‰  NOW 40 WPM  ‰  TEXT IS FROM JUNE 2014  QST  PAGE 66‰
PERFORMANCE AND RELIABILITY THEY DESIRE.  WHERE DO YOU FIND BEST PRACTICES
IN THE HAM RADIO COMMUNITY?  WHERE DO YOU GO TO RESEARCH RELIABILITY DATA
ON ANTENNAS, ROTATORS, AND TOWERS?  THERE ARE BENCHMARKING CLEARING HOUSES
IN MANY PROFESSIONAL DISCIPLINES, BUT THEY CERTAINLY DO NOT EXIST WITHIN
THE AMATEUR RADIO COMMUNITY.  THE MASTER PLAN FOR THE MOTIVATED HAM
CREATING A MASTER PLAN IS HARD WORK.  THERE IS NO DENYING THAT.  HOWEVER,
WHEN YOU CONSIDER THE EXPENSE AND EFFORT

ARTICLE IS WRITTEN TO SHARE WITH OTHER HAMS THE LESSONS, PAIN, AND AGONY OF
AMATEURS BUILDING AMATEUR ANTENNA SYSTEMS.  IT IS OUR FERVENT HOPE THAT
YOUR PLEASURE WILL GREATLY EXCEED THE PAIN EXPERIENCED IN DESIGNING,
CONSTRUCTING, AND MAINTAINING AN ANTENNA SYSTEM THAT IS AT LEAST 3 DB
BETTER THAN MOST.  THE PASSION SINCE THE DISCOVERY OF WIRELESS, HAMS HAVE
PIONEERED MANY OF THE BREAKTHROUGHS IN RADIO AND ANTENNA DESIGN.  OFTEN,
THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION WAS DONE IN SMOKE FILLED MAKESHIFT LABS OR
GARAGES WHERE THE GOAL WAS TO GET THE PROJECT FINISHED NOT NECESSARILY TO
MAKE IT ROBUST.  I LEARNED THE PATIENCE REQUIRED FOR PIONEERING
BREAKTHROUGHS AS A TEENAGER, BUT I ALSO LEARNED PRAGMATISM.  THE MANTRA FOR
MANY YEARS WAS LETS GET IT WORKING.  WE WILL CLEAN IT UP LATER.  THE
SINGULARLY UNIQUE ATTRIBUTE OF MOST MOTIVATED HAMS IS TO EFFECT TWO WAY
COMMUNICATIONS UNDER DIFFICULT CONDITIONS.  WE ARE PRACTICED AT HANGING A
WIRE IN A TREE AND CONDUCTING DISASTER COMMUNICATIONS.  THE DOWNSIDE TO
THIS IS THAT MANY OF US APPLY THIS PRACTICAL AND EXPEDIENT APPROACH TO
BUILDING OUR STATIONS.  MY POINT HERE IS THAT WE WILL BENEFIT FROM BEING

HIGH PERFORMANCE ANTENNA SYSTEMS FOR THE MOTIVATED HAM  A WORLD CLASS
ANTENNA SYSTEM REQUIRES A WORLD CLASS EFFORT TO DESIGN, RAISE, AND
MAINTAIN.  TOM TAORMINA, K5RC  IN MY 55 YEAR CAREER IN HAM RADIO, I HAVE
DESIGNED AND CONSTRUCTED FOUR MULTITOWER CONTEST STATIONS.  I HAVE ALSO
CONSULTED AND BEEN A PARTICIPANT IN BUILDING DOZENS MORE HF AND VHF
STATIONS FOR HIGHLY MOTIVATED HAMS.  DURING MY 33 YEARS IN SOUTH TEXAS, THE
SCOURGE OF MY ANTENNA SYSTEMS WAS NOT SNOW AND ICE, BUT FREQUENT
THUNDERSTORMS, TORNADOS, AND HURRICANES.  I HAD SEVEN TOWERS AT THE K5RC
MULTIOP STATION DURING THE 1970S AND IT WAS A CONTINUAL CHALLENGE TO HAVE
ENOUGH WORKING ANTENNAS AND ROTATORS AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH CONTEST
SEASON IN OCTOBER.  WHEN WE BUILT NA5R IN THE 1980S, THE DESIGN GOAL WAS TO
BUILD TOWERS AND ANTENNAS THAT WOULD STAY UP FOR MORE THAN A YEAR AT A
TIME.  HURRICANE ALICIA TOOK DOWN ALL SEVEN TOWERS IN ONE EVENING.  AT
K5XI, WE HAD A 250 FOOT TOWER FOR 20 METERS WITH ROTATORS THAT WERE
CONTINUALLY DESTROYED BY WIND.  WHEN MY SPOUSE MIDGE, K7AFO, AND I MOVED TO
NORTHERN NEVADA IN 1997, WE REALIZED THAT THERE WAS SNOW AND ICE TO CONTEND
WITH.  WE DECIDED TO BUILD A MODEST THREE TOWER STATION ON OUR MOUNTAINTOP.
CONTESTING WAS ADDICTIVE, AND WE NOW HOST THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL STATION
WITH EIGHT TOWERS AND 33 ANTENNAS, INCLUDING STACKED 80 METER BEAMS.  THIS
‰  END OF 40 WPM TEXT  ‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