A Lot of Time has Passed...

 Well, it's been quite some time since I've posted as I have been busy with other things in my world.  I am happy to say that I am getting back in the saddle on both HF and VHF.  For VHF I had a nice Alinco for local repeater work however my local HAM pals are now using (and have been for some time) a closed digital repeater system they have set up on many bands so the only way for me to chat with them is on a newer digital rig.  I haven't had a rig in the car for a number of years but I have decided to take that plunge again.  When ever I am in the market for something I watch for used items on the Kitchener-Waterloo Amateur Radio Club's Online Swap Shop.  I have been looking now and again for a used digital rig and this week I got lucky and found a HAM selling a Yaesu FTM-7250D which was priced nicely and in great condition.  I should be receiving it in the mail today and I will install it this weekend so I can use it during my commute next week.

In the HF department I had always used a fan dipole for multi-band operation.  I live in a very windy area surrounded by farmer's fields and my antennas often got tangled or worse.  As well, my office/shack has been re-purposed and is not the best spot for operating anymore.  My plan now is to set up a new long wire antenna for multi-band use from a small barn I have near the house.  I have always wanted to experiment with one of these compromise antennas and this way I can give 80 meters a go as well.  I will post my experimentation/installation results when I get them.  I have an LDG Electronics 9:1 Un-un on order from Radio World in Toronto and if it arrives today and the weather isn't too wet I may get to this project this weekend as well.  I will use the Keysight N9913A Fieldfox to get a good idea of the VSWR and performance on all my beams of interest and also see how adding additional ground radials changes/improves my situation.

In other news I am still in a Bagpipe Band in my community and I don't see that changing any time soon as it is a lot of fun.

Cheers for now and I'll see you soon!
72 de Scott ve3vvf/qrp