I just got off the phone with DEMI and got some bad news. Back in February, I
ordered one of their high power 222 transverters (60 watts out). I told them I
needed it before the June contest and they were not sure at the time if they
would have it ready by then or not. Well... they are now talking about 6 to 8
more weeks so it probably will not be here.
That leaves me with two options. I can borrow an old transverter from a guy in
my club. I don't know how good it works but I think it only puts out about 5
watts. Obviously, if I were using this as a regular piece of equipment, I
would need an amp. At this point, I don't know about how it needs to be set up
in the truck or if I will need to buy anything else to go with it.
Alternate plan B is to use my HT on FM. Before you say that's a bad idea, I
already have an 8' boom antenna and the coax to feed it and an adapter to run
to the HT. Other stations would not need to switch to vertical antennas but
would only have to switch to FM in order to make a contact.
Plan B means fewer contacts. It also means less complication and using
equipment that I know works. It essentially means I concentrate on the other
bands and figure on 222 being a bonus for those rare times when I can use it.
I'd love to hear opinions on this. I have the antenna and the space on the
mast to use it. I'm just not sure I want to mess around with a single time use
transverter that is of dated vintage.
Steve
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