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Questions on leasing tower space

B

bturner

A friend of mine will be trying for a LPFM this fall and asked me a couple of questions I don't know the answer to. Can you offer some idea:

His station will be under 200 feet up on an existing tower in a small town. He asked the following...

What might monthly rent be? I told him in the $2 a foot per month range, give or take maybe 50 cents a foot.

What is a typical? I've been told some companies want the first year in advance (sounded reasonable to me considering). Is this pretty average?

Do they require their pre-approved people for running the coax up the tower and mounting the antenna? Don't have a clue but considering their investment and tenants that would sound reasonable.

What would a crew charge to run the coax up and mount the antenna (say 200 feet)?

In my career I've never been privy to any of this sort of stuff except for the time a guy said he'd climb our tower for a 6-pack on ice and $75 cash, then he guzzled 4 beers as he went on how our 100 meter tower was a baby and started climbing in 30 mile an hour sustained winds one March afternoon. Never used the harness until he got where he was going. I was so happy when his feet hit solid earth again.
 
Tower rent wildly fluctuates. I have seen people charging >$6,000 per month for 300 feet where tower options are limited. It really has some supply and demand to it, as well as whether or not they 'want' a tenant at all on the tower.

The owner of our company, for instance, charges $1 per foot last I heard, as he also rents space in many places and understands how people tend to gauge on prices.

You really need to discuss this with the owner of the proposed tower so that you can see if he wants the business, what the figure would be, etc... The wind loading, etc... must all line up.
 
This like asking how much does a car or house cost. The cost to lease tower space depends on several factors, including market size, supply & demand, and location. In a small market you might get 30 feet of tower space for say $600 from one tower owner, and maybe another one that deals with cellular might ask 2-3 times that. In a major market you may be talking several thousand dollars a month.

Some tower landlords to require their pre-approved riggers. Some don't.

As far as cost, the riggers will base the charge on time, not feet.

Some landlords will charge by the month, others by the year. Some will offer long leases, most will include cost-of-living increases.
 
I think they're dealing with folks on a SBA tower in a town of 3,000. Not much on the tower at this point...maybe a cell phone carrier.

I knew there was no simple answer. They simply had a board meeting and wondered what they might need financially IF they do manage to get a CP.
 
Rents and costs are, as has been said already, quite variable. For example, an LPFM was on an American Tower at 160' and the rent was an insane $1,000/mo. and she had to have her own electric meter. She moved to a tall building downtown and the rent dropped to $400 and they picked up the electrical. Other LPFMs in town have gone on some power company towers at about $1.50/ft. Other monthly costs include power and Internet. There are also ASCAP, BMI and SESAC licenses and, if streaming, Sound Exchange. A lot of tower operators require liability insurance in the amount of a million dollars which must be kept up to date. Usually, the cost is about $500/yr. Some operators insist on having you pay for engineering studies any time something is added or moved on the tower, so plan for $8k-$10k for that.

Your tower erectors/climbers will likely charge you between $1,000 and $2,000 to hang the feedline and antenna. If you have to provide your own equipment shelter, you can either place a shed or a weatherproof box. I prefer the sheds, but some sites don't have room for one. Plan on a little more than $1,000 for the housing.

LPFMs can usually get away with 1/2" coax, but 7/8" is a lot more efficient. A lot of times, your tower guys will have scrap coax available to sell. It's usually about half the cost of new. I always hook up a dummy load to one end and power up the other, checking efficiency by measuring input power and comparing it to the delivered power into the dummy load. Reject the coax if it doesn't exceed the manufacturer's specs. Always use a good lightning arrestor and have a good ground. Remember to plan on hangers, hoisting grips and grounding kits.

There are several choices for good, low pwer antennas. Circularly polarized single bays can be had for about $500-$600. Stay away from eBay stuff made from aluminum. Pretty nice vertical only antennas (which can be used for LPFM service, if desired) can be had for under $100.

LPFMs require FCC "type certified" transmitters. Many transmitters are FCC "type verified" which is illegal for LPFM use, but legal for all other broadcast use, including translators. An LPFM station in central Florida got hit for a $12,000 fine for operating a commercally made broadcast transmitter that was not certified and happened to broadcast a spur on an aircraft channel.
 
According to the FCC, this is the information regarding LPFM and antenna height:

LPFM stations are authorized for noncommercial educational broadcasting only (no commercial operation) and operate with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100 watts (0.1 kilowatts) or less, with maximum facilities of 100 watts ERP at 30 meters (100 feet) antenna height above average terrain (HAAT).

It appears that 100' is the height limit above average terrain. You might be better off putting up your own 100' tower. At that height, it's possible that tower lights will not be required.
 
frankberry said:
According to the FCC, this is the information regarding LPFM and antenna height:

LPFM stations are authorized for noncommercial educational broadcasting only (no commercial operation) and operate with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100 watts (0.1 kilowatts) or less, with maximum facilities of 100 watts ERP at 30 meters (100 feet) antenna height above average terrain (HAAT).

It appears that 100' is the height limit above average terrain. You might be better off putting up your own 100' tower. At that height, it's possible that tower lights will not be required.
Click to expand...

Wise choice...a few thousand dollars for a 100' tower will very quickly pay for itself if you can find a landowner who'll allow it to be built for a small land rental fee. If you can find a ham operator who'll let you build it on his land, odds are excellent that if you let him mount his antennas on it too, the land rental will be zero. And at 100', it's almost certain that no tower lighting or painting will be required.
 
LPFM's can be over 100" HAAT. They just have to lower power to do that. Depending on the local topography, more height and lower power might work better for you. Then again, maybe not. It's all a trade off.
 
Chuck: Is that a new policy at the FCC? I had the same understanding of the rules as Frank, but I haven't investigated LPFM since the most recent LPFM act from Congress.
 
KZQX said:
LPFM's can be over 100" HAAT. They just have to lower power to do that. Depending on the local topography, more height and lower power might work better for you. Then again, maybe not. It's all a trade off.
Click to expand...

I do pro bono work for several LPFM stations. All are above the class height limit with reduced ERP to compensate. In our area, 100' is just at the tree tops. In order to get the antenna above the trees, 150' to 200' is a common height. ERP is typically between 60W and 25W depending upon how high you go. We had one LPFM up at almost 350' running just 7W ERP, but what a great signal it had! The knife-edge diffraction is much better with a high attack angle from a tall tower.

We also had one LPFM mount a 20' flag pole up at the top of a tall pine tree for a few months after they lost a tower lease. The signal was mediocre, but they sure saved a bundle on the lease.
 
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Actually the HAAT is 30 meters at 180 feet. He hopes to find a willing landowner. It's a pretty hilly area. To reach what he needs to reach he cannot move far and I think he hopes to move to a higher elevation on his own tower however in the mean time, they need a spot with reasonable assurance and that's an existing tower. I played on Longley Rice (the free version out of Canada) and it looks like he can go about 1/4 miles and only have a 110 foot tower. The other hitch is the location is about 5 kilometers from an airport. It would be crazy for an LPFM to try to deal with a lit, painted tower in my book.
 
If you are going with a large tower company.

They will run a credit check.

Expect to pay first year up front if you are a new company/organization.

You will pay a structure analysis fee.

You tower contractor must be a approved vendor.

You will need your own power and phone.

You will need a building permit/business lic. for your tower contractor.
 
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