Tower Project - February 2023

On Friday February 10th, the work on the KC3ARC Club tower located at the Kent County EOC finally got underway.

City of Dover Skyline Undergoes Significant Improvement

         The long-time dream of being able to again raise the antenna tower at the EOC finally became a reality on 10 FEB 23.  Early on that Friday morning two cranes from Kent Signs pulled into the EOC parking lot and were met by the crew of Bob Speakman–N3HPA, Jim Moore–KC3BTV, Paul Tuley–N3BUH, and Doug Covert—KB3PRW.  Led by, and under the watchful eyes of, Jon–AA1K and Adam–N3TTT Zaimes the work began. The crew from Kent Signs lowered the tower and departed to another job (they would return later in the afternoon to raise the tower again).  Almost immediately we ran into a problem—although the replacement cables had been purchased directly from the tower manufacturer, two of them were too short.  We did not have an operational “cable stretcher”, but fortunately, we did have some spare stainless steel cable (the proper diameter) on hand. However, getting it cut to the correct length and having new ends installed proved to be a challenge.  After numerous phone calls and some on-line research, we found a local company who had the right equipment to complete the job for us.  After that delay the project went pretty smoothly, and late that afternoon the project was completed, the tower was raised to near full height, and the Dover skyline looks much better!

Notes:

• There is still a minor electrical problem with one of the limit switches, but that will be corrected in the near future.
• N3HPA conducted testing indicating significantly improved simplex coverage from the EOC to most of the county, including Radio-Free Smyrna.
• A new HF antenna still needs to be installed. Be ready to assist with that in the near future. 

Submitted by Doug–KB3PRW 

The Club would like to recognize Jon and Adam Zaimes for overseeing this project to its successful completion.