Overall the trip has been going very well; except for lousy band
conditions, but what can you expect from the bottom of the
sunspot cycle. Mark has been working major CW with
contacts just about everywhere. SSB conditions have not
been as good, but I created a good pile-up last night on 20M
into Europe and this morning into the US on 40M. The
interesting thing is that last night the band was hoping to the
continent then completely closed down, like someone turned off a
light switch or cut the coax.
On Tuesday we had the
chance to renew our Bahamian licenses at the Public Utilities
Commission. We treated well by the government officials,
who were very happy to help out. The crib was replaced
with a real table that was purchased at a local mega-mart.
If you visit, you'll need to get used to a little sticker shock,
as the tables were $94 (of course Craig, Mark, and I each
purchased one --> money well spent as it makes the operating
much easier). My G5RV went up yesterday in an inverted-vee
configuration, roughly running East/West with the peak up about
60 feet. The G5RV is working great and was a good addition
to our growing antenna farm (which includes the
long-wire/inverted-L, Traveler, Buddipole, and G5RV.) More
antenna building is on the agenda for today.
View from operating station on the morning of June 4, 2009
Scott, Mark, and Craig in front of PUC after renewing licenses
on Tuesday
The new $94 table holding my station
Mark working CW this morning. The North Atlantic is a
couple hundred feet out that doorway.
