[SJDXA] FW: Update from Site : 160M Work Party SATURDAY 9 am December 8th
Bob Schenck N2OO
n2oo at comcast.net
Fri Dec 7 16:37:50 EST 2012
SJDXA fyi
See ya' in the Pileups!
73!
Bob Schenck, N2OO
President SJDXA
GO SJDXA!!! www.sjdxa.org
From: John Crovelli [mailto:w2gd at hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2012 2:37 PM
To: N2OO; w1gd at aol.com; Marty Grozinski; w2no at optonline.net; k2tw at yahoo.com;
w2rq at embarqmail.com; n3rd at arrl.net; K9RS; ALH; ku2c at ymail.com;
k2sg at comcast.net; n2ea at comcast.net; brooke.t.allen at gmail.com;
rickstealey at gmail.com
Subject: Update from Site : 160M Work Party SATURDAY 9 am December 8th
Importance: High
WE NEED PL259 and inserts for 8X cable for tomorrow. I am OUT of stock. So
any of you who have these puppies PLS bring them with you tomorrow.
Initial report from N2OO at the site today. Both heliax runs are OK. They
found the NE heliax connector at the tower was NOT taped. Also, the RG213
from the NE heliax connection down in the crawl space to the shack was not
taped and they opened it and the water just poured out of the cabling. That
RG213 coax jumper cable was trashed and another put in service and labled at
the shack end. SWR reading at 1 KW was nearly perfect on the dummy load
when on the NE heliax. The SE heliax had a slightly higher SWR of 1.3 but
otherwise took 1KW without a problem. SO its full speed ahead to install
the TX antenna array tomorrow.
They were still working on the RG8X cables when Bob had to leave but none of
the RG8X cables were taped up when our cabling was removed last spring so
besides the flood there was additonal exposure to the connectors...so again
my plea for spare PL259s and 8x adapters so we can sort that out. The shack
end of the RG8X cables is fine of course. Bob will report the crew's
findings on the 8x cables later tonite.
So it appears we can proceed. Expecting some lite rain tomorrow - so come
prepared with proper coats and boots.
GD
_____
From: w2gd at hotmail.com
To: n2oo at comcast.net; w1gd at aol.com; w2cg at comcast.net; w2no at optonline.net;
k2tw at yahoo.com; w2rq at embarqmail.com; n3rd at arrl.net; k9rs at yahoo.com;
art19703 at yahoo.com; ku2c at ymail.com; k2sg at comcast.net; n2ea at comcast.net;
brooke.t.allen at gmail.com; rickstealey at gmail.com
CC: arsw2ob at verizon.net; w2arp at arrl.net; captlance at comcast.net;
opw2ccw at gmail.com
Subject: 160M Work Party SATURDAY December 8th
Date: Sun, 2 Dec 2012 22:06:30 -0500
After speaking with Marty, the consensus is to have our work party next
Saturday, December 8, starting at 9 a.m. Bob has alerted the SJDXA
guys.....GREAT!
Current weather forecast for Saturday is better than Sunday, although we
might have a sprinkle or two ... but temps will be in the 40s to 50.
I see five primary tasks for the work party to address on Saturday (in
priority order):
1. If not done beforehand, test the 7/8 heliax cables used to feed the 160M
TX array. If either or both test bad, determine cause of failure.
Determine alternative feedline solutions and resource requirements.
I understand from N2OO cable testing has been scheduled to be done by SJDXA
members this coming Friday, using a Megger, dummy load plus MFJ, and
hopefully some RF too. Ideally, install dummy load at tower end of heliax
cable, put 100W into the cable, and measure SWR on several amateur bands. A
sweep the cable with an MFJ analyzer to confirm a flat response would be
further proof of cable condition.
2. If not done beforehand, test the eight RG8X cables entering the building
via the two buried conduits (the beverages enter the bldg. this way). Label
the outdoor end (and indoor end too) of each cable for ease of identity and
further diagnostics. Determine source of failures if any - expect some of
the connectors to be bad, especially those with crimp on connectors.
Again, testing with both MFJ and RF power are suggested.
Hopefully these 8 cables can also be tested on Friday . Fully expect some
will test bad. New coax connectors may resolve one or more of the failures.
3. Install 160M TX array. This will require untangling the pull rope which
is somehow caught on the NE side of the tower at about 180 feet (hopefully
this can be done without a climb). Installing the TX array requires a
minimum of 4 people working in wadders in the marsh. Once the wires are in
the air, GD will climb to secure the feedlines. We should be prepared to
test and adjust the antennas with RF from the shack.
