Friday 27 December 2013

well, it's been a bit windy here for a few days.

and today I got a text at work from my lovely XYL telling me that my fibreglass fishing pole holding up my Windom and long wire baluns snapped and came down onto my neighbour's roof.

No way of offering advice from inside a meeting I couldn't bail from so I suggested that my 18 yearold loosen the wires and let it down.

He (and the 15 year old) struggled manfully in awful conditions to get up a ladder and loosen the U bolts to get the pole down.

its too dark to really look at it now, but the weekend is coming......

I suppose I could take it as a sign that it's time to try that open fed  horizontal loop that I have all the bits waiting for......

Thursday 19 December 2013

so, carrying on the same format as last month, the middle column is last months totals, the right is today's.

80m = 18 = 33
60m  =  3 = 4
40m  = 36 = 50
30m   = 7 = 21
20m  = 116 = 116
17m  = 55 = 55
15m = 26 = 40
12m=  44 = 51
10m=  53 = 69

total DXCC count at 134, and total slots (inc 2m & 70cm) 443

I've been concentrating on my less used bands, so avoiding 20 & 17m....

My US state count is creeping up too, with Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota & Wyoming still to get.

I've also got a new antenna.

a Carolina Windom CW80 Special.

it's an off centre fed dipole with a radiating vertical feed section so that it will tune to 80m even though it's only 66 ft long.  15m still a dead loss, and below 40m is all clogged up with QRM from Christmas lights (GRR!)

Its working well, even though i don't have it mounted in the best position, with the shorted leg coming down at 45 degrees along the eves of the house.  I INTEND to get it up horizontal when I get the chance......

new countries?

Chile
Uzbekistan
Curacao
Bahamas
Liechtenstein
Madagascar
South Sudan