This is really weird. I'm sure they are doing a good job. Only 217 km?
Heck yesterday someone only 20km away from me spotted them while I was trying to hear them. 59 and not a peep on my end.
But Burundi and Uganda were a piece of cake. But I do have an issue with my antenna a av620.
Due to the winds in the last couple of months, the antenna slid down the mast and the counterpoises are now touching the mast
None the less, still got Uganda and Burundi.

Hi,

I dont suppose that someone would know the length between the center insulator and the 80m loading coil that comes with the alpha delta 80m antenna?  I know the overall length is 82 feet but I don't know the distances between.
Is there a way to calculate this? I originally used the antenna without the 80m coils but now I want an 80m antenna but I lost the original dimensions.
Thanks

I haven't even heard a peep from them up here, and I've tried and tried.  Got Uganda and Burundi in no time, what are they using as an antenna...wet noodles?

Looks like that's not going to happen...took one step on the slanted roof, holding on to a window, and there is no grip what so ever....gotta wait for the snow to go...

Well the binoculars did the trick!  Given the wind situation and storms (even Sandy hit up here a bit) , the antenna has slipped down the mast about 6 inches and now one of the counterpoises are sitting right on top and touching the mast effectively putting the counterpoise at ground.
On my way up...

Hi,

Thanks for all the comments.  The antenna seems pretty independent of the snow under it as well as all weather that had been thrown at it..  But, I do like the idea of the binoculars!
I'll give it a shot.

They are currently 59 + 10 into Montreal, been like that for the last few hours.  Piece of cake with 200W

Does anyone have any hints for me?  I have a Hy-Gain AV620 antenna which has been operating very well until recently.  We have had a couple of wind storms hitting 100 kph and it seems that since then the antenna now gives high swr.
I took a look and can't see anything wrong, but can't investigate until the snow is gone (it's on the roof).
Hooking up a antenna analyzer shows that the resonant frequency has shifted down by about 2MHz i.e. 12.2MHz gives 1.2 and 14.15 where it used to be resonant is about 3.2.  17m is similar whereas the other bands now never get below about 2.1 .
It's as if the antenna has all of a sudden gotten 2 feet longer! 
Any ideas?  Anyway to use the analyzer to get a better insight?

Thanks

My first contact was about 1 1/2 years ago.  Had seen an unbuilt hw101 on ebay before that and decided to buy it, build it and study for my license.  Well I was so excited for my first contact I replied to someones CQ as CQ CQ CQ" He gave me heck but quickly warmed up when I told him he was my first.  Sadly I never got a qsl, he went sk shortly afterwards.
My second contact a few minutes after him was to Russia.  I was hooked.  Now a year and a half later I have 189 entities and 170 confirmed.  Fun hobby

I did get JT1BV a few months ago.  He's a resident

Don't you hate this!!! I actually heard Mongolia really well with my 40M trap dipole in the attic..He was operating split, on one frequency and going by the numbers....he was at 7 when I came on, 10 minutes later 8, another 10,9 another 10, 0 another ten 1, then just as he was getting to 2...he goes QRT!!!!!
 

So, I currently have a hy-gain a v620 vertical and while I've hit 180+ countries, there's a certain area of the world that just doesn't get loud enough.  That's the area almost perfectly north of me which includes China,indonesia, etc.  I can hear them just barely, some of the time and if they can hear me, I would never know.
So I need an antenna with some gain.  I can't put up anything more than the vertical outside, but I have an attic that is about 45 feet long and at least 12 feet wide that is accessible to  an antenna without causing a fire.  I already have a dipole in the attic and it performs reasonably but not as good as the vertical. There is no wiring or anything steel. Just wood and asphalt shingles. The attic runs almost perfectly east west, the exact direction puts thailand 0 degrees north of me.
So, I can easily put a moxon for 15m in my attic which I plan to do (but not at -27C!)  The question is, what would happen if I also put a 10m moxon beside the other one, in the same plane?Will it cause interference, reduce gain or f/b?
Even a 3db gain over the vertical, with the reduction in noise and unwanted signals may make a difference for those stations I want to get.  If you can't hear them, you can't work them.
Thanks for any insight

 

Never mind, it's a 7.2V battery....working fine now...

Basically the battery on my Yaesu 2m rig was discharged about 7 months ago and yesterday I charged it.  The batteries read 6,8V before I put the charger on, I left it overnight, and the display said 11.7V.  Well the minute I disconnect the charger, the batteries drop to 7V again.
I guess the NI-CD batteries are shot.  Do I have any options besides buying replacements from Yaesu?

Thanks for any advice
You'd think they would have dumped the ni-cd barreries in this day and age.