4. Lay out coax cables and connect 9 to 1 transformers to the NE, N/S, NW,
W, and SW beverages. Some emory cloth or sand paper will be needed to clean
up wires prior to connection to the transformers.
5. Walk the NW N/S, SW and Northern element of the NE beverages and make
repairs as required (lots of trees down in the woods). GD needs one helper
to walk the beverages with him through some difficult terrain. Anticipate
about 30 to 50 mins. to make repairs to each beverage element.
Lets see how this all goes. :-)
Thanks for everyone's efforts.
John W2GD
_____
From: n2oo at comcast.net
To: w1gd at aol.com; w2cg at comcast.net; w2gd at hotmail.com; w2no at optonline.net;
k2tw at yahoo.com; w2rq at embarqmail.com; n3rd at arrl.net; k9rs at yahoo.com;
art19703 at yahoo.com; ku2c at ymail.com; k2sg at comcast.net; n2ea at comcast.net;
brooke.t.allen at gmail.com; k4za at juno.com
CC: arsw2ob at verizon.net; w2arp at arrl.net; captlance at comcast.net;
opw2ccw at gmail.com
Subject: RE: W2GD 160M Team Work Party
Date: Sat, 1 Dec 2012 14:01:02 -0500
I am available both days. And, I will ask for additional help from the SJDXA
gang once a specific date is set. We may do some 10 meter contesting on the
side while there.
Also, I am going to try to get a small crew to the site this week to test
the feedlines and the regular HF antennas at the site (80-40-20-15-10).
I will give a report on what date we pick in case any of you guys wants to
assist.
There is a lot of work at the site to do including helping HM with anything
he may be in the middle of while there, so FYI, be prepared to offer help.
See ya' in the Pileups!
73!
Bob Schenck, N2OO
President SJDXA
GO SJDXA!!! www.sjdxa.org
From: w1gd at aol.com [mailto:w1gd at aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2012 1:48 PM
To: w2cg at comcast.net; w2gd at hotmail.com; n2oo at comcast.net;
w2no at optonline.net; k2tw at yahoo.com; w2rq at embarqmail.com; n3rd at arrl.net;
k9rs at yahoo.com; art19703 at yahoo.com; ku2c at ymail.com; k2sg at comcast.net;
n2ea at comcast.net; brooke.t.allen at gmail.com; k4za at juno.com
Cc: arsw2ob at verizon.net; w2arp at arrl.net; captlance at comcast.net;
opw2ccw at gmail.com
Subject: Re: W2GD 160M Team Work Party
Hi Marty,
I can be available either day, but would prefer Saturday myself as we have
an invitation for Sunday afternoon.
Gerry, W1GD
-----Original Message-----
From: Marty Grozinski <w2cg at comcast.net>
To: 'John Crovelli' <w2gd at hotmail.com>; 'N2OO' <n2oo at comcast.net>; w2no
<w2no at optonline.net>; k2tw <k2tw at yahoo.com>; w1gd <w1gd at aol.com>; w2rq
<w2rq at embarqmail.com>; n3rd <n3rd at arrl.net>; 'K9RS' <k9rs at yahoo.com>; 'ALH'
<art19703 at yahoo.com>; ku2c <ku2c at ymail.com>; k2sg <k2sg at comcast.net>; n2ea
<n2ea at comcast.net>; brooke.t.allen <brooke.t.allen at gmail.com>; k4za
<k4za at juno.com>
Cc: 'W2OB' <arsw2ob at verizon.net>; w2arp <w2arp at arrl.net>; captlance
<captlance at comcast.net>; opw2ccw <opw2ccw at gmail.com>
Sent: Sat, Dec 1, 2012 12:27 pm
Subject: W2GD 160M Team Work Party
All,
I hope you all have weathered the "storm" and are getting your things back
to something that resembles what is normal.
The GD's and OO all have valid suggestions, with N2HM's permission. I would
like to suggest that we plan on a work party at West Creek on Saturday or
Sunday, December 8th or 9th.
At a minimum, I think we can get enough of the station ready for the Stew
Perry contest, with the goal of having everything working in time for CQWW
160. There are plenty of chores to be done inside and out, on all skill
levels, so any help will be appreciated.
What we need now is a commitment as to when you are available. Sat or Sun?
