At 10h00 on Saturday 8 October, members of the CTARC committee held a work party to tackle antenna and clubhouse matters. ZS1SA, ZS1FW, ZS1BL, ZS1PGC, ZS1ZD, ZR1HPC and ZS1MTF were present.
Paul / ZS1S and Matt / ZS1MTF tackled the main tower rotator and feedline, as well as the patch box inside the shack, which Paul spent a large part of the day repairing and rewiring.
Noel / ZS1FW and Nick / ZS1ZD assembled the Force-12 yagi antenna usually used for field day events. While it had been used on the Lighthouse Weekend event, it was noted then to have issues on 15m and 20m bands. So a thorough check was made on dimensions and with Pauls / ZS1PGC's RigExpert antenna analyser.
We were really assisted by ZS1PGC, (who gave a fascinating talk on the instrument at our September meeting). With his RigExpert analyser, he was able to provide accurate indications of SWR and points of resonance for that antenna across the bands for which it is designed. Danny and Noel made adjustments to the antenna and big improvements were made in the SWR. Extra rivets were added where needed and all elements were properly colour coded with tape.
We packed up at about 14h00 as the rain was about to happen. An interesting time was had fitting the newly-adjusted antenna elements back into the clubhouse...
Grateful thanks to all who assisted, to Peter for his great help with the RigExpert analyser, to Rob & Anne for the snacks and to Danny for the cooldrinks!
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| Hylton / ZR1HPC does a spot of vacuuming |
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| Paul /ZS1S and Matt /ZS1MTF on the clubhouse roof |
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| In the adjoining field, a team spreads out their own ground plane... |
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| Paul works on the main mast's rotator, badly in need of a service |
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| Noel lays assembles the club's Force-12 antenna on the lawn |
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| Connecting up the driven elements of the beam |
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| Peter /ZS1PGC takes readings on his RigExpert antenna analyser |
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| ZS1MTF and ZS1S work on the feed-line to the main antenna |
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| Paul /ZS1S works on the feed-lines coming into the shack |
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The Force-12 Antenna suspended above ground
to assist with the SWR readings |
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| Noel /ZS1FW and Danny /ZS1BL fix rivets on the elements |
