The 103-foot rotating Rohn 25 tower, just after
installation was completed in July 1996. This shot clearly shows the guy
ring at 95 feet; the tower rotates inside this ring from the 65-foot level
on up. The hardware for rotating the tower came from Rotating Tower Systems
(K5IU), and is the best there is. Others I know who use this hardware
include K1KI, N8RA, K2DH and N2WK, and we've all been very pleased with it.
(Photo by Norm Paine)
K2UA (then NJ2L) on the rotating tower in August 1997. Some
VHF/UHF stuff is visible below me in this photo. The 40-2CD boom is at 96
feet, just above the guy ring. (Photo by K1TO)
In July and August of 1999, the rotating tower had a
major refit. The four-element tribander came down from the top, as did the
wire array for 80 meters and a bunch of VHF/UHF antennas, to make room for a
new stack of 10-meter beams at 103/76/50/25 feet. This photo shows the tower
just before the 10-meter beams went up; the only antennas shown here are the
W6NL-ized Cushcraft 40-2CD at 96 feet, a pair of K1FO 22-element 432-MHz
Yagis at 104/109 feet, and a KLM 16LBX for 144 MHz at 110 feet.
The rotating tower in August 1999, after the four 10-meter
beams were installed at 103/76/50/25 feet. These are slightly modified
Cushcraft 10-4CDs, which have less bandwidth but a *much* better F/B than
the stock design in the stacked configuration. The top two 10-meter antennas
rotate together and are pointed north; the bottom two are fixed on Europe.
The bottom 10-meter beam (at 25 feet) is not visible in this photo, but the
tribander, a 4-element Mosley, is fixed west and is visible at the 33-foot
level, just above the bottom set of guy wires.
New in December 1998, the back tower is 92 feet high at the
top plate. This tower is 150 feet west of the rotating tower, and 325 feet
west of the house. This tower supports a pair of Hy-Gain 204BA 20-meter
beams at 102/52 feet, a pair of Hy-Gain 155CA 15-meter Yagis at 92/65 feet,
and a Force 12 EF-180A 80-meter rotatable dipole at 95 feet. The bottom
antennas in the stacks are fixed on Europe, and the upper antennas rotate.
Force 12 recommends mounting the rotary dipole parallel to the boom of any
close-by 20-meter antennas to keep the dipole from degrading the 20-meter
stack performance.
A view of the back tower from near the west guy anchor. The
top of the rotating tower is just visible above the treetops. The trees on
my lot, and for several hundred feet in every direction, are mostly
hardwoods in the 75- to 80-foot range.