I'm presently in the process of installing a 30' steel tv antenna tower I've had for a few years, and kept putting that off. This is to replace the 27' tall 2" well pipe mast that I have up now. That well pipe mast is off-set to one side of the center of the garage eves. The new tower is being installed at the center. When it's complete, the well pipe mast top 15' will be removed. This will also allow me to get my antennas up another 12+ feet higher, once you include a 10' mast above the tower.
So far I've dug a 4' deep hole, about 22" - 24"~ wide, which is close to twice the tower base. We have very soft sandy-loam ground, that basically turns to pudding when it rains a lot. So, a GOOD base is very important, even with eves brackets and guy wires on the tower and mast. You especially appreciate that, when you climb up 30' to work at the top knowing you aren't likely to ride the tower down. In the bottom of the hole, I poured 100lbs of loose gravel. I then mixed and poured in an 80lb bag of Quikrete and leveled. I then placed a heavy metal plate on top of the Quikrete, so the tower base can't punch through. Then waited until that cement hardened.
I bolted together the 36" long tower base, along with the first two 10' middle sections of tower. I then used lag screws, pre-drilled pilot holes, and mounted two 4" heavy duty stand-off brackets at the eves, measuring carefully to get them right. One bracket is slightly higher than the other, as it straddles the middle of the peak point. I laid out the tower to get it lifted into position, and tied a rope towards the top. I used a garbage can to prop the top up about 4', and put a 2'x2' section of plywood next to the hole, with a couple nails in it at two tower legs to keep the base from sliding during the lift, or punching into the sand and getting filled with dirt. I had the bracket clamps, nuts, & washers along with wrenches already sitting on the roof next to the brackets. As my wife started walking up the tower, I pulled it up towards the roof to where I could grab it. Once you are past about the 50%~ point, it's really easy. Then I pulled it completely upright to the brackets.
At that point, it was sitting on the piece of plywood at ground level, and I (on the roof) and my wife (at the tower base) lifted it slightly, dropped it, and placed it on the metal plate in the hole. I then put the clamps on the 4" eves brackets, and loosely screwed on the washers and nuts, but tight enough to keep the tower from moving much. I then went off the roof, made sure the base was completely sitting flat on the plate, and leveled the tower. I then braced it against kick-out during cementing, with some temp wooden boards between the tower and the 2" well pipe mast. Then, back up on the roof and cranked down the nuts on the brackets.
Yesterday, 6/3/2021, I hand-mixed and shoveled in 10 - 80lb bags of Quikrete. I also added a couple lengths of rebar I had laying around in the middle of the cement. That 800lbs was enough to fill the hole, and bring the cement slightly above ground level, where I used a trowel to make it slightly domed for rain water run-off later. Can't have water pooling at the legs of a steel tower, it can rust through if that happens. Now I wait for the cement to harden. Then the tower top will be installed, a 10' mast added to that, and it'll be time to remove the well pipe mast next to it, and install the antenna's.
I'll be re-installing my AntennaCraft Y10-7-13 VHF antenna with new coax, and possibly a new balun, that antenna is needed for my local RF12 VHF channel. I'm replacing my HDB91x (91XG clone) UHF antenna, with a Televes Dat Boss LR uhf-only antenna. That Televes antenna will be installed using a passive dipole, rather than the dipole that has an integrated preamp built-in. Both antennas will then be fed into a UVSJ (the vhf antenna also needs an extra FM filter before the UVSJ, as I have extremely strong local FM close by). Then, the output of the UVSJ, will be fed into a Televes 560383 preamp, and down to the power inserter. Now, the Televes preamp does already have an integrated FM and LTE filter, but one of my local FM stations is too close, and comes through at about twice the power level of my strongest tv station! Thus why I'm also going to use an MCM Electronics FM filter ahead of it, just to make sure it doesn't cause issues with harmonics.
Here's a few photos of things right now, as I wait for the cement to dry and get stronger. This thread will continue to get updated as things progress.
So far I've dug a 4' deep hole, about 22" - 24"~ wide, which is close to twice the tower base. We have very soft sandy-loam ground, that basically turns to pudding when it rains a lot. So, a GOOD base is very important, even with eves brackets and guy wires on the tower and mast. You especially appreciate that, when you climb up 30' to work at the top knowing you aren't likely to ride the tower down. In the bottom of the hole, I poured 100lbs of loose gravel. I then mixed and poured in an 80lb bag of Quikrete and leveled. I then placed a heavy metal plate on top of the Quikrete, so the tower base can't punch through. Then waited until that cement hardened.
I bolted together the 36" long tower base, along with the first two 10' middle sections of tower. I then used lag screws, pre-drilled pilot holes, and mounted two 4" heavy duty stand-off brackets at the eves, measuring carefully to get them right. One bracket is slightly higher than the other, as it straddles the middle of the peak point. I laid out the tower to get it lifted into position, and tied a rope towards the top. I used a garbage can to prop the top up about 4', and put a 2'x2' section of plywood next to the hole, with a couple nails in it at two tower legs to keep the base from sliding during the lift, or punching into the sand and getting filled with dirt. I had the bracket clamps, nuts, & washers along with wrenches already sitting on the roof next to the brackets. As my wife started walking up the tower, I pulled it up towards the roof to where I could grab it. Once you are past about the 50%~ point, it's really easy. Then I pulled it completely upright to the brackets.
At that point, it was sitting on the piece of plywood at ground level, and I (on the roof) and my wife (at the tower base) lifted it slightly, dropped it, and placed it on the metal plate in the hole. I then put the clamps on the 4" eves brackets, and loosely screwed on the washers and nuts, but tight enough to keep the tower from moving much. I then went off the roof, made sure the base was completely sitting flat on the plate, and leveled the tower. I then braced it against kick-out during cementing, with some temp wooden boards between the tower and the 2" well pipe mast. Then, back up on the roof and cranked down the nuts on the brackets.
Yesterday, 6/3/2021, I hand-mixed and shoveled in 10 - 80lb bags of Quikrete. I also added a couple lengths of rebar I had laying around in the middle of the cement. That 800lbs was enough to fill the hole, and bring the cement slightly above ground level, where I used a trowel to make it slightly domed for rain water run-off later. Can't have water pooling at the legs of a steel tower, it can rust through if that happens. Now I wait for the cement to harden. Then the tower top will be installed, a 10' mast added to that, and it'll be time to remove the well pipe mast next to it, and install the antenna's.
I'll be re-installing my AntennaCraft Y10-7-13 VHF antenna with new coax, and possibly a new balun, that antenna is needed for my local RF12 VHF channel. I'm replacing my HDB91x (91XG clone) UHF antenna, with a Televes Dat Boss LR uhf-only antenna. That Televes antenna will be installed using a passive dipole, rather than the dipole that has an integrated preamp built-in. Both antennas will then be fed into a UVSJ (the vhf antenna also needs an extra FM filter before the UVSJ, as I have extremely strong local FM close by). Then, the output of the UVSJ, will be fed into a Televes 560383 preamp, and down to the power inserter. Now, the Televes preamp does already have an integrated FM and LTE filter, but one of my local FM stations is too close, and comes through at about twice the power level of my strongest tv station! Thus why I'm also going to use an MCM Electronics FM filter ahead of it, just to make sure it doesn't cause issues with harmonics.
Here's a few photos of things right now, as I wait for the cement to dry and get stronger. This thread will continue to get updated as things progress.
