It was a beautiful day here today… temp was great, no wind, absolutely great! Well almost. My day started with a morning walk… got in 2.85 miles before 8:15… I know I should probably start earlier but it was cold before the sun was up… this was the sun coming up…
First thing on the list today, after my walk, was to call the Heating and Air people and tell them we had two problems:
1. the Energy Recovery unit had a blinking light?
2. One of The Ground source pumps had a strange noise, like bearing going out?
When I called they felt like it would be next week before they made it. That is ok it is working just not perfectly so we could wait. They called back in a few minutes and said the tech could be here today, his other appointment had canceled. That is fine I will be here. I also checked and the welder said he would be here this morning as well. Boy nothing like waiting for 2 months then they all come at once…
The H&A guy was first and got here before 10AM. He found a loose connection on the ERV and agreed the pump was making too much noise so he would order a new one (it is on warranty) and hope to have it by next week early. The welder showed about 30 minutes later and set up to put the two pieces of the tower together and weld it up. I rushed in and got the temp pole down and out of the way. The temp pole:
They got the new one ready and we pinned it into the base and set it up on a support. I put the pullies and cable on it and raised it up into place for a temp test. It is heavy. A bit heavier than the old one because it has more of the 2 7/8 pipe and less of the 2inch pipe at the top but maybe it will stand up to the winds a little better? It also has a guy wire loop at the top and I will tie it off to reduce the waving in the breeze as well. Here is the new pole in the air with the APRS antenna on and working.
The guy wires on with one for only the SW and one for the NW and not tied off to see how much it will take and get them ready to tie. I got this up by about 4:45, before everyone got home so it would not be in front of the garage door. I will let it back down , maybe tomorrow, and get the east guy wire on it as well as a few more antenna pieces. I did a little testing and the signal strength on several APRS machines was considerably higher. Maybe even more than before, or it is wishful thinking?
After all this it was time for a frosty “adult” beverage and some time on the back deck. As the sun went down this is the view:
We hope for tomorrow to be as fine as today. – WD0AJG