Buffalo Area repeater damaged in high winds this week

URGENT!!

BARRA needs your help!

(Buffalo Amateur Radio Repeater Association)


"Overnight in the extremely high wind event that hit WNY with 65+ MPH gusts Tuesday/Wednesday this week (Jan 10-11) the top 40-ft section of our west tower, immediately next to the A-frame shack, failed and doubled over on itself. At this time there appears to be no major damage to anything beyond the top tower section and the antennas and feedlines thereon. It has, of course, forced the shutdown of the 146.91 and 224.82 repeaters whose antennas are/were at the top of that tower.

There have been on-site visits by the site trustee and members of the technical committee. A picture of the tower is attached.

Of immediate and pressing concern to the club is the safe removal of the damaged tower section.The club is in contact with a local professional tower service who will assess our situation in the coming days and will present us with a plan of action and quote for services. The contractor is.....



 apparently willing to have club members assist in the operation, which will help reduce our costs.
Which brings us to a very troubling concern, the costs. At this writing we do not have a quote as the contractor has not yet visited the site. The club has very limited reserves so we are facing a serious problem since the costs could very well exceed our treasury.

Dave; W2ZZA, our Cole Road site trustee, has established a GoFundMe page to solicit donations to help us make the needed and vital remediation and repairs to the Cole Road tower. The link to that GoFundMe page is https://www.gofundme.com/e-comm-tower-restoration

It is indeed ironic that at the start of what should be a celebratory year honoring our 50th anniversary as a club we need to deal with such a serious matter. We need to all step up in some way to ensure the future of BARRA. One way is to give us a hand, if you are able, when the tower removal operation takes place. After the contractor outlines his plan of action we will know better what kinds of assistance our members can provide, and will share that through this forum when we know it.

Another way is to visit the GoFundMe page and share what you can toward our goal. Our membership has stepped forward in the past with major projects and we certainly hope that you can again. Please share the GoFundMe link with any BARRA "alumni" that you may know.

As always, we thank you for your support of BARRA and we will keep you informed on the progress and plan of work at the site.
73"
Doug, KA2WFT
President, BARRA
Alternatively, you may mail your donation to the club directly:
Buffalo Amateur Radio Repeater Association, Inc.
PO Box 507
North Tonawanda, NY 14120-0507
Please consider donating what you can to help keep the club that Gil Boelke, W2EUP/SK, and many other pioneering VHF/UHF repeater builders built and loved. Thank you and 73!