Welcome to the Five County Repeater Network Construction Page... The "Five County Repeater Network's" repeaters and links are located in Zebulon, NC. We have been given permission from the Town of Zebulon to mount our antennas on their oldest water tank.
The Construction of the site began some months ago when Dave Hockaday WB4IUY contacted the Town of Zebulon Town Commissioners and secured permission to install our antennas on the tank. The tank is a 75,000 gallon tank that was built in 1923. It provided Zebulon with its water until a new 1,000,000 gallon tank was constructed. The tank acts as a back-up supply. Plans are to build a new 1,000,000 gallon tank to the north of town in the community of Wakefield. Town Commissioner Mener Moody was very helpful in our securing site approval.
Construction of the antenna support began on October 4th when Dave Hockaday WB4IUY, Josh Bunn KE4YKG, Tommy Vinson KE4NGH, myself KD4WIW, and Chris, and Brandon Hockaday all converged on the tank site. Dave and Josh climbed to the platform and mounted a specially constructed base plate to the cat walk. They then stacked a section of Rohn 25G and banded it to the overflow pipe. A second section was then stacked, bolted and strapped to the tank. As the sun set to the west Josh repelled to the ground testing the method that will be used to secure the hardline to the tank. Dave climbed down the ladder and we called it a day.
On October 5th Josh and I returned and stacked the third section of Rohn 25G, which now extends 5 foot above the tank roof rim. We lowered the gin pole to Tommy and Chris, since we would need it take down the Lizard Lick tower. Our plans are to return on October 7th to begin preparation for the equipment cabinet pad.
On October 7th I returned and decided to put the concrete pad up next to the hedge. I framed up a wooden form 6' by 6' out of 2x10 lumber. I removed the grass/sod out and then leveled it up. I will add sand to add drainage for the slab and put down plastic vapor barrier. I then will put in 1/2" rebar to add strength to the slab. I plan to pour 1.0 cubic yard of concrete which will provide a 10-12" footing and a 8" slab thickness. Should hold up any equipment we need. See photo below for the concrete form and its location under the tower.
On October 21st Josh and I returned to the site and added field dirt to the form to level it and limit out concrete need to around or less than 1 cubic yard. Josh supplied some fence wire for support to the concrete, and I provided plastic vapor barrier. We are now ready for concrete .... . I went to Lowe's and purchased some 7" and 5" stainless steel hose clamps to attach the hardline to the over flow pipe. Hopefully concrete on Thursday October 23rd.
Well it occurred ... October 23rd arrived and after an hour delay... (On rainy days they wait for you to call and say you are still pouring the concrete or they don't deliver ... Oh Well!!!) they arrived with the concrete. Dave WB4IUY and my Dad were present to smooth the concrete after it was poured. The driver said it took about 1/10 of a yard more than one full yard ... oh well they charged $70.00 to just deliver the concrete ... so I guess we got some of it back. They prepared the surface and covered it to protect it from the rain until it setup.
October 29th Josh KE4YKG and I returned to the tank and removed the form getting ready to mount the cabinet this week-end. The current 5 day forecast says "RAIN" on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I guess that it means the hard line and antennas will have to wait another week-end or so. I plan to go back to the site Friday and if its dry apply a water sealer. If not we will apply a tar base under the cabinet before setting it in place. Concrete is ready and all we need is good weather.
October 30th Dad went by the site and painted it with a water seal. We now will allow it to dry and plans are to meet at the site on Sunday and set the cabinet. We are going to pick up supplies on Saturday. Dave WB4IUY, Jay KQ4MS, Brandon (Dave's youngest son, Tommy KE4NGH and I moved the cabinet to the site. We set it on the slab for Tomorrow.
November 2nd Jay KQ4MS, Tommy KE4NGH and I went to the site and set the cabinet up on the slab. The anchor brackets were set in the concrete and attached to the cabinet. I then ran two runs of 110 volt lines from the meter base to the cabinet. This was done by running 3/4" PVC plastic conduit from the pole to the cabinet. There I installed 2 double outlets for AC power for the repeaters. Phone line connections were mounted on the cabinet to provide phone patch access.
November 6th I made a trip to Metal designs in Spring Hope where Mike Mihalov had constructed a rain bonnet for the new repeater cabinet. Mike can work wonders with stainless steel. You will get to see pictures of his work when we move the top hat from the current repeater site to the new location. I installed the rain bonnet and mounted two fans in the ceiling for air movement in both the summer and winter. Summer to remove excess heat and winter to decrease condensation build-up. I also mounted an outside box to the side of the cabinet to allow for an entry point for the hardline and mounting of the PolyPhasers. I began to make plans for the cabinet security system. I plan to mount an old Federal PA-15 siren in the cabinet hooked up to the sensors. Should let everyone in a 5 block area know of any unauthorized entry. And with the police station in direct view one block away they should be there in seconds. I hope that the automatic light that is being installed will stop someone from ever getting to the cabinet.
