The Zola Center for Adults with Disabilities (zolacenter.org)along with the Boston ARC held a licensing class at which 8 new Hams obtained their licenses. Now, BARC is assisting in getting those folks on the air from the community center.
Eric (K1NUN) writes:
“It was a beautiful day for Donna (KB1QVT and director of the Zola Center), Jeff (KB!QVW), Jean (KB1QVV), Alex (KB1SSN), Tom (KB1P), Hank (K1QK), Phil (K9HI), Eric (K1NUN, and John Rice to assemble, build, and install two Ham Radio antennas at the Brigham House in Newton.
Getting an early start, Hank, Tom, and Eric inserted eye-bolt ring insulators at the sunroom corners. These would be the end termination points for the inverted-V antenna. Indoors, Jeff, Jean, Donna, and Alex built the Cushcraft AR270 V/UHF collinear antenna. Eric and Phil ran around distributing hardware, wire, and tools, and performing quality control on the Cushcraft. Hank and Tom, in the attic, mounted the inverted-V antenna at the top of the attic window and draped the ends down to the standoff insulators and dropped the two coaxial cable transmission lines down to the sunroom. The MFJ pass-thru panel was cut to size and inserted in a rear window. Hank had hand-made a similar panel for the attic window to allow installing the V/UHF antenna indoors, inside the attic.
Jean, Donna, and Eric made several trips up and down, delivering tools, hardware, and encouragement.
Indoors, cables were attached to the pass-thru panel, into the corner cabinet, and it was done!
Tom connected the Boston Amateur Radio Club’s Yaesu FT-897 transceiver to test out the antenna. All worked as expected! Primarily, the V/UHF antenna is our first priority to allow visitors to connect and make contacts through local repeaters. Later, the inverted-V may need pruning for better matching on 20 meters and up through six meters, but the antenna is fine for casual short-wave broadcast listening.
John Rice showed up to pass his approval on the installation. John, by the way, was elected ward alderman just this week, and he continues to serve on the Brigham House Board of Advisors. He said he is pleased to see the Ham Radio antenna and station installation as a means to encourage greater participation in the House’s activities as a community center.”
Way to Go Gang ! A job well done!