[Elecraft] KAT 500 and open wire

[Walter Underwood]

> On Jan 18, 2019, at 6:08 PM, Al Lorona <alorona at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> 
> Thing 1 is that, clearly, water really messes up window line's loss. However, I'm guessing that a/ in a place like southern California, where perpetual drought is the new normal; ...

Clean water isn’t a problem. Dirty water is a big problem.

When I first moved to the SF Bay area in the early 1980s, I was surprised by the number of power outages, compared to where I grew up in Louisiana with heavy weather. The first light rain would be accompanied by outages. With six or more rainless summer months, dust and grit would accumulate on the power line insulators. The first light rain would create conductive mud and trip breakers. So perpetual drought is just a way to build up more dust on the line.

I think we take coaxial cable for granted. It was a brilliant invention and a real gift to people who love radio. Maybe I’ll start celebrating December 8th as Coaxial Cable Day.

https://www.wired.com/2009/12/1208coaxial-cable-patent/

wunder
K6WRU
Walter Underwood
CM87wj
http://observer.wunderwood.org/ (my blog)