Abrupt Change of Season

The best laid plans are no match for Mother Nature. November has been less than kind in this part of the world. November began cold and windy, then came the snow. So far we've had 25 cm of snowfall. It isn't melting. Temperatures have gone as low as -17 C with wind chills even lower. Records have fallen. One wind storm brought gusts well above 100 kph that had the house shaking. After the sun rose I saw that all the towers and antennas survived.

Some moderation is in the forecast though not what it should be. Normal highs in early November range from 8 C to 6 C. This is comfortable for antenna and tower work. My plans relied on weather that did not vary too far from the expected. Now I'm faced with this:

In the foreground is one of my new 20 meter long boom yagis. In the background is one of the 15 meter yagis. A second 15 meter yagi is buried in the snow and can't be seen. These are 3 of the 4 big yagis for my 15 and 20 meter stacks for the newly completed 140' (40 meter) high tower in the background.

The frustrating thing is that the antennas work. They've been tuned and tested. All that's needed is the permanent gamma match assemblies, mounting hardware and boom trusses. Despite progress of all of those it is unlikely that these antenna will be raised in time for CQ WW CW which is rapidly approaching.

However it is not all bleak. With a moderation in the weather (likely) the side mount yagis will be completed and raised. The tower brackets are ready to go and the tram line is in position. Most of the truss hardware is ready to be assembled. Heliax feed lines are in the midst of assembly and testing. All of it looks good.

With these pointed at Europe I will have more capability in upcoming contests. If I get lucky the mast can be raised and the rotatable yagis can be lifted onto the mast. These operations require less snow on the ground to allow a power lift: they're too heavy to be trammed by muscle alone.

My 40 meter rotatable dipole project is similarly on hold. In fact I have not assembled it although all the material is on hand. This is an impediment for chasing distant multipliers on 40 meters since I moved the XM240 from its previous 46 meter height down to 21 meters. On the positive side this antenna should not be too difficult to raise. All that will be needed is to build and tune the gamma match. The transmission line and rotation loop are ready for use.

For now I do what I can on the ground and hope for better weather. Failing that I am forced to wait until spring. Around here that means at least 5 months (April) and possibly May. June through mid-August is haying season when little work on the big towers is possible.