Remoting

Over the weekend it became noticeable that my remote setup wasn’t performing as well as it normally does. While the receiving and decoding of FT8 signals was still fine, transmitting reports were rather poor. The A and K indices were sky high, so the verdict was ‘poor propagation, to investigate further in a day or two’. This morning, I barely made it to Japan on 10m. Something was definitely wrong.

A call to a neighbour and friend Rob who lives a 10 minutedrive from my location: nothing urgent, but please check out the setup, when you have a moment. He drove up the hill straight away. While Rob is not a ham (yet!) he is a technical minded person and valuable assistant who often helps with antenna installation. He is also very helpful with anything computer / internet / networking related, and is able to follow instructions  related to adjusting and setting transceivers. Young and enthusiastic, a priceless asset.

“Check it out!” was a caption under the antenna photo.

How the 20mm nylon rope snapped will remain a mystery. But 45 minutes later, the multi band wire vertical was up and running again.

And once again, it was obvious that a successful remote setup requires the presence of an able and intelligent human at all times.

And when it comes to antennas, the best remote antenna is one which is reliable. No wires or ropes, no moving parts, no tuneable elements, motors or relays. The most reliable antenna is a free standing ground mounted multi band omnidirectional trap vertical. FT8 remote is not about antenna gain or directivity – it is about employing an antenna which requires zero maintenance and covers as many bands as possible.

And how could I miss an opportunity to highlight the obvious? The robustness of the ICOM IC-7700 antenna tuner which to its credit, somehow, miraculously, managed to protect the finals while still pushing 100watts into a wire laying on the ground! Simply amazing.