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The Superstition Amateur Radio Club’s Tech Committee identified Saturday, October 19, 2024 as a day where, possibly, the long summer just might be behind us. As some of us woke up on that day, we were surprised to be greeted by some rain and much cooler temperatures courtesy of Mother Nature. It was a very welcome change from the blistering summer temperatures.
The tech committee and many volunteers arrived at the Stone Castle that morning where, before long, the remains of the old, compromised tower and antenna were quickly taken down.
Brent, W7FK and Larry, WB7C arrived at the Stone Castle shortly after 7 AM, with light rain falling. Larry shot his first motion photo at 7:23 AM of the existing tower section holding the dual-band vertical 15 feet off the ground. The last photo was at 2:40 PM of our completed new 48-foot tower under a sunny sky.
These video clips will be assembled into an MP4 video from 124 photos, each containing 2 seconds of video, into a full-length video. When done, it will be ready for the club’s YouTube channel.
We shut down the repeaters in the building and started disconnecting cables. By 7:37 AM, everyone was standing under the old tower section as it was being laid down. It only took one minute to bring it to the ground. By 8:13, the skid loader was bringing the heavy, new tower plate toward its resting place on the concrete base.
By 8:23, the tower plate was in place and nearly ready to receive the bottom section of the new tower. At 8:49, the crew was attaching the tower base section, with the remaining sections laid out on the ground to await their turn.
As the light rain subsided, we began to assemble the 6 tower sections together on the ground. It was like watching a colony of ants working harmoniously together. Antennas were assembled and mounted, transmission lines run and secured, bolts tightened. Brian, W7JET whipped out the tools to make the job of installing the N-connectors a breeze. Before long, we were ready to stand the new tower up.
At 9:30 AM, the tower had been fully assembled, and the crew was installing the mast on top. At 9:47, the WiFi panel antenna was mounted on the south-facing leg. As it turns out, it will need to be better aimed for Steve to get Internet service to The Stone Castle.
An hour has passed, and the 449.600 UHF monoband antenna is being prepared for installation on the top of the tower. But before that goes on, the Meshtastic node is mounted to the top of the tower. Its 900 MHz antenna is dwarfed by the mast for the repeater antenna.
At 10:47, our guys are mounting the repeater antenna to the top of the tower. Its radials have been attached.
Another hour has passed. At 11:47, the 2-meter monoband antenna for the Central Arizona DX Association’s repeater was being side-mounted on a west-facing side of the tower. The rain had long since ceased, but the sky was still cloudy.
At 11:57:14 AM, the 2-meter antenna was completed. My photo captured Brian W7JET saying a complete sentence: “If it’s not right, then the antenna’s defective.” It is not often that a 2-second photo soundtrack captures a complete sentence on my Samsung Android phone!
After a break for lunch,at 12:42, we have a blue sky and sunshine poking through a partly cloudy sky. Many hands are pushing up the tower.
Mike, W7MXR made that easier by using his skid loader and some nylon straps attached to the tower. As it went up, we realized just how accurate Bryan’s measurements were. They were spot on! The last bolts were tightened with ease.
A man was positioned in sight of the people pushing the tower and the skid loader driver to relay instructions to the driver. As the tower rose to standing, the driver held tension on the strap until the bolts were tightened to the base plate.
Test equipment showed the antenna installs were a success. An even better gauge was that we are now hearing all the stations that are in the shadow of the Usery Pass repeater. Mobile stations were heard on 5W as far away as Maricopa and even the Sacaton Rest Area. The only thing remaining were some small tweaks to the audio levels between the repeaters and links.
We’d like to thank everyone that came out to the Stone Castle on Oct 19th to lend a hand. Many hands make light work, or at least made it easier on that day. Thanks to you all.
