GCARC VHF Tower Complex
New Additions To The W2MMD Antenna Farm
- The 72 footer will have 2 Meter, 1.25 Meter, and 70 Centimeter antennas
- The 89 footer will have 902 MHz, 1296 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 10 GHz antennas
GCARC VHF Tower Complex
By Chris Prioli, AD2CS - [email protected] - www.ad2cs.com
To borrow a phrase, “September the First is a date that will live in infamy… at GCARC.” It was on that day in 2022 that an EF-3 tornado struck the Mullica Hill area, ultimately cutting a swath through Gloucester County and remaining on the ground for over twelve miles. The damage in the local area was extensive. In the overall scheme of things, we at GCARC were actually quite lucky that day, but we suffered some serious damages nonetheless. On that day, the winds struck our HF and VHF towers, with both towers being topped and left in unusable condition.
The Club initiated a GoFundMe online fund-raiser that brought in quite a sum, but it was still far short of the total that was needed to replace both towers. We happened upon an exact-fit replacement, though it was slightly taller, for the HF tower, which took quite a while to get erected, as it actually needed some repairs and refurbishment before we could put it up. Thanks to the hard work and commitment of a few Club members, and the donated labors of some others, the tower and its new antennas finally were up and usable. It was time to move on to the VHF side of things.
In the interim, the Club was the fortunate recipient of some grant funding that would help us to put in some new VHF station equipment, greatly expanding our VHF capabilities. However, we needed an appropriate (read: “tall”) tower to support all of the antennas needed by this new capability. One thing led to another, and it was determined that it was imprudent to rely upon the climbing abilities of a Club membership that is steadily getting older and less able or willing to climb tall towers. Further, the cost of this tower was formidable. As luck would have it, through diligence and persistence, a pair of suitable crank-up towers was found at a location in the Midwest, which we could purchase for a sum that was quite attractive. These two towers could - and would - replace the single tall fixed tower originally envisioned.
The towers were purchased and trucked to New Jersey, and set on the ground behind the Clubhouse. Evaluation of the towers was begun, together with all of the planning necessary to eventually raise these two towers on our site. Extensive research and planning were involved, including obtaining governmental and landlord approvals. Finally, we were ready to contemplate actually putting the towers up.
Cost estimates were worked up, factoring in every conceivable bit of the many costs involved in putting in not one, but two separate foundations for these towers. These costs include such things as the rental of excavating equipment, paying the equipment operators, purchasing the anchor bolts, preparing the towers and their bases, preparing the cranking motors, refurbishing the tower lift cable systems, purchasing the rebar and concrete, running the power out there, and… well, you get the idea. The list was massive, and the cost was far more than we, as a Club, had the budgetary chops to handle without help.
We asked for that help by making a plea to the membership for voluntary donations towards the defrayment of the tower installation costs. The response was immediate and heartwarming, which brings us to the real point of this article.
The GCARC leadership wants to recognize the following individuals who all contributed financially to the VHF Tower Installation Fund, with the most sincere thanks possible :
By Chris Prioli, AD2CS - [email protected] - www.ad2cs.com
To borrow a phrase, “September the First is a date that will live in infamy… at GCARC.” It was on that day in 2022 that an EF-3 tornado struck the Mullica Hill area, ultimately cutting a swath through Gloucester County and remaining on the ground for over twelve miles. The damage in the local area was extensive. In the overall scheme of things, we at GCARC were actually quite lucky that day, but we suffered some serious damages nonetheless. On that day, the winds struck our HF and VHF towers, with both towers being topped and left in unusable condition.
The Club initiated a GoFundMe online fund-raiser that brought in quite a sum, but it was still far short of the total that was needed to replace both towers. We happened upon an exact-fit replacement, though it was slightly taller, for the HF tower, which took quite a while to get erected, as it actually needed some repairs and refurbishment before we could put it up. Thanks to the hard work and commitment of a few Club members, and the donated labors of some others, the tower and its new antennas finally were up and usable. It was time to move on to the VHF side of things.
In the interim, the Club was the fortunate recipient of some grant funding that would help us to put in some new VHF station equipment, greatly expanding our VHF capabilities. However, we needed an appropriate (read: “tall”) tower to support all of the antennas needed by this new capability. One thing led to another, and it was determined that it was imprudent to rely upon the climbing abilities of a Club membership that is steadily getting older and less able or willing to climb tall towers. Further, the cost of this tower was formidable. As luck would have it, through diligence and persistence, a pair of suitable crank-up towers was found at a location in the Midwest, which we could purchase for a sum that was quite attractive. These two towers could - and would - replace the single tall fixed tower originally envisioned.
The towers were purchased and trucked to New Jersey, and set on the ground behind the Clubhouse. Evaluation of the towers was begun, together with all of the planning necessary to eventually raise these two towers on our site. Extensive research and planning were involved, including obtaining governmental and landlord approvals. Finally, we were ready to contemplate actually putting the towers up.
Cost estimates were worked up, factoring in every conceivable bit of the many costs involved in putting in not one, but two separate foundations for these towers. These costs include such things as the rental of excavating equipment, paying the equipment operators, purchasing the anchor bolts, preparing the towers and their bases, preparing the cranking motors, refurbishing the tower lift cable systems, purchasing the rebar and concrete, running the power out there, and… well, you get the idea. The list was massive, and the cost was far more than we, as a Club, had the budgetary chops to handle without help.
We asked for that help by making a plea to the membership for voluntary donations towards the defrayment of the tower installation costs. The response was immediate and heartwarming, which brings us to the real point of this article.
The GCARC leadership wants to recognize the following individuals who all contributed financially to the VHF Tower Installation Fund, with the most sincere thanks possible :
Alan D Arrison KB2AYU
George M Badger III W3AB Ron Block NR2B Bruce Canino KD2LBU Anthony Cerami N2OAC MaryLu Ciraula KE2CEF James Clark KA2OSV Karl B Frank W2KBF John Hill W2HUV Lee Marino N2LAM Earl Moore KC2NCH Phil Nunzio WA3RGY John O'Connell K2QA |
Sheldon Parker K2MEN
Jonathan Pearce WB2MNF William H Price NJ2S Chris Prioli AD2CS Frank Romeo N3PUU Leonard J Rust III W2LJR William Sheppard Sr WA2KMS Courtney Smith KD2SPJ Michael Thompson KG4JYA David Wade KD2NZS Charles Wahl KC2STO Todd Woodward KD2ESH John A Zaruba Jr K2ZA |
It is only through the generosity of the Club members recognized herein that the Club is able to proceed on schedule this Spring with the task of raising these two new VHF towers. This project will bring to fruition a long-term plan to grow our VHF station into a world-class VHF station that any Amateur Radio club would want to claim as their own.