Wednesday 28 March 2018

CTARC Report on Antenna Work Party - 28 Mar '18

The CTARC Antenna Work Party of 21 March 2018 was a great success. At 09h00 the team assembled and set to work.

Present were:
ZS1S - Paul
ZS1SA - Rob
ZS1ZKZ - James
ZS1EQ - John
ZS1TK - Tony
ZS1RIC - Richard
ZS1FW - Noel
ZS1BL - Danny
ZS1FJ - Barry
ZS1PGC - Peter 

The vertical mast for the main beam antenna was finally fixed and the club's beam antenna mounted on top. The vertical antenna was also mounted in position on the western wall of the clubhouse.

At the end of the work party, Danny / ZS1BL tested the antenna on 20m and made a contact with the USA using 100W, so the antenna is getting a signal out. Well done, guys!

Here are some photos and captions, kindly provided by Peter / ZS1PGC.

The guys examine the snagged cable on the mast
Rob / ZS1SA makes up an adaptor pipe
to mount the vertical antenna

James / ZS1ZKZ uses a bit of gentle persuasion to remove a pulley
to release the snagged cable.


Tony / ZS1TK attaches the vertical antenna to the mast
using Rob's adaptor pipe.


Examining the mast to determine catch points. It turns out that
the screws were a bit long and had to be shortened.

The vertical antenna in position.

Noel and then Richard and Tony assemble the beam.


Rob and Paul make an adaptor pipe to mount the bean antenna
to the mast.

The pause that refreshes! Danny / ZS1BL has a quick cup of coffee.

Paul mounts the adaptor pipe to the vertical mast.

Assembling and checking the beam antenna.

The beam antenna now assembled and attached to the mast,
ready to be hoisted up.

Noel enjoys some pizza, kindly provided by one of the team. Tony / ZS1TK provided
some samoosas that were enjoyed. John / ZS1EQ and others also provided
cold drink and water for the team.

The beam antenna up and in position at the top of the mast,
with the two vertical antennas also in the picture.

John / ZS1EQ cranks up the mast to its full height.