Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 13:49:41 -0500 From: neader@centuryinter.net (Scott Neader) My original question regarding Trylon Titan towers, sent to the TowerTalk mailing list in August 1996: I am still hoping (praying) to put up a self-supporting tower yet this year. As background, I have a small corner city lot. I don't think I have room for guys, plus the XYL frowns on them. My goal is to be half-way competitive in domestic contests like NAQP, so I don't have to pack-up my station and go guest-op somewhere. I'd like to put up a killer tribander and possibly a 402-CD or the tribander would have 40m. I might consider side-mounting a small tribander for the second radio. I'd probably do an inverted vee for 80 and/or load the tower. Not sure for 160... either load the tower or an inverted L. I'd like to be up around 60 to 70 feet. (remember, no guys and no roof bracket). KE2VB mentioned that a lot of guys on the east coast have put up Titan Self Supporting Towers, made by Trylon Mfg. of Ontario. I called Trylon (519-669-5421) and got Jon Martin's voice mail. I asked for info to be faxed, and he did. WOW!! Cool stuff!! Check these Max. Wind Thrust Values: TITAN MAXIMUM WIND THRUST VALUES MODEL MAX HEIGHT 70MPH 85MPH ----- ---------- --------------- --------------- T200 96ft 200lbs/15 sq ft n/a T300 88ft 300lbs/22 sq ft 110lbs/ 6 sq ft T400 80ft 460lbs/34 sq ft 240lbs/12 sq ft T500 72ft 600lbs/45 sq ft 450lbs/22 sq ft T600 64ft 800lbs/60 sq ft 700lbs/35 sq ft T700 56ft 1000lbs/80 sq ft 900lbs/45 sq ft T800 48ft 1300lbs/99 sq ft 1130lbs/58 sq ft It goes together like an erector set... so it ships in pieces, which should make shipping cheaper plus easier to unload. The info says I'll have to use 6 to 7 yards of concrete, depending on how big the bottom section is. Any experience with Trylon?? Any other suggestions?? Any critiques of my goal and plans? I'll summarize and repost if the information warrants it. 73 - Scott KA9FOX The replies to my questions, as well as other messages that have hit the various reflectors since then follow. So far, I like what I am hearing! If you are interested in Trylon, you can contact them at: Trylon Manufacturing John Martin, Sales P.O. Box 186 21 Howard Avenue Elmira, Ontario N3B-2Z6 CANADA Phone: 519-669-5421 FAX: 519-669-8912 Web Page: http://www.trylon.com/ Or one of their dealers, such as: MacFarlane Industries Harold MacFarlane macfltd@mail.kosone.com (613) 353-2800 73 - Scott KA9FOX neader@centuryinter.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTERNET SOLUTIONS - Affordable web page design and storage Scott Neader (608)788-1234 / FAX (608)787-0100 / neader@centuryinter.net Internet Solutions web: http://www.QTH.com/is Ham web: http://www.QTH.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are many Trylon towers in this area for ham and commercial use...mostly commercial for RCMP and Fisheries Dept etc . They are very very strong and built for the high wind conditions and ice loading found in most parts of Canada. In my view of a self-supporting non telescopic tower you can't go wrong with one of them. Winds in Nfld during the winter sustain frequently at 100kmph and many times gust to 110 - 120 kmph. During spring we often get heavy icing condx along with the wind. I lost a Telerex yagi 3yrs ago in one of those blows. 73 Frank VO1HP St John's NFLD (Check the atlas for my location) --------- It just so happens that I'm putting up a trylon tower right now! It's the T400-72. This baby is put together! I'm putting 2 force-12 antennas up on it (10-40), and will hopefully end up with an array on 80 and a vee on 160. I dug a big hole and used 12 yard concrete. Mine is rated @ 34 sq. ft.. NO GUYS! Just so happens a good friend of mine, who has been a ham for a long while, seen this and decided to get one for himself. He got the t500-72.....43 sq.ft.! Nice tower,man. I really don't think that I'll lose too much sleep this winter during those big storms that come up the east coast with this tower. Everything is bolted together, too, so no chance of welds breaking. It's also steel, not aluminum! While I was shopping for towers to get to around the 70' height, I came across this. Crank-ups and other self-supported towers that I looked at couldn't compare either in wind load or price! Trylon doesn't outright sell the towers anymore (I don't know that this is actually true - KA9FOX) , but they do have dealers. Call Harold MacFarlane of MacFarlane Industries @ 613-353-2800. I met him at the Rochester hamfest 2 years ago,seen the Trylon and was hooked on it. He is also a ham. He'll have all needed to get you going.......... tower,legs,plates,bearings,etc.,etc.. Good luck. Here, mine goes up Saturday. Concrete is now cured enough, tower is laying together on its side, antennas are together....yesssssssssssssssssss. I'm excited. 