The N2KNL Tower Installation and Antenna Page

Russ,Joe and I dismantled the crate. It was easy with 1/2" pine and thin staples.

42 bags of Quikrete was delivered yesterday, August 19th. I'm assembling the rebar cage

Russ and TJ poured most of the bags of concrete but we needed more (below) Elaine and I

Shoveled two 15 foot trenches and installed 2 8 foot galvinized ground rods and cable to the tower legs.

There are NO ground connections to the rebar. Any lightning discharge will take the path to the ground rods.

I read from other tower installers, If lightning discharges through the concrete, it could possibly crack it.

Tower legs, MP2 post and Coax Enclosure Box grounded to the 2 8 foot ground rods.

4 foot galvanized screw anchors / Galvanized shackles / T 304 stainless turnbuckles /

I'm impressed how light weight and quiet the rotator operates. Different from my old HYGain T2X.

The T2X is still a great rotator,but with improved technology, you can't beat the G800DXA at a cost of under $500.

The braking mechanism is extremely quiet! The preset memory and speed adjustment are nice features too.

Two stainless clips clip onto the aluminum plate and slide down and hold the plastic container in place.

My First Tower Installation

I installed my first Rohn 25G tower back in 1984 and at my second home in 1989, both in the Syracuse, NY area. I purchased a new 38 foot tower from a Rohn Distributor in Rome, NY. Both installations were easy. I think I paid about $350 for the tower, house bracket and 3 foot base tower section! The 3 x 3 x 4 foot deep trench only took a couple of hours to shovel, including 2 x 6 inch framing. I bolted the house bracket and shoveled 8 inches of crushed stone into the bottom of the trench, then set the 3 foot base section and two10 foot sections into the trench. I bolted the tower sections to the house bracket. Once the sections were plumb and level, I finished shoveling in the last 4 inches of stone keeping the tower legs free of dirt and any water that will crack the tower legs in freezing weather. I mixed bags of concrete mix in a wheel burrow and poured on a dry warm cloudy day. Here is a photo of my 1989 tower install which was taken just before I got my amateur radio license. Antennas include VHF and UHF TV Channel Master antennas and a Hy Gain Tailtwister T2X Rotor. To the right, Channel Master FM Stereo Probe 9 FM stacked antennas. Heathkit ID-4001 Wind instruments are on the chimney. Multi-band scanning ground plane antenna to the left of the chimney.