Matt and Andrew from XX Towers put most of our tower up today! We had all of the parts needed except for the upper star guy anchor so we were able to get the first 90 ft and the lower star guy (at 50 ft) up today. We will complete the tower to the 100 ft level and add the mast which will extend 15 ft above the top of the tower for a total of 115 ft once the second Star Guy Bracket arrives.
The star guy system is working out great.
The first Star Guy system is installed at the 50 ft level on our Tower. The guy material is made of Phillystran which is a non-conducting high-strength fiber-based material. The Phillystran material transitions to standard EHS steel guy wire for a short section at each end of a guy cable for safety.
As you can see from the pictures, the tower is shaping up nicely! Here’s a picture of the tower looking from the front of our house.
Andrew did all of the work on the tower and Matt and I acted as the ground crew. Andrew and Matt are very accomplished at working on a tower and the entire 90 ft including the guy system was up in less than a day!
I will post a second article explaining the entire process to put the tower up soon once we complete the remaining section, mast, and star guy anchor.
You can read more about our tower project via the articles which follow:
- First Tower Part 1 – Ground Broken For New Tower!
- First Tower Part 2 – Tower/Antenna System Design Details And Equipment Ordering
- First Tower Part 3 – More Excavation For Feedline Conduits
- First Tower Part 4 – Tower/Antenna System Analysis And Design (Planning And EZNEC)
- First Tower Part 5 – Tower/Antenna System Analysis And Design (HFTA Analysis)
- First Tower Part 7 – 100 ft Tower Completed!
- First Tower Part 8 – VHF/UHF Antenna System Design
- First Tower Part 9 – Feedline Conduits And Electrical Power Complete
- First Tower Part 10 – Building Yagis (70 cm)
- First Tower Part 11 – Building Yagis (2m)
- First Tower Part 12 – Building Yagis (SteppIR DB36)
- First Tower Part 13 – Building Yagis (SteppIR DB36 Continued)
- First Tower Part 14 – Building Yagis (SteppIR DB36 Continued II)
- First Tower Part 15 – Building Yagis (SteppIR DB36 Completed)
- First Tower Part 16 – Building Yagis (Second SteppIR DB36 Completed)
- First Tower Part 17 – Feedline Breakout System
- First Tower Part 18 – Antennas On The Tower (Preparation and Upper Yagis)
- First Tower Part 19 – Antennas On The Tower (System Integration)
- First Tower Part 20 – Antennas On The Tower (System Complete)
- First Tower Part 21 – Antennas On The Tower (Final Odds and Ends)
- Complete Presentation on Amateur Radio Station Design And Construction
– Fred, AB1OC
What good is it Star Guy on Tower cant you just tie it to the tower?
Star guys prevent the tower from twisting when the large Yagi antennas start or stop rotating. This is especially important when both antennas are turned at the same time.