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Category: Community News Community News
Published: 17 August 2017 17 August 2017

On Tuesday, August 15, 2017, members of the Gila Amateur Radio Society (GARS) trekked to Black Peak north of Silver City to install a new antenna for the club's radio repeater. The original antenna was damage in June 2016 when it took a direct hit from a load of fire retardant dropped by an air tanker helping to suppress the Black Peak Fire. A temporary antenna was quickly installed and a second, longer-term replacement a month after that.

Fortunately, the club's insurance covered the loss, and a new antenna was ordered, arriving this past April. Then, it was a question of coordinating everyone's schedules and awaiting a weather window. This past Tuesday, the weather was perfect, with no thunderstorms forecasted until possibly later in the day. The installation crew lugged all the necessary equipment and new antenna to the site, and then quickly removed the temporary antenna. The installation of the new antenna went fairly smoothly, and the whole project was completed in about two hours.

Members of the installation crew included Steve London, Laurie Wlosinski, Kyle Meredith, Russ Imler, Carol Watson-Brand, Phil Tester, and Marc Levesque. Base support was provided by Bob King and GARS President Dan Dockery.

GARS is a local amateur radio club that hosts a twice weekly radio net and provides support for public events and emergency communications. It always welcomes new members and provides training and license testing for those interested in getting into amateur radio. For more information, contact Dan Dockery at 530-708-1256.