FSK and Meteor Scatter on 2 meters

My local Raadio Club, Spalding and District Amateur Radio Society (SDARS), recently had a video presentation, talk and demonstration on the use of FSK with WSJT  Software for making long distance contacts on 2 meters using Meteor Scatter.

This was a very timely talk as the Perseid Meteor Shower was due in a few days along with a DXpedition to IO41 by EI9E.

I must say that I had used this mode before, or I should say I had WSJT working before, but I had never made any contacts with it. I simply did not really understand what Meteor Scatter was all about. I certainly did not realise that this was a mode that can be used at any time as Meteors are constantly entering the Earth's atmosphere.

The video was by GW8JLY which told us what FSK and Meteor Scatter was all about. It was a very comprehensive video that didn't get bogged down in too many technicalities. Further explanation was given by Bob, G1ZJP, and then a practical demonstration was given by Julian, G4YHF, in the Club Raadio Shack which put the theory into practice. 

Still fired up with enthusiasm, I couldn't wait to give this a try at home and the next day was on 144.370 listening out for signals. I saw some decodes on the screen from OH6KTL and decided to give him a call. After a few QRZ's he got my call and after some time sending info to and fro, we completed the QSO.

So I had made my first Meteor Scatter QSO using FSK and WSJT software. OH6KTL is in KP02OJ, a distance of 1649 Kms and just using 30 watts to an 11 ele Tonna at my end.
I think that this is a mode that I could get into and will definitely be trying it again.

Thanks to SDARS for being such a pro-active Club. This is not something that I would have achieved before the presentation. Thanks guys.

73 De Jim GØHGH

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Deaf????

At some point every Amateur Radio operator must get filled with self doubt and wonder whether or not his signal is getting anywhere. Likewise, when listening to a fairly deserted band, is it imagination or is there actually a signal in that noise that I can just not make out. It must be sign of my insecurity in that, when I get some adverse criticism, I always think that it is me to blame.

In July, FISTS started a two meter activity event for an hour on Saturday evenings and another hour on Sunday mornings. In that first month I received more listener reports than I had QSOs. On the Yahoo group conversations it became evident that many operators were using low power and a  vertical antenna: the cross polarization losses are quite large so I was not too concerned.

In August, a suggestion was made that I was running huge power and  was extremely deaf! Perhaps someone should talk to me about it? Comments like this only fuel my anxiety so was starting to become a little concerned. I usually run 75 watts to an 11 element beam up about 10 to 15 meters agl depending upon wx conditions (and whether or not I got up early enough to pump up the mast).

Fortunately I have been competing in the RSGB UKAC Contests for a few years now and, if nothing else, they have given me a very good idea how well or poorly my signals have been radiating around Europe. For instance, when I first started contesting it was with a vertical antenna and 8 watts. Not surprisingly, my signal did not get very far, a maximum of 100Km, so it wasn't long before I upgraded to a 6 element 2 meter beam. That made a huge difference and I was working stations up to 250 Km away without too much trouble. Next came an upgrade to my current set up; an 11 element beam and 100 watts. With this station I find that I do fairly well and am confident in having a good idea on what I can expect from it. attaining 450 Kms is not unreasonable.

CW is a mode much more suited to making longer distance contacts so I was quite keen when the FISTS 2 meter activity sessions were announced. When I look at the log and analyse the QSOs they are however a bit disappointing. I have had two, quite hard work, contacts at 300 and 220 Kms where I gave 429 reports and received 579. Most other contacts have been quite local.

Interestingly, during one session I was called by a Contest station in IO75 and we exchanged very good signal reports (not unsurprising for contests!) but the QSO was pretty much as I expected - easy copy both ways and that was at 479 Kms.

So am I deaf or do FISTS members just not put out big signals? As I mentioned earlier many are using verticals, assuming a cross polarization loss of 25 Db and my antenna has a gain of 12 DB (assuming I have them perfectly aligned) that still leaves a loss of 13 Db. If the other station is running 5 watts from an FT817 or similar, that 13 Db loss is extremely significant. Not surprising then that if I am not perfectly aligned they are simply not audible here.