73 Jeff, N3MLV --------- I recently bought a used Rohn SSV series tower and in the process, became acquainted with the fact that Rohn has some attractive amateur packages of these self-supporting towers, which are normally used in commercial service. These are tapered, three-sided models. You ought to give Rohn a call and ask them to send their catalog which describes the whole series and also about the special ham packages. Rolfe, W3VH --------- The guy who recommended the Rohn SSV towers obviously didn't check out the prices! (call withheld) --------- Trylon is very good and is the tower of choice for a lot of people up here. I know of no problems with them and the ones erected in Calgary easily survive the rigours of a Canadian winter! NB: Glad to see you are supporting free trade by buying Canadian!! Tim VE6SH --------- K0RC and I, put up an 80 footer last Fall for KF0QR. The tower would appear to be pretty good "bang for the buck" compared to some others. The drawbacks are that the mounting plates for rotors are garbage. Plan to cut up some .250 aluminum plate to make your own rotor and thrust bearing plates. You will also need to cobble up some method of mounting a "normal" gin pole to the stamped steel legs. Not much of a problem after you get past the first few sections. Unfortunately KF0QR's tower lasted only a few months. Not sure if you heard about our ice storm last January. VERY unusual for this area in January! The tower was loaded with antennas to begin with. Dennis had a 24 foot CM mast (8 feet down in the tower) with a Force 12 620/340 (13.4 sq ft) just above the thrust bearing, Force 12 EF-230 (3.22 sq ft 2 el 30M) up about 7 feet, Force 12 80M rotatable dipole (2.5 sq ft) near the top of the mast, and a 2M/440 vertical at the top. The tower managed the load very nicely in some very nasty winds. Our January ice storm was a killer though. The tower and antennas were coated in at least 1" thick radial ice. Following the ice we had terrible winds which caused the 620/340 and the EF-230 to rotate in the boom to mast clamps so that both antennas were nearly vertical. The element tips on the 620/340 had contacted the 80M dipole and were "tweaked". Dennis called the insurance carrier and scheduled a visit by the adjuster. By the time the adjuster arrived (over two weeks later) we had another bad wind storm come through and folded the tower over just below the rotor mounting plate. UGLY! I have no idea what kind of wind load the tower must have seen with both antennas rotated in a near vertical position, but the fact that it survived as long as it did is surprising. Dennis has just received his new tower so now comes the fun of taking down the old & up with the new (prior to the snow flying). In spite of the failure I still feel that they are a very good bargain. 73 & GUD DX de KN0Z Gary --------- You might try Heights Mfg in Michigan, as they have a complete line of free standing self supporting towers, and a feature called a screwover base if you want. They are a second generation company that specializes in only towers especially for amateurs and commercial uses. Their number is 1-850-455-1210 and 1-313-692-6711 and ask for Drake Dimitry the owner, he is very accomadating and will be glad to help you. John, KC4TBH --------- I have installed the Trylon tower at KF0QR's QTH. This is the 80 foot model. Nice tower for the money. It reminds me of a VERY heavy duty Rohn/Spaulding design (HDBX series). Not the most comfortable tower to climb and work on, but hey, which ones are? (The cross braces become more steep as you climb to the smaller sections and there are no "straight across" braces.) If you decide to purchase this tower, you might inquire about straight across steps. I noticed extra holes which might be used for this application, as an option. Unfortunately, Dennis overloaded this tower. He has a 24' moly mast, 16' out the tower and 8' inside. The antennas stacked from the bottom to the top are: Force 12 340/620, Force 12 230, Force 12 180, and a Diamond 144/440 17' dual bander. It buckled about 16 feet from the top in the ice/wind storm last January. Of course the overall height to the top of the Diamond antenna was about 113 feet. It appears the tower was torqued and then folded. There was an incredible amount of boom and elements up there, so I am not surprised. It's my opinion that he severely overloaded his tower by not taking into account the leverage principle of the mast and he stacked his antennas too high. BTW, you mentioned the possibility of a crank up tower. Some of the fellows around here were caught off guard during the ice storm. By the time they decided to go outside and crank their towers down, they were jammed from the coating of ice. Several "bit the dust" because they could not retract them. I'm not a big fan of crank ups, but as I age, they are beginning to look more and more attractive! In contrast, I have a 90' Universal self supporting aluminum tower that survived with a 24' aluminum mast (6061-T6 0.250" wall, 12' in, 12' out), a Mosley PRO-67B (11 sq ft), and a Diamond 17' dual bander stacked on top. My height to the tip is 119 feet, but the Mosley is only a foot above the