I mean, hobbies are supposed to be healthy, right?
My current hyperfixation, in case you couldn’t tell, is antenna making. After the making of the antennas, though, comes the using of the antennas, and that takes some time and some doing.
I’ve already reported back successes with the vertical dipole and the inverted vees. Where I’m currently stumped, though, is with the random long wire. I have 41′ of wire, a 9:1 balun, some counterpoise, and a lack of luck.
I’ve tried a more-or-less horizontal config. A few slopers (top-down, bottom-up). Various incarnations of orientation.
I’ve been heard, at least a few times, with good signal reports (though not enough to get a POTA activation because it got damn cold out and we had to pack it in), and I’ve also been completely skunked.
I know my signal is getting out, sometimes. I heard myself on 20m on webSDR this morning, so something’s happening.
And then there’s the digital modes. CQs are going out, I’m being spotted on PSKReporter, but generally being shut out there, too.
And then the USB quit on my radio, so now I’m feeling a little on the defeated side. It’s only temporary, but in the meantime, I guess I’ll go back to playing bass and doing math…
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