Definitely yes. We are all EU now – so export/import is easier than ever. No VAT in export,  unified invoices, PayPal or SWIFT payments mean we can exchange cash for goods as quickly and comfortably as in our local grocery market. Never tried to import? Now it’s a good time!

Altruss speaks English, Russian, Polish, German – so there is big chance we will not be lost in translation. Okay you do not feel comfortably to speak English (I know you French people 😉 then still we do have google translate. In extreme situation we can hire an interpreter of your language. Why not? Just let us know.

Altruss and prviously Alupro has 8 years of experience in export to most of european markets. Our towers/masts work in Germany, Austria, France, Spain, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Norway. Most of our clients stay with us for next/future projects.

We do static calculations in accordance to Eurocode and its local extension (annexes). So you may get all the paperwork tailor cut to your market reality.

If product certification is needed: we work with our partner company Rolstal to provide any possible proof of quality including set of TUV, GSI-SLV, marine certificates. Most important we comply with ISO 3834 and ISO 1090 norms. Is your legislation still not happy? We can do bolted version of what you need, so no certification beyond „CE” declaration shall be needed.

We work 7:00 AM untill 20:PM CET – uder e-mail, Skype and phone, so It shall be not a problem to get answers from us.

Okay how about installation and transportation? Small quantities, single units are sent with courier services or through online dispatch markets (like Timo.com). Bigger loads get dedicated transportation from us (we take care of everything). If needed our company team can come and do the installation for you guys anywhere in Europe.

Masts and towers, both aluminum and steel are constuctions of high risk. Damage may cost loss in property or even life, so it is good to service your mast before it breaks.

Aluminum masts are resistant to corrosion, but not so much to frost cracking. Once each year, in spring preferably, qualified personel should chceck for any signs of frost damage. Any cracks found shall be welded, some poles echanged for new, and drainage patented. Altruss masts are well prepared to handle unwanted water, so less prone to frost cracking.

Second issue –  guy wires. In older installations it was usual to use 3 mm wires. Most of them were zinc-plated years ago and now are very fragile because of corrosion. We recommend usage of good quality guy-wires 1×19 type, minumum 4 mm made in Europe  – even for smallest masts.

Third thing is guy wire tension – this has to be corrected due to natural wire wear that results in wire lenght increase. Always chceck with mast producer what amount of tension shall be used. If possible measure it (some tensors have a gauge for this).

Aluminum towers are much more robust and require less work. All that has to be checked is: signs of frost cracking and corrosion to the bolts. Once in 5-10 years a verticality check is suggested (done by land surveyor). As gound under the towers settles unevenly the whole tower may change its centre of gravity. This can be changed with correction rings.

In case of steel constructions a anti-corrosion checek must be conducted, and any stained spots must be repaired. During u-bolts change (and other metal on metal components as well) we shall take under consideration electrochemical potential of used materials. High difference here may lead to amazingly quick corrosion that may be dangerous for the structure rigidity.

Telecommunication mast, as each truss construction has nodes, that are the most robust places in the whole structure.  Every force we use on the mast shall concentrate around these nodes, no matter if during building or choosing a place for guy wire mounting points or finally when mounting antennas. The node is a place where cross members meet on the corner pipe.

Welding quality is a key to safe product in mast business – and we are serious about this. In Altruss we do weld only in TIG process and with best possible equipment by Fronius and Kemppi. On top of this we use certified rods by ESAB to all sensitive works and AirLiquide argon gas in 5th grade of purity. All welders are well trained, and their job is randomly checked, plus samples are destroyed to see if the weld had right amount of penetration.

Alternative to the TIG process is MIG – which is quicker, needs less qualifications, easier to master – but controll over weld penetration is inferior. In Altruss we use MIG process only for steel where above problems do not occur.

Well in most cases stiff mast is a good mast, this is one of quality factors. Cheaply built masts are rarely stiff. Stiffness is mostly important for radiolink communication and satellite dishes (form of radiolink in fact) – where power beam is narrow and focused. Imagine a laser pointer that is aimed at a tower clock from outskirts of your city. Not easy to keep it steady pointed directly on the clock face… but fix it to the building and the beam will be glued to the point miles away.

In most countries masts are created to allow max deviation of 1:100 of its height. For 30 meters mast it is max 30 cm at the top! I would not call it a little, that’s couple hundred meters over 10 km. One of the cheapest ways to improve this is to top the mast with separation crown with additional set of guy wires.

Stiff masts are also nicer to service (you simply feel safer on one)

The right height of radiolink antenna masts in telecommunication are connected with concept of so called Fresnel Zones.  Energy sent between radiolink antennas forms shape of a spindle (cigar like) with the biggest thickness in the midpoint between them. Points for antennas installation shall be found in the way that no obstacle gets into the Fresnel zone, otherwise the gain will be compromised (tree tops, houses, hill tops, or simply ground surface).

There are numerous online applets that let us calculate Fresnel zone thickness in given place between antennas. Having this information, plus maps and real terrain measurements let us find minimal mast/tower height that lets transmit all the energy between radiolink antennas.

Main difference between towers and masts is comfort of use and amount of space needed for installation. There is an economy to consider as well. In general towers are more expensive than masts at the same height, but take up much more space. So decision here is: do I buy/rent more land and save on the construction (cheper mast) or do I buy more expensive tower and save on parcel size.

Some other factor is service cost. Masts need much more attention  – frequent servicing is advised, guy wires tension must be regulated, u-bolts changed, and finally if something goes really bad – the chance is that mast will fall down. Towers are less human dependent. We check bolts once in couple of years and see if welds are still okay and that’s it. It’s rather unusual for the tower to fall down even if badly injured.

Towers (especially T1000 series with internal ladder) are quite comfy to use. Range of additions like safety platforms, outer platforms make service people life on the tower even nicer. This is not the case with masts, especially other than M1000.

The final word here is about nature. In some regions (eg in Germany) you cannot use guy wired constructions due to risk for birds. Then tower might be the only possibility.