Please note that there is a Severe Weather Warning in place for this coming Monday, the 28th of October 2013, with risks of high winds over the weekend.
It’s believed that winds could reach up to 80 miles per hour, and be the worst storm to hit the UK in over 25 years.
The Met Office has set an AMBER alert for Monday, with the following advisory:
A very intense low pressure system is forecast to run northeastwards across the country early on Monday, bringing the potential for an exceptionally windy spell of weather for southern parts of the UK. At the same time, persistent, heavy rain could cause some surface water flooding. There is some continuing uncertainty in the timing, intensity and track of the low. However, the public should be prepared for the risk of falling trees as well as damage to buildings and other structures, bringing disruption to transport and power supplies.
There’s a summary of the weekend’s weather on the following YouTube clip
Essex Hams Beware
Common sense applies, and care should be taken to ensure that antennas are firmly fixed. Those susceptible to power outages during bad weather may want to charge up their batteries.
Thanks to Mark M0IEO from TARG for first alerting us to this severe weather warning. Mark adds:
“I would recommend that anyone with antennas up high should check them to ensure that they will either withstand the wind or if they are likely to fall, do not fall into power lines or in a position where they can cause structural damage to neighbouring property or people.
Those with masts which can be luffed over, should do so to ensure minimum exposure to high winds.”
Should the predictions for bad weather come true, be safe out there. It’s also worth taking a charged handheld with you, so you can pass messages via GB3DA or the calling channel if you want to communicate with the amateur radio community during the bad weather.
More updates can be found here: Met Office Severe Weather Warnings – London & South East
OK, so we have had the storm and with any luck you have all survived unscathed with antennas intact. It is still worth checking though that all is well with your antenna system before you try and transmit. Here is a quick guide to what you need to be doing to make sure your station is good to transmit.
1. Visual inspection of the antenna, coax and supporting metalwork. Look for booms which may have become bent or twisted, displaced elements, on vertical antennas is it still upright and has any radials still attached. On wire antennas, are they still in place and securely held at both ends, have any flying branches or other debris become attached to the antenna? Check that all mounting brackets are well anchored and securely fixed and that coax cables are still securely fixed and have not been damaged by flying debris, if your coax has become detached from it’s support, check it to see that it is undamaged and that the plug (PL259 or N Type coax plugs are not designed to take the weight of a run of coax cable) is still attached properly.
2. If all appears to be well on the outside then it is time to think about turning the rig on. Don’t be in too much of a hurry to key the mic though, there are still some checks to do. As always with amateur radio, you can learn a lot by listening. Listen to the background noise of the band, does it sound the same as it usually does, can you hear other stations on the band and are they of a good signal strength? if not then it could be a sign of a broken centre conductor in your coax, if you have access to an antenna analyser it would be worth testing the coax for breaks. If all appears well then it is time to add a few Watts.
3. With an VSWR meter connected into the transmission line, reduce the output power of your rig to 5W and listen on the frequency for any traffic, obviously if someone is using the frequency move to a different frequency, (if you are testing an HF antenna, make sure you select either AM or FM mode, SSB will not transmit until you speak or whistle into the mic) set the VSWR meter to CAL and key the mic, adjust the meter for FSD (Full Scale Deflection) then de-key the mic, now set the VSWR meter for REF (Reflected Power) and key the mic again and note the SWR of the antenna. If the antenna is showing a very high SWR then I am afraid you will have to go back to inspection and testing stage but if the antenna is showing it’s normal SWR or lower then you can up the power a little and try again, keep stepping the power up until you either reach the limit of your licence, the limit of the rig you are using or your normal operating power. Remember that foundation licence power limit is 10W and intermediate licence limit is 50W but not on all bands!
4. Remember that if you do need to carry out remedial works on your antenna, safety is the order of the day, plan the work and work to the plan, one person in charge of the work and that person to brief the others in the working party. The storm may have passed now but there will still be some strong gusts of wind to come over the coming hours, be aware and do not take risks, better to wait until the weather has calmed down completely then rush to repair the antenna and have a needless accident.
73 and be safe, Mark.
A quick visual check confirmed the worst. VHF antenna blown over, almost off the flat roof, including the paving-slab mount that was holding it down. My HF vertical is bent to 45 deg. Got the VHF antenna back on it’s feet. No long-term damage done. The HF vertical is probably beyond repair, unless Hustler sell spares for the 6-BTV.
Best 73.
Rob (2E0 KCP)