[SJDXA] 10 meter contest

[Bob Schenck N2OO]

SJDXA members;

There has been a lot of interest in participating in the upcoming ARRL 10
meter contest from the N2CW site.

The dates are December 7 (Friday night 7PM) through December 9th (Sunday
night 7PM).

HOWEVER:

Hurricane Sandy has damaged our TA33 at the site, but it should OK as long
as the feedline is still good. The reflector was blown off, but Bob W2ARP
and I found it buried under bay reed grass. Bob has cleaned the traps, and
acquired a new set of element/boom blocks

But, repairing the antenna is very low on the priority list. Obviously,
there are far more important things to be dealing with right now.

Power was just restored at the site and Bob N2HM has been working hard on
repairs to the dog house.

He is still trying to get the tower lights functioning.

He has running water. But we do not know about the heat pump or the hot
water heater yet. The crawlspace had about 2 feet + of salt water in it.
And, we had stuff down there, so we will probably need to get it out and
inspect it. (Note: I did not see any standing water in the crawlspace a few
days ago when I checked, but everything was damp. (I still have the gin pole
here so that is OK). The shed had about 3 feet of water in it and also needs
some attention, although SJDXA does not have much in there. Most of the
contents belong to OBARC and the W2GD crew. The entire antenna "field"
around the 4 short towers was under about 6-8 feet of water (I estimate).
So, the status of ANY cables out there is unknown (coax and rotor).

We removed the SJDXA and OBARC radio equipment (most of it) from the site to
keep it safe. (W2ARP has the FT1000MKV and N2OO has the OBARC stuff)

At some point in the next week or so, (SJDXA meeting on Nov 28th at the
latest) we should test our antenna to see if it works. Unbelievably, it
seems that the 80 and the 40 meter inverted vees are "up" but also need to
be tested. 

So, back to the 10 meter contest. I think it just might be a good idea to at
least TRY to do it, perhaps at least on a limited basis. It will be a good
diversion to get us refocused on things. But, there are still many things
that need to be done at the site before we can use it. Also, the 160 team
has a huge job to focus on to get ready for the 160 contest season. The
first 160 contest is the ARRL on November 30 through December 2. They have
to re-anchor the SW sloper rope, raise the transmit antenna array, walk ALL
of the beverages which are sure to have suffered some damage due to fallen
trees, branches, and being semi-flooded with salt water. And, test ALL
flooded coax cables, probably replace ALL of the mini-8 coax. ETC ETC

I see this as being an daunting task this year before the weather gets too
cold. And we all have our own personal issues to deal with.

So, as far as the 10 meter contest is concerned let's stay on STANDBY and
see how things progress.

We will try to make a final decision at our next meeting.

If any of you can find some time to help N2HM with site repairs, please call
him on his cell to make arrangements.

Bob is working on things "day-to-day".

His cell is 609-618-7605.

 

 

 

See ya' in the Pileups!

73!

Bob Schenck, N2OO

President SJDXA

GO SJDXA!!! www.sjdxa.org

 

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