I didn't put in many hours or make many QSOs but it was fun!
Saturday nature decided to give me a birthday present... several hours
with absolutely no wind at all. Not so much as a hint of air movement.
This was an opportunity I could not afford to miss! I got the HF beam
down and remained in one piece doing it! Unfortunately I made the
mistake of sitting down in a comfortable place about an hour before the
start of the contest and immediately fell asleep!
I awoke later to the sound of beautiful music... weak CW on 222.100. It
was KC1FGY. I stumbled to the rig, worked him and K1WHS called me right
after. Dave was loud of course. I wasn't hearing anyone else and
requests for skeds on the chat produced no takers. Being very tired and
sleepy I didn't persist long.
Sunday morning I was on the tower removing the tram line, backstay,
comealong, straps, ropes and whatever other stuff I had left there the
day before. I was going to bring the mast down but it is very solidly
stuck to the rotator casting and I didn't have the right tools. I
decided to quit messing with it and get back to the radio.
I worked several stations on both bands Sunday morning. Notable were
W3CCX on both bands without any coordination, same for W2SZ, and N2NT on
222. It was fun working stations on 222 and 432 without prior
arrangements or moving from another band! I guess that happens when they
are the only bands you have so you spend more time listening there!
W3CCX seemed pretty loud and I kept thinking wow, this tropo has
actually come far enough into the interior of Maine to include me! The
vast majority stop just short of me. Curiously N2NT didn't seem at all
enhanced on 222 and I could just copy on 432.
Sunday evening I got a few more on both bands.
As previously noted the 6m and 2m antennas need only minor work but the
tower, mast and rotator need to be inspected and fixed. I'm not sure
exactly what is bent but things are clearly not right. Murphy's law
suggests it'll be the mast since those cost megabucks especially after
fright is factored in. Apparently sorting out the antenna mess is how I
am going to spend my summer. Oh well, I need the climbing practice to
get my confidence back fully. I will have to spread out the expense over
a few to several months and hope this doesn't end up running the project
into winter!
My 432 amplifier is dying. It used to make 150 watts. Last time I used
it I noticed it was down to about 120 watts. On Saturday it was only
making 80 watts and Sunday even less. It also started emitting the
horrible smell of burning electronics while attempting to run FT8 Sunday
evening! I have a bigger 432 amp here, but have not managed to get it
working yet.
I received notice that the new transverters should be ready soon so at
least there's some good news to report!
Onward...
73,
Paul N1BUG
FN55mf
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