G0ILN has installed an HB9CV antenna at his stataion in JO00 square and he runs just 5 watts. I gave him a 429 report and I received 579 in return at a distance of 217 Kms. Another station in IO83 has a dipole sellotaped to his wardrobe door and can hear me, but I cannot hear his 5 watts. I really do not find that very surprising. Or am I too easily satisfied?

73 es good dx de Jim GØHGH 

70 MHz UKAC

I have never made any bones about it, I am just not really a /P operator. My last venture onto 4 meters was from a good, high location in Somerset and I did abysmally. Four meters is not a band that I had any equipment for so all of it was borrowed. Unfamiliarity tends to add the general state of confusion that I find myself in while portable operating. Fortunately there are not many 5th Tuesdays in the month to worry about so I have lived with the situation.

For this months 4 meter UKAC I was at home and determined to do a bit better. I ordered a 4 element beam from Andy, our "antenna man" at SDARS and also spent a bit more time setting the station up. The Transmitter was the same borrowed kit, An FT690 with transverter and small linear giving 20 watts. As usual I checked out the band plan to make sure where I knew where I was supposed to be going. 70 MHz is a bit different from other bands in that the bottom segment is for beacons and not CW. Phone and key share a calling frequency of 70.200 MHz.

The biggest improvement to my station was the addition of my shack headphones. I had taken them along last time but had the wrong 1/4" to 3.5mm adapter and could only hear from one earpiece!

Conditions were quite flat for the contest and that is fine by me as when others score very well, I tend to just score a little better than usual. A flat band tends to even out the "luck" of sporadic E contacts.

I passed my last efforts within the first hour so was well pleased. I went on to make 42 contacts in 12 multiplier squares.

I was happy to work several squares that often evade me, IO90, IO94 and IO95 but still cannot manage to find the number of squares more experienced contesters can conjure up.

Overall it was an enjoyable contest with a mixture of search and pounce along with some sessions calling CQ.

Many thanks to all for the points and hope to work you again in the next UKAC.

73 de Jim GØHGH

June 17th 23 Cms UKAC

23 Cms is a fairly new band for me and it is one that takes some getting used to. Not only do you operate the radio but you also have to arrange skeds using KST. It certainly adds another dimension to Contest operation.

Being fairly new to the band it should be quite easy to better your last score and so far things have been going in the right direction. This was certainly a personal best result for me. It wasn't down to the number of QSO's but to the number of multiplier squares worked - a total of 15 which I was very pleased with.

There was a lot of deep QSB on most distant signals with total fade out at some points so some perseverance was required on both ends of the contact.

I was pleased to say that CW played a small part n pulling in some of the weaker signals. Certainly G3YPQ/p in IO70SS would never have been worked on phone. I gave him a 529 and I received a 449 so it just goes to show how useful CW is in difficult conditions.

I run 10 Watts to a 55 ele Tonna up at 12 meters agl so low power but with high gain. A very sharp antenna so constant tweaking of beam heading made more difficult by QSB made it all quite hard work but most enjoyable.

There were a few SDARS stations on including G4YHF, G4ODA, G4NBR and G4KIY. Strangely I did not hear G4ODA all evening despite the fact that we are fairly close to each other.

73 es tnx fer all points.

80 meter UKCC Contest

CW contests are a bit of a strange affair really. I am normally found, plodding away at about 17 wpm on my paddle but as soon as you mention "Contest" we all become speed freaks. Unfortunately, I am just not very accurate sending or receiving above 20 wpm so some practice is prescribed.

The RSGB UKCC Contests on 80 meters are quite a relaxed affair really, and even has a designated frequency of 3.555 MHz for slower operators to have a go. Sadly a couple of DL's decided to have a very high power QSO on that frequency for a good part of the June Contest but as the band was not that crowded, it didn't detract very much from everyone's enjoyment. I usually concentrate my efforts towards the top of the band segment as things get more frantic the lower in frequency that you go. In fact the bottom 30 Hz tend to be rather manic.

