VHF Tower Destroyed

VHF Tower Destroyed

Updated 04-Nov-2024 20:30

At approximately 09:15 on Monday 18-Dec-2023, there was a strong windstorm out of the south which took down this beautiful VHF/UHF tower and antenna system.

I heard the wind blow hard, and went to the sliding glass door facing North, and saw the tower come down with a thud.

Lyn, my XYL, was in the hospital, having fallen down in the bedroom and broken 4 ribs a few days before.

On Sunday, the night before, I returned from visiting her in the hospital in Hartford early evening after an afternoon visit with her.

The weather was stormy, rainy, windy, and dark, but the forecast was not for excessively strong winds…

SO… I mistakenly left the tower cranked up all the way (50 ft).

BIG MISTAKE!

I have some tree coverage blocking wind to the East, North, and West, but not the South.

It’s a shame, because I got this wonderful tower for free from Mike / W1BNC.

The Six Meter Beam took the brunt of the damage along with the tower itself.

I think it is reparable with some replacement tubing, but I acquired another beam just in case.

The 2m Horizontal Beam was damaged.

It might be reparable but I acquired a new one just in case.

The 2m Vertical beam, the 222, 432, 902, and 1296 beams, and the mast all survived.

The 222 boom is a little crooked, and can maybe be straightened, or just used as is.

The culprit was this 1-inch bolt, which broke.

Corrosion occurred after being exposed to weather for a couple of days.

It is not known if it was defective before-hand, or its strength ratings were exceeded by the storm.

This all happened at the worst possible time, just at the beginning of Winter, and the cold / snowy / wet season.

Before winter really set in, I was able to salvage both winches, the rotor, the mast, coax, antennas,

and other assorted hardware before the remains of the tower and tilt-over accessory were left to sit all winter long.

Paul / KE1LI is fastening stuff down to take it to the scrap yard, XYL Lyn / WB1CCL, is supervising from the distance (far right in the picture).

In May of 2024, I acquired a replacement tower (LM470 build back bigger and better 70 ft) from George, KC1V in Somers, CT.

He acquired it from Steve, K1IIG in the Hamden area when he passed away a few years ago.

I used to QSO Steve often during VHF contests and bought my Apache Labs 100D from him in 2014.

The new LM470 tower is in the background on the edge of the yard, awaiting installation.