I myself prefer Sun. Please respond as soon as you can. Once we know who
is available we will set up a game plan.
Tnx es 73
Marty/W2CG
From: John Crovelli [mailto:w2gd at hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2012 12:12 AM
To: N2OO; Marty Grozinski; w2no at optonline.net; k2tw at yahoo.com; w1gd at aol.com;
w2rq at embarqmail.com; n3rd at arrl.net; K9RS; ALH; ku2c at ymail.com;
k2sg at comcast.net; n2ea at comcast.net; brooke.t.allen at gmail.com; k4za at juno.com
Cc: W2OB; w2arp at arrl.net; captlance at comcast.net; opw2ccw at gmail.com
Subject: RE: WSC/WYRS Site Visit - Tuesday 11/13/12
Bob,
The 160M Team is discussing options and will have a plan soon. We operated
under less than ideal condx. up at the USCG Sandy Hook location for years so
we can adapt to bldg condx. without an issue.
But clearly our group has decided to install the regular TX Antenna Array
instead of opting for a single element as you suggest. AND we fully expect
to be able to repair ALL of the beverage wires prior to any operation. We
will not install the remote vertical this year.
If you have SJDXA members who would be willing to go test the two hardline
runs and the eight RG8X runs into the building over the next week, knowing
test results would be a HUGE HELP to our planning and resource allocations.
73,
John W2GD
_____
From: n2oo at comcast.net
To: w2gd at hotmail.com; w2cg at comcast.net; w2no at optonline.net; k2tw at yahoo.com;
w1gd at aol.com; w2rq at embarqmail.com; n3rd at arrl.net; k9rs at yahoo.com;
art19703 at yahoo.com; ku2c at ymail.com; k2sg at comcast.net; n2nt at verizon.net;
n2nc at optonline.net; n2ea at comcast.net; brooke.t.allen at gmail.com;
craig at thompsonet.com; nzharps at aol.com; eygilbert at gmail.com;
xu7acy at yahoo.com; jclaytonjr at verizon.net; w1km at comcast.net; k1zm at aol.com;
k4za at juno.com
CC: arsw2ob at verizon.net; w2arp at arrl.net; captlance at comcast.net;
opw2ccw at gmail.com
Subject: RE: WSC/WYRS Site Visit - Tuesday 11/13/12
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:30:54 -0500
Hi all on W2GD 160 crew and a few SJDXA helpers,
Here is my report for Nov 29.
Last night, we had our SJDXA meeting. I will note that Bob N2HM has a lot of
things inside the building right now, all related to the repairs ongoing.
There was a stack of 2x4's in the hallway, assorted misc stuff in the radio
shack, and the back rooms are full of assorted items as well.
We have decided not to do the upcoming 10 meter contest from the site UNLESS
you guys (CW team) decide to come down on the same weekend to do setup.
Then, we could try to gather a crew to assist, and do the contest
(especially by our less mobile members).
So, keep me posted on what your schedule will be.
As John said, it will be a daunting job to rebuild everything. Depending on
how many able bodied folks come to help, I have a few "observations" and
thoughts for you all to consider.
It is late in the season and days are very short now. It will take a good
turnout of helpers, and luck with the WX to get even partially
reconstructed.
I suggest considering a "delta loop" transmit antenna. This would probably
be a reasonable compromise antenna for this year and a lot easier to put up.
The beverages will be the more important things to rebuild, and they will be
fairly difficult to fix due to the huge amount of "crap" that has filled the
woods, or came down on the wires. As John said, there are some very large
trees out in the woods that came down, and many more weakened by the storm.
And there is reed grass everywhere closer to the water. I think it would be
best to pick out the most important beverages and try to get them up. I also
would say to give up on the remote vertical this year. We have a couple of
potential problems on that antenna. And the coax was found cut/eaten at two
locations when we rolled it up. The bad ends were cut off and rolled up on
the reel for repair later during setup. The 2,000 foot roll of this coax was
fully under saltwater. So, it will need to be fully tested before using it,
especially with a few cuts and broken pieces.
Lance and Arnie have meggers for testing all of the coax. They are getting
them prepared for using to test all feedlines out carefully.
Another issue could be found with the hardline. All of the coax on the
hardline run to the tower was also under saltwater end to end below the
berm. They will need to be tested.
