[SJDXA] W2GD report on WYRS

[Bob Schenck N2OO]

SJDXA members;

I am copying this message from John W2GD who was at the site working with
N2HM yesterday (in the rain)..

Fyi.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done at the site before it can be
activated.

 

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
sufficent 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 damge,  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 emory 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 over run 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
receeded.  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 he 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 

 





 

See ya' in the Pileups!

73!

Bob Schenck, N2OO

President SJDXA

GO SJDXA!!! www.sjdxa.org

 

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