[ADXA] DX on a budget isn't all it is "cracked up" to be!

[w5znjoel at gmail.com]

PD hates FT8?? Must be a CW dog….next time you drive through Dairy Queen pick her up a “puppy cup” !!   😊

 

Your experience is exactly why everything in my shack is designed to auto band & antenna switch and with multiple fail safes. I won’t confess that is the result of many years of me experiencing situations like you had, but you can do the math and come to a reasonable conclusion it probably was!!!!!  😊 

 

73 Joel W5ZN

 

From: adxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net <adxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of Randell Curtis, W5ZJ via ADXA
Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2025 11:45 AM
To: adxa at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [ADXA] DX on a budget isn't all it is "cracked up" to be!

 

While in hot pursuit of getting #50 confirmed on 160, I have run into a slight issue. With the rig running in the shack last night, I noticed from the house that I was seeing Sardinia at at decent snr, and that he also had recently uploaded to LOTW, so I decided to run out to the shack to give him a call. 

 

PD (puppy dog) and I hurridly ran out to the shack about 9:30 pm, and were immediately disappointed due to not having enough horsepower for Sardinia to hear me.  Being a forever optomist, I kept thinking propagation would be better in 30 minutes...then the next 30 minutes....and so on, until about 12:30am. It was then that I decided to redeem my time, jump over to 40 and work some "gravy" DX just for fun.  Little did I know this thought would be the beginning of the end. 

 

I turned the amp off, jumped over to 40, tuned the inv L, switched the amp on, hit send and POW!  After peeling PD and me off the ceiling, I stood there in shell shock as the smell of death wafted up from the inside of my dear Jethrine. While sleepy and in a hurry, it seems that I had failed to band switch the amp. At this point, I was struck with the realization that auto bandswitching and swr protection  are probably some very nice features to have in a solid state amp. 

 

In the light of morning, I tended to Jethrine, and realized, that even though she looked rough and tough, she did need TLC, and attention.  Even though wounded, with a little care and $$$, she should be back on her feet in no time. 

 

In other news, Mouser is now adding a tariff charge to the replacement mrf300's I just purchased. Oddly enough the tariff charge on the 300an is almost $4 more than the tariff charge on the 300bn. Don't that beat all? 

 

Here are my final thoughts...

1. Cheaper is not always better...but cheaper can sometimes provide a bigger thrill. 

2. PD hates ft8 and would be nervous in the shack...now she won't come in the shack at all.

3. If you have an amp, cherish it. If you don't have an amp, be thankful that you aren't paying a tariff on the parts you bought today. 

4. A mosfet letting go at 12:30 am is not the same as a mosfet letting go at 12:30 pm. I'll give you 2 choices to pick which is the more surprising. 

5. 50 countries on 160 for 1/2 dxcc is near impossible to get. If you have exceeded this at anytime in your life, I suspect you are superhuman...and never owned an amp made by me. 

 

Have a great day. Don't forget to give your amp a big hug today.

 

Randy/W5ZJ

 

 

 

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