In April I managed 38 contacts and in June's Contest manged to improve slightly making 43 contacts. Still a long way to go but I do not take it very competitively. For me it is about gaining experience and self improvement.

As mentioned, Contest operation is usually at much higher speeds than normal rag chewing and you really need to get your ears tuned in for a specific exchange. As all HF CW contest signal reports are 599 all you really need is the 3 digit number that follows the RST and the Call sign of course. This part of the exchange is typically sent at between 25 and 30 wpm, much too fast for most of us mortal operators, but it is amazing how fast you can read that limited exchange when you know what to listen for and practice for it.

Fortunately numbers are longer than any other Morse Code character so that helps. Unfortunately, many experienced ops tend to use abbreviated forms for the Zero and number 9. Whilst I don't mind the leading zeros being shortened to a "T" in the exchange (TT1), nor do I mind the 599 being sent as 5NN, but when they appear in any other place it disturbs my rhythm and makes me stop and think - a practice fatal in decoding CW. 

Search and Pounce (S&P) mode is the easiest mode to use as you have plenty of time to catch the call sign of the station that you want to work. Even if they are sending at 25 wpm you can normally get it correct if you listen to it a few times. Once you have his call sign in your logging programme all you have to do is send your own call sign once and then listen to hear if he is calling you back or someone else. Assuming the other station heard you correctly all you need to do is enter the default 599 for the RST and then listen for the next 3 numbers - your serial number. Even if you miss it and are too embarrassed to admit it you can listen for the number given to the next few contacts that station makes and work backwards to the number that you were given. Not too bad really. Then you just send 5NN and your 3 figure serial number to him. Simple really isn't it?

Whilst S&P is the easiest way to make contacts, you really need to call CQ to make the points. Then accurate copying of the other stations call sign is vital and it is not always easy when the band is crowded and you have QRM to contend with. You can practice call sign recognition though with contest emulator programmes like Morse Runner. Calling CQ and establishing a run frequency is much more stressful so start with S&P mode if you want.

Contest operating on the HF bands is not everybody's cup of tea but it is a great way to improve your own operating technique, gain confidence using CW and also to learn how to utilize some of the many controls on a modern rig, especially in the filtering department. 

To begin don't take things too seriously and just enjoy it. Get out of it whatever it is that you want and leave winning to the big boys. They are great for call sign recognition which is one of the most important skills that you can develop for using the HF bands outside of those dreaded contests.

If you feel like giving CW contests a go but are not confident enough, then contact me at the Club (SDARS members) and we can organize some practice sessions on the computer and/or on the key.

73 es gud dx de Jim G0HGH

Recovery Service!

What other Rally has a recovery service like this? Thanks for the Photo Andy.

It looks like Alan has discovered a new way of getting home after a visit to his local hostelry!

73 de Jim G0HGH

RSGB UKAC 70 Cms June 10th

Solar storms normally effect the HF bands rather than UHF, and there had been a couple of days  of poor conditions on the HF bands prior to this months Contest. Conditions seemed fairly poor on UHF though and trying to work IO81, 82 and 83 was really hard work. Whether this had anything to do with the Solar storm I do not know.

It wasn't until the last 30 seconds of the Contest that I managed to have a qso with Tony, GW8ASD in IO83 square for a new multiplyer. I am beginning to think that Tony leaves me until the last minute just to make me sweat. I only managed one contact in each of IO82, 82 83 and 95 squares; and they only happened in the last 20 minutes so it just goes to show,don't give up hope until the very end.

There were some huge signals but there appeared to be plenty of the room on the band. I managed to hold a run frequency on 432.127 until the last half hour. After I lost control of that I went search and pounce until I found a free spot around 432.175 for the last few minutes.

