does any one have plans for a diy tower
Heh, basically you follow a typical commercial tower. Three long vertical poles with interconnecting horizontal pieces for stability. Welded or bolted metal would be the strongest, but other materials will work too to different degrees.

Since I have a mess of 25ft to 35ft bamboo growing, I may make one from the bamboo. Thats not such a crazy idea. In Asia somewhere, I saw a picture of a full size replica of the Eifel Tower made only from bamboo, heh. My technique for connecting the bamboo together is very simple. Instead of wrapping and strapping it together as per tradition, I drill a small hole thru the two pieces and insert an old rusty nail (which I have plenty of, heh) and bend the nail over with pliers. It holds very tight for my tomato cages and contraptions. Dried bamboo also splits very easily down the middle for slats.

. should I make my own brackets or buy them. (perhaps threaded galvanized pipe or a fence post crimped and bent.)

Personally, I know I can make better brackets than I can buy. Commercial brackets arent too expensive and come in a few different sizes as far as distance from the wall is concerned.
Yeah, galvanized chain link fence pipe is stronger and is cheaper than what is being charged for antenna masts. Also look at galvanized EMT pipe and couplings. Galvanized water pipe is very expensive now if bought new.

2. should I cut my mast and install the rotator close to the brackets or close to the antenna. Or use a pipe in the bracket and mount the rotator on top of that with the 10 foot mast on top of that?


That depends a very lot on the weight of the antenna you are using. Youll have to make your own judgement call as to if its strong enough.

Yeh, and you could use larger size on top to fit over the narrow taper of the bottom leg and extend your height... built in swaging!

I've had these similar DIY tilt-over towers bookmarked for quite awhile:

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Tilt-Over_Mast

http://www.wv7u.com/mast/mast.html

For supporting a DBGH and especially for a large VHF or Combo Yagi I'd suggest thicker gauge Black Iron plumbing pipe than used on those 2 projects linked above. You can get 22-foot lengths of Schedule 40 Black Iron pipe from plumbing supply warehouses in several diameters between 1 1/2" and 3" (and larger too) but the thicker the gauge, the heavier the upright mast will be. :eek:

Also its important to know that the threaded ends of Black Iron pipes are weaker than the rest of the pipe due to the threads making the walls thinner at those points. My advice would be to use proper Black Iron collars/couplers/reducers and maybe even tack them or bead them solidly in place with a welder.

Note the disclaimers on those websites! Neither of those designs have been certified by a structural engineer, so builder beware. A falling Black Iron pipe could cut into a house roof like a knife.

2. should I cut my mast and install the rotator close to the brackets or close to the antenna. Or use a pipe in the bracket and mount the rotator on top of that with the 10 foot mast on top of that?

The rotor should be as close to the antenna as feasible. The further the rotor is from the antenna, the greater the torque on it during wind storms. The use of a bearing will reduce this torque, but I still recommend keeping the top mast as short as you can.

can someone tell me if this tower looks to be in good condition and worth buying.

http://s638.photobucket.com/albums/uu110/stanicet/tower/

Also any tips on dismantling is appreciated...appears to be 3 - 10ft sections - not sure about base implantation

can this be painted or otherwise protected

Do you guys think that mounting my antenna mast to the tube that my BellTV satelite is on would be ok? Or is that too much load at that point?

I think I might get CM 9036....anyone know where I can get them localy, or do I ahve to order them from the US?

can someone tell me if this tower looks to be in good condition and worth buying.

http://s638.photobucket.com/albums/uu110/stanicet/tower/

Also any tips on dismantling is appreciated...appears to be 3 - 10ft sections - not sure about base implantation

can this be painted or otherwise protected
Looks to be about 30+ years old. This type of tower was known as a ‘Gold Spot’ tower because the brackets were spot welded as you can see… they were sold by Radio Shack back in the 1970’s. The tower still looks to be ok to me… however is might require that you cut the bolts off since they are very rusty… a coat of rust proof paint should help keep it looking nice before you put her back up again.

As for price I would not pay more then $100 for it… a brand new tower like this would cost you around $300 not including installation.

As for price I would not pay more then $100 for it… a brand new tower like this would cost you around $300 not including installation.
Definately. A lot of times in my area, in the classified ads there are towers free to good home. The only problem is, taking them apart and moving them. You need to have a truck (or something).

I've split off posts about OTA Waterproofing, Sealants, Adhesives, Paint into their own thread:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=104181

Posts related to trees regarding OTA problems/solutions are now located in their own thread:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=104178

cheers

rlegault:

1. should I make my own brackets or buy them. (perhaps threaded galvanized pipe or a fence post crimped and bent.)


Maybe in the U.S. brackets are not considered too expensive, but locally, brackets you buy from Montreal retailers are very expensive, wall mounts will cost easily around $100.00, + taxes, not installed...say you need 2 or 3 - 16" brackets, you can do the math -you are looking at the cost of a new tower, or DTV...and yes DYI brackets are much better if built properly.

I made my own out of shelving brackets, cost very little, and I am much more confident in them...

Thank you to HDTV101 and 300ohm re. the tower condition...

What is very convenient is I can get this tower nearby, and I was thinking of offering maybe $50.00...

By the way towers are quite rare around here, especially in Montreal, not too many antennas here!

2 more questions:

1. what's involved in taking the base out
2. Will this tower be useful for another say 5 to 10 years, we're talking by then a 40 yr old structure!

thanks again for your input

I climbed my neighbor's tower today to see its condition, and see the bolt connections...

The top tower section where it connects to the middle section, the tubes have more than just surface rust, but not perforated, and seemed still solid under the rusting

1. Will these two sections come apart without a struggle or will I have to bang them to knock them loose (apart from undoing the bolts of course)

2. Is it easier to leave the 2 mounted antennas, rotator, and its mast attached to the top tower section and remove, as opposed to first removing the attached gear, then removing the top tower section... There is a wide VHF type antenna (maybe 8' x 6') then on top a small UHF 4 bay, in the rotator.

2a. What is the weight of the gear
2b. What is the weight of on section of the tower

With my 40 foot tower the guys assembled 3 sections on the ground (30 feet) and erected that first. The bottom of the tower went 30 inches down into a hole they dug in the ground. The top of the tower the guy just carried that section up there and dropped it in place. The sections are much lighter in weight then I thought they would be.

Now in your case since the thing is so rusty and only 30 feet I would just try to bring the whole tower down as is if you can… try to save that UHF antenna too for HDTV!

HDTV101:

I would just try to bring the whole tower down as is if you can…

So it could be safer/easier not to dismantle anywhere above the roof, and maybe dismantle it between the bottom and middle sections, drop it, then dig out the bottom section.

I don't plan on waiting for the thaw to dig out the bottom, and I want start some of the work now.

If we disconnect the joint between the bottom and middle section, standing on the roof can I support, or hold the weight enough to lift it out of the bottom section, and drop it to the ground vertically, with someone on the ground...

Assuming a 10' section of tower is about 30 lbs, so for 2 sections + all the gear, I'll be trying to support and guide around 80 lbs...seems risky

Be careful what ever you do... its dangerous work no matter what.

Watch these guys.... they learned the hard way!


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Anyone have any plans or pictures of their own DIY wall mounts?

That's a very informative video - they should have sectioned it down from top to bottom in segments, like urban tree fallers do.

I was thinking about that, if the tower is "sectionnable" (is that a word!), given the age of the tower, dead weight effect, and corrosion, will the swaged joint release.