top of the tower. Other than a couple 440 MHz yagis and 80m & 160m inverted vee's, there is nothing else up there to catch the wind. I have $5000 invested in my tower, and he has $2500 (tower, thrust bearings, plates, base, concrete). As you can see, there is a significant cost savings using the Trylon. I also helped install a 88' Heights tower this past spring. This is another aluminum self supporting design. It was recently redesigned to meet the new ice/wind loading specifications and is a beautiful piece of hardware. If I didn't already own two 90' Universal towers, I would switch brands and go with the Heights product for several reasons. First, they offer a 35" base section (Universal starts with 30" base). These bottom sections take tremendous stress during the wind storms. It looks like Heights uses bigger tubing on these sections as well. Second, the Heights straight sections are joined with couplers, similar to the commercial towers (instead of nestling each leg, ala Rohn 25). This helps when it comes time to take it down and move to a new QTH. Nestled aluminum can seize. This happened to me in Roseville. I couldn't get the top section off my tower. I had to hire a crane to pick the whole thing off the base and lay it down in the yard. Cost: $150. Time: one hour from driving up to driving away. Delay: 4 weeks trying to find a crane to do the job. Paul Larson, KE0OL, and I had spent 4 hours working on that top section with lubricants and jacks to no avail. The aluminum towers are easy to climb because they use Z-bracing on each side. You have a level step all the way to the top. Giant steps near the bottom and baby steps near the top, but at least they are level. Rust never sleeps. Aluminum never rusts. I am using tower sections that are over 20 years old and they look like new. I also learned to use anti seize compound on the nestled legs. Oh yeah, plan on using 6 yards of concrete to keep the tower upright! So that's my $2.02 worth. Just in case you need these addresses: Heights Tower Systems, Inc. 1529 Gulf Beach Hwy. Pensacola, FL 32507 (850) 455-1210 Rohn World Headquarters 6718 West Plank Road Peoria, IL 61656, USA (309) 697-4400 Trylon Manufacturing Co. Ltd. PO Box 186 Elmira, Ontario, N3B 2Z6, Canada (519) 669-5421 Universal Manufacturing Company 43900 Groesbeck Highway Mt. Clemens, MI 40843, USA (313) 463-2560 73 de Bob - K0RC --------- I have an old catalog (1993) from Trylon with a US telephone number. I just got the Rohn Self Supporting Towers for Amateur radio booklet from Al Repssumer at 309-697-4400 or ask for it on their new web page. Called the RTP series and are part of the SSV group. Either will handle what you want at 60 to 70 feet. Next step is ease of assembly and price for the config you want. Expect to pay more than 45 prices, but less than the 45 guyed! And with those antennas on top you will have a bang up 160 or 80 vertical. Good luck. Dave K4JRB --------- Since you're dreaming about towers (I do that a lot sometimes too) let me tell you what my "dream setup, within reason" would be. A 72 ft Trylon with a 15 ft moly mast supporting two Force 12 antennas, a MAG 620/340 at 73' and a 4BA at 82'. That gives you seperate 3 element monobanders on 10/12/15/17, 6 elements on 20 and 3 elements on 40. Load the tower on both 80 and 160 and run "stealth" beverages of #26 black coated wire through the neighborhood! Stick an R7 on top for the second rig. Of course that $3300 worth of antennas, so more realistically, my buddy Dick, KA2AJT, had a 72 ft Trylon with a KT34XA at 75' and a 40-2CD at 82'. That's probably doable and more realistically priced. A hint. Rent a boom truck at $100 an hour to erect the tower/antennas. Best $150 you'll ever spend. The tower goes up real easy (Trylon can provide details of the gin pole you need to fabricate, its very simple) without the boom truck but mounting the antennas can be a pain when you're trying to mount two on top of any tower. Without the boom truck you build the tower around the mast, then haul that very heavy mast up through the rotor plate and thrust bearing, stabilize the mast, mount the top antenna, raise the mast carefully using a "come along" until you can get the rotor mounted, plumb the mast in the rotor and thrust bearing and then haul up and mount the bottom antenna. It's a long afternoon on the tower and make sure you have a trusted, strong, experienced friend up there with you. With a boom truck you bolt together the entire tower, mast, rotor, thrust bearing horizontally on the ground. The boom truck lifts the whole thing up and places it on the bottom section already plumb and in the concrete. Six bolts and your're done. Make sure you have a "lining up tool" for the bolt holes. Now, you go up in a bucket with the top (light) antenna laid across your lap and bolt it on. Then you transfer to the tower and safety in at the top. The boom truck brings the heavy antenna up to you on the tower and holds it while you bolt it on. Simple. Isn't ham radio fun! 73 - Larry KE2VB --------- Regarding these Titan towers, do you have any information as to how one might use with such standard ham accessories as thrust bearings and rotator shelves with this sort of tower? I'd looked at the Rohn SSV towers which do have shelves and bearings available, but they required so much concrete underneath them that it didn't seem reasonable or cost effective. These Titan towers sound great, and plenty sturdy, but I wonder how hard it will be to mount a T2X and a TB3 into the top of one. Any ideas? Pete, AD4TU --------- Have personally been involved with the assembly and installation of two of these Beasties (Trylon towers) one a 56 ft Model in 1982 and the other a 48 ft model in 1995. The break down feature is a good shipping bonus .. assembly is relatively easy just a couple of ratchets and an extra pair of hands and you could assemble an eight foot section in about 20 minutes or so with all the bolts fully torqued. You have already heard from VO1HP Frank who has extolled the virtues of the tower vis-a vis ability to withstand wind and ice loading . It is a very sturdy tower well engineered and should be able to withstand anything YOUR weather might throw at it. Eastern Newfoundland from an engineering/geographical perspective is classified as being in one of the most severe areas in North America for wind and ice combinations. BTW the 1982 model was erected at our club repeater site which is atop a barren hill approximately 30 miles SW St. John's 800 ft ASL. It is still rigid and standing after 14 years exposure to winds which have been clocked as high as 165 km/h during that period. Local meteorologist provided me some info last year relative to client problem had at time.... FYI the wind around here hits the 135 kmh mark at least once a month for about 11 of the 12 months each year. 64 ft Trylon owned by VO1CV had been standing for 10 years with no problems to tower, however he replaced/rebuilt 6 tailtwisters and rebuilt his 204 ba many times during that period. The 48 footer I installed last year is at our club station at the local Canadian Red Cross HQ it has a pro-37 7 element 80 lb yagi on top, that is minus one part of the reflector , one winter only yet hi! Tower ok though in about 2.5 cubic meters concrete. However, Scott we only really think it's windy if when you hang a 6 foot length of one inch chain on the clothes line and the thing stands off parallel to the ground. Hope this has been of some help to you . 73 es gl from Newfoundland Gus Samuelson, VO1MP --------- N9NS has one of these and likes it real well. He is not on the internet, but I suspect he will be up to W9DXCC. Looking forward to seeing you there! 73, K8Joe"Palooka" --------- (regarding the wind load chart in your message) I noticed that when you divide the "lbs" by the "sq ft" you get about 13 at 70 mph and about 20 at 85 mph using the data in the above chart. An old EIA wind chart that I have in an old Rohn catalog says 70 mph is 19.6 lb/sq ft and 85 mph is 28.9 lb/sq ft. The implication is that maybe the "sq ft" rating is a little too high for the "lbs" number. But maybe my data is just too old and the EIA chart has not been found to be accurate. Stan w7ni@teleport.com --------- (in regards to the above question from W7NI) I would think that the chart from each manufacturer would be different due to design specs. There is some correlation between weight (down moment) and square feet, but normally a tower mfg designs to a certain dead weight limit then looks at side moments or max sq ft. The Rohn BX series can handle 10 sq feet but a max of a 10 foot boom. Weight is strictly a discrete measurement. Sq ft is calulated from wind resistance on the elements and boom. This will vary from one manufacturer to another unless they use the exact same design. Rohn told me that the EIA spec is a respected guideline. Trylon is just more conservative. Dave K4JRB ---------- (in regards to the above question from W7NI) I have the same comment as Stan, W7NI. I always thought 70 MPH corresponded to a sideways force of 20 pounds per square foot of antenna, for antennas with cylindrical elements. I don't understand K4JRB's comments. At first, he starts talking about dead weight, which is not the issue. Then, when he addresses wind resistance, he concludes that Trylon is more conservative, which I don't understand. For example, if the T300 is rated for a sideways force of 300 pounds, at 70 mph I would divide that by 20, for an allowable 15 square feet of antennas, compared to Trylon's claimed 22 sq. ft. This would be a good issue to clarify with Trylon before taking the plunge. Let us know how it turns out. 73 Dave, K6LL ---------- I'm using a Trylon A200 - 64 ft. Its got a KT34XA on top and a 402-CD 9 feet above that. Solid as a rock. Although I don't climb much myself, its rungs can give you "tower rung foot" if you don't use good quality footware. ( Save the gym shoes and get a good pair of boots) Its been up 10 years and has weathered very well. Anything that can take a Winnipeg winter with the blizzards and wind that go with it and come up smiling has my vote. BTW, as an american, you'd be nuts NOT to take advantage of the exchange rate of the CDN vs. US dollar. I'm sure the prices must be favorable on your end. Solid product, good value in my opinion. 