Feb. 28, 2024
I have been operating nearly 100 percent CW on 80 meters in recenet years, and most of that has been checking in on the Georgia traffic net I take part in. Last week I had to go upstairs to retrieve my cellphone, and I decided to turn on the RS-998 SDR rig and tune around. I shut the radio off right after the CW net, and the CW portion of 80 meters was quiet at 1 a.m.
Quiet — all except for a single blip on the band scope, a CW signal that had a little jiggle to it. I tuned to it and heard a chirpy CW signal calling CQ. This had to be someone running a classic transmitter, and my curiosity was peaked — what gear is the guy running??
I listened to his unanswered CQ for a few moments, then decided what the heck — why not answer him? The band was quiet, his signal was strong, no QRM. A nice quiet night.
Wolf responded to my call, and we spent the next 40 minutes or so in a nice rag chew. He was running a Hammarlund HQ 180 and a Heathkit DX-40 transmitter. He was using a Junkers straight key. I gave him a 599, which he gave me in return. Nice signal from Atlanta.
It was a very nice QSO, and an excellent trial of my new RS-998 SDR rig.
I still need to find some sort of manual about using the Wolf. I found a YouTube video of a guy running digital modes on the rig. He never says how he did it, but he ran FT-8 successfully.
ANTENNA WORK. Following a recent storm, the support rope of one end of my inverted vee had come unwound, and one leg of the antenna was laying on the metal roof of my old garage. The antenna was still working, but I know it couldn’t have been working as efficiently as it could have. I fixed the support rope.
EBAY SALES. I’ve been successful so far selling off some of my Vibroplex bugs. I have to dig out more keys and prep them for selling. I’m also planning to sell off many of my rigs I’ve “collected” over the years. For reasons I won’t disclose, my wife and I need to rebuild the working capital we had in our accounts.
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