Just about finished with the calibration and fan replacement on an old HP-8116A function/pulse generator. There are 25 pots and two caps to adjust, some of them interact, and there were a couple of typos in the long procedure. Just look at all that through-hole and TTL technology, even custom HP hybrid chips! Yeah, I know, it's not worth it for the old thing but I just couldn't resist.
Well, it was "today" UTC, though actually last night local time. Made 50 Qs in the weekly CWT mini-contest (1 hour of absolute bedlam). 30 Qs on 40, 20 Qs on 80, all S&P. 45 different stations worked, 2,250 points.
This was yesterday but... just moved into a new QTH and was desperate to see just what I could do quick and dirty. I turned a 40m hamstick into a "random wire" by adding a random piece of wire I had readily available, added a 9:1, and a counterpoise. Less than 2:1 SWR at 20m. Set up radio for Data and ran WSJT-x on my Raspberry Pi. Got some QSOs, very directional to east (how I put out the counterpoise) and generally 800-2200 miles. So, this is yet again another example of 'no excuses' on just getting some metal into the air and going for it.
