Came home from a trip last night and discovered that a F1 tornado hit my
area. The tornado made a turn to the southeast three blocks south of my
QTH. The tower, a 72' Heights survived the 80 mph winds, but my 40
meter beam now has an inverted vee driven element. One half of the DE
is draped over the 20 meter director below it. It looks like another
trip in a bucket if I can find one. Every bucket truck in an 80 mile
area will be in use for weeks. I consider myself lucky. There were
huge elm trees down across houses and parked cars just two blocks north
of me.
When I put up the tower and beams less than a year ago, I reinforced the
tower and put in more concrete than was required. I didn't want it
coming down on my neighbor just 60 feet away from my small city lot.
I'm glad that the tower is standing and I can live with one broken
antenna element.
Tom W8JWN Iron Mountain, Michigan where tornadoes never happen!!!
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