In June of 2008 we replaced the roof on the Skyview clubhouse. No one knew exactly how old the roof was, but we did know that the shingles were in very bad shape. We didn’t have any active leaks yet, but we thought it better to take care of the problem now than to wait.

Earlier at some business meetings we talked about if we should do this major job ourselves or just cut a check and have a roofer do the job. After getting some prices we decided that we would be saving the club around $2000 if we did the labor ourselves. The only problem with this is that you never know how many people are actually going to show up the day of the work! Well, as it turned out we had MORE than enough people!

Early Saturday morning we started into taking off the old shingles. We had purchased 3 new shingle shovels and rented some pneumatic nail guns to make the job go much fasted. Both turned out to be very good investments! The weather man was calling for rain, but we went ahead and got straight to work anyway. The folks that didn’t want to climb up on the roof stayed on the ground and cleaned up the old shingles and nails, hauling everything over to the dumpster. Others put their fear of heights beside and climbed up anyway. They discovered that after some time of being very nervous, it all became ok and they were able to work just fine. After clearing the shingles off of the one side we discovers quite a bit of rotten wood where water was making its way up, under the old shingles. We replaced all the rotten wood and added a nice drip edge that will keep this from happening again.

As typical with any Skyview project, it did rain! We thought about stopping but decided to continue working despite the wet. We were all soaked to the bone, but the weather didn’t get too bad so we weren’t too cold.

We also added a ridge vent and vents to the eves to keep air circulating and make the new roof last much longer. When it was all said and done, we had a nice new roof! It should be many years before anyone needs to worry about any of this again. (We hope!)

Many many thanks to all that helped out in big ways, and in small. We saved the club a lot of money so that those funds can be used much more efficiently. It was due to the dedication of our members that made this all work. Thank you!

Stay tuned for more projects in the works at Skyview!

In the past five or six years Skyview Radio society has seen a transformation that has been nothing short of fantastic. Just a short while ago this club was on the verge of extinction. Fortunately, a combination of circumstances came to be that allowed the rebirth of this great club that started with the return of a founding member after many years of absents.

Having a clubhouse and some land makes for a wonderful situation for someone that can’t have a first-rate radio station at their house or apartment. It is also a great advantage for working contests, emergency communications work and gives members a nice place to hang out or just get away for a while. There are far too many people that were involved with our rising in the past several years to mention. There were many talented people and financial supporters along the way.

There has been a lot of time and effort that went into the results that you see in the pictures below. We are not done either! We still have improvements in mind and projects that we want to complete. Along with the obvious improvements in the clubhouse facility, we have also strived to bring new people into the Amateur Radio ranks through classes and VE sessions.

We have also tried very hard to be involved in public service and emergency communications, the very reason for the Amateur Radio service. The ongoing result is a clubhouse that we can all be proud of and a membership that is largely involved in many aspects of the hobby. We didn’t want to be a public service club or a contesting club or a digital club. We wanted to be a club that is involved in all aspects of Ham radio! We do everything from satellite work to digital work to CW to contesting and more. It is a matter of “what you bring to the table”.

In the process we have gained a number of new, interested people, folks willing to try most anything that Amateur Radio has to offer. Most of these new people never knew the Skyview clubhouse before it was remodeled and don’t know just what a vast difference it has made.

So here are some before and after pictures showing the many changes such as the new pavilion, the shed, the meeting room, the kitchen, the hallway, the bathroom, the electrical service, the HVAC, the crank-up tower and more.

While it is a great advantage having a clubhouse, it is also a great responsibility and a heck of a lot of work just to keep up with maintenance. It is our members that make it possible and that’s the truth. Enjoy the pictures and be sure to get involved. What can YOU bring to the table?

Last Update July 6, 2008