Not all towers are made of metal. Sometimes using "local materials" is the most practical choice.

The builders of the tower at their location. Note the chicken coops in the background.

I have always moved a lot in my life. I have a motto "Home is where I hang my antennas." So, when we moved into our rented house in tropical Philippines, I was delighted to discover 40-foot coconut trees in our small yard. I always have my eyes open for antenna possibilities wherever I go. This new location looked fit for a ham.

"Yes!" I thought out loud as my wife eyed me with one of those I-know-what-you're-thinking looks. For 14,000 pesos a month we got four coconut trees, 6300 square feet of lot . . . and, oh yes, a house.

The longer I looked, the more I wondered just how I would go about hanging antennas when the coconut trees were on only one side of our small 70-by-90 foot lot. Slopers, Inverted-Vs and wire verticals were all possibilities that came to mind. Yet I had my heart set on a G5RV-type antenna that would yield all bands between 80 and 10 meters with one antenna.

The place where bamboo is floated down the river from the mountains to the builders.

For 160 I planned an inverted-L. Both of antennas would require elevating the wires diagonally across the real estate we had been allocated. So I had a coconut tree on one corner, but what could I use to raise the other side? As I scanned the skyline, I noted many 100-plus foot tall towers that held commercial antennas. Installation of one of those seemed out of the question on a rental property, not to mention out of my price range.

The Bamboo of Inspiration

An idea dawned on me after my wife came home with a bamboo chicken coop. For $3, she had picked up a three-foot-square box for Lucky and Beatrice, our Chinese chickens. A group of artisans who live near the Bolton Bridge in Davao City use bamboo to make all manner of things, including some pretty tall ladders. I had seen bamboo used as scaffolding on multi-story buildings in China. Could a tower be made out of bamboo, I wondered? I dreamed up a bamboo tower design that would reach 42 feet when placed in the opposing side of the lot. It would span the needed 100 feet for the antennas.

I visited the Bolton Bridge and talked to Nick and Edwen--two bamboo fabricators--to inquire about the possibility. Being new to the southern Philippines, I am only beginning to learn Cebuano, the local dialect. I took a drawing of my tower and gesticulated, drew in the dirt and made models out of sticks to convey my idea to them. I indicated the individual bamboo poles used in the tower would have to be very straight and that crosspieces would be needed. They were intrigued by the job and thought it was possible. We agreed on the price ($35) and that I would pick it up in a week.

Unloading the tower at our house.

My youngest son demonstrates how big the tower is.

The Finished Product

When the week was up, I could hardly wait to see my tower. I stopped at the bridge on my way home from language school and was taken to the open workshop area where my beautiful tower lay. My first thought was: This is huge! How am I going to get this thing home? My second through was: Bamboo is supposed to be light and strong. Why is this so heavy?

Edwen and Nick informed me that the bamboo was still green and therefore very heavy. I purchased two additional 35-foot poles to act as stays when I erected the tower.

I arranged with Edwen and Nick to transport this monstrosity to my place. I looked around for the truck and found none in sight. I was approached by a man who pointed to his tricycle as he informed me he was the one to transport the tower and poles. I was skeptical. How could this much weight and length fit on a motorcycle-powered tricycle? He assured me that he had taken more than a dozen 40-foot poles once and had no problem. I was still leery, but when all of my purchases were piled on top, and the trike loaded with six men, we took off.

Up goes the tower!

The tower in upright position with my sons Solomon and David.

Driving down a busy street with bamboo sticking way out front and back would have been comical if it didn't seem so dangerous. Thinking back, the extra men were used as ballast to keep the trike on all wheels. It took four of us to get it into the carport of the house for storage until I could figure out a way to put it up.

The Antennas Rise

Some of our friends who were in town for a while wanted to come stay overnight. I co-opted them to help me raise the behemoth skyward. It is common knowledge among my friends that they are welcome to stay at our house. The only compensation I require is a little help on my latest antenna project. It took two tries, but we finally righted the antenna. Another half- day's worth of work securing the tower, and I was ready to hoist the main sail . . . the G5RV. The inverted L followed shortly.

This kind of project was more work that I imagined, but it has taught me a few things. Bamboo is strong, relatively lightweight, plentiful (in some places) and a renewable resource. In the Philippines the price is right, too.

Editor's note: Jon Rudy, N0NM, is an ARRL member and QST author. You can contact him via e-mail at mccarpnc@yahoo.com.

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