QRP Club
QRP Club => Mike's Tavern => Topic started by: GM0LVI on February 09, 2014, 23:05:46 UTC
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We all make mistakes while operating - what have yours been?
Come on confess, it's good for the soul!
Here are a few of mine -
My most recent one - I couldn't get my KX3 to transmit on CW. Thought it must be a fault with the keyer or cables so pulled out the cables, wriggled them about with no cure. Took the batteries out of the keyer and replaced them - still no result. Finally solved the problem when I realised the KX3 was in SSB mode and not CW!!
On 20m SSB running 100W made a contact into Germany, but it was only about S2 and all signals were low so thought there had been a short wave fade out. Weak signal report was due to the fact that I was transmitting (and receiving) on my dummy load.
When I was QSL manager for VP8GAV in Antarctica we'd had contacts on all bands 10 - 40m but hadn't got round to trying 80m and VP8GAV was due to return to the UK in a couple of weeks, so we set up an early morning sked.We managed it, but only just, as signals were marginal both ways. It was only after we'd finished that I realised that I hadn't been using my 40/80m antenna and had been using my pair of phased 30m verticals that I'd been using the previous evening.
Decided to make an entry in a UK 2m/P contest. So with a friend took my IC-706, 22 element yagi, portable mast and sealed lead acid battery up one of the local mountains. It was a hard climb. The battery died after a couple of contacts. I'd not used it for several months but after charging it it seemed fine, but I'd not tested it under load!
I feel so much better now I've confessed :D
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I transmitted without antenna (tuning only the cable) and I thought: "Very poor propagation today". :-\ :))
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A couple of days ago I believed I had somehow killed my main rig. I could not get it to transmit and sidetone was absent. Pretty obviously a major fault, serious. So I methodically combed through the cabling: nothing. I combed through an arcane menu system: nothing.
I'm kinda deaf and have the sidetone linked to the audio volume. Volume high, sidetone high, volume low, sidetone low. I find that agreeable because I get fewer audio shocks when going from TX to RX. I turned up the volume and by some miracle the sidetone returned. Hot on the trail I then enabled breakin.
I'm a genius: my rig was fixed!! I can tell you, my relief at having a healthy rig was utterly eclipsed by the realisation of what a complete fool I had been. ;D (I should say I often disable breakin because I have a horror of accidentally transmitting when fiddling with something in the shack. I rarely turn down the volume.....)
The other embarrassing booboo I committed was in my first year of having a full ticket. I routinely ran 80~100 watts out. I had not even heard of QRP. Then I attended a lecture by the Reverend Dobbs, G3RJV and I saw the light: I was saved from a life of QRO degradation by this good man. I owe him a lot. But when I look back on my QRO days, I feel so DIRTY........
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Well..... i has happend that i woundered about why he newer answer ME ? :-\ He is strong 59++ so he shold hear me also, after some calls i find out maybee go to simplex and skip previous split mode... hrrrrm.Grrr
Sucsessfull contact after one call! ;D