On October 24, Matt Strelow, KC1XX, and Andrew Toth of XX Towers came to Newington to inspect the antennas and towers at W1AW, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station, and W1HQ, the Laird Campbell Memorial HQ Operators Club. In addition to the annual autumn inspections, they also repaired some of the W1AW antennas. 

Strelow and Toth replaced the 160 meter dipole located atop the Rohn 65 (120 foot) tower. The antenna -- used for both station broadcasts and visitor operations -- was damaged in a windstorm a few weeks ago. “I’m happy that we now have a new 160 meter dipole,” said W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q. “I missed W1AW being active on 160 meters, as did other radio amateurs. The station’s 1300 W 160 meter signal now has someplace to go.”

The center insulator on the station’s 80 meter cage also required replacement; the old insulator shorted internally when apparently one of the choke’s ferrite beads inside the insulator became saturated. The station’s 70 cm crossed-Yagi satellite antenna -- a Cushcraft 416TB -- also required attention. “Specifically, the coaxial baluns and phasing lines had to be replaced,” Carcia explained. “Since these parts are no longer readily available, I contacted Cushcraft and they supplied us with the lines’ technical data. Using this data, I constructed new baluns and lines.”

A donated quadrifilar antenna for 137 MHz was installed on the North Tower. This antenna replaced the 137 MHz turnstile antenna used for NOAA satellite reception.

Strelow and Toth also inspected the W1HQ antennas that reside on top of the ARRL Headquarters building.