A few tests done yesterday to confirm SWR readings. On 20m 14.054 is 1.7 : 1 and on 14.278 is 2.2 : 1 which says the 20m length is too long. Since we had our extension built, there’s less space at ground level for antennas but enough to remove the 30m / 40m section and trim the 20m plus trap.
Interesting the HF bands were quite rubbish yesterday, the day after big auroras visible in the South of England and, of course, again not seen by me. 40m was poor and 30m worse. 17m was best. Jose EA7GV is normally 599++ whenever he calls me but was 559 only. Then from nowhere on 17m at 1133Z JS1IFK 539/339 and 1138Z JH1MXV 339/449 were reasonable signals for overall conditions.
So not bad. Another almost disaster… back at car, the key fob would not open car. I was a little perturbed by this. It wouldn’t unlock tailgate standing at tailgate but worked when standing by front door. Back home the CR2032 cell in the fob was 2.9V, so time for a new one. But it only lasted 2years. The last car’s fob used a CR2450 (much much bigger) and lasted 6 years. I was worried for a moment.
The two points do seem to point to resonance lower than 14.0. I like seeing it on a graph so I sweep with the AA600 analyser. Tells the whole story very quickly.
My (ancient, 2015) Toyota puts a message up on the dash display when you turn the car on or off when the fob battery is getting low. It also, very sensibly does it early enough that the fob still works for a few more days before rolling over and playing dead.
That happened to me last December as I arrived back at the car from Beacon Hill gw/mw-009, I guess the cold had finished off the CR2032 cell during its visit to the summit, and the car didn’t respond at all.
Luckily there was a phone signal, and I was able to google “how to use emergency key”, as I couldn’t remember for the life of me how to prize open the keyhole without wrecking the door handle :o)
It sets the alarm off, but in the middle of nowhere there is nobody to hear it!
My previous car used to display an on-screen message about the battery state. Perhaps this one does if I let it get even more used up. When I got home I did some more checks and it was fine standing by the drivers door. Probably lots more life in the cell
I completely forgot about the emergency key. I know the app allows you to do magic things but I hate apps and haven’t installed it. It’s just another security worry. If someone steals my phone all they can do is use my ASDA supermarket rewards. Install the car app and you lose your phone you can lose you car too. I remembered the emergency key when installing a new battery !
but enough to remove the 30m / 40m section and trim the 20m plus trap.