I went to Cape Cod last week (which is why I haven't entered any new posts recently) and brought 2 HF radios. I brought a Yaesu FT-817 and Kenwood TS-440. I brought my 20m end fed dipole for an antenna. The lessons I learned from this trip are as follows:
1) If you have an Antenna Analyzer, bring it! If you don't, try to borrow one!
2) Bring more than 1 antenna
3) Bring both a battery backup and a power supply
Although I heard lots of stations, they didn't hear me. This was caused by the placement of my antenna. Had I had an Antenna Analyzer, I would have found this out ASAP and not wasted precious air time. Had a brought more than one antenna, I could have tried it to see if my results improved. And last but not least, I only brought a 12V lawn tractor battery and not a power supply. When I finally got a reply to my CW, my battery died! All in all, I did not make any QSO's, but that's OK as I was on vacation with my family and I learned what not to do next time!
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My adventures in Ham radio, photography and other nerdy gadgets.
