Murphy.<\/p>\n
I had saved Friday afternoon for some nice relaxing antenna maintenance time.\u00c2\u00a0 It is time to replace the K9AY wires.\u00c2\u00a0 Both loops have suffered a lot of damage from the odd falling branch, and the loops were made from fairly thin 18ga tinned automotive wire, I normally use for other reasons.\u00c2\u00a0 Time to put up loops made of heavier gauge wire, because the RX antenna is a keeper.\u00c2\u00a0 The 15m\/10m loop also needs some work.\u00c2\u00a0 It needs to be adjusted for better SWR if kept, but it will more likely be replaced with simple dipoles.\u00c2\u00a0 Also need to check out some of the support lines, etc., etc. etc.<\/p>\n
The wx did not cooperate with this plan.\u00c2\u00a0 A big thunderstorm moved in, and there was a mini monsoon, the likes of which I’ve not seen very often here in NC.\u00c2\u00a0 It was more like the spring storms more common on the gulf coast.\u00c2\u00a0 “Torrential downpour”.\u00c2\u00a0 “Monsoon”.<\/p>\n
Anyway, with half of the XYL’s landscape floating away to the accompaniment of claps of thunder, the antenna plan hit the crapper.\u00c2\u00a0 The occasional light shower continued through the afternoon, and the wx radar kept me from plugging into the antennas(aka “lightning attractors”) until about 0400Z.\u00c2\u00a0 It would probably have been OK to operate sooner, but there was no reason to take the risk.<\/p>\n
So, Friday resulted in a whopping 13Q’s of disinterested S&P.<\/p>\n
Slept late Saturday(see where this is going?).\u00c2\u00a0 Still not much interest.\u00c2\u00a0 More half-hearted S&P on a mostly dead 20m band.\u00c2\u00a0 A 10 minute 20m run produced zilch.\u00c2\u00a0 Had more fun texting N4YDU than operating.\u00c2\u00a0 In the early evening, 40m sounded good.\u00c2\u00a0 Worked A73A, and hope he finally copied my number. He got the call on the first transmission, but needed fills on the number.\u00c2\u00a0 But if they could hear me in Qatar, it must be worth giving running a shot.\u00c2\u00a0 A forty minute 40m run produced about 50 Q’s, and some skimmer spot activity.\u00c2\u00a0 Operated “assisted, low power” to test out the packet connections.\u00c2\u00a0 Figured on a mostly S&P weekend, and figured it would be interesting to watch the band map.\u00c2\u00a0 Somewhere in that time the N\/S 40m dipole became disfunctional[after nabbing a lot of russians while S&P].\u00c2\u00a0 Bailed early again.<\/p>\n
Sunday, more Q’s were made running than S&P.\u00c2\u00a0 20m was a lot more fun than on Saturday.\u00c2\u00a0 15m stunk using the 40m dipole, although it looks like it stunk for bigg gunz too..\u00c2\u00a0 The N\/S 40m dipole showed intermittent, so I guess that huge branch that fell in February must have given it a good wack on the way down.\u00c2\u00a0 Another repair project.\u00c2\u00a0 Running stations was pretty easy on both 40m and 20m, so conditions on Sunday were much improved over those on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The station was good to go inside the shack.\u00c2\u00a0 With the skimmer spots being fed from the Reverse Beacon Net’s server, the band map was well populated.\u00c2\u00a0 The filters established were adequate.\u00c2\u00a0 The only part missing there were skimmer spots from a truly LOCAL skimmer.\u00c2\u00a0 The SO2R arrangement was also good-to-go, although the lid operator was not motivated enough for “S&P2R”.\u00c2\u00a0 If band conditions ever really break open again, with activity from 40m though 10m, the two radio capability is going to be more useful.\u00c2\u00a0 However SO2R was mostly a learning project – figuring out how to accomplish it was the real goal.\u00c2\u00a0 Time to revisit those filter projects again.<\/p>\n
Call: W4KAZ Operator(s): W4KAZ Station: W4KAZ\r\nClass: SO(A)AB LP QTH: NC\r\nOperating Time (hrs): 12.5\r\n\r\n Band QSOs\r\n------------\r\n 160:\r\n 80: 10\r\n 40: 132\r\n 20: 208\r\n 15: 15\r\n 10: 1\r\n------------\r\nTotal: 366 Prefixes = 260 Total Score = 215,540\r\n<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Murphy.<\/p>\n
I had saved Friday afternoon for some nice relaxing antenna maintenance time.\u00c2 It is time to replace the K9AY wires.\u00c2 Both loops have suffered a lot of damage from the odd falling branch, and the loops were made from fairly thin 18ga tinned automotive wire, I normally use for other reasons.\u00c2 Time to put up loops made of heavier gauge wire, because the RX antenna is a keeper.\u00c2 The 15m\/10m loop also needs some work.\u00c2 It needs to be adjusted for better SWR if kept, but it will more likely be replaced with simple dipoles.\u00c2 Also need to check out some of the support lines, etc., etc. etc.<\/p>\n
The wx did not cooperate with this plan.\u00c2 A big thunderstorm moved in, and there was a mini monsoon, the likes of which I’ve not seen very often here in NC.\u00c2 It was more like the spring storms more common on the gulf coast.\u00c2 “Torrential downpour”.\u00c2 “Monsoon”.<\/p>\n
Anyway, with half of the XYL’s landscape floating away to the accompaniment of claps of thunder, the antenna plan hit the crapper.\u00c2 The occasional light shower continued through the afternoon, and the wx radar kept me from plugging into the antennas(aka “lightning attractors”) until about 0400Z.\u00c2 It would probably have been OK to operate sooner, but there was no reason to take the risk.<\/p>\n
So, Friday resulted in a whopping 13Q’s of disinterested S&P.<\/p>\n
Slept late Saturday(see where this is going?).\u00c2 Still not much interest.\u00c2 More half-hearted S&P on a mostly dead 20m band.\u00c2 […]<\/p>\n