144 MHz Spring Sprint - 2020
Call: K1WHS
Operator(s): K1WHS
Station: K1WHS
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: FN43mj
Operating Time (hrs): 2
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 46 Mults = 11 Total Score = 506
Club:
Comments:
I had this crazy idea to try to get back on VHF after not even looking at the
hilltop hamshack in a few years. I was very ill in 2017 and in 2018 and 2019 I
was busy fishin'. I never turned anything on in that time. Heck I haven't even
been there in two years. The old adage "When you're away, the mice will
play" is about right.Everything up there was covered in mouse pee and poop.
Every cable, every piece of gear. The baseboard heaters, counter tops,
EVERYTHING! I spent Monday washing cables and vacuuming up mouse pellets. It was
basically disgusting. I finally got up some nerve to turn things on. My diesel
generator has been sitting there idle for a few years. I had the foresight to
install a small solar panel and charger system to keep the lead acid battery
always charged. It started right up, and I got all the stuff working. I even
tried the KW amp and it came up OK. The only problem was that I could hear no
beacons anywhere on the 144 MHz band. When the sprint started I was immediately
aware that I could not hear very well at all. Stalwart K1TEO was on and I
usually hear him S5 or 6 off the back of his beam. This time he was S6 with his
beam aimed at me. I have no idea what is wrong. The problem seemed common to all
of my antennas, so I suspected that the trouble maybe in the preamp, bandpass
filters, or coax relays in the shack. I quit early when figured out how bad
everything was working, and came back on Tuesday with some gear to check stuff
indoors. I was bummed to find that it was all working just fine. I could detect
no losses in the TX relay. A -130 dBm signal is S3. A -140 dBm signal is an S2
and I cranked things down as far as I could and it was still Q5. I guess the
feedline and the antennas are hosed. I hate this. At least on 160 meters, I can
fix everything with a pair of pliers and a wrench or two. To fix this stuff
requires return loss bridges and hanging off towers and opening up supposedly
weather proof coax connectors. I think I am going back to fishin' again!
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