Gawker: Models Showing a Potential Nor'easter Next Week

[N2NH]

Models Showing a Potential Nor'easter Next Week

[PA5COR]

LOL ;)

[N2NH]

LOL ;)

The story in the link is real... I just fount the headline strangely written...
:)

[kb2vxa]

Nice, they don't have to hire supermodels to advertize product.

As for the nor'easter, the local weatherman wants rain but nothing serious. The trouble with New Jersey is the weather is unpredictable. Cor isn't the only one, around here hams with brains build their antenna structures the same way against our legendary coastal storms.

[PA5COR]

Being 15 mils from the North Sea as the crow flies and that is direction west/North, most our storms come from the southwest to north west, and hit hard here.
Normally i calculate for 120 Km/H or force 12 gales sustainable wind.
When i build my current setup from 315 Stainless steel piping and brackets i did so because they don't rust and deteriorate in strength.
The 20 foot rotating pipe is 52 mm outer diameter and wallstrength 3.2 mm, steampipe, flexible but not bending easy.
6 feet is between the 2 platfforms holding the 60mm bearings from Yaesu, the rest holds the antenna's as you can see on the qrdead bio.
It also holds the FD-4 AMA 83 Balun and OSF antenna.
The other chimney holds the Imax 2000, that will be replaced this summer with the Sandpiper V9 type 8 vertical that works from 160 -10.
The inverted L is 77 feet high moounted against the back of the house, starting at 80 mm outside diameter titanex piping and ending at 35 mm topsection all 2.5 mm wallthickness.
Double guyed with 5 mm special rope UV resistant kevlar that has a max pulling force of 900 Kg.
From the top of the L another 77 feet wire goed to a alu mast in a tree ending at 45 feet above ground.
Using a pully and a weight there is enough play in that wire to resist the moving of the tree.

Still after our 22 hurricane force storms we had this winter with a devastating one in december with gusts here of 105 mile per hour, i'm glad i always like to overbuild stuff.....

This summer the 2/70 beams will go, not used anymorre, the Diamond X 510 will go and be replaced by the Diamond 50 -500 MHz discone.
Just the 5 element beam for 6 meters will stay in that mast.

With the Sandpiper V9 type 8 vertical of 20 feet high on the other chimney i have 3 antenna's for all H.F. bands to chose from, the L with autotuner ( MFj 998) can be tunes from 160 -10 as well, the OCF Fritzel with coil and wire added on the short side works from 160 -10 too horizontally polarised.

Add the homebrew receiving loop with long tailed pair BFW 16A in the backyard as low noise receive antenna.
My days working 2/70 DX are gone by, no need to keep the Flexa yagi's up, and for the repeaters the discone will do, that also allows me to work 50 and 70 HMz.

I'm 61 going 62 this year, so i bring back the antenna's to easy maintain setup, i still go on the roof myself, and want to keep it more simple so i can maintain it myself without asking help every time.
All antenna's have been treated extensively for corrosion and overenginered for strength, and most have been up for 8 - 10 years.
I just hate it to have my antenna's to go kaput... and having to go on the roof...

[n2ize]

They are calling for possible snow here on Tuesday evening with temps around 21 deg F.

[kb2vxa]

Cor, the 50-500MHz discone is a hybrid, a loaded ground plane on 6M and a discone from 140-500MHz. It resonates on 2M and 70cM so there it may be used for transmitting, but has an SWR curve that looks like a roller coaster. It has a few "dead spots" in receive frequency coverage, if you use it with a scanner you'll find them. If you intend to use it for 6 FM you'll have to adjust the whip for lowest SWR before you mount it in the final position, or am I telling you something you already know?

[PA5COR]

Already tuned the discone for 6 meters, 2/70 doing fine with swr 1:1.4 max
Already years on the roof and on the FT 100 for 2/70 use and 6 metrs reception, i use the 5 element beam on the Ft 2000-D for transmitting.

Not a large 5 meter long vertical needed for the local - 50 mile- repeaters, it will be at 16 metera above the ground anyway.
It is now at 10 meters hight and i can work repeaters 50 miles away at ease, using a worse coax as it will be on the new spot, very low loss LMR 600 compatible cable already in place ( Ecoflex 15 coax).

With the loss of the 2/70 beams and much shorter Diamond discone i have a lot less wind surface to deal with, i know, it withstood the 105 miles per hour we had in December, but i'm planning for the next decade ahead.
And i'm mostly on H.F. anyway, so a simple vertical on 6/2/70 will do fine for local use and repeaters to a decent distance.

Much less tear and wear on the rotator as well, though i use 2 bearings and platforms.

The L i can let down on my own using a pully at 20 feet high and let the sections down into eachother one by one and pull them up the same way.

The OCF for 160-10 is mounted on the mast holding the beams, easy reachable for maintenance, though it is a Fritzel, and stainless stel wire with copper intertwined, no maintenance is actually needed.

I just want to get to the point i only need to check things on the roof once a year, a quick check and be done for maintenance.

The stainless L 316 steel keeps up fine after 10 years on the roof, everything is made of that stuff there.
Some coppergrease and nuts and bolts come off and on easy.
These antenna's will have to do, the OCF and inverted L can transmit over all hambands, as will the new Sandpiper vertical do.
The receive loop will just add to the kless noisy reception.
So for H.F i have then 3 different all band antenna's to transmit/rceive on and the loop as 4th for receive.
6 meters has the diamond vertical section and 5 element beam.
2/70 the discone.
Done.
In the garden behind the house there is enough room to experiment with other antenna.s with my sectional glassfiber mast easy to set up and take down.
I made a attraption to the shed to hold it up, max hight will be safe for 30 feet above ground.

[N2NH]

So far this is a non-event. The Nor'easter "Bomb" looks as if we'll get a dusting of snow here upstate and an inch or two in the city. Mostly this will be a wind storm (30MPH Gusts to 50MPH). Pretty much business as usual for March. Then it finally is supposed to warm up...

I think my neighbors have put on a little weight over the winter...

[PA5COR]

That was eye watering...