Hawequa Solar Repairs 2024-06-15
On 15 June 2024, ZS1DDK, ZS1YT, ZS1ATX, ZS1MJT and ZS1IX installed the new solar panels on Hawekwa. During the severe windstorm of 7 April, the wind tore off one of the solar panels and also damaged the 6m antenna.
The group left around 07:00 and with beautiful sunshine and almost no wind the task could easily be tackled. By 13:00 the two new panels were installed and connected and the meters indicated that the panels were doing their job. The 6m link antenna has also been repaired.
Thanks to ZS1ATX, Z1YT and ZS1DDK who donated the cost of the transport towards the WCRWG.
As Eskom becomes unaffordable, the supply to the premises will be cut off on 30 June 2024. The current 4 batteries are 5 years old and need to be replaced soon. Please feel free to make a donation to the WCRWG for the maintenance of the repeaters in our area. For more information, see wcrwg.co.za
Status Report 2024-06
Jonaskop visit 2024-05-31
The Jonaskop site lost Eskom supply during the heavy storms of September last year. It was running 24/7 on battery and the one solar panel installed on site.
David ZS1DDK and myself left earlier today for Jonaskop (145.675) with 2 spare power supplies, some tools, spare fuses, etc. to see if we can find a fault and repair it. We have expected either the power supply to have packed up or the earth leakage in our cubicle that has tripped.
The road leading to the site is drivable with a bakke or vehicle that is high off the ground up to the Sentech tower. The portion form the Sentech tower to the concrete strip leading to the Eskom building is still completely washed away. With the Landrover in 4×4 and diff lock on David took the dongas on. It is huge dongas and washed out gravel! We made it and got to the Eskom site. On inspection we found that the Eskom supply has tripped in the main DB board and not in our cubicle. We opened the DB Board and switched the breaker back on. Everything came to live and reports form ZS1TR was that he immediately noticed an increase in signal strength. (On battery the repeater switches automatically to lower power).
We also checked the SWR on the repeater antenna and at 145.07 it was close to 1.5:1 and even lower as we went a little bit lower, closer to 145.000. See photo attached.
We locked up and left the site again. I was home at 15h30 and David at about 16h15.