Status - Saturday July 26

Bopnopper posted some great pics of the wilderness -- taken on a hike with her sister (LintMonkey). They hiked an 8-mile loop at Exit Glacier in Alaska's Kenai Fjords National Park. http://bopnopper9.blogspot.com I've spent the last couple of days trying to get my ham radio antennas back up. I've buried the new cable to the HF antenna, straightened the mast on the VHF/UHF antenna, placed new feedlines (using six metal underground pipes around the edge of the garage to thwart the groundhogs), installed new lightning arrestors, installed new ground rods and ground mains, and today constructed a new G5RV antenna from scratch. I used Kevlar support line between my poles, a 31' ladderline matching stub, and the 102' flattop. Dubby was kind enough to donate 1/3rd of one of her lexan cutting boards from her kitchen, which I cut, shaved, drilled, and used for the center and end insulators. I soldered on 14 PL-259 connectors and didn't screw up any! This is a first; usually I'm doing to good to get a 90% success rate. I did, however, cut myself four times with the razor knife. Nothing serious, just some blood on the fingertips. Dark overcame me, or I'd have completed the HF part of the system tonight. I've still got about one day's work left to go on the antenna systems, then I can turn my attention to getting the ham shack set up. Sadly, no rain lately. It isn't yet a crisis, but if we don't get some in the next week or so, the farmers will be hurting. I'll be hitting the road again shortly: trips scheduled to Rivenwood, Anaheim, Visalia, and the Washington D.C., keeping me busy until school starts at the end of August. "The threat level is orange."