[W1SMH] K1SMH & W1SMH News

[Ray Cord]

 Hello All 
Just as an update as you probably all know The K1SMH 147.195 Sturdy Hospital Club Repeater suffered severe damage to the Towerduring last Monday nights wind storm. See Picture attached.  The top 10 foot section of the tower folded in half but is still attached to the tower. The Folded dipole antennas did not suffer any damage so far. 
Out of an abundance of caution KB1KA Gary shut off the repeater in order to protect it during this weekends wind storms with the thought 
of turning it back on once the winds subsided. However, now the antenna has shifted to the Point where one of the dipoles is touching the 
tower and shorting the antenna so turning the repeater back on is out of the question until the issue is resolved.
So if you want to communicate simplex using 147.195 as a simplex frequency you may be able to contact other club members that monitor  
the frequency. It also appears that we may have to scrub the December Meeting on the air also unless you want to try simplex.There is a group of us working behind the scenes to accomplish a few things;1-Hire a Licensed Insured Tower Company to take down the top section of tower 
2- Put up a lower wind load antenna and re-terminate the coax to get the repeater back on the air.3- develop a funding source to pay for this endevour which may be tough at Christmas time

I would remind all members that this is the end of our fiscal year and that dues are due for next year (except for the new members that paidduring the 4th quarter). $25.00/year or $20.00 for retirees. Checks made out to SMHARC  Mailed to Ray Cord K2TGX   316 S. Worcester StNorton, Ma. 02766. I would also say that we are opening a Repeater Tower project fund immediately and we will gratefully accept checksmade out in the same manner marked "Tower Fund"  We are working to set up a "Go Fund me" page or Pay Pal page to solicit help from the 
larger Community both ham and non ham alike. For IRS Tax purposes SMHARC is not a Tax Deductible Charity.

In the meantime if anyone has any ideas for fundraising, your officers are open to suggestions.we thank you for your patience during this most trying time and look forward to your financial  supportto help us get K1SMH back on the air.
 Tnx 73 
Ray K2TGX 
Secretary/Treasurer SMHARCTrustee K1SMH

Ray Deputy Director Norton EMA-CERT70 East Main St Norton, Ma. 02766508-726-1054 cell