Check with HDTV101 and/or Jase88 for a climbing harness source:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=962147&postcount=580

No, I believe they are made of galvanized steel as it is stronger than stainless steel.

I would also bet they use galvanized steel, but it's probably due to cost more than strength. It takes a whole lot of steel for a big hydro tower and the stainless would cost a small forture (not to mention the countless power failures as the towers fall down from people stealing sections).

They likely use more zinc than is used in a cheap, consumer grade TV tower where they are trying to keep costs at a minimum.

Agreed. The coating of zinc can be controlled during the plating process, so if you want to save money on plating you reduce the amount of zinc, but the corrosion resistance will go down.

Plating is typically expressed as a minimum coating thickness or as a minimum weight per unit areas (g/m²). The standard test for corrosion protection is to specify the minimum number of hours to red rust while exposed to a salt spray (ASTM B 117 for anyone who really is interested).

Galvanized steel is definitely far cheaper than stainless steel.

I suspect that a stainless steel tower would be cost prohibitive for most.

@goforit: I've sent you the link for a reputable distributor of tower climbing equipment.

If you're able to make a trip to Kitchener one weekend, I'd be willing to demonstrate my equipment and let you try it out for yourself.

I should also post pics of the step-by-step process.

Which distributor sells that gear?

He's a HAM operator with an ebay store. His prices are very reasonable, and the quality of the product is excellent. He's in Texas but ships to Canada.

For other items such as carabiners, climbing ropes, etc., I use mec.ca

Jase88,

I should also post pics of the step-by-step process.

If you would, please, that's appreciated! ;)

goforit,

I'm a total novice at this and appreciate your help. I need to replace a pre-amp and hopefully with the harness it should be easy.


There are experts here who are better to help you, but my BIL often and safely climbs tall trees with tree climbing and sailing gear. Not sure if this is useful for a tower, but he moves very fast up 60 ft+ trees to trim and cut using the harness. I am not sure of the details (IMPORTANT) but,

YOU MUST ALWAYS BE ATTACHED TO WHATEVER YOU ARE CLIMBING. I have seen first hand what can happen if your not and you & your family wont want that!

Maybe try a professional tree cutter (not sure of the correct term for this trade)

Thank you guys for the advice. I think going up the tower to check cables, the amp, etc. should be ok; but how does one go about changing an antenna? Does someone have a step-by-step guide/link? It seems pretty tricky,...I can see myself loosening the mast, then I'll have the mast in my hands with the antenna attached, then..., how would I climb down?

All parts must be raised and lowered by rope. Never carry items with you while ascending or descending. I also tie off items when working on them. Should they fall, they won't go far.

Make sure whomever is on the ground is clear of the area where items could fall--even small things like tools or bolts can injure. Also remove expensive items on the ground in the "fall zone" (BBQ's, bikes, furniture, etc).

I recommend using a "Gin Pole" for tower installs. It's essentially a pole that fits to the side of a tower section. It has a pulley on the top, and allows someone on the ground to raise/lower sections for you.

I recommend using a "Gin Pole" for tower installs. It's essentially a pole that fits to the side of a tower section. It has a pulley on the top, and allows someone on the ground to raise/lower sections for you.

Are you sayin on the initial climb you go up to install the Gin Pole?

How do you bring up the Gi Pole?

I assume the Gin Pole allows the gear to be brought up at clear distance from the tower otherwise it would get "snagged" in the tower?

Also, I assume you always need a tool belt, and that you always work with both hands freed, thus putting more strain on the feet/legs to keep you stabilized on the tower, and thus TOTALLY RELYING on the harness and its connection to the tower to keep you from falling?

I've seen installers put up a tower a section at a time, and some of our members have had installers do that at their homes, but to me the only sensible way has been to preassemble everything on the ground in order to verify tightness of fasteners, no pinching or abrasions to any of the cables, etc. and then raise it to vertical and bolt or guy wire it in place.

I'd like to hear from someone who prefers the section-at-a-time method to compare notes. :)

Are you sayin on the initial climb you go up to install the Gin Pole? Nope, a gin pole is simply attached to one of the top sections beforehand. A lightweight but strong material like ABS can be used since it only needs to be about 3 feet in length and you don't want any more weight up at the top of the tower than is absolutely necessary.

With a pulley on the gin pole you can string it so that your assistant attaches the next payload down at the ground and pulls the cord to raise it to you after you've undone the first payload from it.

Also when you are all done go ahead and raise a flag or two. :)

@balm: Yes, a full harness allows you to have both hands free. And the toolbelt helps out. ;) The stresses on your body (with both hands free) aren't as bad as you'd think, as you're tethered at multiple points of the harness.

@stampeder: Certainly fully assembling a tower on the ground and using a block and tackle to hoist it to vertical makes sense. And Delhi does sell hinged base pegs for that purpose. This method is best for those afraid of heights as well...

However, my install location didn't allow for such an approach. It was necessary to complete it section by section.

The Delhi towers have stop rivets in each section. When you slide the next section into place, the rivets hold the section in place while you secure the bolts.

For my install, I secured the coax and rotor cable the the final top section on the ground, then hoisted it carefully. After installing the mast and making the connections, I taped off the wires during my descent on the tower.

Yep definitely I understand the space issue - I have giant trees at the edges and on my property so doing a full lift isn't really a possibility. :)

Probably what I'll do is prebuild and install the base up to about 20' and then install the next section while standing on the rooftop (22' above ground) then do the top 2 10' sections one-by-one.

Any of you guys got any ideas what to use to paint the tower? I know about tremclad but I was thinking maby something more proff. like PPG?

Lots of previous discussion about paint in this thread. Here's a great tip for our site:

Use the Search This Thread tool to the upper right beside Thread Tools and put in paint as your search term.

Scanning through those posts I don't see anything new to add. :)

I've seen installers put up a tower a section at a time, and some of our members have had installers do that at their homes, but to me the only sensible way has been to preassemble everything on the ground in order to verify tightness of fasteners, no pinching or abrasions to any of the cables, etc. and then raise it to vertical and bolt or guy wire it in place.


Although I don't have first hand experience, I would say that a variety of factors (including type of tower, hight of tower and location) need to be considered. For example, since a bracketed tower isn't stable until the bracket is secured, it would be difficult (though not impossilble) to build it in place. On the other hand a very tall free standing tower would be challenging to raise pre-assembled. As mentioned by otheres, how much room you have and how many obsticles there are will also affect your decision.

Nope, a gin pole is simply attached to one of the top sections beforehand. A lightweight but strong material like ABS can be used since it only needs to be about 3 feet in length and you don't want any more weight up at the top of the tower than is absolutely necessary.

I have read that when using a gin pole to build a tower in place, the pole needs to be about the length of one tower section (or about 10 to 15' long) so that it can be extended high enough to lift the next tower piece in place. I am not sure if ABS would be strong enough for this. Most of the sites reccomend aluminum tubing.

Even if you pre-assemlbe the tower, I am not sure if 3' would be long enough as you will need to be able to extend it above where the antenna will be mounted so that you can safely lift it into place. I guess it depends how high your mast will be above the tower. I would still give preference to aluminum over ABS as I would hate for the gin pole to snap when raising the antenna.