New tower

[JimmyL1011]

I've been an Amateur Radio Operator, scanner owner, SWL since I was little and always had all of my stuff crammed into one apartment or other. 3 years ago I bought a house and have been working, little by little, to rebuild my radio station almost from scratch. The below pictures are of my new antenna and tower installation which will bring my station to full operational status.

My original setup was 38 feet of Rohn 25G tower next to the apartment building I lived in with the antenna cables, mostly RG-58U, fed through a bedroom window. I added a taller pedestal section and another 10' section of 25G so the tower is 50' high and to the tippy top of my 2M vertical, I go as high as 65' above ground.

Weathering was a major problem with my previous location so I decided that if this was going to be a state of the art installation, I would forego the lossy RG-58U and step up to Andrew Heliax 1/2" hard line. Getting it into the house meant cutting a hole in the rear of the brick wall and feeding the cables through a weatherproof boot. Using silicone weather sealant was necessary to prevent rain or moisture from seeping in. This stuff is a pain to work with but once it's hooked up and ready to go, it's well worth the hassle.

My tower consists of a Hy-Gain G7-144 2M vertical, an ICOM broadband discone, a Hustler discone and a Dressler amplified 25-2000 MHz antenna. The tower itself is grounded with 2 8-foot ground rods pounded into the ground and individual ground kits connected directly to each of the Heliax cables. I have a complete weather station atop the tower as well as a large red strobe light just below the top of the tower for special occasions.


I will post pics of my station soon. Stay tuned.

 

[R1VINCE]

A: Congrats on the house!
B: I dig that chimney support - nice idea
C: Good lookin install

 

[KM4WLV]

Very nice tower install for a home job. You don't see many like this, and the fact that you used the weatherboot & sealed everything going into the house really makes it stand apart from other jobs I've seen.

A+++. Keep up the good work bud !!!

 

[123]

WOW thats steppen it up! Nice! Lets see inside!!!

 

[kjfswkr]

Looks very good. My wife would kill me if I put up a tower. Good luck with your project.

73'

kevin

 

[gcgrotz]

Nice professional quality install. Only suggestion would be to put some more slack in the lines and have a bigger drip loop before they enter. It looks there is some upward sweep so it shouldn't be a problem now. I AM jealous however, good job!

 

[N8DRC]

Great tower install looks good, what did you use for the side arms? Now lets see the shack..

 

[JimmyL1011]

Thanks, all, for the encouraging replies. The cross arms are 1-1/2" angle iron braces connected to the tower with stainless-steel u-bolts. The small arm supporting the weather station is the same material. I made several contacts in the Chicago area on 2M simplex and got great signal reports so that much seems to be working. But, hey.....it's a work in progress. More pix to come.

 

[steveh552]

Nice looking set up. When I was buying a house, one of the requirements was to have a tower. I have a 30ft tower with a 2m ground plane on top that I never use. I am going to remove and put a HF antenna on it I think.

Cant wait to see your station set up.

 

[kb0nly]

That rubber cable boot for the entry is nice, who makes that?

 

[b7spectra]

What I wouldn't give to have a tower in my back yard!

 

[thinder]

awsome tower,gives me encouragement to get mine in better shape,you did a GREAT job on that!!

 

[JimmyL1011]

The cable, rubber boot and cable entry bracket are all made by Andrew Corp., makers of professional towers, microwave and cellular equipment. CommScope ::: Andrew ::: Product. It ain't cheap but the results speak for themselves. And, in case you're wondering, I had to buy each piece, payday to payday, until I could put it all together.

 

[commscanaus]

The cable, rubber boot and cable entry bracket are all made by Andrew Corp., makers of professional towers, microwave and cellular equipment. CommScope ::: Andrew ::: Product. It ain't cheap but the results speak for themselves. And, in case you're wondering, I had to buy each piece, payday to payday, until I could put it all together.

And what a job you have done- very very nice!

Makes it all worthwhile when a job comes together like that, especially when you have had to buy each piece as you could afford it. A job well done!

You have given me another idea as to how to tackle the cable entry through the brickwork when I eventually feed everything with LMR-400. That is by far the best way to keep out the ants!

Regards, Commscanaus.

 

[avtarsingh]

the hose clamps are missing from the entry boot helps hold things water tight -
and yes a little more of a drip loop


good work on putting ground kits on each line also - i cant see if you also put ground kits on top where the coax meets the tower also a good idea -

polyphasers? make sure the phasers are out of the weather - inside is best


i like to use the blue panduit cable ties Panduit "Pan-Ty" Cable Ties, TEFZEL, Aqua Color, Indoor/Outdoor Use

make sure that house bracket is not resting on the mortar portion of the fireplace - can ruin the mortar over time

stainless stuff is nice but if you overtighten it ..it gaulls the threads and its basically fused i have replaced many stainless antennas and about 70% of the time you end up using a sawzall on it instead of a wrench :-(
i like galvanized.. it holds up nice and usually takes an easy turn on the threads even after many years

overall very very nice work and very clean
theres a guy on ebay that used to sell mini platforms for working on rohn towers can save a lot of foot wear gives you a mini platform to stand on

 

[kb0nly]

Ahh ok, kinda figured it was and Andrews entry, just wanted to check and make sure there wasn't something cheaper out there.

I don't need one myself, all my feedline is routed out through conduit.

 

[JimmyL1011]

Actually, the drip loop is more than sufficient. Believe it or not, I've actually stood outside (like a dork) in the rain watching the water run off the cables, making sure there was no potential into the house. Everybody knows or has seen Andrew products but they never recognize the logo. Most hams are very cognizant of antennas in general and for years, I remember seeing the large point-to-point microwave dishes with the lightening bolt design at the top. It's the equivalent of the "Batwing" symbol of our beloved Motorola.

 

[jim202]

In looking close at the brick work, I would suggest that you put just a little effort into re chinking the brick work before the water does any further damage to the bricks. There are some large cracks that need to be closed up to keep the water out.

 

[knightrider]

He just got the house, so he needs to get the important things done first... After the radio and antenna installations, he can worry about mortar. concrete, and drywall stuff
Allin all, looks very good. Now, get to work on the interior, and let's see some pix of the gear! As for the bricks, do that when it cools down a little. Not sure where you are, but it's going to be near 100 again today. A/C has a hard time keeping up, so I don't do anything outside unless it is an emergency this time of year. (Installing or repairing antennas is sometimes an emergency).

Knightrider

 

[killmoles]

Thanks for posting that, Jimmy. I'm planning to do something very similar here this Fall.