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.
--
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