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Bad day
30 April 2012 | by For quite a while now I’ve not been able to get into the shack. Not because its stacked to the rafters with new gear but because I’ve had too much on to even think about it. Yesterday I managed to squeeze some time in and quite frankly I wish I hadn’t bothered.
My FT817 lives in a padded bag when its not in use along with its charger and an old Miracle whip. Now the Miracle whip no longer has a whip courtesy of my youngest who managed to snap it in half. Whilst it isn’t the finest antenna it was extremely useful for travelling. Now I need a replacement telescopic whip and I’m guessing they’re either hard to get hold of or unnecessarily expensive.
The other doom was the CI-V controller (mine is a G4ZLP USB digimater pro+) which has given some sterling service over the last couple of years but now has decided to read the frequency but not PTT or supply audio. Several wasted hours later the status quo remains. Reliability of kit in my shack isn’t that great at the best of times and this just confirms that a law based on expense and reliability. ‘No matter what it costs the chances are that it’ll stop working for no apparent reason’.
At this rate I’ll have nothing left either as a result of a 3 year old or its own suicidal components..
3 Responses to “Bad day”
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Good morning Alex, it sure does sound like “one of those days” I have had my far share of them. I too have the Miracle whip and use it now and again for portable op’s. I have been looking around for a replacement antenna just in case mine ends up like yours. I have found the problem with most other cheaper whips they just are not long enough. I still have not been able to find one other than from Miracle whip themselves and that was $$
Good luck with the search.
Mike
Mike,
I found an alternative in the UK by prowhip antennas (http://www.prowhipantennas.co.uk/) but it really isn’t as portable as the Miracle but a lot cheaper and easier to fix when the little lad gets his hands on it. I will give it a try at the weekend if I get the chance. I did manage an 10m FM contact from inside the house to the east coast of the US a few months ago with the Miracle which is why I want to keep it.Also its just so handy to have.
I’ll be phoning up the dealers to see how much a replacement whip is later today.
There was a Japanese station on JT65 yesterday that I couldn’t work as the interface was on the fritz, first station I have heard in 7 years from there and I couldn’t even try and work them. You’ve got to laugh about these things but right now I think I’d rather shut the door on the rigs for another few weeks.
Alex
Hate days like that! Hang on in there!