The next Quartz Hill Activity Day is on Saturday 6 May 2006, starting at 9:00 am.

As usual, the object will be to catch up on project and maintenance work as well as providing an opportunity to look around the station, try out the big antennas and meet up with the Quartz Hill team. Visitors are always very welcome and there is no requirement to participate in the more "physical" activities.

Remember to bring some lunch, appropriate clothing for summer or winter weather (!) plus boots and gloves if you intend participating in the outdoor project activities. Please contact Bob Stewart Tel 04 475 8448 or Brian Miller 027 444 6614 to obtain the access code for the lower gate lock or if you require assistance with transport.

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Saturday. A list of the proposed tasks is provided below - in approximate priority order.

1. Build a new 20M 5 element yagi aimed at the short path to USA - to replace the USA SP Vee #1 antenna on pole 8.

2. Investigate the high SWR fault on the temporary East facing 160M sloping dipole.

3. Apply safety markers to the two guy anchor pipes (that are not already marked) for the VHF/UHF mast.

4. Adjust the tuning of the 10m Europe yagi driven element to bring the minimum SWR back into band (it is currently below 28 MHz).

5. 80m sloping dipole for USA - repair damage to RG6 coax sheath, near the point where the coax has rubbed against the NIWA mast stay wires.

6. Rhombic - The top stay wire on the East side of pole 13 has rusted and broken, at the point where it connects to the pole. A new length of stay wire needs to be installed, use the wire recovered from the NIWA mast stays.

7. Europe short path Vee #2 - need to reattach a feed line wire that has come adrift from its supporting insulator, on the feeder pole that is located at the eastern edge of the swamp.

8. Investigate the insulation leakage across the coax to the Europe SP Vee #1 antenna.

9. Tighten the feed line wires that run up the hill to EU SP Vee#1, to prevent them twisting together in the future.

10. Repair the fraying vertical feeder wires to the EU SP Vee #1 antenna.

11. Install a permanent repair to replace the temporary repair that Brian has applied to a broken vertical feeder wire at the southern end of the rhombic.

12. Noted that the LDF-450 heliax coax to pole #8 appears to have low insulation resistance due to moisture in the dielectric. Need to check the integrity of the cable inside the building and check for any faulty joints near the Western gantry. If necessary the cable can be cut back and tested at the gantry.

134. Investigate the reason for the slack stays on pole #12 and apply corrective action. It is possible that the lower pole clamp has slipped.

14. Carry out further repair work on the outer fence around the building compound to prevent sheep from finding their way into the shelter belt area.

15. Carry out a comprehensive audit of the poles and hardware on the site (incl. bracing stay hardware on the gantries) to plan maintenance priorities and future projects.

16. Recover the unused tall hardwood pole that is located near the southern end of the swamp.

17. Check the first aid kit and the smoke alarms.

Posted by ZL2AOH on May 03, 2006