The Storm ravaging the country around the 17th of December took its toll on the EI7AKR Repeater installation. Not only the EI7AKR Repeater antenna but the equipment belonging to the Internet provider, who allows us to use his site. The pole supporting the Internet equipment, seen in the centre of the picture, came down completely damaging the larger panel antennas and also the smaller ones seen at the top of the mast. Martin, the site owner, sent out a mail with pictures to show the damage to our system as below. So severe were the winds, that the guy wires had been ripped off both masts on the occasion.
EI5DD was in the UK and unable to do anything about this and so a mail
was sent via the VHF Group Mailing system. The period leading up to
Christmas is a bad time for anyone but, allowing for the festivities to
take priority, a group was co-ordinated by Gerry, EI8DRB, tasked with
the job of obtaining a new pole and reassembling the antenna system.
Following a group E-mailing, a small group were brought together to repair the system on the 28th of December with an early start.
Fortunately, there was little damage apart from the pole being severely bent and, if left, it would have collapsed destroying the antenna in the process.
The Repairs involved the removal of the APRS antenna, and the Repeater antenna, and substitution of the pole for a new, heavy-duty pole, and then hoisting the whole lot into the air.
As can be seen on the photographs, the conditions on the hilltop were none too pleasant, with very muddy conditions and a copious amount of cow sh*t underfoot. The weather conditions were also very cold and windy on site. Not pleasant working conditions to say the least.
The pole was finally placed upright and secured and guyed once again. Hopefully, this will last throughout the winter. The repeater was switched on and normal service was resumed. Reports from Roscommon, by EI9HQB, confirmed that the signal was at normal strengths in his area proving that the antenna was working perfectly.
Finally Special thanks to Martin List-Petersen, Gerry EI8DRB, Andrew EI3FEB, and John EI1EM for their assistance at such short notice.
In keeping with our mission statement, we strive to keep our systems on-air with minimum downtime where possible. Our Repeater was out of Service for 10 days.
