The AM Forum

Well, at about 3:30 yesterday afternoon my neighborhood got hit by a microburst with winds like we have never seen here before. I had just signed off from a QSO on 75 meter AM and that's when I heard several loud thumps that shook the house to its foundation. An 85 foot pine tree about 60 feet behind the house snapped off at about 20 feet up and came crashing down onto the roof. It impacted about 6 inches from the roof edge where it punched a nice clean 3 inch hole that created a new solar portal in one of the upstairs bedrooms. It also managed to rip up quite a few shingles as it thrashed around. Fortunately, I had lots of shingles left over from when the roof was put on and also had plenty of Black Jack Roof Asphalt so the emergency repairs went well today. Definitely cannot complain about the weather today either as It was very comfortable out in the sun.

Unfortunately, the tree fell right across the 190 foot center-fed antenna and ripped it out of its tie points so I will be absent from 160-75-60 and 40 meters for awhile. To add to the inconvenience, the eastern leg of that antenna managed to twang itself 30 feet to the south where it got hooked over the 2 meter and 6 meter beams on the tower. There's no possible way I could have done that if I wanted to so I'm still kind of amazed that it managed to transport itself over there. The Hex Beam, however, appears to have been untouched so I can at least play on the upper bands.

Ah well, today Kathy and I celebrated our 40th anniversary and no one got hurt so it wasn't all bad! We even went out for hot fudge sundaes! Then we spent the day on the roof cutting wood, clearing the debris off and patching the holes in the roof. With all the trees that have come down in the past 3 years we are beginning to get a nice panoramic view of the western sky. Also, with that tree gone, I might have a nice shot at moving the western leg of that antenna further from the house and up higher. Nice!

Rob W1AEX

Trees are nice antenna supports, but not so nice when they end up on your house.
Glad you ok Rob, and Congratulations on the 40th!
GL with roof and new antenna.

Congratulations on the 40th!

Sorry to hear about the new sun roof.

CONGRATULATIONS ;D ;D ON 40th year of MARRIED BLISS ;)  GLAD YOU WERE ABLE 2 MAKE THE REPAIRS YOUR SELF AND SAVE SOME CASH.GOOD LUCK HOPE 2 HEAR YOU ON THE LOWER WHEN YOU GET SET UP AGAIN.

You won't forget this anniversary!   Congrats.

Congratulations Rob!

Glad it was not worse. The tree that is.

Rob,

Sorry to hear that it was not worse and everyone got away without getting hurt.  Looks like the repairs will not be bad.  This year seems to be really bad with tress's falling on peoples houses.  Good luck in getting the antenna's back up. 

Congratulation on celebrating your 40th anniversary! 

73,
Joe, W3GMS

What a cheerful outlook Rob, no matter what gets tossed at you !

I bet it's a factor for your obvious happiness celebrating your 40th wedding Anniversary.

Here's hoping for an uneventful antenna restoration in the time ahead. 

1.) 40 years of a successful family situation.
2.) big storm, minimal yet very interesting home damage.
3.) excuse or reason to improve your antenna.

Considering all things, it worked out pretty well.

Rob,

It's kind of like a collective sharing experience after s**t happens here.. The AM "Facebook".. It could have been so much worse! The hole is one thing, but the antenna is the real PITA!! (we know).. Onward to higher antennas in the clear!

Congrats on 40 years of coping!!  ;D
Jeff

Thanks for the kind comments up and down the list. As many have pointed out, the damage is nothing more than a minor annoyance and I certainly have much to be thankful for. Jeff, your comments about the QSO section being the "AM Facebook" cracked me up. As far as the antenna goes, if the weather holds on Wednesday it should be back up in the air, a little higher, a little bigger, and a little better. The old antenna has been removed, all the tie point lines are ready, and the new insulators along with my trusty 1000 foot spool of wire are sitting by the back door. I expect it will go up just fine.

As far as the 40 years go I count myself as a lucky guy and even though I still introduce Kathy as my "starter wife" she's a keeper! The picture below is from the summer of 1970 about a year after we met. How did all those years tick by so quickly?

73,

Rob W1AEX

Indeed, Rob - the older we get, the faster it goes past. Sobering, really. Congratulations on the anniversary, hope you enjoyed it well despite the unwanted visitor. Glad the damage wasn't worse and of course that you and your family weren't harmed. Like Chuck's tree, they have their own plans and we do well to avoid being in the same spot when they come down.

Congrats too on the birthday! That must've been fun growing up, all the dual-purpose gifts. Jen's birthday is the 20th, so I always make an effort to make sure they are separate occasions. She doesn't understand why I don't get more excited for my birthday. After explaining the 'reminder' reasoning numerous times, I just tell her now 'It's a guy thing'. We're always happy to be around for another year.

Hope to see you around for many more.