40/80 meter vertical dipole update

The long holiday weekend is coming to an end, and the best laid plans were shot to bits not by the weather, but by the Caribbean holiday spirit. It is party time across the Caribbean. Some call it Carnival, and some call it by other local names, but the bottom line is that it is party time in some Caribbean islands, and some parts of North America too. The cell phone and Internet provide those who cannot be there in person with a front seat and center stage view to all the action, whether it is Carnival queen pageant, calypso king competition, calypso queen show, queen of the bands, jouvert, or whatever. On the local scene, the party will be held at the house[s] with the largest plasma screen, and space to accommodate the noisy gathering. Some of it also spills onto facebook too.

I too had my own little party [rum less] and was in no mood whatsoever to be in the hot sun dealing with antennas. Every day is an antenna day, but every day is not a party day, so you have to kill it when you catch it. Last Saturday afternoon nobody showed up at the Society HQ. I only passed by to make sure that no one else was there. So now we know that rain is not the only thing that determines the priority in this part of the world, and we missed out on the possibility of a 48 hour operation from our Club HQ. Well there will be other days, before and after the hurricane season.

Every now and then I browse the Flex-radio website to see what's up. I saw the Radcom review on the Flex-3000, and I am so sorry to say that it does not meet my requirements. It is a good radio, but when you live in "kilowatt alley", nothing less than the receiver hotties like Flex 5000, Elecraft K3, Ten-Tec Orions, Ten-Tec Omni 7, and even the Ten-Tec Omni 6+ will do. So now I have to save twice as many pennies, but the good thing is that I will still be buying something local, that is made in our back yard the USA, where spare parts and prompt reliable service are still available and the order of the day.

I still want an SDR radio and have decided to go with the Flex-1500, irrespective of the receiver quality. I can live with the QRP output, and when I feel the need for more than 5 watts I will pipe the Flex-1500 into the driver and power amplifier of my TS-940SAT to get up to 225 watts. If I need still more juice there are other options I can exercise. So there is no operating problem here, and I can save 899 towards the procurement of one of the top ten receivers, or maybe just acquire a second Flex-1500.

One of my ham buddies have just pulled up outside.

73

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