Lightning IV - Back on the Air
Recovery from the two lightning strikes to my tower is nearly complete. Over the past few weekends, we were able to get the Cushcraft XM-240, 4 element SteppIR, Prosistel PST 61D and Icom IC-746 back on the air. It was a sizable effort (with many thanks to Dave/KIØQ for the tower work and others like my father-in-law, my XYL and Bill, KØKT for helping on the ground).
While there are still a few more improvements to make to the overall system (lowband antennas, more grounding, etc.), I’m generally back on the air. First QSO was with BT1OY (Olympic special event station in Beijing) on 20 meters SSB.
Repair costs were roughly $1170 for the SteppIR control box (replaced), Prosistel control box (repaired), Icom IC746 (repaired), and DC power supply (replaced). That does not include Dave’s time on the tower. Still waiting to hear from our insurance guy on what would be covered. Thankfully, no damage to anything in the house other than ham gear. I suppose that it could have been much worse.