A New Mast

I currently have a collection of light weight scaffold poles bolted together to create a 35 foot mast which is attached to the side of my house. The home brew cobweb is bolted to the mast and an inverted vee for 30m is attached via a winch system.

Although secure via 3 wall brackets and a set of guy wires, I am always wary when the wind gets up (I live on a hill), the cobweb can be seen swaying when the breeze starts blowing and I always have a panic when it really starts to move although it is pretty secure. However, If the wind did rise rapidly and I needed to take action fast I’d have very little chance of dropping the mast quickly, mainly because it is very heavy and it’s really a two man operation although I can manage it on my own but it does take time.

So I have bought a 40 foot telescopic mast which in theory should provide me with the option of being able to reduce the height of the antenna quickly without having to remove any of the wall brackets should the weather turn very bad.

The mast arrived the other day and on first inspection looks ideal for what I require, the base being approximately 7 feet in length and just over two inches in width which is roughly the same width as the scaffold pole, so I should be able to use the same brackets. The beauty of the new mast is that at each section there are 4 metal eyes for attaching guy wires, so that the mast will be much more secure when raised to its full height. Come the winter gales I will be able to zip up the ladder and reduce the height of the mast without too much bother.

 The new mast in all its glory, the line going across the pic is a telephone cable which is actually some distance away!

The 1000 MP V has settled in to its new home and I am quickly learning how to use the various controls as well as getting to grips with setting the menus up to how I want them.

I’m still amazed at how good the receiver is especially using the standard filters, heaven knows how good it will be when I manage to get the optional filters! So far I've had a few qso’s and reports coming back are very good. The other day whilst listening on 20 meters I heard an American station calling CQ and there were quite a few stations trying to reply. For a quick test, I went straight in at 150 watts and was immediately given a 599, not bad although normally I’d never go above 100 watts!

The Yaesu FT 1000 MkV

The FT 990 is currently on eBay and hopefully fingers crossed I should get a reasonable price which will help to cover the cost of the new rig. Although it’s a pity I can’t keep the FT 990 as my second rig, but sadly at the moment money comes first!