[K6NCG] Navy Coffee Grounds

[TC Dailey]

One fine weekend in 1962, the beam (I think it was a Mosley Classic 33) was 
taken down for PM's - all the joints were made shiny, clamps cleaned up, the 
works - putting it back up, we were careful to align ALL the holes on the 
traps, so they'd be pointing down... Put the antenna up, and it loaded up 
flatter than pancakes at Bunny's restaurant on Market St... until - it began 
to rain.  The SWR got worse and worse as we headed for our regular Sunday 
sked with KC4USA in Antarctica - turned out we'd aligned the holes alright - 
they were all POINTING UP, and the traps had filled with water!  One of the 
guys (can't remember who) took an 18½ foot piece of some pipe, put it atop a 
Coke bottle, and we leaned it over onto the "widow's walk" on the roof, and 
fed it with some "questionable" RG-8 (hey, it LOOKED LIKE RG-8!), came down 
into the shack and kept the sked - they said we were 20 over 9, but as soon 
as it quit raining, IT quit working.  It isn't just the Marines who "adapt 
and overcome"

Tom - WØEAJ