One Step Back

Progress is not continuously upward. There can be setbacks and there can be planned retreats. At my station the latter is the case. I am taking one step back as a prelude to major progress

Before I can reconfigure the station and raise new antennas it was necessary to remove all the HF yagis from the towers. With the help of friends this stage is now complete. Unfortunately that temporarily leaves me with only 3 antennas: 80 meter vertical, 40/80 meter inverted vee and 6 meter yagi. That's it.

Since the next few weeks are not filled with major contests and rare DXpeditions, or sunspots, I don't expect to suffer too much. With low band activity just beginning to stir from the summer lull I have little incentive to turn on the rig. This leaves me to concentrate on tower and antenna work.

The TH6 and XM240 which just came down from the 150' tower are lying in the hay field. The tri-bander requires service since there is an intermittent, most likely located in a trap in the 10/20 meter director. The XM240 will undergo a few modifications but is otherwise working. I had suspected an intermittent connection this winter that instead is due to a relay in the 2×8 antenna switch and a loose N connector.

With the help of friends antenna removal using the tram line went pretty well due to two innovations: radio communications and anchoring the tram line on a large tree. All were overjoyed not to have to shout, whether from the ground or on the tower. Rigging the tram line on the top side is more fraught than lifting yagis due to the difficulty of testing and correcting the rigging.

Every job on the tower requires more effort than on the ground. With advance planning I managed to complete this job with just two climbs: one to prep the antennas and rigging and one to do the job and clean up. Even so my combined time on the tower was approximately 5 hours.

The XM240 was improperly rigged which caused the capacity hats to tangle the top guys. I had the guys haul the antenna back up so that I could correct my mistake. Better that than losing those fragile aluminum rods. Time lost was no more than 30 minutes and was well worth it.

At the bottom of the tram line I hacked a short distance into the bush and attached a winch to a large tree. I took the above picture after the winch was taken off the board but you get the idea. The long outrigger prevents the winch from being twisted by the steel cable which can rapidly devolve into a dangerous situation.

The rope you see is a safety line to prevent the tram line from collapsing if the winch fails or is mishandled. It is tied to a thimble on the bottom end of the tram cable. The winch cable is attached with a shackle.

With a bit of luck the TH6 and XM240 will be back in the air within a couple of weeks. I am half convinced to convert the TH7 into a TH6 so that these tri-banders can be stacked. A similar impedance curve is required for equal power division.

After trying a couple of different element tuning schemes for the TH7 I've concluded that the TH6 is better suited to my needs. Conversion involves removal of one driven element and the phasing harness, changing the length of the beta match stud, shifting a few elements along the boom and adjusting element tip lengths. It's pretty straight-forward.

For now either the TH6 and TH7 (or 6!) will go on top of the 150' tower for the winter season. The other will be side mounted at around 75' and fixed to the US south. That should cover all the short path openings to the US 4, 5 and 8 districts, and some of 7, 9 and 0. Eventually the TH6 stack will be rotatable between 150° and 270° for increased utility.

Now that I've taken a step backward it's time to take two forward. Apart from efforts to get these antennas refreshed and back up the towers I am now focussed on completing the 20 and 15 meter stacks this fall. That's a bigger challenge than taking down antennas. With a sprinkle of good fortune I'll soon have directional and multiple antennas on 80 through 10 meters.