Re: Cost of a Medium Big Station
Reply #3
Subj: [TowerTalk] Hi-Tech Station Cost
Date: 05/23/2000 11:18:12 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: [email protected] To: [email protected], [email protected]
Let me compliment K0FF on the scope and accuracy of his cost run down. I came up with the same figure with an educated guess in previous posts. I added another $100,000-500,000 for the land just for the towers. Don't forget the extra real estate tax and loss of money by not having all that money increasing in investments. There is even more land needed or access to it for the long Beverages. Or hide it in the top wire of neighbors fences or lay green insulated wire on the ground. If one buys a Motor Coach he can get a high % of money out of it if he sells it.
How much money can get out of a contest ham station. There are far fewer buyers. If one gets several years of good use out of it--go for it. The price of excellence tends to get a bit high. There will be so many guy wires for all these towers that no sun screen will be needed to prevent sun burn for all the hours needed to maintain it. If one used a lot of the rotators and other equipment that TT shows is always breaking down, replacement costs after a few years and also labor cost if you can't do it yourself, keeps the cost increasing fast after the initial investment.
Retirees usually can't afford even the maintenance and often have to sell everything. I can still climb towers but would rather not. Weather delays maintenance in the winter unless you have crank ups or tip over towers. I have platforms on fixed towers. Many retirees become Involuntarily, Financially, Physically Bankrupted from their Hobbies. To put this estimate in even more prospective, one can install a 5 band 2 element quad (I've added 6M also) with individually driven DE's with a coax switch at the beam like Antenna Mart has, a 35-50' tower next to the house, rotator and coax for about $1500 which is a great bargain. This will work the world like few have ever experienced with virtually no maintenance. They are built for Longevity and retiree budgets--physically, financially and socially. To beat this beam or similar ones like the RaiBeam or HexBeam (or Moxon who no one builds commercially), you need mono-banders of more elements, all the associated costs, the land and permission to install it all physically and financially from you know who--the XYL.
They frequently don't like the looks of this new aluminum mistress and it's cost in money and time. If the wife ever saw what it really costs for a few more Ego Boasting dB's toy that reduced your time with her, you could lose it all in a divorce.
For 20-30 dB more $$$, all you gain is 2-4 more "line of sight gain", sharpening of the vertical pattern which gives what I call more "DX Gain" based on many comparisons and a lower angle of radiation which puts one in sooner and holds one in later needed to be competitive in contests. You will hear stuff the lower ones don't hear. The lower and fewer element beams seem to take over during the day in the contest. So all this investment only really helped your signal mostly during the opening and closing of the band. Disturbing isn't it? Now there are a couple a ways to get a lower angle of radiation from lower heights. Vertically polarized beams is one. (The others are trade secrets?) Minimum tower interference is a must and can be obtained with 2 vertically polarized beams on a horizontal boom mounted away from the tower. This sharpens the horizontal pattern--not the vertical pattern. However just tipping the beam vertical automatically sharpens the vertical pattern also which is beneficial for DX as the E plane of each beam is sharper than the H plane.
This takes another tower and beam. Although I have done both on one tower on 10, 6 and 2 M by installing a horizontal beam 1/2-5/8 WL above the horizontal boom close to the tower holding the 2 vertical beams. I have a telescoping mast technique that works, is strong and I can raise it and the beam all by myself. I could select the vertical beams, the top horizontal beam or both, with various phasings with great results.
There is a way to feed a quad for 6 polarizations but when vertically or even 45 degree polarization, the tower is lit up and eliminates the advantage. There is a way to actually isolate the tower from vertical polarization when the vertically polarized beam is right at the tower. One can reduce QSB due to polarization shift by being able to switch between different polarizations. This also results in a different and lower angle of radiation than that from the horizontal polarization. DX Ego is very costly but what the hell, competition is the source of all the great joys.
How you spend your money on technical challenges is your business. I just spent $110,000 for 6 acres 4 miles from town in SD of the highest ground conductivity in the US, no power lines for miles and it has a very modern house on it with 12" walls and 2' of insulation in the ceiling. The rest of the hardware I need I already have for the most part which was carefully hoarded over 60 years in anticipation of my dream sight. In addition to not being able to take any money with me after my last QSO I also have determined I can't take any ham gear with me either. I feel I can put together a great station at the least cost of anyone and on a retiree's budget. I still do my own installations often alone and maintenance . To decrease the initial and replacement costs there are several ways. I have repeatedly pointed out the many advantages of open wire line and a Johnson Match Box (with my modifications).
With a few sneaky tricks, there isn't an antenna you can't feed better and get more RF into it over the whole band--continually for the least 1 time cost for your entire lifetime. Visual inspection is all one needs to do to determine if the open wire line is doing it's job. Damaged open wire line is easily repaired--coax isn't. Initial cost is very low and feedline maintenance cost is virtually ZERO. Rotator problems just go away with Prop Pitch Motors properly installed and modified as I have suggested many times. My initial rotator cost was very very low and maintenance cost is virtually ZERO. I suggested no guy wire telephone poles several times with wire tracks on them for easy up and down for the least initial cost and virtually no maintenance. A few finally saw the financial and practicality light. Telephone Pole Maintenance is virtually ZERO.
For more DX Versatility at the least cost and maintenance (no crane and installation crew needed), stacking 2 element quads, RaiBeams, Hex Beams or Moxon 2 element beams gives the same increase in line of sight gain with closer spacing, lighter towers and rotators. It's what I call the "K7GCO Retiree's Kick Butt Budget Antenna System." 3 stacked 2 element beams can be installed for less or equal cost of 2 monobanders of several elements. When the wind really blows, you can sleep much better with 2 element beams on the towers. Antenna installation is very easy and maintenance is virtually ZERO. The extra insurance, grass cutting and technical consulting cost plus telephone bills were not mentioned on all this?? High level of technical performance cost and maintenance can be greatly minimized.
The World of 2 Element Beams, ease of installation and their great performance at low heights starting a 1/2 WL is one that has not been properly portrayed. They also work great much higher also with far less tower and rotator cost than the big ones. RaiBeams with directors have more gain per boom length. The boom length normally used for a reflector is used for another director as it's design has good F/B--without a reflector. Eznec shows that VHF/UHF antennas can be installed inside HF quads with no interference to either one. You can have it all on one tower.
de K7GCO
NNNN
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