A Question For HAM Radio Enthusiasts

[RVTECH]

Is there any value in a used HAM radio antenna/tower?

Reason is a friend of mine stumbled on one (set up) where the owner is offering free providing the recipient remove it and guess who he wants to help him?

According to him this thing is like a 150' tall and he seems to think there is some value to it.

I however am not so certain and any input would help me, help him to forget about it.

Thanks!

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[Ramjet12]

There is value but you need to find the right buyer. If it's sections then you can sell it in pieces if someone doesn't want a 150' tower.
I've been looking for a crank up tower but it's low on my priority list.

 

[CoastRange57]

The amount of work, manpower and skill required to remove a 150' tower is beyond comprehension. You will need climbers, riggers, a crane, a truck capable of hauling sections, insurance policy. I do not know what there is to be gained with kind of tower. I get good VHF off a 35 foot j pole antenna both simplex and repeater work, my neighbor works South America, Alaska, the East Coast on HF with a long line ground radial.

Another guy down the road has a 35 foot tower that he works Europe with. You do not need a 150 foot tower for good range. A tower that size was often the tower that low to mid power AM radio stations used to try and project their sh*tty weak signals out on flat ground 60 or more miles or to get lucky and skip them maybe well beyond their market range.

Then after you get it down and moved, you have to erect it again. Free is not always a great deal and this would be the case on this one. That size of tower is going to need at least 5 acres to be erected on for guy wires, a huge azz concrete base and once again that crane to erect or helicopter either of which will cost close to $ 8,000 minimum to have on site.

I used to be in the nursery business and people would always call me and want me to come take their greenhouse down and pay them money at the same time. When I could buy a new one delivered to the farm and only have to deal with it one time to set it up.

 

[RedCardinalSeven]

CoastRange57 raises good points. The value also depends on the age and condition of the tower. An older and/or poorly maintained tower may have metal fatigue, broken welds, etc. that could make it dangerous for non-professionals to disassemble and worthless for anything but scrap value.

 

[RVTECH]

The amount of work, manpower and skill required to remove a 150' tower is beyond comprehension.

For my own knowledge I went to look at it yesterday as it is only about two miles from me.

Beyond comprehension is an understatement. Turns out the tower is about 130' tall but regardless whoever installed it spent a lot doimg so and removal will take all you said and probably more. Also to do so without damage would be nearly impossible.

 

[The Heretic]

Not only all that already stated, but I believe that for a tower that tall, you will probably need a permit/license to erect it, especially in a municipal area. A person would do better putting an antenna on top of a tall tree (of which I have plenty).

I've put up a number of ~30' crankups in temp and semi-permanent installs when working in comms and that was a lot easier, but non-trivial - even for 1kw LPs that was pretty much all that was needed - site selection is more important (at least it was for the transmitters we were using; 1KW meteor burst at 30-70 mHz). Plus we had the option of bring the tower down and changing the configuration, not to mention trying out different heights.

I have been thinking of putting up a simple omni antenna on top of a pole running from the ground, strapped to the peak of my roof - going up maybe 10' from the roof. With a good ground that should be plenty for me. Alternatively, if I wanted something higher, I have hundreds of conifers 100'+ nearby, I would just hire an arborist to top the tree, run the cable up and strap an antenna at the top - a lot cheaper than a tower and no permit/etc. needed.

 

[CountryGent]

There are indeed maximum height limits before one gets into government red tape. Details here.

 

[arakboss]

For my own knowledge I went to look at it yesterday as it is only about two miles from me.

Beyond comprehension is an understatement. Turns out the tower is about 130' tall but regardless whoever installed it spent a lot doimg so and removal will take all you said and probably more. Also to do so without damage would be nearly impossible.

I would decline, and if there are overhead powerlines in the vicinity I would double decline.

 

[RVTECH]

I would decline,

Don't have to as I was only 'humoring' my friend when I told him I would 'look into it' - and mostly so I could convince him of the unrealism of this.

 

[arakboss]

Don't have to as I was only 'humoring' my friend when I told him I would 'look into it' - and mostly so I could convince him of the unrealism of this.

I would volunteer to help knock it down if it was way out in the middle of a field and I didn't have to stick around for clean up. TIMBER!

 

[RVTECH]

I would volunteer to help knock it down if it was way out in the middle of a field

Yea! now that would be fun!!

 

[The Heretic]

Tower and Antenna Siting

Building a new tower or collocating an antenna on an existing structure requires compliance with the Commission’s rules for environmental review. These regulatory processes ensure that appropriate measures are taken to protect environmental and historic resources. A new tower construction...

www.fcc.gov

 

[Ramjet12]

I would volunteer to help knock it down if it was way out in the middle of a field and I didn't have to stick around for clean up. TIMBER!

That's what I was thinking. You could salvage some of it but just let it drop.