73, Rob VE4GV --------- I helped a friend put up 72 feet of it last summer. Unfortunatly 2 weeks later I helped him take it down. The neighbors started raising hell, and he was a city employee.. anyway, all i can say is that i was impressed with it. If I was going to put up some free standing tower i would sure consider it. 73, Mike Stokes, KK9V ---------- Date: Tue, 17 Jun 1997 12:08:55 -0700 From: ftbrady@cosmoslink.net (Frank T. Brady) Here's a copy of what I asked Jon Martin of Trylon: Jon, I have some important question (for your engineering/specifications people). I was bragging about my decision to go with your product on the "tower-talk" internet reflector and I received several comments (so far) that concern me. Here are some of the comments: >Just noticed that they rate the tower for the load to be no higher than >2 feet above the top and a max vertical force not to exceed 300 lbs. >which must be centrally located and balanced over the cross-section. > >I would guess these are NOT designed for long boom antennas. All the >pix I see in the ads are microwave type and vhf/uhf type antennas. > >Looking at the Trylon towers page I see no reference to the amount of >torque these towers can handle. I know that some of Rohn's self >supporting towers will only accommodate a 10 foot boom. Does Trylon >supply rotor/bearing plates? Is there a place that lists better specs >for these towers? > >Please don't sacrifice safety for price. If it sounds too good to be >true it probably is. Naturally, It is VERY important to me that the tower specifications consider the installation of LONG boom (30 to 50 feet) amateur radio antennas in their torque, dead-weight, and wind-load calculations. Please get back to me as soon as possible (and let me know where more detailed specifications can be referenced or obtained). Here is the reply from Jon Martin of Trylon: >Trylon does supply rotor/bearing plates. We do not supply the actual >bearings, or rotors. >The Titan towers do not have a torque value associated with them. We >also do not have the technical information available to calculate the >torque value. > >The technical specifications that you have are the only ones available. > >I have fowarded your e-mail to one of our dealers you has years of >experience with our Titan towers as well as amateur radio use. The >company name is MacFarlane Electronics (macfltd@mail.kosone.com). Please >refer to him for any future questions, or if ordering a tower. ---- end reply from Jon Martin of Trylon ---- I was NOT pleased with the above reply! I called this morning and 'demanded' to speak with someone that would address my concerns. A Ron Fuller spent almost an hour with me explaining that the Titan line is a very small offshoot of the company's marketing niche and the engineering evaluation software developed for the product did not include torsional force calculations. They will, however, on a case-by-case basis, evaluate the installation each customer plans (including future expansion considerations) and give you advice on what you need to satisfy whatever wind survivability you desire. For example: I told him that although I initially plan to have only one ten sq foot antenna at 66 feet I eventually want 100mph survivability for a 64 foot tower with a mast extension of ten feet and 10sq ft antennas mounted two feet and ten feet above the tower top. He said the survivability would be 90mph if I chose a T600 64ft tower. All things considered, I'm satisfied with the way Mr. Fuller handled this and I understand where the Titan line fits into the companies business. It is essentially a ham-budget offshoot and a very small part of their efforts. Ron estimated that they have sold about 20,000 Titans since 1977 when they began the line. Ron also explained that there is very little need for concern about putting a large boom antenna on the tower as long as its mass is centered and its wind surface is fairly symmetrical. In almost all cases, wind action on opposite sides of the center cancel out. The only meaningful torsional considerations are dampening oscillations that are nearly always well within tolerance when you 'design' it for wind survivability sufficiently beyond the maximum winds in your area. I'm sure that none of the above would satisfy someone who is going to get an insurance policy that requires engineering specifications that include torsional data. I guess that those who want Rohn-like formal documentation should go to Rohn . I'm satisfied that I can order a Titan with plenty of wind survivability safety margin and be comfortable with the installation. If you get serious about buying, or you want to talk to someone more familiar with our use of their towers, you need to talk to Harold