It's that time of year, at least in Texas where I live, the flowers start to bloom, the temperatures start to rise and antennas need some work. This past weekend a friend of mine, Hector, AD6D/XE2K, came to help me (he did most of the work) with some tower climbing, element straightening, rotor fixing and antenna building. In a addition to the antenna/tower work we completely reorganized my shack, so it was a busy weekend. I am now greased and gassed and ready to go for while. I found some things in the shack that I hadn't seen in a while, so I will be getting reaquainted with some of my toys.
I also received my new Yaesu VX8-GR with the build in APRS/GPS capability. I was up on APRS in a matter of minutes, pretty cool. There are various applications of APRS, but for a hiker/climber it is a nice safety device so that you location is known in case of emergency and if you are activating a summit, chaser can follow your progress up the mountain.
I also managed a QRP QSO with EY8MM, so the new restored antennas are working great.
After I recover from the weekend, I will write about some more interesting topics.
Good morning Mike, I hope to see the flowers up this way soon...the temp's are still a bit low! As for the antenna maintenance its something that is overlooked until something goes wrong.....then it goes from simple maintenance to a huge undertaking. As for me the antenna is in the attic (dipole) and upkeep is low.
ReplyDeleteMike