Thanks to everyone for the points, some contacts were a bit hard work and some of the regulars were not heard at all.

I ran 9 watts to a 19 element beam made by SDARS member Andy 2E0WAX up at 12 meters agl. I also used a HA8ET LNA at the mast head with Ecoflex 15 feeder.

Once again my admiration goes to those stations who seem to able to find those extra, magic multiplyers. 

73 es gud dx de Jim G0HGH

RSGB UKAC 2 meter Contest

June 3rd RSGB UKAC 2 meter Contest map

Conditions seemed pretty good for this months 2 meter Contest but, as usual, some stations reported working into Italy earlier in the day with all sporadic E dying out by the time it was due to start the Contest.

I believe that I am starting to make some headway in Contests after the many station improvements that have been made over the last two years, but make no mistake, doing well in Contests is as much about operating skill as it is having the equipment. Even with the best equipped station I am sure that I would still struggle to improve my scores and still have much to learn.

I worked 16 multiplyer squares and must admit that I wonder how or if I will ever get to work any more than that. It must be possible as fellow SDARS Club members; M1MHZ managed a staggering 24 squares and G4YHF managed to work 18 with just 10 watts. SDARS member G4ODA was working as GM4ODA/P in IO99 but the WX in N. Scotland was atrocious and the distance too great for me to even hear him which was a pity.

Best DX for me was OZ1ALS who was not beaming my way at the time, but I did manage to catch his attention at 705 Kms. I occasionally hear, but very rarely manage to work, him during a Contest so very pleased with that QSO.

2 Meters is probably the most popular of the Amateur bands and certainly is the band for which a huge number of Contesters are very well equipped so it is extremely competitive. As a result, if I do well you can guarantee that everybody else did even better when it comes to scoring the points.

A total of 62 QSO's in 16  scoring Squares with an extra 2 Continental squares and a few points added to Spalding and District Amateur Radio Society's tally.

73 de Jim G0HGH IO92WS

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SDARS 2014 Rally

Sunday, 1st June, and it was time for the annual Spalding and District Amateur Radio Society's Rally.

As if somebody had thoughtfully booked it, the Sun made a most welcome appearance and we had one of the warmest and driest day of the year. The playing field had a huge number of stalls and the Halls were packed with traders. Fortunately the Gleed School playing field is huge so that, even with many traders, there is still plenty of room and no-one felt cramped or crowded lending to a very relaxed and convivial atmosphere.

Andy, 2E0WAX, set up a demonstration portable station that rivaled anything that many of us can achieve from our home QTH's. This year he concentrated on 18MHz and had a 3 element mono-band beam and 400 Watts up at a respectable height. This generated lots of contacts using one of our Club calls, G1DSP/P, and also a lot of interest from visitors. As usual, at the busiest time during the Rally, Andy spent more time chatting to visitors about his station equipment than actually operating but then that is something that Andy enjoys as well. He is a great ambassador for Amateur Radio.

This years Rally saw the QRP Club attending with a stall for the first time and with them partly in my mind, I decided to give my Rockmite ][ 30 transceiver that I had built, its first airing. I made a dipole antenna cut for 10.106MHz and put that up about 7 meters agl on a glass fibre fishing pole, fairly close to the QRO station. Needles to say as soon as Andy started to transmit I experienced break through. However it didn't really cause any serious problems as my station created nearly as much interest to visitors as Andy's and I spent more time talking about the Rockmite than operating it. 

I was delighted to make my first QSO however using 400 milli-watts with SM6DEC, receiving a 539 report from Ben in Lidkoping. I went on to make 2 more contacts in Germany and felt like it had been a constructive morning.

The Worked all Britain group had their AGM in one of the School rooms and also had a stand in one of the two halls. A large variety of Traders attended including local antenna manufacturer M0CVO as well as the RSGB, Lamm Communications, VK6CJW, Bourne RC, Alan Clegg, Knobby, M Thurnton, RAOTA, Cambs Labels, Carol Hebden, Kevin G3AFF, March RC, MS Electronics and Synotel VK.

