One of Those Days

Did you ever have one of those days where just about everything seems to go wrong? Yesterday was one of those days for me.

I went out to my daughter’s property yesterday to do a little portable operating. The temperature was in the low 30s (F), with a wind chill temperature down in the low 20s. Earlier in the day, my daughter cautioned me about the strong winds on the hill, my usual operating location. Despite all that, I headed up there anyway. I figured I’d hunker down in the truck and be fine.

As I was putting my vertical on the back of the truck, a strong gust of wind had me starting to regret my decision. I pressed on and got everything set up. The wind was whipping the antenna around, but everything was working fine. So far, so good. 

I started on 40M and quickly put a Canadian station in the log. I moved up to 30M and soon worked SKCC Straight Key Month stations, K3Y/5 and K3Y/9.

About that time, I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw my antenna leaning over. The movement from the wind got the top of my antenna stuck in a tree branch. I removed the 20-ft pole and laid it on the ground. I pulled my truck forward a few feet and re-installed the antenna.

I got back in the truck and fired up the KX3. I spent the next half hour or so trying to reach stations but not being heard. When I went out to the antenna to change bands, I found that I had neglected to connect the ground. Doh!

After correcting my oversight, I had much better luck on 20M. I worked N4CD who was activating a park in Texas. I finished up with an SKCC QSO with a station on the West Coast in Washington. 

I was mentally celebrating my coast-to-coast contact until I looked in the mirror and saw my antenna wire flapping in the breeze. Sometime during that last QSO, two sections of my pole had collapsed. That was enough for me; it was time to pack up.

But, as they say on TV, there’s more… 

I’ve been using DMR since last year, and I wanted to try going mobile. So, I brought my AnyTone AT-D878UV HT and my hotspot. I had the hotspot in the back seat, using one of the truck’s USB ports and built-in Wi-Fi hotspot. On the drive out, it worked fine. When I started the engine to head home, I noticed that the hotspot’s display was blank. It was connected to the Wi-Fi but not sending or receiving anything. 

When I plugged it in at home, I heard a brief snap. So, I think something in there got fried. I suspect there might have been a voltage surge or something when I started the truck. Doh! I guess I’ll have to start learning about Raspberry Pi and try to rebuild it one of these days. 

Looking back, I guess it wasn’t a total disaster. Despite Mother Nature and my self-inflicted issues, I still managed to put a few decent contacts in the log. I’ve had worse days, I suppose.

Here’s to better days in the future!

73, Craig WB3GCK