Tonight I am saddened

Tonight I got word that the pet that was like a child of mine for nearly 8 years passed. "Maggie" May Doodles was the name I called her by. She slept with me every night. We walked the local streets every day. She layed in my lap when I was sad or worried. She never asked me for a thing, but she gave me all her love. You will be missed dearly Maggie...Run wild and free...

 12.22.99 - 10.31.14

2014 CQ WW SSB Contest

Pretty much just fooled around in this contest, but by my log, I have 37 (31 on 20M/6 on 40M) contacts with a multiplier of 47 (38 on 20M/8 on 40M) for 4,512 points...I have had more fun with this than anything I have done so far. Lots of new places contacted...See my log at the bottom of the page.
I put the End-Fed back to 31 feet length, no counterpoise...It seems to tune the best at this length with the 9:1 UNUN. It is now 30 feet in the air from my back balcony to the corner tree. It tunes 40 down to 20M fine, but puts RF in the shack from 17M-6M...I think this is because my coax run is too short, I do not have a proper RF ground, and I am not using a counterpoise. If you stand just 50 yards away, the antenna disappears from site...HI HI  Next year I think I will try Isotron Antennas, unless I find something better for my situation.

73!

Current HF Antenna Doing Well

I am using one of my 9:1 UNUNS with 36 foot of #14 coated wire slung from my back porch up into a tree...The box end is at about 25 feet, and the end of the wire is about 35 feet high...Doing much better this way than as a flat horizontal...hears and gets out much better. I am NOT using a ground or counterpoise...First contact in this configuration was S58N from Slovenia in ONE call....

73,