By all accounts everybody enjoyed themselves and, once again, Spalding Club members gave the Amateur Community a very warm welcome. With many Rallies folding in recent years, the Spalding Club Rally is becoming one of the most prestigious in the Radio calendar. 

So until next year, best 73 de Jim G0HGH/P

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Rockmite ][ 30 conclusion

Just a quick photo of the Roackmite board sockets and switching hardware inside the Hammond box.

The Box measures 111X60X30 mm (outside dimensions) and is the perfect size for this project. It is extremely robust and should be more than adequate for my needs.

If you are contemplating building a Rockmite please be aware that there are several modifications that various operators have made which are easy to incorporate just as long as you know about them before you install all of the components.

• There is a power modification that just involves changing the 2N2222 for a 2N3866
• There is a volume control that involves removing 1 resistor and installing a 1 Meg pot.

Both of these modifications are much easier to do if you know about them before you start.

I am not a great constructor with only average ability in this area. I found the screen printed board easy to follow and just large enough to build comfortably. There are no surface mount components to worry about or coils to wind.In fact the hardest part for me was wiring the coaxial cable to the board itself without causing a short. 

I bought the Rockmite from Kanga Products whose service I thought was excellent. The only part that is not included in the kit is the box to finish it off with.

The Hammond Box came from Bitsbox who also provide a very rapid and efficient service.

The board was built over 2 days but could easily be finished in 1 if you are not as over cautious as me. The box was easy to drill to install the sockets and switches. So in conclusion I am very pleased with kit and I definitely got a great sense of achievement in completing it successfully.

73 de Jim G0HGH

Rockmite ][ 30 update

It survived the smoke test.

Thanks to G8NWC and M0CVO for offers of Altoids tins to complete the Rockmite in true QRP style but in the end I decided on a rugged Hammond box from Bitsbox to finish it off.
The box is 111X60X30 mm and the board is a perfect fit. It leaves just enough room for me to get my fingers in to fit the rest of the hardware switching.


I  powered up with a dummy load attached but, not being a true QRPer, I do not have a meter that goes down that low, so tuned to the frequency with my FT897 and there it was with a very nice received tone. I must confess that I breathed a sigh of relief.

Next step is to work out how to lable the box and build an antenna.
Hope to be on the air soon.

73 de Jim G0HGH

Rockmite ][ 30 TRX Kit

Much as I love modern Radio Equipment, with all of its whistles and bells, I often find myself yearning for simpler days, especially when technology bites back and things go wrong. I am also very much a fair weather /P operator and, much as I enjoy our Club's annual Fun Field Day, the thought of dismantling my radio shack for expeditions does not fill me with joy. 

My longing for simpler equipment that was easily portable recently tempted me to look at some radio kits that are on the market. Once you start looking, the temptation is to start at the cheap end and then convince yourself that, for just a few more pounds, you can get various extras that would be very nice to have. Before you know it, you are spending serious money and you might just as well buy a "proper" rig. As I am very prone to getting carried away like that, I narrowed my choice down to either The Foxx-3 or the Rockmite transceiver. For just a few pounds more than the Foxx-3, the Rockmite offered a built in keyer and the ability to use 2 frequencies so the choice was made.

These transceivers are all single band, CW only, so my next decision was which band to go for. Most of my HF operating tends to be on 80 or 40 meters CW, both crowded bands at the best of times and for QRP, maybe a little too challenging for me. Chatting to keen QRPer at SDARS, Graham, G8NWC, I  decided to go for the 30 meter version and promptly placed my order with Kanga Products. I was extremely surprised to be disturbed by the Postman the very next day with a package that needed signing for. Top marks to Kanga Products for their rapid service.

                             Rockmite 30m

There was not a lot to unpack, but, what there was came in half a dozen envelopes and all components looked nice and shiny and good quality. Keen QRP operators will be pleased to know that the finished TRX will fit inside the obligatory Altoids mint tin so it was bound to be small. However, I did not want a project that was so small it was impossible to build or operate.

