It’s like it came out of a Mark Twain novel from the old days. There they were, all four of them working at Russ’ house, assembling, installing, and tuning his new XIEGU VG4 4-BAND BASE STATION VERTICAL ANTENNA. Russ was comfortably nestled in a folding chair directing and supervising. It brings to mind a young Tom Sawyer getting his buddies to whitewash the fence.
It really came down to club membership wanting to combine the efforts of helping a fellow ham while gaining the experience and education of installing a permanently mounted HF antenna. Jack Nw4TF and Lowell NY4D were the experienced antenna gurus on site. Jack, with his mechanical prowess, and Lowell, with his deep understanding of the way antennas behave in certain situations, were the perfect combination of minds to help get this done. Also on the scene to help were Kevin KQ4NCF and Tim KN4GAN. They are two of our newest CARS club members who are eager to learn and help out their fellow club members.
Jack had already been on site to install the base in the ground. Today, they were finishing the assembly of the 40m through 10m HF antenna and getting it airborne and upright. The new guys were instrumental in raising and lowering the new installation so it could be adjusted and tuned to Russ’ needs. Russ likes to check in on the daily South Cars net on 7.251mhz and his other favorite is hunting POTA on SSB. He will use his existing Cobbweb antenna for FT8.
Jack used his antenna analyzer to check the SWR on the most used frequencies. Thank goodness Timothy and Kevin were eager to raise and lower the mast several times to make these adjustments.
After several adjustments, acceptable SWR readings were obtained and it was time to call it quits. Because she never disappoints, Lynn KD4POC had warm homemade poundcake on hand with hot coffee. There are no pics of the cake and coffee feast due to the author stuffing his mouth but rest assured it was delicious and it hit the spot.
In the end, it was a rewarding experience of education and fellowship. This kind of accomplished mission is what club membership is all about. It’s not just about paying to use the repeaters every year, it’s about learning and expanding your knowledge while spending time with friends.
73’s!!!
