Talk about QRM — I've been trying to slice 'n' dice signals on 15 meters in the contest, and its been tough.
First there's a big signal from an Italian station on 21.218. TM6M is parked on 21.219.8 with a big signal. And there's EA5KV on 21.220.5 with a moderate signal. Just above him on 21.222 is CS2P. It creates this mass of RF on the bandscope that resembles a PSK waterfall display instead of individual signals.
The FT-2000 does a good job in the QRM, I'm just not sure I have the rig set up in an optimal fashion for the transmitted audio.
With the limited amount of time I've been in the contest, I've done best on 75 and 15. The signals were up and down on 15, and generally, when they were up I could work the DX, and when they were down it was a much tougher row to hoe.
I'm sure that the lack of a gain antenna on 15 is a major handicap; had this been closer to the sunspot maximum, I'm sure my QSO rate would be higher. While I'm not a major contester, a tri-bander would be very useful indeed today.
I have some more “stuff” to put on eBay, and I think its perhaps time to set aside some cash for a tribander. I've got two tribanders — both well-used hygain models — in the barn now. Before the snow flies I should probably lay them both out and see if either is worth salvaging. My gut feeling is that I probably would be better off just putting money into a new tri-bander. I have the tower and simply need a hole, a house bracket and some concrete. Shame on me for not making it a priority before now, eh?
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I'm going to get ready now to head over to a Silent Key's house to assist with taking down his tower and antennas. He has a Mosley 4-element tribander and a 4-element six meter beam, both of which I would consider buying if they come down in decent shape. I'm a little ill at ease about going over though, I feel a little like a vulture circling, looking for a bargain. That's not my intent, I hope I can help them liquidate his gear for a good price. I think putting it up on eBay — all of it — is probably the best way to dispose of it. That way there's no hard feelings that someone got a “better deal” on anything than someone else did, etc. That's just me, your mileage may vary.
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I've been using my heil headset with the FT-2000 this weekend, and it seems to work ok. It hit me yesterday that the Shure 55S “Elvis mic” that's on my Heil desk boom will work with the new Yaesu. Because I had a Kenwood and Yaesu rig in the shack at the time I wired the mic, I terminated the mic cable in a male XLR plug. I wired two seperate pigtail cables for the mic — one for the Yaesu, the other for the Kenwood. The only issue I ever had with the Shure was the output seemed low. I'm going to try to find the Yaesu cable for the Shure and see how it works. I enjoy using the Shure, and if it doesn't work out I'll probably either replace it.
Enough ham radio for now … I've got to get ready, eat a bite of lunch and head out. 73!