The board itself is very nicely printed and, I am pleased to say, does not use any surface mount components. It is quite densely populated so a magnifying glass is  definitely going to be needed, but that is more due to my aging eyes rather than anything else. The component layout is screen printed on the board and looks cramped but workable. So far so good. 

   

It was quite reassuring to recognize most of the components but one little strip has got me puzzled. It is only 18 mm wide but I have no idea what it is as yet.

The first step is to visit Kanga Products web site and download the instructions and builders help PDF's.

These appear to be detailed and I think that I will actually take the time to read them before starting work.

Twenty four hours later I have a populated board - well almost.

The build was quite straight forward although the instructions were very minimal. I started with the IC Sockets and then sorted the capacitors and resistors into groups according to their value. This way I was able to keep track of the components as they went on the board. Snag one was when I found that I was 2 capacitors short. They were both from the band specific batch of items so assume it was a bit of finger trouble when packing. A quick email has sorted that out. Kanga Products certainly cannot be criticized when it comes to speedy service .

Although the board is crowded, I found no difficulty in fitting any of the components. The design appears excellent from this point of view.

The unidentified component/s continued to be a mystery, they have not been mentioned in the instructions and there is nothing remotely similar indicated on the board. It or they are the only bits that I have left over after populating the board so that is a small area of concern.
Update; Just had an email from Kanga Products and the mystery item is part of a mounting kit for an LED accessory.

I have noticed that the kit has been upgraded with a volume pot added. In the instructions this was referred to as an optional extra so I will now have to remove 1 fixed resistor from the board and wire in the 1 meg potentiometer supplied. I hope this will not be too much of a problem as I usually find removing components much more difficult than fitting them. 

Next step, once the capacitors have arrived, will be testing prior to sorting out the hardware and boxing up. From experience this is my weak area and I have made some pretty shabby projects in the past. I am determined to make a better job of this kit as I think I will be using it quite a lot.

It is my hope that I will end up with a radio that is compact enough to be carried on my bike or taken on walks. The easier it is to pack, the more likely that I am to use it.

I have been playing with a variety of vertical antenna just lately and they work very well in quiet locations over a good ground but I do like resonant aerials and I do think that a single band QRP rig just has to have a mono band dipole. No losses from Baluns or traps when you are only starting with half a watt!

Based on a glass fibre fishing pole support 7 meters high should give me an easily handled antenna with the ends 2 meters agl for safety. As an inverted "V" it should be good for DX as well.

73 de Jim G0HGH

Data Modes Revisited

My favorite radio mode is undoubtedly CW and I am normally very happy to have the sound of morse constantly playing in my shack. But, after the recent RSGB UK AFC Phone Contest on 80 meters, I found that my brain was in desperate need of some peace and quiet. Even those sweet da di dahs irritated my ears, but, I still needed my radio.

Data modes have one distinct advantage over other modes in that you can switch the speaker off and just look at a waterfall of signals so I decided to give them a try again.

It has been several years since I last tried data modes and even then, I got them to work and then dropped them after several qso's, returning to my beloved CW. It came as no surprise therefore that when I connected the Yaesu FT897 via a G4ZLP TTL CAT Interface and a SignaLink USB Sound Card to my old laptop that I could see signals on the screen but could not transmit. Specifically, I could not get the PTT activated on the Sound Card.

I was trying to use N1MM Contest logging software and Fldigi for PSK and whilst I have used N1MM several times a year without problem, Fldigi was a new install. It seemed reasonable to me therefore to assume that was where the problem lay.

After much time reading the instructions for both N1MM and Fldigi my brain was starting to rebel and I was nearly ready to give radio a rest for a while. In situations like these the best course of action is usually to revert to the last known point at which things worked. I knew that I had previously used PSK with Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD) so booted that up fully expecting it to work. However it looked like I was in for a disappointing day!

