Picture this:
It is a Saturday night in January and a 16-year old radio amateur is up to
his knees in snow trying to solder the broken antenna connection to his
160m inverted-L so he can have a shot at working W1BB, K1PBW and W1HGT.
He is trying to do this by heating up a soldering iron in his mother's
kitchen and then racing out into the snow and soldering the antenna
connection before the iron goes cold...
It is now over thirty years on, on the other side of the world, and is a
Saturday morning.
The same radio amateur, wearing a t-shirt and shorts in 30 degree heat, is
looking up at the broken connection at the feedpoint on his 160m inverted
vee dipole. This has been caused by native Australian parrots attempting
to eat the PVC-covered soldered joints. To repair the antenna means taking
down the 90' tower and, being an old fellow, he has a sore back, so it is
not looking an attractive job at all. However, if he wants to work the
Ogsawara Islands, this must be done...
Funny how life changes - or does it?
Happy New Year to all
Vy 73
Steve, VK6VZ/G3ZZD
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