The next Quartz Hill Activity Day is on Saturday 3 June 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.

The list of tasks for the day are as follows:

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

80m sloping dipole for USA - high SWR and need to repair damage to RG6 coax sheath (near the point where the coax has rubbed against the NIWA mast stay wires).

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.

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

Europe SP Vee #1 - repair the fraying vertical feeder wires.

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

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

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

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

Start work on the installation of a 15M yagi for the short path to USA (supported from pole 6) - includes building a new feed line, installing a balun (Bob ZL2AMI has offered to donate a balun) and the erection of a suitable supporting catenary wire.

Upgrade the temporary East facing 160M sloping dipole to make it permanent.

Sheep are still finding there way into the shelter belt area between the two perimeter fences on the Western side of the building. Need to carry out further repair work on the outer fence.

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.

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.

Clear out the room adjacent to the carport so that it can be used by Meridian contractors.

Check the smoke alarms and 1st aid kit.

Posted by ZL2AOH on June 02, 2006