ac4rd_aug2024

I was basically in bed almost 100% for months, and spent a few weeks putting together a little QRP rig by my bedside, with a homebrewed vertical zip-tied to a bench or a bicyle (I used both) outside my bedroom window. I wound up replacing the QRP rig when it broke before a RTTY contest that I had been looking forward to.

(Digression:  My first HF rig was an elderly Heathkit SB-104 that required frequent attention.  It liked to need repair right at the start of any contest I wanted to play in.   The G90 decided to honor that tradition.  It’s still in the ‘to be fixed’ pile but I ordered an FT-710 in time for the contest–and I’m amazed at how good modern radios are getting   My previous rig is a FT-950; the 710 is head and shoulders above it.)

Anyway, I’ve been slowly getting better and started moving toward getting back to a real radio room.   THis has taken several weeks, working an hour a day, and I’m only just now getting a slightly better antenna set up.    This is where I am so far:

I’m still unhappy about my CW:  after 18 separate surgeries, each with general orotracheal anesthesia, including both arms and what’s left of my legs, my mind is fuzzy nonstop and when I need pain meds it’s even moreso.   And some of my meds cause muscle shaking.   The result is that I have to use a computer to send and receive CW.   I can copy up to 10-12wpm now but used to be comfortable in contests with the medium-speed crowd.  And I can’t seem to send CW by hand faster than a Cub Scout still learning the code.  This is a disappointment–my abilities at sending and receiving do not  seem to be improving.  The computer is OK but not as much fun.  🙂