ALUMA TOWER Model T-50HN

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Our ALUMA T-50HN TOWER

May 2018

Tower install completed June 26, 2018. Here’s the installation..

Tower Delivery

    I applied for a tower permit at my local town hall and a week later the building inspector inspected my tower construction site and approved my permit. He was very knowledgeable about tower installations with all the cell towers that have taken over our communities. There are at least 5 ham towers in my town and only one other ham operator, my friend Paul W1NP applied for a tower permit a few years ago. I did not want to take a chance being told to remove the finished tower after I spent $5,600 including shipping. The next day I called Aluma Tower and ordered the tower! Delivery time was about 2 months. It was shipped YRC Freight from Vero Beach, Florida to Providence, Rhode Island then Cape Cod Express to my home. There was only one driver and he would need help. Make sure you have helpers available to remove the 26′ x 2′ x 2′ crate and MP2 post from the trailer. We dragged the crate and MP2 from the trailer with a car hitch to the driveway. The trailer had a lift to lower the items to the ground.

Tower Invoice

https://n2knl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ALUMA_TOWER-NEW-Tower-

The Tower Installation

Starting May 7, 2018

Installing the MP2 Tower Post.

   May 7, 2018 – The MP2 tower post will be installed where the 7 foot mast stands. The tower base screws have been removed from the T-Base and I lifted the tower 3 feet to the side to prepare a 60 inch by 13 inch hole for the MP2. The top portion of the tower/antennas rest on the wood support. The tower is top heavy and lifting the base was easy.

 

 MP2 tower post arrived from Aluma Tower in Florida via 2 freight companies.

 

May 7, 2018

     Purchased 3 100′  3/16″ diameter stainless steel guy cable spools for $20 each at the Deerfield, New Hampshire Near-Fest. I’m replacing the original galvanized cable that was on the tower for the last 6 years. I purchased from Amazon 5/16″ Stainless Steel Thimbles, 3/8″ Wire Rope Clips U-Bolts & 3/8″ Screw Pin Anchor Shackles to secure to the 3 tower guy cables. Still using the original stainless steel turnbuckles.

 

May 9, 2018

     Called DIG SAFE to have companies inspect the area. As expected there were no utility services underground. 

May 15, 2018

     Dug the MP2 hole. Purchased a $70 steel wagon from Harbor Freight to haul sand away.

     

May 18, 2018

     Finishing the MP2 Installation. We used a post hole digger to extract 5 feet of sand and dirt, after we used a shop-vac to suck out the remaining sand to 73 inches but we went down 85 inches in case any sand along the wall would fall off to the bottom of the hole. The shop-vac was a blessing the last 2 feet.

     We removed the MP2 post from the wood pallet and 4 carried it to the work area and prepared to set it into the hole. Chris (blue shirt) was holding a piece of wood against the base of the post as they lowered the post down so it post wouldn’t scrape against the dirt wall.

     A few shovels of dirt each time, flood with water, pack down soil with wood. Repeat process.

Done!

Partially vertical..

Tower Vertical / Pin locked in..

Finished product. Installed the pressure treated wood tower rest and flowers..

 

June 8, 2018

     The MOSLEY TA33M HF Yagi 20 meter element u-bolt loosened during the March 2018 noreaster. The element speared into the ground about a foot and bent. MOSLEY had the replacement part for $36 including FedEx shipping. Great to have a reliable antenna company that’s been around for years and to have all replacement parts for any model antenna.

      Thanks goes out to Chris KB1ZAM, Rob K1UI, Dick W1SIL, Brian & Bill for all their help!  The install lasted about 2 hours.

     An important note, the alignment connection of the MP2 post to the tower was tricky. The rotor, antennas & mast were already on the tower causing a lot of weight. We moved the tower back and forth positioning the alignment holes and tightened the bolts to the MP2 hinge plate. It would have gone easier without the antennas on the tower.

June 26, 2018

    I had an extra Harbor Freight 2,000 lb Winch but it did not have enough horsepower to lift the tower into the vertical position with all the antennas.  I purchased a 5,000 lb winch and it works great. The gear ratio is higher, runs slower and is very quiet compared to the 2,000 lb. The price was $147 with  a Harbor Freight 20 percent off coupon. I also purchased a 25 foot length of 12 volt jumper cables from a company thru Amazon dot com. The cable will run inside the PVC pipe underground from the winch to the control box/battery 15 feet to the house. A temporary jumper cable connection for now..

       Added a flower box and hanging plant to the tower support..

     Added two 1″ x 1/2″ aluminum supports to keep cables 7 feet off the ground for grass cutting..

    Elaine and I are planning to have patio pavers installed and leave a 2 foot square area of gravel around the tower base.

Tower preparation

Yaesu G-800DXA Rotor wiring..

Wiring

Test all functions before tower installation

Rotor install

Thrust bearing plumbers boot

 

Ground Enclosure Box

Three Stainless Steel Guy Cables, Turnbuckles, Thimbles & U-Bolts each at 120 degrees angles from the top section of the tower to the Ground Guy Anchors.

Tower Guy Connections

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    SAMSUNG SDH 74041  8 Channel WIRED Cameras with 1 TB Hard Drive. Available on Ebay as low as $230. Never had a problem with this system and it connects to cell phones via WISENET.  If you’re buying this 8 camera system, it only has 4 cameras. I suggest purchasing the other 4 cameras from KMOON on Ebay. Excellent camera for $39. Samsung and KMOON cameras come with 65 feet of cable. I purchased an extra 100 feet that runs up the tower.


     KMOON 1200TVL CCTV WIRED Waterproof Outdoor 72IR Security Camera with manual adjustable focus and zoom. Nighttime IR range of 150 feet.


Towercams..

Nighttime IR Towercams..

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May 1, 2012

Thanks for visiting!

      My wife, Elaine KB1VAJ and I purchased our Aluma T-50H Tower June 2011 and it’s been in service 6 years. It’s been some time since there has been an update on the tower page. Many of you know, Aluma Tower Company manufactures an excellent product! The T-50H has been through all kinds of weather here on Cape Cod. High winds (numerous wind gusts up to 73 MPH), extreme temperatures, moisture, rain, snow, sleet and sun. We added equipment to the tower, a Davis Vantage Pro2 6152 cabled weather station and 3 wired cameras with a great 65 foot high view. I’m almost 60 years old and lowering/tilting over the tower for maintenance is essential. My climbing days are over!

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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Aluma Tower MP-2 Post Installation Drawings Received April 5, 2018

ALUMA TOWER MP-2 Installation Instructions PDF

Aluma Tower T-50HN / MP-2 Drawings

Updated May 18, 2017

 

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N2KNL.com Website Online Since 10/20/16

 

N2KNL.com website online since 10/20/16