Recently I had decided to concentrate on two Contest logging programmes, Minos for VHF and N!MM for HF along with my new WinKey. On my very old laptop I had manually reconfigured the ports so that N1MM and WinKey could work on it. HRD was configured to use Port 12 so that was the problem. I quickly selected the correct port but still no joy,

Beginning to despair I was wondering what else there was to tweak. Only the Windows sound mixer was left so I opened that up and at first glance all the correct choices had been made but on closer inspection the master volume control was only set at 50%. Not willing to mess about any longer I just pushed that up to maximum and hey presto, there was enough signal to activate the PTT on the Sound Card. I was in business again.

It was not long before I discovered why I had not spent very long on PSK before. Despite being one of the "more conversational" digital modes it is still very much Macro driven, especially when you are as slow and inaccurate typist as me. I had recently spent quite a long time sorting out the Macros on N1MM for an HF CW Contest so  had some idea of what I wanted to achieve.

HRD comes with some sets of ready made macros but on closer inspection some of them are a bit weird - wishing others a nice Christmas in 2003 etc. They also use pre-entered station data that was extremely out of date or totally irrelevant. I did end up having a pleasant evening on 80 meters making a qso, tweaking the macros and then another qso until I had the macros reasonably sorted out. 

I try to use the macros as an aid to typing rather than a full blown F1, F2, F3 sort of conversation. Conditions on 80 meters that night must have been very good as I ended up with a good batch of qso's using just 10 watts to my trap dipole. I would have been pleased with evenings work on CW using my more usual 50 to 75 watts.

Fired up with this success I then started to think about the UKCC 80m data Contest in February so started to see how Contest logging worked on HRD. It was not until I had "logged" three imaginary qso's that I found out that I had sent eqsl's automatically to 3 stations that I had in fact not worked. Two were SDARS members so I will apologize to them personally but to G3PYE/P I apologize. You are not going crazy it is just me getting ready to work you in the next data contest - I hope!

73 De Jim - G0HGH

Fortunate antenna problem!

With all of the high winds we have been experiencing lately I was not surprised that one arm of my bamboo 10/15 meter trap dipole broke off close to the central support. It turned out that it was only inserted about half an inch into the central support so it was not very surprising that it broke. The antenna wire stopped the bamboo pole from going too far so no further damage was done.

The repair was easy to make and the dipole is now much stronger than it was before but when I tried to pump up the Scam 12 mast I found it would not take in any air and I could not raise the mast to check the antenna. I had not planned to use the mast until the first UK AC Contest of the year on Tuesday so I think I would have been mildly upset if I had discovered that problem just before the start of the contest.

I have a compressor in the shed that I use to pump the mast up. Being in the shed and muffled under a work bench keeps it reasonably quiet so that it does not disturb the neighbours if I need to re-pressurise the mast in order to lower it after a UK AC Contest at around 23.00. 

The compressor has a 15 meter length of hose to the mast which is slightly too long so I had just made a couple of coils and stuffed them under the shed out of the way. All I could hear above the compressor working was the hiss of escaping air coming from under the shed. Upon closer examination a short section of the reinforced air hose had been gnawed through and all of my precious air was escaping. 

I quickly shortened the hose but, not having any air hose fittings, I managed to source some aluminium tubing that fitted tightly inside the air hose and secured a short length into the hose with a couple of jubilee clips.

Now the hose is routed safely away from the shed with no surplus coils and hopefully away from whatever is living underneath it. I don't begrudge the little critter a nice warm home but I am not so charitable about its jaw exercise workout upon my air hose.

As my longer  HF dipole for 80/40 is supported on a different pole on the side of the house I was not planning on raising the Scam mast until just before the next VHF Contest. So all in all a bit of a fortunate problem solved with time to spare.

I just hope that the winds subside a bit before this coming Tuesday. The forecast is not very optimistic. Good luck to all Contesters and operators for 2014.

73 de Jim G0HGH