Tuesday is rapidly approaching, and I have had my shack all ripped apart
while stringing the new "hooge" heliax into my building. When you think
about crimping a connector on some LMR-400 and then contrasting that
with applying a big brass connector onto some 1 5/8" in a confined
space, there is no comparison. It was a chore. Just hacksawing the end
off the coax was a huge deal, as you have to be very accurate with the
cut! Doing behind a relay rack in a cramped area does not help. Anyway,
I had to pull the big coax into the building and tie it up to the
messenger cables outside, then route it inside the shack. WA1T and I had
done a temporary job,with some excess cable laying outside. Yesterday I
did the final trim and now have everything where it should be. After
hanging the cable properly, I had about 15 ft of excess cable to hacksaw
off. There is nothing so satisfying as forming the copper outer sheath
for the connector with a screwdriver, while standing in a confined space
and sweating like a pig.
There are so many pieces of coax coming into that building, it is
impossible to know what each one is. It took me a long time trying to
figure that out today in the rain and fog. I am still looking for the
2x 8 el liaison antenna for 222 MHz. It is a piece of 7/8" coax, but it
is hiding on me. I did find the 222 LVA coax. I plan to label
everything again. The old labels wore off.
So it looks like I am ready for another 222 MHz activity evening. This
is the last one before the Central States VHF Conference in Wisconsin. I
plan to be out there and will definitely pitch the Tuesday night
activity periods to all who will listen. 222 MHz will be front and
center at the conference as there has been an upswing in WAS activity on
222 after years of little activity. W5ZN, W5LUA, and N0AKC will have a
presentation on the 222 MHz WAS chase at the conference. I intend to
push activity on 222 MHz. It is a fantastic band that is under utilized!!
So I will be on 222.100 MHz starting at about 2245 UT on Tuesday night,
and going as long as activity is there. We are getting into great meteor
shower periods and the evenings can now support possible MS QSOs on 222
MHz. You will never know unless you try! Many of us use ON4KST (144/432
Region 2) for liaison. HB9Q is good for EME coordination too.
CU on 222 MHz on Tuesday.
Dave K1WHS
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