All of the beverage feedlines were under salt water, including all coax
fittings. This includes all of the feedlines in the "pull tubes" that go out
to the cable boxes on the ground (one near building and the other on the
berm). The water came right up to the building and filled the crawlspace
with about 2 feet of water. Anything in the crawlspace could be suspect.
So, keep me informed of your needs and I will TRY to get some helpers from
SJDXA and maybe even OBARC to come to the site to help out whenever you
schedule a work party (oh, I mean a site activity!)
This will need to be an "All Hands On Deck" approach with an early daylight
start.
ALSO, if ANY of you are able, and have a little time to help Bob HM do some
repairs at the site, please drop him an email bob at wyrs.org or call him
609-597-8089 and make arrangements.
See ya' in the Pileups!
73!
Bob Schenck, N2OO
President SJDXA
GO SJDXA!!! www.sjdxa.org <http://www.sjdxa.org/>
From: John Crovelli [mailto:w2gd at hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 1:05 AM
To: Marty Grozinski; w2no at optonline.net; k2tw at yahoo.com; w1gd at aol.com;
w2rq at embarqmail.com; n3rd at arrl.net; K9RS; ALH; ku2c at ymail.com; N2OO;
k2sg at comcast.net; N2NT; n2nc at optonline.net; n2ea at comcast.net;
brooke.t.allen at gmail.com; Craig Thompson; Ron Harps; eygilbert at gmail.com;
Peter Pellack; jclaytonjr at verizon.net; Greg Cronin; k1zm at aol.com;
w2gd at hotmail.com; k4za at juno.com
Subject: RE: WSC/WYRS Site Visit - Tuesday 11/13/12
Hi All.
Spent about six hours at WYRS-FM today - it rained until 3 p.m. or so.
Helped Bob Wick with getting the new dog house finished. He successfully
restored the tower hazard lighting today, and also restored his point to
point UHF link used to feed station audio from his home a few miles north.
The FM transmitter was fired up and WYRS is once again on the air from
Murphy Drive in West Creek. Bottom line for Bob it was mission accomplished
today, since tomorrow he will be going to PHL to have the first of two
cataract surgeries. His ability to do heavy work will be significantly
restricted for the next several weeks.
During the height of the storm, all of the hardline cables running out
toward the tower were submerged under saltwater (they are about 6.5 feet
above the footpath so the flood waters had to be 8 plus feet). Hopefully
the weatherproofing put on the two 7/8 inch cables we use for 160M was
sufficient to keep most of the water out of their connectors.
The cable support post that we'd attached the SW pull rope to has pulled out
of the ground about 1.5 feet by the force of the wind against the rope. I
believe there is still 2.5 feet of post still in the muck, and the post felt
stable when I tried to push it back and forth. IMO there is no immediate
danger it will pull out further as the weight of the cables will naturally
keep it in place. But to further mitigate any additional damage, I
removed the SW pull rope from the post and pulled it over to a sturdy short
pine tree along the path 20 feet away. The NE pull rope is intact, still
tied down to the steel post 20 feet from the tower, but it appears it has
tangled behind something up on the tower at about 180 feet. Both ropes move
freely in the big SS pulleys on the yardarm at 240'.
There remains much to do to bring the station building back to something
closer to normal status. Neither the hot water heater in the crawl space or
the heat pump located outside along the rear wall of the building have been
tested. From what I saw I strongly doubt they will function. During the
height of the storm the water came right up to the outside foundation walls,
and poured into the crawl space which flooded up to the floor joists. The
building has that musty smell like it did before the WYRS purchase from
Telaurus. But with the transmitter back on the air, and renewed constant
circulation of heated air from the amplifier through the building, things
should improve somewhat. But it will take time to get the crawl space fully
dried out, and various wiring issues resolved.
WHATEVER $$$ YOU CAN GIVE TO WYRS-FM WILL HELP CONTINUING RECOVERY EFFORTS
during the months ahead.
Please send your tax deductible donations to WYRS-FM, PO Box 730,
Manahawkin, NJ 08050
Now to my assessment of our 160 station equipment. I tested the five coax
lines that were laying on the floor of the shed, which were submerged in
salt water for some period of time during the storm. Using a dummy load and
an antenna analyzer, it seemed all the cables were 'flat' from 1.4 to 15 MHz
or more. To have a basis of comparison, I tested one of the cables that had
been hanging on the shed wall, high and dry, and came up with the same
results. So my conclusion is the beverage cables didn't sustain any damage
of significance. I did not test the 2000' of RG6. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND
before installing the cables in the woods, we take off all barrels and clean
up the coax center pin on the PL259s. I opened up several and found 'crud'
inside. A little emery paper will do wonders to clean these up.
