At 04:26 PM 8/22/98 EDT, TOMK5RC@aol.com wrote:
>
>The Curse of Ft. Huachuca
>by Tom Taormina, K5RC
>
>I'm not often given to looking to the dark side for answers to inexplicable
>events, but, after a 20 year string of bizarre happenings, I am labeling this
>one The Curse of Ft. Huachuca (wa-choo-ka). The origins of the curse may
never
>be known, so we pick up the story in the mid-1970's in Peoria, Arizona.
>
>W7KW moved to the far north end of Phoenix to escape neighbors and to build a
>substantial antenna farm. He acquired about 1,500 feet of military surplus
>AB-105 tower from Ft. Huachuca Military Reserve (hence the name of the curse)
>and erected four 180' towers. Virtually from the moment he completed the
>towers, his problems began. A neighbor started harassing him about the towers
>and started what would become a four year legal battle. It seems that the
>neighbor found the towers offensive because they obstructed his view of the
>mountains! The entire affair was punctuated by incidents of malicious
>harassment, sabotage and covert activities that were a constant source of
>aggravation to Bill. He persisted, however, erecting the prototype KLM 4
>element 80 meter beam and gaining a famous cover shot in CQ Magazine when he
>erected an antenna using a hot air balloon. The effects of the curse again
>manifested themselves in a freak wind storm that totally destroyed the 80
>meter beam. Shortly after that, a court ruled that W7KW would have to lower
>the towers to 120' feet to placate the neighbor.
>
>NA5R and I were starting to build another contest station in Texas when K7GM
>called and suggested that W7KW might want to sell out. In mid 1982, we
went on
>a recon trip and struck up a deal. Several weeks later, five of us showed up
>in Peoria with two 40' tractor trailer trucks, a 90 ton Grove crane and, in 3
>days, we dismantled W7KW and moved it to Manvel, Texas. Shortly after we
left,
>W7KW became a silent key under circumstances still not explained.
>
>The next year was one of wild enthusiasm as we erected three towers and
>advertised plans for a killer super-station, with at least 5 towers,
stacks on
>all bands and rhombics. In July of 1983, Hurricane Alicia came to town and
>leveled Radio Manvel. Still unaware of the curse, we rebuilt and managed to
>erect the 40 meter, 15 meter and 10 meter stacks. About the same time, NA5R's
>business and my business began having problems. In December of 1984, the 10
>meter tower blew down a week before (what would have been) my 10th
consecutive
>10 meter contest and I haven't competed in one since. By late 1985, both
>businesses were out of business and we were both beset by a number of
personal
>tragedies.
>
>We managed to operate a few contests from NA5R, but never were really
>competitive. In 1986, we were forced to dismantle the station and liquidate
>it. NR5M acquired the assets and moved them to Hempstead, Texas. In
>retrospect, George must have had a sense about the curse, because he opted to
>leave all that tower piled on the ground and build his contest station with
>Rohn 45 and 55. Proximity must count for something. Even though the AB-105
>towers were not up, NR5M's station has never reached its full potential and
>stands today idle and in disrepair.
>
>In the years since 1986, the only time the AB-105 was disturbed was when
>WN4KKN acquired some of it to build his station in central Texas. As history
>dictates, Trey had to dismantle his station, liquidate the tower and move to
>California, before the potential of that station was realized.
>
>That brings us to 1993. The Stephen F. Austin Radio Club and the Austin
County
>Repeater Association were looking for a tower site for their repeaters,
when I
>remembered the AB-105 laying in waste. A call to NR5M yielded a generous
>donation of 120' of the tower. In December, several of us unearthed the
>skeleton of steel from its home among the yaupon and poison ivy. In March of
>1994, we stacked it in Bellville, Texas. For several weeks, it was the
home of
>our 2 meter and 440 repeaters (and was soon to be the support for my 160, 80
>and 40 meter wire arrays) when, in early April, a freak wind storm blew it
>down.
>
>The next morning, the workings of the Curse of Ft. Huachuca became crystal
>clear to me. That tower was never up in any one place very long. It fell
twice
>and was taken down at least four times. Everyone that had it in their
>possession experienced varying degrees of family and financial problems.
>
>Whether you are given to believe in the unexplained or inanimate objects
>having a spirit, I believe that in this case the Indian gods did not intend
>for that tower to be standing vertically. In deference to the evidence, it is
>now on its way to a nameless scrap metal yard, in an obscure city, where it
>will rest in peace, horizontally polarized.
Dear Tom,
Yes indeed those were very sad days. If you will remember, Bill promised to
give me enough material to build my own 140 ft. tower for my doing the
basic layout and construction of the five tower array. When then whole
thing went sour you were kind enough to send me the 3 remaining G3 rails I
need to complete my own tower. As for a curse, I don't know. This 140 ft
tower has been up now for 13 yrs. and has taken everything mother nature
can dish out! Every year though, at Christmas time, I hoist up a 6 ft
diameter star that I made, and ring it with bright white lights. It shines
so everyone can see it here in north Phoenix for at least 10 miles. The
neighbors absolutely love it!! It's kinda neat coming home and seeing the
40 and 80 mtr beams lit up from the bottom. Has the curse left? I certainly
hope so if there was one here.........73 Hardy N7RT
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