Well another Solar Cycle is starting to heat up and guess what?? No antennas again!
Its not that I have not put them up, and put them up again, and put them up a third or fourth time.
I am really getting sick of the local deer population. They kill my grass, crap ALL OVER my yard, have eaten hundreds of dollars of potted plants and roses in the yard but they have a proclivity for destroying antennas and feed lines. Now it does not help that I have a neighbor who feeds them in my yard, I have always let them do that. I used to feed them too, I really did but it gets expensive after a while and we just don’t have a lot of spare cash to throw around these days, no one does!
At first they had taken out two 80 meter verticals, but now they have destroyed 20m, 17m, 15m, and 10m verticals and that’s just in the last month. I suppose they are kind of cute but I put 40 hours of work into those antennas and their feed lines. No one even said they would help me clean up the mess, all I got was a half -hearted: “Oh, that’s too bad! “ I used my last bit of ‘free time’ to do the clean up today before I made supper and washed the dogs.
Now what upsets me is that I have been working really had to get myself in a good spot at work, as a result of that and my ailing parents and so forth I have not had a serious break from work in almost two years, that not good!
A couple of weeks ago I scheduled a week off along with Labor Day, what happened?? The Tri-County Fire! In my county (Waller) at least 8900 acres and 70+ homes burned (this was just in MY county!!). By the grace of God and our wonderful Fire Fighters and Police they were able to protect our neighborhood. But during that entire time off guess what? I was stressed to the MAX. "'Great restful vacation!" Okay if you say so…
I am NOT going to miss this Sun Spot Cycle, I have NEVER been able to fully enjoy one, and I get pieces here and there but no day after day super fun operating. Other guys get to; I guess their situations in life allow them that amount of latitude. I miss one DXpedition after another, I never get any time to make up and send out QSLs. And now to add insult to aggravation the deer destroy the best set of antennas I have had in 20+ years!!
Those antennas are going back up and soon, only BIGGER and BETTER PROTECTED.
Better feed lines and remote antenna switches and a simplified format that will allow me to operate at will on ANY band from 160 to 10 meters.
Its not that I have not put them up, and put them up again, and put them up a third or fourth time.
I am really getting sick of the local deer population. They kill my grass, crap ALL OVER my yard, have eaten hundreds of dollars of potted plants and roses in the yard but they have a proclivity for destroying antennas and feed lines. Now it does not help that I have a neighbor who feeds them in my yard, I have always let them do that. I used to feed them too, I really did but it gets expensive after a while and we just don’t have a lot of spare cash to throw around these days, no one does!
At first they had taken out two 80 meter verticals, but now they have destroyed 20m, 17m, 15m, and 10m verticals and that’s just in the last month. I suppose they are kind of cute but I put 40 hours of work into those antennas and their feed lines. No one even said they would help me clean up the mess, all I got was a half -hearted: “Oh, that’s too bad! “ I used my last bit of ‘free time’ to do the clean up today before I made supper and washed the dogs.
Now what upsets me is that I have been working really had to get myself in a good spot at work, as a result of that and my ailing parents and so forth I have not had a serious break from work in almost two years, that not good!
A couple of weeks ago I scheduled a week off along with Labor Day, what happened?? The Tri-County Fire! In my county (Waller) at least 8900 acres and 70+ homes burned (this was just in MY county!!). By the grace of God and our wonderful Fire Fighters and Police they were able to protect our neighborhood. But during that entire time off guess what? I was stressed to the MAX. "'Great restful vacation!" Okay if you say so…
I am NOT going to miss this Sun Spot Cycle, I have NEVER been able to fully enjoy one, and I get pieces here and there but no day after day super fun operating. Other guys get to; I guess their situations in life allow them that amount of latitude. I miss one DXpedition after another, I never get any time to make up and send out QSLs. And now to add insult to aggravation the deer destroy the best set of antennas I have had in 20+ years!!
Those antennas are going back up and soon, only BIGGER and BETTER PROTECTED.
Better feed lines and remote antenna switches and a simplified format that will allow me to operate at will on ANY band from 160 to 10 meters.