Well, been at my final QTH for 9 weeks now. It did not take me as long to get my station on the air as the last time. Got it up and running on Sunday, July 15th. Three weeks instead of 2 months this time. It help I had all my stuff this time.
Things are not going as smoothly as I would have hope. Buying a house is not much different them buying a used car. "Buyer beware". It doesn't matter how well you inspect a house, you can't see everything that may cause a problem. Like a new roof!
We have had a lot of plumbing and some electrical work done. Plan to have more electrical work done soon. The garage has a descent space over it, but quite a bit of work needs to done before it is usable.
I am having problems with the new GFCIs the electrician installed in the bathroom next to my radio room and in the kitchen. My radio seems to trip them with ease when I put out 100 W. 30 M is so bad I can only put out 10 Watts!!! 40 and 20 I can run about 50 Watts.
The other drawback is the altitude here. I am only 79 feet above sea level, where Randolph, VT was almost 700 feet. I don't get out quite as good here.
SKCC:
For July I got 60 brags plus the bonus brag for K5MP. Was not able to operate the first two weeks of July due to move, but did respectable. For August, I am in the mid 90's right noe. A few more days left for brags.
WES:
Was able to participate in the August WES. Made 100 QSOs. Did a lot more CQing this time. So far I am in 13th overall out of 213 and 6th in my category out of 98.
I really miss it when I can't do the WES.
SKCC Awards:
Got several SKCC awards lately.
15M Cx1
20M WAS, WAS-C, Cx6, Px6 and Tx9
30M Px2
40M Sx2, Px6, Cx7 and Tx10
80M Sx1
Thank goodness for the SKCCLogger. I would have never figured this out with just a spreadsheet
Thanks Ron AC2C!!!
Flex:
Been working like a charm, mostly. I had a couple of lockups recently, but not often enough to worry. There have not been any updates the 1.X version of the software, only the 2.X version. I have been happily running version 1.11.12. Since I have the "cheap" radio, I don't see the need to pay the $200 for the upgrade. I have had no issues with Windows updates messing up the DAX or CAT interfaces.
Antennas:
I have got most of the parts to repair my 80-6M OCF dipole. I will wait until the leaves are off the trees to get it back up. Also want to get my 160 Slopper up then.
I was toying with the idea of a 160-6M OCF dipole. But it turns out, If I make the long end of the 80-6m OCF the short end of the 160-6m OCF, and add the required length to short end the long end of a 160-6M OCF, It would be the same. Only thing I don't know is how long the vertical radiator has to be.
New Shack:
Below are some pictures of my shack. It is not fully up. I still need to put up my Slim Jim antenna for my 2m rig.
Bad news: My 2M rig causes the GFCI's to trip. I guess I will have to wait until they are changed.
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| New Shack!! |
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| EFHW 80-10m up in the trees about 50' |
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| One end tied to deck post close to the house |
First try at a video
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