September 26, 2017 - Trip to the VE7EGO Site on Commonage for Winter Prep (Phase 5)
Summary:
Tower leg sealant applied. Site cleaned up. Unused antennae relocated to the home of Mike VE7KPZ for winter storage.
Attendees:
Mike VE7KPZ
Access:
The usual route was taken to access the site. The road is getting rough higher up, but not an issue for the Unimog.
Two hours before accessing the site, Mike notified Kevin at 250-744-0732 who is in charge of exploding/disposing of WW2 munitions still in the hillsides.
Tasks Undertaken:
With Terry VE7TRZ away in Kelowna working on getting the VE7RSS repeater controller sorted, Mike went up to the site alone to get some grunt work chores done before winter.
First the tower legs were sealed with caulk to prevent water ingress. The weather forecast suggests zero precipitation for the next 24 hours and the tower base was nice and dry so the caulk should set up perfectly. GeoCell clear was the chosen caulk for it's extreme weatherproofness and great adhesion to both metal and cement.
Next, the random antennae laying around the site were loaded on the back of the Unimog. This included the VHF yagi that used to be mounted on the power box as well as the new 4-bay collinear that Ralph Olds VA7NU recently donated to the club. The 4-bay is heavy. The club still has to decide what to do with this antenna, but if it is to be eventually hung on the EGO tower, care will need to be taken - it is a beast, but a beautiful one. Note that the long metal pole lying on the ground behind the shack was left at the site as the winter should not affect it and it is not very visible.
Next, the site was cleaned up. All old zip ties, tape bits and wire strippings were collected.
Next, any antenna cable that could possibly rub in the wind was secured with electrical tape.
The antennas were then transported to Mike's home where they will be stored just behind his house, just out of the rain and snow (with N-type ends taped up with copious amounts of electrical tape). However, before moving the antennae, each was scanned with a RigExpert AA230-Zoom antenna analyzer.
The yagi, which needed it's reflector re-attached to the boom (with electrical tape temporarily as it has long been broken at the EGO site), scanned with a best SWR of 1.8 at 141.7 MHz. Perhaps this antenna needs repair?
The 4-bay collinear scanned below 1.2 from 146.2 MHz to 163.6 MHz with best 1.03 at 152.3 MHz. SWR reached 1.5 at 144 MHz. So, all of HAM band is covered from 144 to 148 MHz with an SWR of under 1.5, but this antenna would be best utilized somewhere higher in the HAM band.
Of course, these antennae were both scanned while being held vertically at ground level. Scans may change when mounted higher on a tower.
Outstanding:
A) #8 or #10 or #12 3/4" galvanized bolt, washers and nut to fix a rivet on one of the cross members. Mike took a picture of lower tower rivet with a size reference and sent it to Terry VE7TRZ to acquire the required hardware.
B) Mount the plaque (with bracket) commemorating tower to Kevin Kienlein VE7EGD (SK)
C) IRLP and any other equipment that was removed from EGO should be relocated back to NORAC's EGO shack ... Jesse???