It was a fun morning yesterday. I don’t get to play POTA as much as I used to, so I’m happy to get even a few hours away. I’m working on my N1CC award, and was able to get to 10 bands at both sites yesterday.
I was real happy for contacts with a couple slower speed operators; one I could tell was struggling a bit with sending. We’ve all been there, and I’m glad that more are trying CW.
Also, a HUGE thank you to all who stood by patiently while I completed the contact with the QRS operator. We hear so much about all the things that everyone does wrong, that I just wanted to call out the ops who are doing it right. Good job!
Last week, I ordered one of the Shark 80 Meter whips. Since it lists a frequency of 3.5 MHz, I had hoped to get on 80 CW. Well, not so much. The lowest frequency I could hit was around 3595, which was sort-of OK for FT8. I’m working on adding length to the whip to bring the frequency down to at least 3545.
Lastly, I had a interesting issue pop up with the FT-891. After doing a few 80M FT8, I tried to change bands, and the front panel buttons were dead! The knobs, and the power button were the only ones working. I could change frequency via N3FJP, though.
So the fix was to remove the front panel, and remove/re-insert the short jumper that connects the control head to the main body of the radio. No problems after that.
That’s it for this post. 73 DE WG8X
PS: In case you’re wondering, the N1CC award requires you to activate 10 different parks on 10 different bands. I’ve still got a ways to go.