Dave on the tower giving signals
Part of the crew - Joe Vinson "Dad", Tommy KE4NGH, Me KD4WIW, and Dave WB4IUY (left to right)
November 15th the "Mad Tower Crew" strikes again. Dave WB4IUY, Josh KE4YKG Jay KQ4MS, Tommy KE4NGH, Brandon Hockaday, Joe Vinson, WG WB4ZMB, and myself returned to the water tank. It's "Hard Line Day" and we are ready to pull the 2 runs of 1 5/8" and 2 runs of 1/2" hard line. I secured 100 hard line clamps and bands and put those to gether. Dave and Josh climbed and the rest of us worked from the ground. While Josh repelled down the leg and installing the clamps we pulled the last section of Rohn 25G into place. That now makes 40' of 25G on the tower which now puts the height above ground level (AGL). The weather is cool but sunny. Two runs of 1 5/8" hard line were rolled out, all 250+ feet. Oh by the way Martha KE4MGL, my wife and Tommy's KE4NGH Mom was tickled to get the hardline out of the front yard. All 250+ feet. Boy it ran from the tank down the hill to the street, turned and then went two houses down the street. We purchased several of the new Alinco DJ-S41T's HTs for use on the tower. Josh had a VOX/PTT Icom headset and the combination is a super tower communication setup. Well at 4PM Josh was on the ground and getting ready to go to work and Dave was climbing down. Plans were made to visit a local Hamfest in the morning and then return to pull the hardline.
Alinco DJ-S41T "Our answer to a cheap tower radio" ... Under $100 including shipping!!!
Notice the size compared to an Official Southern League Baseball
The Alinco DJ-S41T (70cm Version) or Alinco DJ-S11T (2 Meter Version)
November 16th arrives and after the hamfest Dave WB4IUY, Brandon Hockaday, Josh KE4YKG, WG WB4ZMB, Tommy KE4NGH, Joe Vinson, and myself returned to the tank. We put the clamps together for the 40' of Rohn 25G on top as Dave and Josh climbed the tank. We pulled the first 50-60' up the tank by hand then hooked the two pull ropes to my vehicle and pulled the hard line up the tank and tower. Josh started repelling down and attaching the hardline to the clamps and Dave started working up the tower section. Dave had earlier attached brackets to the tank top and tower and reports it is solid. Time ran short so Josh attached the hard line at the top of the tank leg and several spots on the way down, while Dave finished it at the top. We then tied it off with plans to return on Tuesday. We then departed calling it a day. Josh and I made plans to return on Tuesday and finish hanging the 1 5/8" hardline and hopefully hang the 1/2" hardline.
November 18th and Josh KE4YKG and myself returned to the tank to finish the hanging of the hardline. Josh climbed to the top of the tower and secured the hardline ends until we transfer the antennas from Lizard Lick site. Dave WB4IUY and I have discussed an additional 10 foot section of tower before the antennas are added. Josh repelled down the tank leg and secured the remaining 1 5/8" hardline to the tank. I mounted the clamps on the cross members and Josh attached the hardline as I supported it to the support. As Josh finished the hardline I worked on the cabinet installing the security components and coax entry points. Future projects in the near future are pulling up the 1/2" hard line and attaching it to the 1 5/8", and grounding of the phone line, cabinet, and feed line.
Josh waving to all the Side Walk Observers ... Me!!!
November 24th ... and its only one month until Christmas Eve ... Looks like we will make it after all. Well Dave WB4IUY and I returned to the water tank to continue on the project. Dave and I first located a plastic box to house the battery bank. Batteries have been a very good investment for the system. They kept the system up and running for 5 days during Hurricane Fran. We plan to add a third battery and a 12 volt generator system. Well Dave worked on the shelf brackets as I worked on the shelves. We got the brackets in and Dave moved the electrical box as I finished two shelves. We installed two shelves to see how they were going to work. As the sun was setting in the West and the temperature was dropping we decided it was time to leave. Plans were made to return on Wednesday and we departed.
Well El Nino has taken its toll on the project. Rain ... rain ... rain ... seem to never end. Well here it is February 14th and its actually sunny and in the low 50's. Dave WB4IUY and Eddie KD4VPQ return to the site. I (reluctantly) have to work. They get the hardline terminated in the cabinet and sweep the hard line to make sure it is in good condition. A temporary antenna is installed and the KQ4MS APRS node is placed on the air. The remaining shelves are installed and plans to mount the batteries are completed. Dave finished securing the tower to the tank and decides that one more section of tower will work well. The tower is as solid as the tank. If the weather holds we may move the repeaters next week-end. With the temperature dropping Dave and Eddie depart.
The GPS fix is 35 49'24" N and 078 18'47 W for the water tower
in Zebulon.
