The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

First the good:

The weather was perfect yesterday and down came the W3EDP and up went the MFJ-1982HP EFHW. The procedure wasn't quite as tortuous as I was anticipating. I'm currently bothered by some bursitis and arthritis in my left hip and bending over to pick up parts and pieces from the ground can be .... let's say extremely annoying, for lack of a better term.

I was able to move that midpoint supporting mast that I use farther back into the one corner of the backyard, so the entire antenna is more stealthy than ever. Not that I live in an HOA or anything, but from my experience from when I lived in East Brunswick before I got married, I don't need any imaginary RFI problems from neighbors.

After finishing the installation, I immediately ran down to the shack and completed a few quick POTA QSOs, just to make sure everything was working right. It was! I got a 559 from Dave AB9CA in Indiana and a 599 from another POTAteer in Virginia. Later in the evening, just for the heck of it, I tuned to 160 Meters to hear the Stew Perry Challenge in progress. The KX3 was able to get a 1.7:1 match and I even made a successful contact with K1EP in Massachusetts with 5 Watts, on the first call.

Now for the bad. As I was finishing up securing the end of the wire antenna to its end point, I happened to look down at my Butternut HF9V.  The coax was no longer at the bottom of the antenna! In fact it was neatly folded back onto one of the garden stakes that I use to keep the coax off the ground.

That's how it looks now after I took a closer look at it and fooled around with it for a bit. It was so neatly folded back that I didn't even notice it until yesterday. The landscapers we had do some cleanup obviously did a number on it with their weedwhackers, To err is human, so I'm not upset by the fact they mistakenly broke it; but I am bothered that they didn't say anything. I wouldn't have made a fuss, but I would have appreciated the honesty.

Now for the ugly. At first look, it didn't seem like such a bad repair. I was thinking that all I would have to do would be to strip back the wire a bit, put on a couple spade lugs and I'd be back in business. When I went out this morning to take a closer look, to see what tools I'd need to bring out, I was checking on the condition of the stainless steel hardware when the matching network coil snapped off in my hand. CRUD!

The antenna is over 20 years old and has survived some harsh winters and even about four hurricanes, so I'm really not surprised. When I bought my HF9V it cost me around $500. Today it is close to $1000, and I cannot afford to replace it.

I can afford replacement parts, however. So it was off to Google to find out the best bet for replacement parts was DXEngineering.  The matching network coil hasn't changed a bit, but the matching stub has undergone a serious design improvement!  The existing stub is just a piece of 75 Ohm coax with the two conductors exposed with spade lugs on each.  From the picture this upgrade looks tons nicer.

Delivery should be Tuesday or Wednesday and the 10 Day weather outlook for next weekend is looking favorable, so I should only be without my HF9V for a week. I can live with that. I've decided that in the meantime, I will purchase a small plastic flower pot, or perhaps a small plastic pail (small Trick or Treat buckets are in all the stores now, it seems). I will cut the bottom out and will cut a slit up the side so that I can effectively create a protective shield and place it around the matching network at the base of the antenna. Believe me, I know myself all too well, and that I am not beyond making the same mistake the landscapers made with their weedwhacker!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!