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The Before Pictures....
The "After" Pictures...
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K7XC 2002 June VHF Contest
The "After" Pictures...

After 4 1/2 hours of operating I get a call from Dave on the FRS handhelds we use to keep in touch. "Tim, Get over here!" As I step out of my tent and look SW to where he is setup, I instinctfully look up at the tower... "Thats funny, It doesnt look right...." Thats when it hits me... "Something failed causing the antennas, mast and rotor to fall from 50' onto Dave's truck.

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My first glimpse of what happened...

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I run and grab my camera to document what went wrong...

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I cant believe what I'm seeing....

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It appears the rotor to mast adapter on the bottom of the rotor failed....

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Leaving half the adapter still on the rotor...

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And the other half still on the tower...

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A close-up of the failed adapter...

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The heliax and rotor cables are held away from the tower by the 70 MPH winds that blew all day Sat.

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Rather than continue we packed it up & I became a Rover on the way Home Sunday.

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Operating Conditions were very cramped as the truck was fully loaded.

When everything we said and done, we lost Two M2 18XXX 2M yagis, Two M2 9WL 432 Yagis, a M2 9WL 222 Yagi & a $380 SSB Electronics 144 Mhz preamp. Damaged was the Ham IV rotor, Heliax, and Daves Truck. I shudder to think what might have happened had it not fell where it did but landed on the fiberglass camper shell where Dave was inside operating. Rather than cobble together antennas from the leftover pieces, I elected to cut our losses, packup and head home.
 
The final tally is only 50 QSOs. With all the lost antennas, feedline, rotor, the damage to Dave's truck, motel rooms, Gas, and supplies I figure our combined expenses to be at least $100 a contact! That makes this event was the most costly and least productive effort we have ever done.