Home from another trip to Texas, where W2GD & I continue the NR5M rebuilding efforts. This week we focused on two primary projects—refurbishing an older 45G tower (the first tower to be built at the station, in fact), which will hold the 13/13/13/13 6M stack when we’re done, & the re-assembly of the 80M 3L Yagi. Rich, K7ZV, came down to help with building the beam. Without his help, that project would probably still be unfinished! So, a big TU to Rich. Thursday the crane arrived & I spent much of the day hanging in the bosun’s chair at 165 feet, repairing two of the antennas in the 15M stack. Luckily (I guess, since most everyone on the ground thought I was nuts), everything went off without a hitch….Friday, a smaller crane moved over to the 80M tower & we raised & tested the Yagi. Perfect…more testimony to Rich’s experience w/the coil-conversion models. Without any helpers, we decided to have the crane operator come back on Saturday. But the high winds (25MPH steady, w/gusts up to 30-35) prevented us from hauling the beam into place.
It was also a treat to operate the 160M Test for a few hours on Friday night. Conditions were simply super, & the parasitic array really plays well. We were only a couple of mults behind the East Coast big guns.
The weather was weird this trip, too. Some days we were bundled up, but on Friday, it was shorts ‘n tee shirts time. Saturday found us freezing atop the tower as we worked, however. We did manage to get the old hunk of rusted Schedule 80 waterpipe hauled out the top of the 80M bam tower, rusted solidly to the thrust bearing. The new K0XG ring rotator is in place, ready for the beam. Perhaps next trip….??
