to excited to think straight...at least I had an excuse this time) Like a couple of pros, the truck driver and crane operator
did their magic and get the 22 foot long package out of a covered truck. Shipping.
($130) Once the tower was in the yard the crane operator and truck driver proceeded to
help uncrate it and mount it on the base. The crane op was excited about helping
lift it in place! I asked the truck driver why he was helping and he said he'd
delivered so many of these and really wanted to see how it went together! American
labor at it's finest.
 So, the
clock starts...it's Friday afternoon.
The next day, at first light, I go out and install the tilt over
feature on the base so we can tilt the tower over.
Then the mast had to be mounted, a 2/70cm antenna mounted on the
top, and coax bought from the local HRO. ($290) Coax was measured and cut and
connectors placed on the ends. This took longer than
 normal because of the visiting
(inquisitive) neighbors. The Yaesu 800 rotor ($360) was mounted and everything
set in place so the beam could be mounted on the tower. Bed time.
The next morning - Sunday - Mothersday. I had until noon to
get it together before a big family bash would drag me from my work of love. My
wife, Linda, N7WMI, was a great help. We had already demolished the back wooden
fence, so in order to have enough room for building the beam we parked the truck in the
alley and started putting elements in place. It kept getting bigger, and bigger.
 Okay...the
sun is hot, and the beam is complete. but, it's got a 23 foot boom and 37 foot
elements! How do we get it on the mast. Well, Linda and I got it up on one end
and I walked it over to the mast. I'm sure it looked pretty funny to anyone
watching. Finally, we got it in close. The mounting on the Force 12 is two
plates, each with two U clamps. One mounts to the mast and the other to the boom.
All we had to do is get just one hole to line up and we would be home free!
That was pretty easy, and then we tilted the boom out and it came right into place for the
rest of the screws. Lots of black tape and dressing the coax for the mounts and it's
ready to tilt up.
Now, physics tells me this shouldn't work...or is on the edge
anyhow. I have a 22 foot tower tilted over way past 45 degrees. There is a 80 pound
double walled 20 foot mast on it, sticking out about 16 feet beyond the top of the tower.
Then, on that is a 17 foot vertical going even farther out. Now, we attach a
beam at about a foot up the mast, so it's not much of a problem, but still adds to the
stress of the tilt over option.
There's only one thing to do...start cranking. By this time
another ham friend, Kel, N7XVB has come over and he wants to crank. not a problem.
By now I'm exhausted! With that tilt it sure took a lot of effort to get it
up. But, once it got past 45 degrees everything got easier and easier until it
thunked into place. 
Then the other crank...the one to make it go up. It seemed to
take forever, but it finally made it to the top. What a great sight! It was a
lot of work, but it was there.
 Of course, there was
still more to do. But, basically, from the time the tower arrived to the time it was
standing with a fully operational beam in place was under 48 hours!
Next came the running of coax into the house. By the time I
finished, I used almost the entire 500 foot roll. The VHF/UHF vertical, two feeds to
the beam (one for 40 and one for 10-20) and another to be used for an inverted V on a
pulley later. More coax connectors!
Then the ground rods. Steve, K7DAD had loaned me a really
neat little device that a hose hooks to for digging the holes. I turned on the
water, put a little weight on it and down she went, to 5 feet. Those were the
easiest rods I've ever installed. Of course the other 3 feet was a pain...until my
step son came over and pounded them in the rest of the way. Three at the base, one
at the satellite dish and one run to the house panel. Everything should have a
common ground so it's correct to tie them all together. As I'm writing this I still
have some grounding to do. I have 100 feet of #4 bare copper wire and 6 ground rods.
($150) I still have to get some lightning arrestors and will get Polyphasers.
Those will mount at the bottom of the tower near the ground rods. The coax was cut
to only make it to the base. Barrel connectors are being used to connect the coax
running into the shack until the arrestors are in place. (also gives me a way to
disconnect even now if needed.
Then, the most important safety feature that many forget.
Since the tower becomes an 'attractive nuisance' it would be a very bad thing to have a
child climb up and fall off. So, with a single sheet of siding we formed a shield
around the base of the tower making it impossible to climb. It was easy to construct
and it completely assembled outside the tower
so the sections still come down without
getting caught on anything. Especially since we don't have a fence for a little
while, it was important to do this ASAP.
So, how did it work? It took me several nights to recover
enough to actually get on the air and work anyone. The first night I was on for 20
minutes and the first contact was Spain, followed by 3 Russians, and Iran. No real
earth shakers, but from my Butternut vertical I could hardly hear any of them and I'm sure
they heard me pretty well. They came back on the first call. Since then I've
done some comparing of the antennas and getting a feel for the pattern and I'm very
pleased. It's like someone opened a window to the world.
Was it worth it? Absolutely. Would I do it again?
Nope...one tower is enough for this guy.
And, what did the neighbors say? Well, most like the freedom
we have in our area to live our lives without having to follow a bunch of heel clicking
rules. One guy behind my property thought it was pretty ugly, and I mentioned that
Beauty was in the eye of the beholder....and he said 'huh?" I kinda' feel sorry
for him, but I'll get over it...just like he'll get over the tower in my yard.
He has since planted some very tall thin trees between his windows and my
tower so he solved his problem...at least one of them. (grin)
His swept TV antenna is still pointed 180 degrees from the TV stations.
I have this opinion that there are HOAs out there in
90% of the communities that don't allow towers or houses that aren't pink.
The other 10% is for those of us who want to be able to have a tower.
Those that don't like my tower had a much larger selection of homes to
choose from where towers aren't allowed....they can live there.
So, that's my story.
And here are a few more random pictures.
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