TO: ALL WOOD COUNTY ARES MEMBERS (OFFICIAL)
ALL ARES AND NON-ARES AMATEURS ANYWHERE (INFORMATION)
FROM: KEN HARRIS WA8LLM ARRL DISTRICT 3
EMERGENCY COORDINATOR WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INC.
WOOD COUNTY ARES BULLETIN NR 19.26 DATE: June 30, 2019
READY FOR WIND AND LIGHTNING?
The summer storms are on there way, is your tower and antennas ready for the storms that will be coming? Even though Winter wasn't that rough, it's still hard on those items that are exposed to the outside environment. Heavy snow and freezing rain can hang onto the elements of an antenna, tower guy wires, or coax, making them loose or pulling them down. These things can be broken or loosened to the point where they will have more damage to them when the Spring and Summer storms arrive.
How about your grounding system? Is the wire making a good connection to a ground rod or grounding system? A loose connection can give you a false sense of security from lightning and can cause noise on your radio equipment. While the temperatures are not too bad, make a trip outside and look over your tower and antenna system for hanging items like limbs, branches, or loose connections.
By the time the Spring and Summer storms get here, you may be too busy doing other jobs that need to be done, and it may be too late to fix the coax or what ever the wind and weather has done to your station during the winter.
Ken Harris WA8LLM
WCEC
Wood County WV