You see, the problem is that AB105 does not like being west of the
Mississippi! Ship it all over here and everything will be just fine!
73, Ty K3MM
-----Original Message-----
From: TOMK5RC@aol.com <TOMK5RC@aol.com>
To: towertalk@contesting.com <towertalk@contesting.com>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Date: Saturday, August 22, 1998 21:27
Subject: [TowerTalk] AB105 - The Curse
>
>The Curse of Ft. Huachuca
>by Tom Taormina, K5RC
>
>I'm not often given to looking to the dark side for answers to inexplicable
>events, but, after a 20 year string of bizarre happenings, I am labeling this
>one The Curse of Ft. Huachuca (wa-choo-ka). The origins of the curse may
never
>be known, so we pick up the story in the mid-1970's in Peoria, Arizona.
>
>W7KW moved to the far north end of Phoenix to escape neighbors and to build a
>substantial antenna farm. He acquired about 1,500 feet of military surplus
>AB-105 tower from Ft. Huachuca Military Reserve (hence the name of the curse)
>and erected four 180' towers. Virtually from the moment he completed the
>towers, his problems began. A neighbor started harassing him about the towers
>and started what would become a four year legal battle. It seems that the
>neighbor found the towers offensive because they obstructed his view of the
>mountains! The entire affair was punctuated by incidents of malicious
>harassment, sabotage and covert activities that were a constant source of
>aggravation to Bill. He persisted, however, erecting the prototype KLM 4
>element 80 meter beam and gaining a famous cover shot in CQ Magazine when he
>erected an antenna using a hot air balloon. The effects of the curse again
>manifested themselves in a freak wind storm that totally destroyed the 80
>meter beam. Shortly after that, a court ruled that W7KW would have to lower
>the towers to 120' feet to placate the neighbor.
>
>NA5R and I were starting to build another contest station in Texas when K7GM
>called and suggested that W7KW might want to sell out. In mid 1982, we went
on
>a recon trip and struck up a deal. Several weeks later, five of us showed up
>in Peoria with two 40' tractor trailer trucks, a 90 ton Grove crane and, in 3
>days, we dismantled W7KW and moved it to Manvel, Texas. Shortly after we
left,
>W7KW became a silent key under circumstances still not explained.
>
>The next year was one of wild enthusiasm as we erected three towers and
>advertised plans for a killer super-station, with at least 5 towers, stacks
on
>all bands and rhombics. In July of 1983, Hurricane Alicia came to town and
>leveled Radio Manvel. Still unaware of the curse, we rebuilt and managed to
>erect the 40 meter, 15 meter and 10 meter stacks. About the same time, NA5R's
>business and my business began having problems. In December of 1984, the 10
>meter tower blew down a week before (what would have been) my 10th
consecutive
>10 meter contest and I haven't competed in one since. By late 1985, both
>businesses were out of business and we were both beset by a number of
personal
>tragedies.
>
>We managed to operate a few contests from NA5R, but never were really
>competitive. In 1986, we were forced to dismantle the station and liquidate
>it. NR5M acquired the assets and moved them to Hempstead, Texas. In
>retrospect, George must have had a sense about the curse, because he opted to
>leave all that tower piled on the ground and build his contest station with
>Rohn 45 and 55. Proximity must count for something. Even though the AB-105
>towers were not up, NR5M's station has never reached its full potential and
>stands today idle and in disrepair.
>
>In the years since 1986, the only time the AB-105 was disturbed was when
>WN4KKN acquired some of it to build his station in central Texas. As history
>dictates, Trey had to dismantle his station, liquidate the tower and move to
>California, before the potential of that station was realized.
>
>That brings us to 1993. The Stephen F. Austin Radio Club and the Austin
County
>Repeater Association were looking for a tower site for their repeaters, when
I
>remembered the AB-105 laying in waste. A call to NR5M yielded a generous
>donation of 120' of the tower. In December, several of us unearthed the
>skeleton of steel from its home among the yaupon and poison ivy. In March of
>1994, we stacked it in Bellville, Texas. For several weeks, it was the home
of
>our 2 meter and 440 repeaters (and was soon to be the support for my 160, 80
>and 40 meter wire arrays) when, in early April, a freak wind storm blew it
>down.
>
>The next morning, the workings of the Curse of Ft. Huachuca became crystal
>clear to me. That tower was never up in any one place very long. It fell
twice
>and was taken down at least four times. Everyone that had it in their
>possession experienced varying degrees of family and financial problems.
>
>Whether you are given to believe in the unexplained or inanimate objects
>having a spirit, I believe that in this case the Indian gods did not intend
>for that tower to be standing vertically. In deference to the evidence, it is
>now on its way to a nameless scrap metal yard, in an obscure city, where it
>will rest in peace, horizontally polarized.
>
>
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