That raised a smile with me too!
Yes, concur with that. Thereâs no external leakage and if there had been it wouldnât have reversed itself. I have seen a note to swap the brake fluid in a lot of the manuals of cars Iâve had but I canât remember if itâs in the Fiesta one. I will go retrieve it from the boot when it stops raining.
My goodness, a third of the cost of a ânewâ car just to put new fluid in. Thatâs shocking. Good job you know that other bloke.
John
Thanks Andrew,
Very kind. I like this event but Iâve done it for so many years I feel duty bound to carry on. I did drop 6m, 70cm and 20m this year with three hours less time. Family life got in the way.
Ah, thatâs like the G5RV with changed lengths. I decided decades ago to go the link dipole route for /P but I CAN readily see the advantages of the system you describe. In rotten WX you need not go out of your tent or shelter and that can be very valuable.
I took my tiny home-brew ATU once or twice for overnighters, strapping the 80m dipole and running out a reel of wire along the ground to tune 80 and 160m. On the down side, the ATU, though small, has a weight penalty and despite its simplicity, itâs another thing that can go wrong. That said I have always had an open mind to doublets so maybe one day plus an LDG?
John
You have been busy. Hope you can perfect it. Nice little ATU too.
The G-QRP Club mag has been a good source of ideas over the years. My home-brew ATU is a case in point. It has two 500pf miniature variables with the mica-like insulation/ dielectric between the plates plus a coil with a ferrite rod that slides in and out. GQRP had it as Pye config but after working out how to make it switchable to âTâ or Pye using one 4-pole miniature switch, it became even more versatile. Though it was never intended to, it will take QRO too.
John
Hi Rob,
Thanks for the reply. Yes, the QRM was massive but from my side the QSO was good.
âAfter a few repeats G0HRT Rob entered the log on the second time of trying at 2x 55. It was hard to get the reports across for Rob but the real difficulty was properly identifying Robâs callsign in massive QRM.â
I had the reports OK on the earlier attempt. The only thing I was unsure of was the callsign. I had some of it but couldnât log it until I was absolutely sure it was you. With the reports from the first and the second attempts plus your callsign from the second exchange I logged you with confidence. It seemed good to me so unless youâre really not happy, leave it in. It was good from my side but I wish this data wouldnât keep creeping up the band. Considering the height of the QRM, your QRP into an âavailable antennaâ was doing that bad. Keep calling!
Border Collies have been in my top three breeds since we stayed on a farm in Cornwall in 1958. Lassie and I were âbest friends foreverâ by the time the 2-weeks were up and of course we had to go back for the next five summers. Such an intelligent breed. Yes, thereâs something special about taking Sasha on SOTAâs. Sheâs human really.
73, John
MM0FMFâŚthank you!