I’m back …
No, I didn’t really go anywhere, but haven’t put any words onto the OARC website since the weather was nice. Partly I was busy with the station at RAC HQ, and partly I was discouraged about the state of the OARC, with no leadership in sight. Both are looking much better now.
A big thank you to those of you who have stepped up in both regards. Some of you have helped out in both places and our neighbourhamhood is so much better for it.
Antenna magic …
One thing that happened while I was away was a bit of antenna magic. I helped a local ham move a complicated, expensive, vertical antenna from a really crappy location to a better spot on the property. It was still a complicated, expensive antenna, but now the location had been ruled out as the cause of the poor performance. With fall falling and winter waiting to arrive, I suggested, and put up, a single wire in the trees. Still a vertical, but without the complications and expense. It worked. It worked so well they guy said he hasn’t had this much joy in just getting on the air in decades. We still don’t know why the other thing didn’t work (although we have our suspicions), but he’s happy and so am I.
So if you don’t have an antenna, or what you have isn’t working out for you, try something, anything else. Don’t let the prospect of the perfect antenna in the future keep you off the air in the present.
Morse, of course …
As I write this, I’m a few days away from conducting Morse exams for a bunch of students. Their efforts reminded me of my time learning the code. Some will make it, some will need a re-test and inevitably, sadly, some will give up when they are 90 percent of the way there. As a former beginner, I will be happy to welcome them on the air, as I was welcomed back then.
The weekend after those exams is the RAC Winter Contest, for 24 hours from 7PM local on Dec 27th. As contests go, it is one of the most easy going ones, and a good place to start. If you can’t make it to RAC HQ, give us a shout on the air. We expect to be on 80-2m, voice and CW.
Finally …
Oh yeah, there is some sort of holiday thing coming up between those last two items. I hope you have a calm and peaceful time of it.
73
MX/HNY
mk
VE3FFK
Last Updated on 2024-12-23 by AdminOARC