RITP and transmitter hunting
For once I went to the Radio in the Park thing and didn’t set up a station. Instead, I wanted to see what transmitter hunting was about after an absence of a few years (decades). I tried the yagi and special DF box that Harrie and company have cooked up, but I just couldn’t get the hang of it. Seems I have to actually hear the signal to make sense of it. Anyway, I blundered along with just the handheld, rubber duck, body fade and off tuning. All five transmitters got found with a mix of skill and luck. I will leave you to figure out the percentage of each.
Unexpected events …
Then, an sudden illness and subsequent death in the family knocked me off my game for a few weeks. I’ll be ok if I don’t have to talk about it, but that’s why I missed a few nets and events. As a result of that I have less to say this month than usual. I’m mostly back now.
Mag loops, meetings, and contests
My magloop is behind schedule and may not be ready by snow season. Next task is to figure out how to bend the feed loop into the right radius without creasing the thing- or maybe I just let it crease anyway.
Meanwhile, I have a Morse exam scheduled for tomorrow and a Basic one a few days later, so the world is still going around.
I’m looking forward to an in person OARC meeting in November, so keeping fingers crossed on that one. (Sorry to say, the City will not be resuming room rentals until 2023. Ed.)
There are a few contests coming up so its time to blow the dust off the ‘phones again.
If you happen to get a day after the leaves are down and before the snow follows them, take another look at the trees and see what antennas they may hold. Some branches likely came down over the year opening up a path, and some that were too skinny last year might hold up a wire now.
73
mk
Last Updated on 2024-12-23 by AdminOARC