Hi All,
I was pleased to hear so much activity on 136 kHz over this past
Easter weekend. Family get-togethers and jobs around the house
meant that I did more occasional listening than operating, but
there were only a few times when I tuned around and did not hear
at least one station on the band.
My thanks to Alan for another 'Cluster' report (keep 'em coming,
Alan, but sorry to hear about the QRM at your QTH).
My new loading coil is working fine. The combination of 4 mm
plugs/sockets throughout, plus the calibrated variometer (in
degrees of rotation) means that it is very easy to adjust when
selecting different antenna configurations. The slightly higher
Q of the new coil means that the SWR bridge shows more variation
when using the balloon-supported antenna, but the pair of 572Bs
in the PA don't seem to mind at all!
Good signals were heard again from OK1DTN on many occasions, but
he could not hear my calls - so another 'gotaway'.
Anyway, stations worked from here were:
Sunday, 13th April
------------------
G3YMC - 141 km (sent 559, received 589)
G4CNN - 122 km (569, 599)
G8RW - 192 km (569, 569)
G3OLB - 97 km (599, 599)
DJ9IE - 704 km (579, 5 5/6 9)
Monday, 16th April
------------------
G8IK - 101 km (589, 599)
DL3FDO - 828 km (549, 439)
PA0BWL - 568 km (569, 569)
G8TB - 183 km (559, 579)
G0AKY - 237 km (579, 579)
GW4HXO - 174 km (599, 599)
And many thanks to Fred G4SPR - Cumbria (who has recently
re-joined this Reflector) for his telephoned report on my
signals.
My thanks also to Ted in Bridgend, another newcomer to the
Reflector, for his written report. Ted is working on getting his
50 ft wire tuned for receive operation using the G3OLB approach
(with some series inductance, including a ferrite rod partially
inserted in an old longwave coil to do the final tweaking).
How's it going, Ted?
Regards to all,
Steve GW4ALG
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