I did not test the RG8X cables in the conduits. It seems likely some will
still be good, some not so good. Testing these cables will be one of the
team's priority tasks during the work party to come in December. There are
4 RG8X cables per conduit, entering from the side and rear of the building.
We may need up to eight PL259s with appropriate adapters to make repairs
assuming the cables are not overly contaminated. We might also invest in
200 feet of direct bury RG8X (Wireman) to do some complete replacements.
Several hours were spent walking beverages this afternoon. The water level
in the fresh water marsh was about normal so walking around in knee high
boots was not a problem, but you could tell the whole area was overrun with
flood waters. The first antenna walked was the NE beverage element to the
east...our original rx antenna. Only two splices were needed to resolve
problems caused by large fallen trees. But getting to the far end of
element was a challenge since it passes through a stand of marsh reeds the
last 125 feet or so. Through that entire stretch, I had to clear away flood
debris, It was clearly evident the beverage had been submerged under 8+
feet of water, since the wire was buried under reed debris as the water
receded. AMAZING! Anyway, I found the end still attached to a tree, the
resistor and a single ground wire attached too. I didn't undo the tape
around the resistor...suppose it should be checked at some point.
I next walked the OLD West beverage (what we now use as the East beverage
since it is unterminated). There were no fewer than 6 very large trees (2
ft. diameter) down along its 560 foot path. Had to make three splices and
it would have been more but I had not restrung several 100+ foot segments at
one time by pulling the wire out from under, and then over the fallen trees.
What a maze of carnage.
Near the end of the old west beverage I noticed another wire nearby, which I
ultimately realized was our NEW West beverage installed last fall. It too
had multiple large trees down along its path, probably the worst of the
three. Made three splices to get the antenna back in the air. I could see
our South, SW and NW beverages were still out there in the trees, but based
upon today's experience they will require repairs to resolve problems caused
by the large fallen trees which seemed to be everywhere.
In all cases I found the beverage wires fully intact from end to end, there
were no wire breaks caused by fallen trees. I attribute this to the use of
#12 stranded wire for all of our beverage elements, and the fact we don't
secure the wire to fixed points along the antenna's path, but rather let it
'float' on top of branches, which provides some 'give' when the trees fall
onto them.
That's about all I have to report. The three boats were still out there in
the marsh awaiting recovery, and so was a big propane tank. There is reed
debris several feet thick everywhere along what was the edge of the flood
waters. The landscape was really been changed.
I didn't check the backup inverted L TX antenna but I don't believe it is
still in the air. TBD
In my opinion, with one well attended work party we could install the TX
array on the tower and have all of the beverages operational, for the Stew
Perry TBDC. Will continue to monitor recovery events on site. Bob Wick
looks forward to our return for the 160 season.
This WAS the 100 YEAR FLOOD.
73,
John W2GD
_____
From: w2gd at hotmail.com
To: w2cg at comcast.net; w2no at optonline.net; k2tw at yahoo.com; w1gd at aol.com;
w2rq at embarqmail.com; n3rd at arrl.net; k9rs at yahoo.com; art19703 at yahoo.com
Subject: WYRS Visit Tomorrow (Tues)
Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2012 21:05:32 -0500
Guys,
Spoke with Bob Wick this evening. I'm going down to WYRS/WSC tomorrow
morning to help Bob Wick restore the tower lighting systems, a UHF link and
track down a ground fault in the crawl space of the building. The water was
up to just below the floor joists during the storm but gone now. The power
is on and the water pump works. Not sure about the heat pump out back.
I'll also spend time making an assessment of damage to our coax cables in
the conduits, the coax that was in the flooded shed, and the finally the
beverages, in particular the NE, West, and South wires which are the minimum
we need for competitive contesting. If anyone wants to join me tomorrow
please do....
Bob Wick is going into a hospital in PHIL on Weds. for cataract surgery on
his good eye so he will be laid up for awhile thereafter.
Will send a report tomorrow evening of my findings and observations at the
station.
At this point the working assumption is we will not make any attempt to
operate the ARRL 160 but will try to get the station up and ready for the
Stew Perry TBDC which takes place the weekend after Christmas. This will
require a one day work party sometime between Dec 1 and Dec. 23 to erect the
TX antenna system.
73,
GD
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