G'day all
It was the final night of the AH3D Dxpedition and an hour before sunrise
VK6VZ had anxiously checked the antennas. The previous four days of the
DXpedition had yielded S1 (occasionally peaking S2) signals on 160m from
the expedition and all I could do was hope tonight was the night when the
propagation turned in my favour
Since the start of the DXpedition, the local birdlife had taken to roosting
on the VK6VZ HF tribander and 160m/40m parallel inverted vees in large
numbers, propelling themselves into the air like Olympic divers off a
springboard, with consequent 'high tangle probability' to the wire antennas.
At 1125Z, I became aware that I had taken my eye off the ball when Mike
VK6HD phoned to tell me that he had just worked AH3D with good signals -
after all the preparation, I had forgotten the match... Leaping out of the
dugout where I was reading a 'Harry Potter' novel to my daughter, the
FT1000MP was quickly switched on.
AH3D was peaking 589, with static hitting S7 - S9 - great stuff! However,
as soon as I swung the key, my heart sank - the inverted vee seemed a long
way off resonance with a high SWR. I also realised that this was a sunset
peak and AH3D's signals were sinking by the second, while the static was
coming up.
Quickly, I reached for the antenna switch and my much maligned Marconi-T
second antenna - scheduled for the scrap heap. AH3D was an equally good
signal on it, calling CQ '3 up' and the SWR was perfect. At 1135Z, after
only a couple of calls, I hit the jackpot and AH3D was in the log.
A few minutes ago, I walked out to find the end of my 40m inverted vee
wrapped around the 160m one - as suspected, the 'parrots' (actually, it was
probably Australian magpies this time) had done their deadly work.
I learned a big lesson last night. Never underestimate how quickly a flock
of birds can wreck an antenna - and make sure you always have a spare one
in a big match. Needless to say, the Marconi-T is off the retirement list
and will star again next season.
Vy 73
Steve, VK6VZ
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