Self Supporting Antenna Tower Maintenance

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.works⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/0bb9ac76-1def-43e2-8b19-6cde947d2735.jpeg

I have a friend who has a Rohn self-supporting antenna tower (like the one pictured) with a directional cellular antenna at the top. The tower is probably 40 feet high and was erected by a previous homeowner. They would like to make it useable again but the antenna needs to be turned to point at a specific cell tower.

The manufacturers documentation indicates that the tower is climbable but I’ve never dealt with these towers and thats outside my expertise. Who would I even call for that type of job?

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Codilingus@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I’ve seen one of these be installed, also 40 ft tall, for fixed wireless internet. Once it was up right and ready, a guy climbed up and installed the dish.

He had a basic climbers harness around his waist and legs, and attached to that, 2 more strands of harness on his left and right, with a large carabiner clip on the end of each. He’d unhook then rehook the carabiners one by one, then climb higher. When he was at the top he used both of them to kind of give himself a makeshift seat he could lean back into, freeing up both his hands.

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jqubed@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
At the high end, the professionals who do this for a living are typically called tower climbers. They’re highly paid because it is dangerous work when you’re climbing hundreds or even thousands of feet up a tower, especially considering the radiation output on a broadcast antenna (at my last station I once met the tower guys doing a regular inspection and he mentioned years earlier his brother had gone up the same tower but hadn’t coordinated with the station engineer and I guess hadn’t followed a proper lockout/tagout. As he climbed down the engineer was in a panic yelling at him that he hadn’t cut the transmitter. Fortunately I think they were already digital at that point and had already switched to half power for the work, although at the antenna that still would’ve been 12,000 watts IIRC. The climber spent the night puking a bunch but seemed “okay” after a few days). They have climbing equipment and special insurance coverage.

It’s a dying industry, but you might check to see if any TV antenna installers could work on it. Sometimes older VHF/UHF TV antennas would get mounted on a mast or small tower for better reception. It was more important in the analog days.

Going more amateur, you could reach out to a local Ham radio club to see if any of their members can help. They probably have people familiar with this type of tower. If there’s a local rock climbing club some of their members might be interested in climbing since towers are usually off-limits (we would sometimes find evidence of people trying to access our broadcast tower or hotwire control of the elevator, which was exactly why we would physically disable the elevator when not in use). You might want to review your insurance coverage in case anyone is injured working on it, though.

Another option might be to rent a cherry picker. At 40 feet that is probably within reach and someone could just ride a bucket up, although I don’t know what that costs or if any training is required to operate it.

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- slazer2au@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Some places they are also called Riggers
  
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PlantJam@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
An arborist might be more willing to climb that high than a handyman.

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- jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  That’s a good thought. I actually know a couple of arborists. Thanks!
  
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- Twinklebreeze@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  This is what I was gonna say. I’m an arborist. I would climb that for $20-$40.
  
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Triumph@fedia.io ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Back in the day, people would put these up for home CB antennas. Bunch of people would all show up to help out, it was like the Amish raising a pole barn, except with a ton of beer. Somebody would bring a power auger to dig the hole, someone would have a wheelbarrow, people brought shovels. Garden hose to mix the quickcrete in the wheelbarrow and up she goes.

I don't recall ever seeing any safety harnesses, either. Ah, the 1970s.

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- Madison420@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Amish drink homie, the sin is drinking to excess in most Amish or Mennonite communities.
  
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whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

herected

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ikidd@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I have one of these for 10m, vhf and uhf (ham operator). You can climb them if you don’t mind heights, wear gloves and a roofers harness so you clip on. I put a rappelling rope on mine so I can just run the cleat up as I go.

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Typotyper@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
The other post suggesting a general handyman is probably where I’d start too. But I’d also dive into the rabbit hole. Old TV setups had an optional motor for moving the antenna. Saves a lot of aggravation later.

Check for lighting strike dangers

www.otadtv.com/installation/

www.palcoelectronics.com/tower_installation.aspx

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Sendpicsofsandwiches@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I think just a regular handy man would be able to do it if you already know what direction the antenna needs to be pointing

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Brkdncr@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I would not climb that. Does the manufacturer have recommendations? I would expect it rotates to the ground for maintenance. If so I would DIY it.

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