Separation Distance...house to tower?

[TheJerk]

Thinking I may install a tower. Nothing big, probably just a free-standing deal about 20 feet tall. Probably keep an eye on Craigslist for a couple sections from an old TV tower.

Is there any suggestion on the distance away from a structure that should be maintained? I'm guessing no, but figured I'd ask the question. I've seen most tv towers right up next to the house, but that doesn't mean its the correct thing to do.

Would a typical three-leg TV tower be stable (free-standing) to no more than 20 feet (two sections)? I think it would be, as long as its anchored well? I know I've seen similar towers to what I was intending to install a lot higher (probably in the 40 to 50 foot range), without guying, nearby...and they still stand.

I was thinking that probably the distance should be equal to the height of the tower?

 

[aharry]

It's pretty common practice to anchor tv and radio towers to a structure for stability. The structure is generally not the problem, it is power lines. You don't want to be near any power lines while installing or have power lines in the drop zone should the tower come down. Also mounting near the structure allows much easier cabling, as away from the structure means hanging wire overhead or burying it, both add extra labor and cost.

 

[jackj]

I am using 6 sections of Rohn tower bracketed to the house at about 25 feet. It has been up for around 30 years now with no problems. Most TV towers are not designed to be free-standing, they don't have enough lateral strength to withstand high wind loads and need the support of guy wires.

Why do you want to install the tower away from your house? The greater the distance the greater line loss you will have in the feedline. Install the tower at a gable end and bracket it to the house if all you want is 20 feet of tower.

 

[TheJerk]

I really don't have an end to use...driveway on both ends, brick patio to the back...and the wife would kill me if I even mention the front yard! I was thinking since I have to put it away from the house already, might as well see if there is a recommended distance.

I was thinking 20 feet of tower (the welded tubing, triangle type) should support a good wind load? As long as it was anchored to the ground well?

 

[jackj]

There are a lot of good tower designs. There are even towers that are designed to be self supporting (no guy wires). Towers that are designed to be guyed or bracketed might have trouble supporting just itself without the added wind load of an antenna. Neither I nor anybody else here can answer your question as we don't know anything about the proposed site, the construction of the tower or how much wind surface your antenna will have. If you want to it then go ahead.

 

[TheJerk]

The antenna will be small and have almost zero wind load. The most it would have would be a ST2 mounted to the side of it or a single SS whip from the top.

The tower itself would take the most direct wind load.

The other option is a length of pipe (2"?) cemented into the ground...I don't need/want a tall tower.

 

[WA1ATA]

A 20' tower doesn't sound like much of an improvement over a rooftop mount for your antenna, and the rooftop mounting is probably a lot easier.

My suggestion is to try that out first before going to a freestanding tower. A temporary test installation could be as simple as clamping the antenna mast onto a rooftop vent pipe or chimney, and running the coax off the side of the roof and in through an open window.

Charlie

 

[TheJerk]

I don't want the antenna mounted to the house...for various reasons.

 

[aharry]

I've seen most tv towers right up next to the house, but that doesn't mean its the correct thing to do.

Your original post really didn't indicate that you couldn't or didn't want to mount near the house, so really your question is since you can't mount on/near the house is there a minimum distance you should mount away from the house. The answer is no, probably as near as possible within your restrictions again simply to minimize the cable run, as another poster also mentioned the longer the run the more signal loss unless you use higher quality (more expensive) coax.

 

[Citywide173]

From a purely financial standpoint, if you're going to mount away from the house, you should be 1-1/2 times the height to the tallest point (antenna tip in most cases) of the tower, as that will provide a safety buffer should it come down. Tower sections aren't light, and could easily go through the roof into your attic ($$$ for repair) if the proper distances aren't observed. Fire Departments actually use the formula of 3X a building's height for a collapse zone just for safety, but since you probably aren't going to be dealing with a falling debris field, 1-1/2X height should be safe.

 

[TheFantom]

Check out the products from Universal Tower. Great quality, freestanding aluminum towers with easy self-installation. I have a 30' that has performed trouble free for years.

Universal Towers

F