New HF Tower Project
We Will Rebuild Back Better!!!
"New" W2MMD 70 foot tower. This is a direct replacement for our old tower and will even bolt up to the same base. What a great find!
Thanks, Tony K3TS
September 1, 2022 : One Year Later - We Are Rebuilding!
By Al Arrison, KB2AYU - Clubhouse Site Chairman
By Al Arrison, KB2AYU - Clubhouse Site Chairman
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As I write this, we are just a few days from the 1 year anniversary of the tornado damage to our Club station. Work has been ongoing since that day to restore the Club station to better performance than before. Everyone's generous financial donations have allowed us to purchase the "hardware" for the HF station. That's the (relatively) easy part. The hard part is the installation of that hardware. It requires the donation of equipment, expertise and especially time by Club members to complete successfully. Most of the work gets done on Saturdays. Since it is mostly outdoor work, we are at the mercy of the weather. Rain, no work. 100 degrees, no work. Below is a list of the hardware being used for the HF station rebuild. The used Tashjian Towers LM470 70' Crank-up Tower we obtained saved us thousands of dollars by allowing us to use the existing tower base. However, the tower needed refurbishing. This included some fabrication and welding, new pulley bearings, new lift cables and a full painting with cold galvanize compound. The tower is motorized so it can easily be lowered if bad weather is forecast. The new HF antenna is a JK Antennas MidTri40. This amazing antenna combines a 10-15-20 meter tri-bander with 2 elements on 40 meters on a single 26' boom. A Club member generously donated a new Yaesu G-2800 heavy duty rotator. A Green Huron rotator control box was purchased to go with it. An Array Solutions 6 position remote coax switch will be at the top of the tower so that only one coax will have to run down the tower. |
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The center of an 80 meter inverted V will be located at the top of the tower as well.
We are going to do our best to have the HF station done by our Hamfest. Then we will start the process all over for the VHF/UHF station. We have already received grant money for the electronics equipment through the GCARF (Gloucester County Amateur Radio Foundation). We are currently waiting on the approval of another grant for the outdoor hardware. That project will most likely have to wait until next year. I hope to get some temporary VHF/UHF antennas up to get us through the winter.
We are going to do our best to have the HF station done by our Hamfest. Then we will start the process all over for the VHF/UHF station. We have already received grant money for the electronics equipment through the GCARF (Gloucester County Amateur Radio Foundation). We are currently waiting on the approval of another grant for the outdoor hardware. That project will most likely have to wait until next year. I hope to get some temporary VHF/UHF antennas up to get us through the winter.
Clubhouse Towers Rebuilding Report
By Al Arrison, KB2AYU
As we start a new year, I would like to again thank everyone for their generous donations to the rebuild fund, especially GCARC Club members.
Unfortunately, it looks like the replacement HF tower and antenna will not go up until spring. The tower needs a bit more refurbishing than originally thought and time has run out on reasonable weather. The tower needs new lift cables which we will make ourselves. It needs new ball bearings in all the lift pulleys.
It needs some minor welding and will be getting a fresh coat of cold galvanizing paint. Note that the tower is still a good deal because it fits the existing base and will save us thousands of dollars by not having to install a new base.
On the VHF side, I am in the process of looking for used commercial towers, in good shape, that we may be able to obtain for the cost of taking them down and transporting them to our site.
By Al Arrison, KB2AYU
As we start a new year, I would like to again thank everyone for their generous donations to the rebuild fund, especially GCARC Club members.
Unfortunately, it looks like the replacement HF tower and antenna will not go up until spring. The tower needs a bit more refurbishing than originally thought and time has run out on reasonable weather. The tower needs new lift cables which we will make ourselves. It needs new ball bearings in all the lift pulleys.
It needs some minor welding and will be getting a fresh coat of cold galvanizing paint. Note that the tower is still a good deal because it fits the existing base and will save us thousands of dollars by not having to install a new base.
On the VHF side, I am in the process of looking for used commercial towers, in good shape, that we may be able to obtain for the cost of taking them down and transporting them to our site.
A Big GCARC Thank You To The Tower Crew
Pictures by K3TS and KT2Y
- Tony Starr, K3TS : Using his truck and renting a trailer
- Al Arrison, KB2AYU
- Frank Romeo, N3PUU
- Jim Clark, KA2OSV
- Herb Dyer, KT2Y
- Lenny Rust, W2LJR
- Mike Pecorini, K2MRP
- Chris Prioli, AD2CS
- Ray Martin, W2RM
Pictures by K3TS and KT2Y
Holger,
I wanted to thank you again for the great deal on the 70 foot tower. We managed to get it home and off the trailer without any mishaps. Not bad for a bunch of (mostly) old guys! It was a pleasure meeting you and we look forward to seeing you again at our hamfest. Now the best news of all :
The 70 foot tower that we got from you is essentially identical to our old 54 foot tower, with the only difference being that the four sections on the "new" tower are longer to give the added height. The base section, bolt patterns, and even the raising fixture are completely identical. Checking the documentation for both towers, we found that even the concrete foundation dimension requirements are the same, so what this means is that everything is completely interchangeable and a bolt-in replacement for the old tower. This will save us thousands of dollars and spare us the work of building a new foundation or making adapter plates. So you see, your tower was the perfect find for us, and we couldn't be happier.
When we finally get everything in the air, we will email some pictures. 73 for now.
Tony Starr K3TS
President, GCARC
Excellent. I guess you could not have planned this! Glad it worked out and you should be back on the air relatively soon.
I am happy and you are happy, what a great day.
Holger, K2HES