Man Builds 60-foot Tower to Get Highspeed Access 348
Matt Russell writes "A church was blocking the only high speed signal in town, so he decided he needed to go higher. This is the story of one man's quest to build a 60-foot reception tower in his yard and retire his modem once and for all." From the article: "Well, if you want to have a tower, you need to find one. Buying a new tower is not a good idea, since there are plenty of used ones. In my case, I was in need of a tower that was at least 50', which would cost around $1,000 USD for a new one. The way I searched was pretty simple. I spread the word around town that I was looking for one, and I drove around to see if there was a house with an old TV tower or something like that. If a 30' tower would be enough for you, go to a small town and look for TV tower. If you find one that looks to be in good shape, just go knock on the door and ask if you can buy it. At least 90% of people don't use them anymore, so it's a good place to start! "
how about bartering for access to the tower (Score:5, Informative)
Another case of over engineering the solution to the problem.
Rohn 25 (Score:3, Informative)
And if you have more money to spend get a Hazer system [isohunt.com] so you don't have to climb the tower to get your antennas to the top.
Karma whore (Score:5, Informative)
Re:how about bartering for access to the tower (Score:5, Informative)
Since this is a digg repeat, I'll tell you what he said. ;) Evidently, he asked them if they could work something out and they said no.
It is overengineering a bit, but not so much if you actually do have access to the crap he has and the ability to do it.
Comment removed (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Obsviously... (Score:2, Informative)
those tubes are defintely not six feet long if they're a metre in diameter.
Six feet is 1.8m - they're definitely not longer than they are wide.
It is actually entirely possible for those of us using metric to understand the relative sizes of legacy measurement systems.
Apparently it's not so easy the other way round
Re:Planning? (Score:2, Informative)
Just because someone finally discovers what Ham Radio operators have known for decades certianly does not warrent front page on slashdot.
Hey I hacked a "easy" button toy from a popular office supply store to spew profanity as a practical joke at work... can I get a front page story?
It must be a really slow news day.
Re:Great idea, but wouldn't cable be better? (Score:1, Informative)
I know my [home] wireless connection has been reliable enough to move telco POTS lines over to VoIP. Static IP and proper reverse DNS is very helpful too. The 10Mbit uplink (both up and down stream speeds) absolutely smokes anything I've seen Comcast offer -- or DSL for that matter... Fortunately I sit in one of the highest areas in town with no obstructions to my ISP's antenna's. Otherwise -- I'd be putting up a tower too!
My ISP doesn't have any issue with me running on a home account using my own [home] domain. I host my own DNS, Email, Web Server, Video-Monitoring, etc. Whatever I want. Of course I'd expect them to want me to go to the "business" account if I was using their connection for profit (I am not) -- otherwise the bottom line is that the browsing data, email data (in and out), etc
Comcast and at&t (SBC) certainly don't offer such options. A symmetrical connection *is* key...
This happens all over the place here (Score:3, Informative)
Geeks are more like hams (Score:3, Informative)
Try reading about tower review [eham.net], or join in on Tower Talk [contesting.com].
Better yet, get a ham license [arrl.org]. The technician test isn't even that hard [qrz.com].
Good Old Boy... (Score:4, Informative)
The new splash of paint he put on was indeed absolutely mandatory - corrosion Control is a big deal in towers. You must grind off all the rust you can find, and place a good sealing paint meant for this purpose on it, completely cover everything. Use galvanized bolts, and preferably inspect them occasionally. I know its hard at home, but it should be done at least every few years so that you don't end up with a tower section in your living room.
Lightning rods....Lightning rods don't keep your tower from being hit. In fact they increase the likelyhood of them getting hit as it brings 'the ground' closer to the cloud that is making the big booms. The point of a lighting rod is to provide a path of least resistance for all those lightning strikes so that it goes to ground through the damn rod instead of through your computer equipment.
Erg. Simpletons.
used tower == death wish (Score:5, Informative)
I want you slobbering wireless fanboys to listen carefully.
Used towers are dangerous. You can get stitches and broken bones handling one 10' section of new Rohn 25 if you don't have competent help. A fall from 6' can be fatal, a 'lucky' fall from 20' is still going to leave you with a lifetime of disability. Towers are not a permanent fixture. Even with care they rust and they get metal fatigue if they're not properly braced or guyed. No professional will reuse tower components without a careful visual inspection and most will just say no unless its the smallest cross section segments like Rohn 25 (12" face) and they're not going back up in a large configuration.
If you get it down and home with all of your toes and fingers intact you've still got to get it erected. A proper base is an art - see a prebankruptcy Rohn catalog for details. You need to calculate the wind load for the size of antenna you'll use and make sure you're using appropriate guying or bracing for the given load.
