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[TowerTalk] Horizontal tower movement at the top

To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] Horizontal tower movement at the top
From: "W7CE" <w7ce@curtiss.net>
Date: Sun, 6 May 2007 14:20:36 -0700
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
Does anyone know how much horizontal movement is considered acceptable at 
the top of 100' tall Rohn 25G, 45G and 65G towers?  I don't see any mention 
of it in the Rohn catalog.  I know that the tops move, I just don't know how 
much is considered normal.

I'm considering a rather unusual tower installation at my QTH.  Because of 
large trees that occasionally lose branches during wind storms and property 
line constraints, a guyed tower isn't practical.  For years I've had my 3 
element yagi on top of a 95' Doug Fir tree and it has worked well there.  I 
watched it during our record setting wind storms last winter and the top of 
the tree was only moving about 6-7" (less than the diameter of my Ham IV 
rotator).  This is a big tree with a 42" diameter base and an 8" diameter 
stump at the 95' level where the antenna is mounted.  The problem with this 
installation is getting up to the antenna to do maintenance, plus I'm 
planning on replacing it with a new SteppIR as soon as I figure out how I'm 
going to mount it.  What I'm thinking about doing is installing 100' of 
tower as close to the tree as practical (less than 3') and attaching it to 
the sides of the tree with angle iron at 20' intervals.  With this approach, 
I don't think the tower could ever come down unless the tree itself did 
also, which is unlikely based on our soil type and the excellent health of 
the tree.  I would then mount the antenna on the top of the tower.  This 
would give me a much easier way to climb up to the top.  I can use 25G, 45G 
or 65G for the installation, whichever would be best.  25G would be the 
easiest to install because of it's weight and I suspect that it is the best 
choice.

I'm looking for opinions on the viability of this solution.  Will the 
movement of the tree in the wind stress the tower too much or will it about 
the same amount of movement that a guyed tower would normally experience in 
a big wind?  Opinions?  Suggestions?  Am I thinking a little too far outside 
the box?

73,
Clay  W7CE 

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