Back to the Storms

For several days we had amazing weather here.  Sun and absolutely no wind.   I wondered if I was still on the same island.

I took some time to maintain the antenna -- I shortened the feed line after finding some excess length that was unnecessary.

Working conditions have been generally good for 20m and 15m.    The 10m noise (S9+40) seems to have abated but who knows if that will last.

15m SSB was productive, but it is virtually impossible to hold the split frequency on SSB from here because the stations up the band cannot hear me -- so they just park where I'm listening and rag-chew.

Oh well.  If my pile-up was larger then they'd scatter away.  But when there's 1 Q / 5min there's no hint for them to skedaddle.  I'm also not blowing their meter needle off anyway -- it's a wash.

But last night as the RSGB IOTA Contest was starting, the storm hit and the wind really gusted.. Felt like 40-50 mph and in the night, the tuner started to act strange. I put on my rain gear and investigated this morning at the first light.

I noticed that the 40m and 30m elements were misplaced at the top of the antenna. A strong gust must have snapped the driven element wire.   (Notice the dark grey sky)

I have to disconnect the UNUN from the base and unscrew the cap that holds the mast to the ground plate.

I loosened two of the guy lines and gently lowered the antenna.  Not only did the wire snap, but the fiberglass tube collapsed into itself.  So, not too much trouble.  I used some spare wire to splice the antenna driven element and re-stretched out the fiberglass. I replaced the clamps and then raised it back up into operating position.   I'm glad I brought my fly-fishing SIMMS rain coat.  Pockets for tools and big hood for keeping the rain off my face.

I did not expect to use up so many spare parts, but I have been glad to be prepared for this.   Even if the mast were to become completely destroyed, I have a backup.   I just wish I had a backup for the KPA-500 and KAT-500. Those units are going into a box and on a shelf when I get home.   Time to look at SPE Amplifiers, probably.

The band conditions for the IOTA contest have not been very good.  Having a really tough time copying stations and the spot-clusters from this side aren't showing a lot of hits of stations.  Perhaps later today when the greyline passes through the midwest NA then the west coast.

We shall see.