The bands were pretty quiet and in semi-decent shape here tonight. This despite the wacky weather we're experiencing. February 6th and it peaked over 60 Degrees today! It felt more like Spring outside than Winter today.
So I expected to get on 80 Meters tonight and hear all kinds of static crashes and stuff; but lo and behold, the band was pretty stable and decently quiet. 40 Meters was quiet tonight, also. I called CQ on 80 Meters and had a short but pleasant QSO with Chip W9EBE. Things were going pretty well until a net started up so close to our frequency that it made carrying the conversation any further pretty near impossible.
Which gets me started off on a tirade. Don't net controls "QRL?" anymore? Just even for good looks, if nothing else? Not this guy tonight. He just started with his net callup and preamble without so much as a "?" before starting! Makes you wonder where these guys have their heads buried. I have a few ideas on how to answer that; but this is a "G" rated blog, so I won't go there!
Last night, I was reading a post by Steve NØTU on QRP-L about his homebrewed Buddipole. You can see pictures by visiting here. I was very impressed by Steve's construction. It got me thinking about building another homebrewed Buddipole, myself. I have no idea why; but I had so much more success with my homebrewed version than I ever did with the commercial version. My first QSO with my homebrewed version was with the Azores with my K1 at 5 Watts. Unfortunately, I gave my homebrewed version away when I bought my commercial Buddipole. I sold the commercial version a few years back when I got frustrated with the lack of success with it.
So for about 30 dollars I can make another homebrewed version. I just might do it for this year's portable operating season. Only two sets of coils, one for 40 meters and one set for 20 Meters - although if the sunspot numbers start to improve maybe a set of 15 Meter coils might come in handy, too.
73 de Larry W2LJ
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