MacFarlane - one of their distributors. He has been very helpful. (613) 353-2800 MacFarlane Industries (Distributor) Harold MacFarlane !!! KNOWS HIS TOWERS !!! You should call/write for their catalog - it's difficult to try to pick out what you might want to know and reproduce it here. Essentially, their towers are 8 foot sections of varying strength depending on the tower configuration in which they will be used. You can build the tower on the ground and then have a boom truck come by and raise and set it on the footing in one easy operation. The other alternative is to use their gin pole and erect it section by section straight up - at least two people required for this method. You will find free standing models that give you much more strength and height than the Tri-Ex and US Tower offerings for 1/4 or 1/5 the cost. I imagine you can save even more by going to a guyed model - I didn't inquire about prices on those. These people have been in the commercial tower business long enough to gain a solid reputation for quality merchandise. I don't know how long ago they added the amateur radio line, but the specs sure look great. I believe that you can extend the height of their towers later (like Rohn) just by adding sections at the top (provided you are not already at the height limit for the particular model line). This find has made the difference between my having a tower soon after I move to our new QTH and saving for years to get a crank up. I'll be spending about $1000 + $500 shipping rather than the $3600 to $6600 for a LM470E or a HDX572. The savings pays for my antenna and rotator! QRU here, - let me know if I missed anything important. Be sure and let me know how it comes out. Frank - W0ECS ------------- Date: Wed, 18 Jun 1997 07:53:25 -0700 From: ftbrady@cosmoslink.net (Frank T. Brady) I did come up with more reasons to justify the rigid Trylon (vs. a crank-up): 1) If I make my initial selection from the middle range of one of their strength catagories, I can 'easily' extend the height later by just adding sections (sort of like the Rohn world). 2) I can now afford a strength catagory that leaves NO doubt about how much spare carrying capacity it has. 3) No need for the cable oiling, inspection, and replacement rigmarole. 4) No need to make sure the tower is down before going somewhere. 5) No permanent wind-watch stress built into my routine. Tom at Force 12 called yesterday and we were talking about installing antennas on fixed towers - he recommends a temporary or permanent electric winch position at the top of the tower (3 or 4 hundred bucks) to make the job easier (and probably a whole lot safer, too). I already have the a good safety belt, so I'll probably do the first installation with help from a local pro. Frank - W0ECS --------- Date: Wed, 18 Jun 97 13:28:00 -0600 From: Steve Weisbrod A friend of mine Bill Ham (yes that is correct) K0KO has one of these towers. They are really built. He has two large Force12's on it no sweat. I would not worry about torque. I helped him put it up last year. I worked ground crew , no climbing for me thats why I got the GM Hazer. But if I was going to climb this is the tower I would get. It's a brute and I think you'll like it. 73 Steve W8GAZ --------- Date: Wed, 18 Jun 1997 15:11:51 -0700 From: Doug Joyce In response to the various comments re the Trylon towers let me contribute the following: I've been installing and working on Trylon Titan (ex ABC series) free standing towers since the early 80's on a part time basis and have had a dealership for most of that time. As part of Trylon's service to their dealers they have made available a tower analysis program "tritest" (a DOS program) that allows you to enter point loads at various heights and define the weight, wind speed, wind surface area, (round/square) etc and the program will calculate the safety factor for the towere under those load conditions. (I spoke to Jon Martin this morning & he confirmed that the program was still available. I suggested that they consider putting it up on their web site. As discussed on their web site, the Titan series is a 96 foor tapered free standing tower (8 foot sections). You pick from this 96 ft the length and strength desired. The tower models are rated by the size of the top section eg. a T200 (the lightest, max height 96 ft) has a 9" face width at the top up to the T800 (the heaviest, max height 48 ft) has a 27" face width at the top. The bottom face width is a function of total height. The towers are rated at 70, 85 & 100 mph. The installation drawings provide info re the necessary base size, rebar etc. re long beam, large antennas - a friend of mine has a contest station near Niagara with five Titan towers (72 to 88 ft) with various monoband beams - 5 el on 15, 40 ft boom; 4 el on 17 similar boom; 4 el on 30, 36 ft boom and we haven't noticed any problems due to torque load. (the 10m and 15m towers also have a second antenna fixed on Europe at approx 45-50 ft. Hope this helps Doug Joyce, VE3MV djoyce@ibm.net