Working Bee - 30 July 2022
Saturday morning rolled around and a good number of hardy club members turned up in the cold for the working bee at the club rooms. Peter VK7KPC, turned up first and had the urn and hot water on in plenty of time for the arrival of the troops. We certainly did need the first drink to get warmed and motivated. It was good to see VK7s Peter KPC, Andre’ ZAB, Ian IG, Brendan VIP, Idris ZIR, Stuart FEAT, Lewis IT, Kevin KJL, Tony ZTT and Stefan ZSB all raring to go.
The “Hope to be able to do” job for the day was the installation of a Folded Multi Band HF Dipole. Which is on long term loan from Peter. Made by Marshal and covering 80 to 10 metres of HF bands. This is to replace the old G5RV which succumbed to storm damage. As this was external to the building, completion was in the lap of weather gods. It was a case of all hands on deck and under the guidance of Peter all went well. The fixings on the chimney and a convenient tree were installed and the antenna hoisted sky ward. No doubt this will be tested out by Peter during next Wednesday night’s Test-Net session held on HF, hosted by Nic, VK7WW, fingers crossed.
The security alarm system upgrade was started with some new field cables being run in and the preparation of the wall space for the main control equipment. A work in progress for Kevin and helpers.
A pile of wood was split and stacked in anticipation of Luke Sky Warmer’s appetite and what he will consume while keeping us all warm and cosy for the rest of the winter chills. Stuart sure is handy with an axe.
The hall fire place finally has its “Crowning Glory” or should I say its “Mantelpiece Glory”. It now looks complete. One of those “non-radio” type jobs that has niggled away for years but gets forgotten about. Thought to be an easy job, but like most mature buildings, it’s never as easy as it looks. Thank you Brendon for persevering with this one.
We eventually stopped for some refreshments and lunch as it was getting well into the afternoon. You know how it is, when you are on a roll and you can see progress you just want to keep going!
Luckily the rain held off for the remainder of the day. This allowed some of the guttering and down pipes to be repaired and replaced by Lewis and hampered by the many supervisors. The last of the outside jobs being, removal of broken bottles and pruning of some dangerous looking tree limbs.
Finally a well-earned finish, final drinks and a warmup next to Luke Sky Warmer. All in all it ended up being a very productive day. Great job by all who ventured out.
