03/24/2003 | K3EAR The Saga of K3EAR, the Sweepstakes Mult-op Station, the icing on the cake, this was an operation that almost did not happen. In early December we were hit by 3 ice storms in a row plus the never ending snow. Our huge 6m stack was taken out. First the ice along with the heavy winds, stripped the rotor box, next the massive ice loading helped by the winds, sheared the main boom off. The FM vertical was completely cleaned from the mast and parts of it have never yet been found! The 2m stack was found damaged one week, which we repaired only to find it near totally destroyed the following week, booms snapped and vertical also gone! The 432 tower was almost completely lost due to melting ice sliding down the guy wires, shearing off at ground level one of the top guys. The tower was leaning 5ft out of plum still loaded with ice! Both of the on site HF tri-banders were damaged, one of which there was nothing left but the mast to boom plate. As some of our available pictures show, our antennas took a beating. Russ (N3EMF) and myself (WA1HHN) journeyed to our site some 5 consecutive weekends to repair, stay ahead of the damage and dig the place out, not really knowing if we would have to sit out the contest! Each weekend various members (who all ended up operating with us) of the Murgas Radio Club showed up and helped us repair the carnage. The 6m rotor that failed, even thought it's wind load rating was sufficient, being no match for the heavy ice loads encountered, was upgraded to a much heavier geared unit! Without the help that we received from all who were involved right up until the last minute, the results of this contest would never have happened. We are truly grateful to all who participated and would like to also thank all the fine operators we worked during the contest who made this years Sweepstakes a remarkable operation that will be well remembered! Our cast of usual suspects is as follows; N3FA, N3RN, N3TKK, N3WV, N3PBH, N3IKO, KE3OA, WB3FKQ, K3MKZ, K3RDA, WA3JWP, KA1ZE, N1ROZ, N3EMF, and WA1HHN. Main Rovers were N2GKM and N2DVQ who endured the weather and drove over 1100 miles each to bolster our score. -- K3EAR