[RTTY] G3LDI - BARTG SPRINT - WOULD HAVE BEEN!

[Roger Cooke]

Hi.

   Just a short p....d off note from a miffed G3!  At least you will 
have a laugh!

I intended a modest entry for this test. All set up and ready Saturday 
morning, so went about
my chores and came into the shack at 11.55. I tuned around, and found 
several stations that I
could not decode. Strange? It WAS working  (when?) but now was not. I 
tried working a few
stations, had enormous problems with decoding. I checked the N1MM 
set-up, all seemed fine,
with the exception of the SWR on my beam, for some reason now 2.7:1. I 
checked the tuning,
and that would not lower the SWR. However, I was intent on sorting the 
software problem.
I looked at MMTTY, all seemed fine, must be me!  After a real struggle 
with 20 or so Q's, asking
for repeats etc., I finally re-booted the PC, and the contest software. 
Whilst I was waiting, I just
happened to look at my beam. What!!!!!???? One fibre-glass tube on one 
side of the reflector
was missing.
   I went outside and found it stuck in the grass about six inches, like 
a javelin! I pulled it out and
cleaned it, thinking of the work involved in climbing the 110ft tower, 
cutting all the cable ties,
luffing the tower, replacing the tube, you know the feeling!  So, I was 
now confined to the
rhombic, OK, not a bad antenna to be confined to, but it is not 
rotatable! Sheez.............
   Back to the keyboard, it was still the same. I could not work out 
what the problem was, but
had some other things to do the Saturday evening, so I slept on the 
problem.
  I came into the shack again Sunday morning after having a proper 
breakfast ( not the usual
contest one! ) and looked at the MicroHam keyer. What a twit! I had been 
trying to get the WAV
files transposed to N1MM, and had saved a preset with all the audio 
settings changed! I changed
back to the MMTTY and bingo! AAAARRRRGGGHHH! Not good, but at least 
working at last.
Made up a score of 125 and went and had lunch.
   This is the best bit!  I came back and closed down N1MM, did some 
sorting of another program
that I was using, and then thought it a good idea to try the WAV file 
problem again. I forgot to
save the log file.     I sat there in disbelief!

   So, that's it for another year, and I hope that the BARTG Spring will 
be a bit better!  If anybody
has any idea how to get the MicroHam WAV files into N1MM, I would love 
to hear!

73 de Roger, G3LDI -