Wellington was battered by a wild storm with severe northerly winds on Sunday night 11 June 2006. Bob ZL2AMI was at Quartz Hill during the storm, participating in the ANARTS RTTY contest. He reports that the wind was the strongest that has experienced at the station. Evidently gusts were reaching 145 km/hr at Mt KauKau, which is only a few kilometres away from Quartz Hill.
The bad news is that the new 20M North America (NA) yagi antenna was damaged in the storm. The steel catenary wire supporting the yagi broke in the wind, allowing the antenna to fall to the ground and become mangled in the process. The wind also damaged the open wire feed line to the 20M Europe LP yagi. The feed line has broken near the point where it connects to the antenna. Otherwise this yagi seems to have survived OK.
ABOVE: The damaged 20M NA yagi antenna, prior to straightening and securing the structure.
So there is some repair work to be done! The suggested tasks (in priority order) are to:
1. Lower the wire for the western leg of the EU SP Vee #2 antenna, so we can dislodge one end of the broken steel catenary wire that has wrapped itself around the antenna wire.
2. Lower the broken 20M NA yagi to the ground
3. Reattach the broken feed line to the 20M EU LP yagi
4. Install a new steel catenary wire for the 20M NA yagi.
5. Rebuild the damaged 20M NA yagi
6. Resurrect the 20M NA yagi.
A working bee to commence the repair work is planned for Saturday morning 17 June, starting at 9:00 am. Any supporters who are able to assist should contact Brian ZL1AZE, Tel 021 569981.
ABOVE: The director end of the damaged 20M NA yagi antenna