[VHFcontesting] 222 MHz status 11/20/2024

[David Olean]

Hello 222 fanatics,

I have been fighting high winds after the ARRL EME contest ended in an 
effort to repair my 222 MHz antenna system that broke at the end of the 
EME contest. WE had two days of very high winds. I had to stop work on 
the first day as it was just too windy to be safe while working on the 
222 MHz H frame. On day 2, the winds died down a bit after noon time and 
I was able to work on the broken yagi all by myself. It broke at the 
junction of the rear brace point and a six ft length of the rear boom 
got bent about 45 degrees and it buckled the boom. Rather than take the 
whole antenna down I figured I might be able to fix it up at 100 Ft. I 
got a ratchet strap and hung it above the antenna on the H frame so that 
there was no way it would fall if the antenna bolts got too loose. One 
of the bottom antennas was broken. I loosened the yagi U-bolts a bit, 
then twisted it on the H frame so that the rear of the antenna came 
close to the tower. The boom was collapsed and already broken from the 
damage and I could now work on it. I removed the 22 ft 1/2" heliax 
phasing line from the power divider and coiled it up near the rear boom 
section, then removed the rear end from the rest of the antenna,and 
disconnected the boom brace bracket located at the rear splice. I had a 
rope and pulley installed on the first day and it was easy for me to 
lower the boom section and coax. I spent Tuesday night working on the 
broken yagi and swapped out the crimped boom portion.  Mark, K1RX came 
by on Wednesday morning and helped haul the repaired antenna boom up the 
tower with me guiding it up. The winds had finally died down with just 
some gentle breezes. That was well appreciated. I went up on top of the 
tower and managed to get the repaired section put back together, then 
strung out the 1/2" heliax back on the frame, and reconnected things.

So the bottom line is that I am back in business after my dumb accident. 
In my favor it was awful hard to see clearances with the guy wires and 
the antenna when they are 100 ft up in the air.  I am working on moving 
the guy wires a bit down on the tower so as to avoid any more 
entanglements with the guy wires. I had Mark operate the elevation rotor 
while I was on the tower and could see any potential problem areas close 
up. I need to lower the guy bracket about 2 ft and I will be totally 
clear of everything. Onward and Upward.

Dave K1WHS