Looky who got his antenna up!

Started by White Tiger, November 29, 2012, 12:49:39 AM

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White Tiger

Yep...got 'em up in the ol' palm tree...the YL actually suggested it!

Started with a Dr Dipole 20m dipole, and after a fuzzy, but absolutely fantastic FIRST QSO with Luck, WA4STO...who challenged me afterwards to get the fan dipole back up!

So, after losing 20m just after dusk...I thought it a good time to get the 80m - 15m fan dipole up - because I was pretty jacked-up to have made a couple of QSO's  (Luck in, Nebraska - and Richard in Delaware)....I started unwinding the 80m legs [???%#] at around 6:00...and by 7:00 I finished just as I heard my son pull in.

...WOW, did I have FUN afterwards! Check out where I have "been" tonight:



If you're looking for me, you're probably looking in the wrong place.

gil

Hello Tim,

Let's try 40m SSB. It might work, depending on takeoff angle.. Not tonight because my 40m antenna is down, but maybe tomorrow..?

Gil.

White Tiger

#2
Quote from: gil on November 29, 2012, 01:18:12 AM
Hello Tim,

Let's try 40m SSB. It might work, depending on takeoff angle.. Not tonight because my 40m antenna is down, but maybe tomorrow..?

Gil.

Sure, that would be excellent! Lets give it a try!

I was listening to a gentleman on St Thomas/Virgin Islands, who was talking to several folks in Florida (the pile up was too much for me to get through, so I just listened when my CQ didn't get returned). While listening I heard them faintly, but clearly, must have been long path?!

Anyway, I'll send you a text tomorrow Gil, if you don't hear from me first - send me a text after you get your antenna back up - I have all the dipoles configured in an inverted v so maybe I can drop it a bit and see if we can get the NVIS effect!?
If you're looking for me, you're probably looking in the wrong place.

gil

No need to drop it.. We'll just try as is... I'll let you know.

Gil.

WA4STO

Tim -- megacongrats on getting the antenna(s) up and squirting RF.

I was particularly (pleasantly!) surprised to see that you'd gone on to make more QSOs even after we'd finished.  Success definitely provides motivation, methinks...

I owe you a big thanks.  I learned something from you; Turns out that you figured out how to use the logging features of QRZ -- something that I never realized was possible.  But that begs a question; Are you subscribed to the "XML or higher" feature of QRZ logging?  I'm curious how much that is.

It's been a long haul for you, I know.  but ya dunnit!  Hooray for the palm tree amateurs.

73 de Luck, WA4STO

White Tiger

#5
Quote from: WA4STO on November 29, 2012, 09:20:45 AM
Tim -- megacongrats on getting the antenna(s) up and squirting RF.

I was particularly (pleasantly!) surprised to see that you'd gone on to make more QSOs even after we'd finished.  Success definitely provides motivation, methinks...

I owe you a big thanks.  I learned something from you; Turns out that you figured out how to use the logging features of QRZ -- something that I never realized was possible.  But that begs a question; Are you subscribed to the "XML or higher" feature of QRZ logging?  I'm curious how much that is.

It's been a long haul for you, I know.  but ya dunnit!  Hooray for the palm tree amateurs.

73 de Luck, WA4STO


Palm Tree Amateurs....I love it!

No, I did not subscribe to QRZ's "XML or higher" (didn't know they had it)...just searched QRZ's callsign database, then clicked on the button "Log NEW contact" and away I went. I actually thought that's what you did when you sent me your log entry for our contact!? I noted the "My Log" header in the upper left corner and remembered seeing something similar when I registered on QRZ...so I jumped over there and logged our QSO, and "vi-ola" (as WC Fields used to say)...up popped the log entry.

It's nothing fancy, it didn't automatically log the QSO...I'm sure your software defined radio software does that...just haven't decided on which one of those to go with, so I manually logged it via QRZ - LoTW seemed a bit more intrusive...like I needed the secret handshake, a separate username/password, ( etc.,), so I decided to use the cheap and simple model till I decided which way to go!

And I'm sure you have told me this before, but what logging program do you use?

Thanks again for getting me "here", Luck - yep success is a great motivator, as a matter of fact, your question about "whatever happened to your multi-band antenna" and how much more "flexible" it would be....made me curious as to what was available on the other bands...especially as 20m started to fade!
If you're looking for me, you're probably looking in the wrong place.

WA4STO

Oh yah.  Flexibility is paramount in ham radio endeavors. 

An example has come to light for me recently:

I normally don't use 40 meters much at all.  Perhaps because of my use of a nine band vertical, the QRN/static level is always high on 40.  On the other hand, there's a BUNCH of Winmor relay stations there and I enjoy poking and prodding them with PREPNET messages, just to see which ones are reliable throughout the course of the (ever-changing) propagation on 40.

If propagation fails me on 40, I can go to 80, 10, 12, 30, 17, or even six meters with the same antenna.

I learned about frequency flexibility back in my ham radio and even ship to shore commercial traffic handling adventures.  When the 22 mHz Sitor frequency wouldn't handle it, even with 15 thousand watts (!), we'd try 16 or, 8, or even 4 mHz.

When the press (international news, weather, stocks, sports, etc) came in on the landline telex machines, the ships at sea would all know that we had it available around 7pm ET.  I seem to remember that we had six radiotelex machines, all on different bands and the ships would "call in" such that all six would be begging for the news, not to mention totally tying up all of our telex circuits.

The old matrons on their 45th cruise of the year were frantic for their stock reports.  But not more so than the crew that was in desperate need of more lobster or -- more likely -- more penicillin!

73 de Luck, WA4STO

White Tiger

Quote from: gil on November 29, 2012, 01:42:30 AM
No need to drop it.. We'll just try as is... I'll let you know.

Gil.

Gil, did you ever get that 40m antenna of yours up?
If you're looking for me, you're probably looking in the wrong place.