Posted: 6/8/2014 3:20:56 PM EDT
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one of my neighbors about 5 miles away is/was a Ham --He's 86 now and is selling his house since His wife is gone and he really doesnt get on the air too much anymore. Anyway his son is helping him sell the house and one of the things that had to go was the tower/antenna/rotator setup in the backyard. He had an cushcraft A-4S triband beam (10,15 &20M) with the add on A734 and A744 30 and 40m kits an alliance heavy duty rotator and controller with cable, and a 30ft tilt over tower w/base. He was sellling the whole lot for $350 and I decided to jump on it without even knowing for sure what it was worth --I really just wanted the tower more than anything. Some pics    so it looks like I am putting up a tower soon Its older stuff but very well taken care of and maintained --not sure who made the tower but its quality stuff I started looking up prices on the antenna and it looks to me like I stole it since the beam can retail $600.00 and the add ons another $200.00 new havent even figured out what the rotator and controller are yet. later this week I am going to meet his son over there and He is going to help me take the beam apart for transport. time to dig a hole and start pouring concrete... |
Why don't I ever get deals like this?
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They are out there --alot of hams are getting older. Often time when these houses are sold the towers have to be taken down, new owners dont want them and they can be a liability to a sale. I Had a silent keys widow north of here who was having trouble getting rid of his equipment and the tower etc His son and some friends came in and cut up the tower and SCRAPPED it probably for pennies on the dollar. Keep and eye on estate sales and craigslist (search your local craigslist for antenna tower) and you will often find deals. When I found out about this one I was about to head to Erie for 4 sections of tower for sale the guy cant get rid of. Deals are out there you just got to find them. Now I gotta figure how to stash all this stuff in the garage with out the wife seeing them !?
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Put an ad in Craigslist offering to remove radio/TV towers and you'll likely get offers periodically.
Most will be junk and you can charge for removal or simply explain it isn't what you're interested in. Let's face it,towers are eyesores to the average woman of the house and when a ham decides to sell the hose he's a LOT better off getting rid of the tower before he puts it on the market. A lot of hams are getting older, there are widows of SKs looking to get rid of stuff. The deals are out there. All you have to do is go after them. |
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Thats a real good idea --I see too many widows with unrealistic expectations or dumping stuff to unscrupulous types I put a letter in the gun safe with listing and some people to contact in the event I should meet an sudden untimely demise. Don't know how many times I have seen a widow walk into a gun show with a pre 64 mdl 70 and dump it for chump change or sit on hubby's unused toys for years as the value plummets because they think full retail new is a reasonable expectation. |
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Quoted:
Put an ad in Craigslist offering to remove radio/TV towers and you'll likely get offers periodically. Most will be junk and you can charge for removal or simply explain it isn't what you're interested in. Let's face it,towers are eyesores to the average woman of the house and when a ham decides to sell the hose he's a LOT better off getting rid of the tower before he puts it on the market. A lot of hams are getting older, there are widows of SKs looking to get rid of stuff. The deals are out there. All you have to do is go after them. I still want to put a VHF antenna up on the top of that pine tree in my backyard.... 
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The either a) operator (or tech) is getting too old, b) business has moved past the radio days or c) SK tower removal has netted me a lot of rohm 25 (I've had 400+ feet to take down for the last year now), 60 ft of rohn 55 and 50 ft of rohn 45. Ask, and you may (or may not) receive. Also has worked for a stack of DB products.
Looks like Armalite tower. Never really dealt with the stuff as the weather isn't very kind to them up here in the Texas panhandle. |