The tallest building I've ever had to service was 634'. The tallest facility I've ever had to manage was 485'. The tallest tower I've ever personally climbed was 300'. The tallest I've ever specified myself and helped install was 60'. The tallest water tower I've ever worked was 135'. The most I've done in the last year was an install at 55' on a 185' Penrod 30. The only experience I don't have is dealing with cylindrical cellular type towers.
Stating my experience should shut down the cantenna artists who just became tower recycling gurus by reading that article twice, but I'm at a loss as to how to say this so that I won't get someone saying "Aren't you special?". I am special in the scheme of Slashdot, because I talk about things I do rather than things I fantasize about doing.
So much for my resolution to never, ever respond here again.
Get an amature radio (HAM) license. (Score:1, Informative)
IANAL, but that's what I read in QST magazine when I held a HAM license. They even had something you could print out with the applicable regulations and how, being Federal, they trumped any stupid state or local restrictions, including HOA crap.
oooooo (Score:5, Informative)
we found that it's cheaper and safer to have someone (e.g your power company) plant a wooden pole. we've had customers that buried a 60 ft (and a couple of times 70-ft) wooden pole 10 feet in the ground, with some concrete around it, and they've never moved since. you can get a set of pegs to do about 3-4 poles for around 90 bucks, with a tool to drive them in. it helps if you know what you're doing and have some climbing experience, of course.
we also have a couple of customers that have guyed and non-guyed masts and tri-poles up to 70 ft.... people will do strange shit for high speed porn.
the worst part is having to do routine maintenance and realignments, just cause it's time consuming and wears you out.
another neat tower design is the kind that "breaks over" close to the ground, and has a counterweight. you can fold it over, install your gear, and straighten it back up.
Re:Why not build it yourself? (Score:5, Informative)
I had a 48 foot rohn tower I used for Amateur radio use and it was a tad overloaded. My hole was more of a polygon than a square and besides a very strong rebar cage for the base and the tower legs which were sunk 3 feet into the concrete, I used a little over two yards of concrete. This may sound like overkill but with the tower load I wanted it strong. Good thing. We had some of the strongest pacific storms after that tower went up. It took winds in excess of 100MPH. That wind uprooted orchards in our area and knocked over a few towers. Mine was hardly moving.
Get professional advice if you ever do this (Score:5, Informative)
You can manage a direct strike: operators of really tall towers get hundreds per year. But it requires a lot of attention to detail and a complete understand of the physics. For an application like this I'd suggest a disposable AP at the tower and no wiring going into the house.
got my 140 foot tower for free (Score:2, Informative)
Re:What is exactly so dangerous? (Score:5, Informative)
Do you remember kindergarten physics? Remember the machine called the lever? A 60-foot lever has a tremendous mechanical advantage. 20lbs of wind force at the top has 1200 lb-ft of torque at the bottom unless you are guyed properly. It's not uncommon to see wind forces of 100lbs or more during severe storms.
Putting up a tower is no joke.
Re:Why not build it yourself? (Score:3, Informative)
It's survived 20 years of Scottish winters quite happily. Even some of the original antennas are still flying, despite regular 140mph winds.
Re:What is exactly so dangerous? (Score:3, Informative)
KDUH. Almost seems like an Encyclopedia Dramatica article, doesn't it?
Less famous is the second event in Nebraska that year - an injury to one of two climbers putting up a 'gate' - one of those triangular stand offs for antenna spacing. The gate caught during the lift phase, it was 'loaded' and stuck against the tower, and the guy who broke it free was rewarded with a nice, solid hit that shattered his right arm. Mmmm climbing one handed in agony
Not long after that a skillful bulldozer operator in Glenwood, Iowa, half an hour south east of Omaha scored a confirmed kill, hitting the top guy wire for the 300' city/county tower, neatly snapping it in the middle. Most of the equipment on it survived the folding, then was destroyed when they cut it and let it fall; cranes cost and there were safety concerns - easy to load a guy with a tow vehicle and torch the base.
Not long after that one of the 1,200' towers at Crown Point in Omaha came down during the night. Amazing it didn't damage any of the other three when it fell. The replacement is up and its quite strange to see three properly painted red and white towers and one new galvanized one.
We've got a bit of a pool going here - will the next fall be the 80' Rohn 25 half a mile east of the I-80/I-480 interchange that is so corroded one of its legs has a inch and a half air gap between tower leg and base, or will we see the badly overloaded Metro Transit Authority tower directly south of that interchange come down with two inexperience climbers on it?
Re:Why not build it yourself? (Score:3, Informative)
I am a ham radio person myself. I know a lot of people in the radio business who do towers for a living. They would cringe in fear on that tower. True, the tower may never come down but I would sure hate it to be aimed at my house in a high wind. I have seen towers that were brought down with winds of only 90MPH and no ice load and erected better than his.
I hope you are right......if not I hope he is insured.