> KPH and KFS Frequencies Confirmed
> Clarification: Sunday is the Day
> MF Antenna Restored - Your Donation Dollars at Work!
Readers of these pages will doubtless recall that for some time now we have been sharing tales of woe about winter storms, antennas down and how much it will all cost to make things right. Many True Believers stepped up to make contributions, which we have carefully set aside in our bank account.
As we have reported, a December storm took down one of the three poles supporting the Marconi T MF antenna at Bolinas. As Night of Night approached we realized it was impossible to think about the event with no signals on 500kc and 426kc.
A crack restoration team was assembled. We dipped into the funds supplied by our generous donors to buy materials and hire expert climbers. Today we headed out to the Bolinas antenna field with the steadfast objective of restoring the Marconi T. This evening we are tired, sun burned and worried about any poison oak we may have picked up. But! We hare exceedingly happy to report that... The Marconi T has been restored!
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| Climber ascends the 100ft center support pole for the Marconi T antenna next to the tuning house, Building 42 |
The Marconi T is the largest antenna at the site. The center vertical radiator is 95ft tall. The top capacity hat consists of two wires with an total span of 736ft.
Our objective was to restore the vertical radiator, restore one span of the top hat to the still standing pole, then restore the second half to a pole as close as possible to the location of the downed pole.
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| Climber on the center pole watches as the center radiator is pulled up toward him by the ground crew |
Step by step the work progressed. The first two goals were met with relative ease but the third was a challenge. We had to support the other leg of the capacity hat in the middle of its span with an insulator mounted on an intermediate pole. A pulley was installed and the support successfully hoisted up.
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| One of the pulleys used for the Marconi T restoration, retrieved from KPH stock |
Then we had to pick a pole at the right distance and direction to stand in for the one that's down. Luckily one of the poles for one of the H over 2 antennas fit the bill. After much bushwhacking we were able to install a pulley on that pole as well and hoist up the the final span of the capacity hat.
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| Climber installs a pulley atop one of the Marconi T end poles |
There is still one major task ahead of us: re-tuning the antenna tuning unit to match the new antenna which will almost certainly have slightly different characteristics compared to the original antenna. But we have a special crew ligned up to do this on Saturday, just in time for Night of Nights. So, if all goes well, we will be back on MF in time for the event.
> KPH and KFS Frequencies Confirmed
In
Newsletter No. 51 we mentioned that at press time our use of frequencies for KPH had not been confirmed. We are very pleased to report that confirmation has now been received so stations KPH, KFS and KSM will be on the air from our Bolinas site.
Happy listening!
Check
Newsletter No. 51 for a complete listing of frequencies for all Night of Nights stations.
> Clarification: Sunday is the Day
There's no such thing as a shortcut. This was brought home to us when we used last year's Night of Nights announcement as a template for the 2015 announcement.
As many readers were kind enough to report, the wrong day for Night of Nights 2015 was mentioned. We apologize for the confusion. Here below is the correct information for the event:
Date: Sunday 12 July 2015 Pacific Daylight Time
Location: RCA receiving station, 17400 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Point Reyes National Seashore
Click HERE for a map of the location from Google Maps
Time: Doors open at 3:00pm pdt, first transmission 5:01pm pdt (0001gmt 13 July)
Refreshments: Served
Photographs: Encouraged
Tours: Given
None of this would have been possible without the trust and vision of the Point Reyes National Seashore. The only reason these facilities were spared the bulldozer that visited all the others is that they are on park land. And the only reason they have been restored to operation is that the PRNS staff understood their importance and trusted the MRHS to restore them to life.
> MRHS Merchandise
Support the MRHS and look cool at the same time. Such a deal! We've got hats, mugs, T shirts, belt buckles and bumper stickers, all with variations of the MRHS logo. Get a hat and mug for yourself and a put yourself in solid with the XYL by getting her a MRHS hoodie.
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Click on the images to go to the True Believers Store
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Just click on the images above to go to the MRHS True Believers store and browse our offerings. Thanks!
Thanks for reading this Night of Nights update. We very much look forward to hearing you on the air or seeing you in person on Night of Nights. Until then we wish you the best of luck and fair winds & following seas.
73,
MRHS
