I Guess Im lucky..
Im on a commercial tower with 3 runs of 7/8 hardline. the deal is Just
pay the Elerctric bill. Fair enough to me...
Neal
Jeff DePolo wrote:
Before everyone decries $$$$$ let me say that if you are
wanting (free) space on a prime site, you need to LOOK like a
professional.
Around here (Philadelphia), the going rate for two-way antenna tower space
on tall towers is, on average, $5 per foot of antenna height for 7/8" line,
scaled up as you increase cable size. We don't have big mountains; your
HAAT is typically pretty close to your AGL. So to be at 400' on a tower
with 7/8" line, figure $2k a month. If someone is GIVING you free rent that
would normally cost $2K a month, your bellyaching about spending $10K for
line, connectors, hangers, etc., a commercial antenna and mount, and someone
to hang it is going to fall on deaf ears :-)
Antennas that fall apart and braided / foil
coaxial cable, coupled with home brew antenna mounts will
scare the bejesits out of a site manager.
I've let other hams on some of the sites that I manage, and they're held to
the same standards (including R56) that everyone else is.
Hams often take the stance that "This is for public service - I'm not making
any money on this repeater, so why would you charge me to put it on your
site?" Well, that's nice, but the tower companies ARE in the business of
making money. That's what they do. If they were to give you free tower and
floor space, that's potential revenue that they are forfeiting. Even if the
tower isn't at or near maximum capacity, you're still using electric, you're
still adding to their overhead and recurring costs (tower inventories, site
inspections, accounting, legal fees, insurance tracking, etc.), you're yet
one more potential cause when someone at the site has an interference
problem, etc. All of these cost the owner money. What you might perceive
as just taking up an otherwise vacant spot on the tower might cost the tower
owner hundreds or thousands of dollars a year.
And then, of course, there's the liability issue. Broadcast tower groups
(like ATC) often want $10M or more to work on a tower. Some want several $M
in liability coverage just to be a tenant in the site. Few tower owners
will give you a free pass on that one.
And of course there are all of the heightened security issues since 9/11.
As far as management is concerned, you're probably just one more "unknown"
to have to worry about...
Bottom line - getting onto commercial sites for free is orders of magnitudes
more difficult than it was even ten years ago. If you're fortunate enough
to make your way into a commercial site, don't cut corners and ruin it for
the rest of us :-)
--- Jeff
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