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After 25 years of contesting, mostly as a guest operator, I'm about to embark on assembling my own "SO2R superstation." With the recent tragic passing of KL7Y, I have nowhere to operate, and I want to put up something very competitive so I can be your Zone 1 and KL7 QSO on all bands (and be loud!) I was originally contemplating a C49XR and MAG340N on top of a 120' tower, with another C49XR down lower on a TIC Ring. A couple people I talked to swear by the C49XR. But then some other folks I talked to advise that it's too big and heavy for the conditions I'll see here, and suggested stacking a few C31XR's instead. For example, 120' / 90' / 60'. (I have since determined that 110' is the tallest tower my lot will support guys for, if I want to stick to 80% guying. But wait - can I increase this if I use elevated guy anchors?) I am on a hillside, and the top of the tower will regularly see 70-80 MPH winds, with 90 - 100 MPH not that out of the ordinary. We get maybe 5 - 10 hours per year with gusts hitting 110 - 120, peaking at 126 (though I've only seen 125+ twice in 5 yrs.) Before I started writing this posting, my original question was going to just be about what tower I need (is Rohn 45 adequate, or do I need 55 or something even sturdier?) But I realize that I have a lot more questions as well, such as whether to go with C31's or C49's, how many and at what heights, etc? Does Force 12 have anything new they'd like to test out in some extreme conditions? ;-) As for topography: I have significant downslope to Asia. (Almost like I'm on a cliff.) To Europe, it's flat for a little bit, then a significant downslope. To the US, it's flat for several hundred yards, then it rises 500' over the first mile. Past that, it starts to rise fast, with beautiful snowcapped peaks up to 2000'-3000' above me within 4-6 miles. How can I find out how high I'm going to need to be to get the proper take-off angle to clear that, if it's even possible? As an aside, I heard from someone that their C31XR didn't fit into their TIC Ring without some mechanical modification. Is there a particular model that is proven to work without tinkering? If so, which? (I want this whole thing to stay up and working with a minumum of maintenance, and I'm willing to fork out the extra bucks if it buys me less maintenance time. I'm much more of an operator than a tinkerer - I take my car in to get the oil changed, if that tells you anything.) Thanks in advance for any and all advice, John WA2GO/KL7 -------------------------------------------- Force12Talk mailing list provided as a service by Force 12 Antennas, Inc. Force12 Web Site: http://www.force12inc.com To Submit Message to the List: Force12Talk@qth.com To unsubscribe and view the Message Archive: see http://qth.com/force12/list For problems with the list: contact n4zr@qth.com |
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