I blogged before about working N8BUS and WB2PAY one right after the other last Friday while testing out the rig we used at the GOTA station on Field Day. Well, later that evening, I got on 30m CW. The band conditions weren’t much better than they were on 40m earlier, but I was not only surprised, but excited to get a call from D44TWO. Now, I’d worked D4 many times, but TWO is another ATNO! That made three in a row.
After working the D4 station, I started calling CQ again. This time, Tom, W1EAT returned my call. I’d worked Tom before, and even have his QSL card, but it was still a blast to work four stations whose calls spell words in a row. When I mentioned to Tom that we’d worked before, and that I had his card, he remembered me, even though it had been five years. He quoted to me the comment on the card, “Because W1DRINK is tooooo long.”
Bad contacts
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that I couldn’t increase the power on my IC-746PRO to more than 80 W. The radio is north of 12 years old, so I started thinking maybe it’s time to replace the final transistors.
I Googled around to see if anyone else had a similar problem, and one guy mentioned that he had the same symptoms, and he fixed it by shortening the power cable from his PowerPole distribution strip, and in the process, removing the fuses and fuse holders. He noted that the fuses really weren’t necessary, as the distribution strip was fused. Several other guys noted they had also had problems with the cheap fuse holders.
Well, I rarely run the radio above 75 W, so I didn’t get around to disconnecting the power cable until last Friday, when I connected the club’s 746PRO up to the power supply. Before I re-connected my radio, I opened up the fuse holders and twisted the fuses a little. I put it all back together, and I’m now getting 100 W out of the rig again. What a simple fix! The moral of the story—and I’ve said this before—always check the connections first!
Don’t hesitate to call the weak ones
I just finished a QSO with Frank, WA2BQU. When I heard him calling CQ, he was only about S4, so I hesitated in returning the call, but I couldn’t hear much else on the band, so I figured what the heck.
Well, as it turned out, it was a nice contact. The band picked up and he was R5 all the way, peaking at S9. The moral of this story is don’t hesitate to call the weak stations. It may turn out to be a great QSO after all.
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