In reply to beverages on other peoples property by ve9aa
> You forgot to mention, too, that if they get
> destroyed or at least fall down due to deer, moose,
> chainsaws or cross country skiiers, that they work
> better once you fish them out of the snow and
> reinstall them!
> Been there, done that, have the t-shirt!!!
> Have fun Bill, Neat anecdote.
> MIKE
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by Ni6t..........>>>
Here, the deer do not wander this far into the subdivision--too many
dogs, I reckon, and too few escape routes. And we are demonstrably
short of moose and caribou abd cross-country skiers.
Treelimbs are the big nemesis here in the redwood canyon, and
occasionally the entire tree. Mudslides are good, too--they take down
trees on these sheer slopes. There is also the occasional vandal. I
cannot even estimate how many times since 1990 I have repaired my
Beverages, or even how many times I have repaired them in the dark,
rain and mud. The most recent was last week--tree branches had taken
out one end of each Beverage. On one, access was via a muddy trail 12
inches wide cut into the cliff. I inched along in the dark, wearing a
miner's lamp and questioning my own sanity. When I got to the end, I
discovered I needed a screwdriver--and had not brought one. So I
repeated the entire exercise. Was it worth it? I worked the XZ two
nights later.
Conclusion: Beverages in a forest are high-maintenance items. Owning
them may require a certain degree of foolhardiness. -- Garry Shapiro,
NI6T Editor, The DXer newsletter of the Northern California DX Club
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from ve9aa:.............>>>
Garry! Hi hi! Good story. Reminds me of
the night I worked 3y0pi on 80m.phone
I was knee deep in snow in my Reeboks after
I rushed outside 'cuz I knew they were QSY-ing
to 80m and my antenna suddenly wasn't working.
A bad ug-258(?) barrel connector, and no soldering
iron to reach that far, and no spare barrel connector.
What did I do? What I usually do when I run outside
at night in the snow. Take tape, knife, wire, and
a pair of Linemans pliers. I put a small chunk of wire
around the center of both pl259's, and another around
the shields. An open wire line about 3" long!
SWR virtually unchanged. Don't ask me why.
Needless to say, due to the extreme condx that the coax
was repaired under, I worked the surprised 3y0pi
SSB 80m (ok 75m) op on THE FIRST CALL.
honest! He couldn't beleive it. It was roughly 5-6
minutes after I worked them on 160m CW.
they QRT'd so I knew they were gg to 80m.
He musta grabbed a coffee in between.
So, the moral of the story is:
Make those repairs
at night and if you can manage it; in inclement WX
winter is always better than summer. Especially if
you aren't dressed properly. Adding snow helps!
MIKE
I wouldn't climb a tower in that type of scenario
but have been known to go across a roof or 2
at night, but with heavy lugged boots on.
That extra 1 db gained by wearing sneakers
sometimes isn't worth it if you end up in the ER
with a fractured humourous!!!
MIKE-ve9 antenna antenna
Michael & Coreen Smith (AA Antennas & Wynder Photography)
271 Smith Rd, Waterville,
Sunbury Co.,NB, Canada
E2V 3V6
Ham call=ve9aa / ve9ms/b (ex-cy0aa,ve1mq,ve1btt)
6M Vhf buffs;
See the *NEW* AA Antenna web page at:
http://members.tripod.com/~ve9aa/index.html
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