Last weekend during the 7QP, NK7U commented about a “chirp” when I keyed up on 15M CW. After that a few other operators later on also made mention to me. In the mail on Saturday was a Official Observer Advisory Notice from W7POE in Washington as he happened to listen to a QSO with KX7L and also mentioned ‘frequency instability’ and a ‘chirp’ in our exchange.

During 7QP I actually sent an e-mail to the NCCC Reflector and got quite a few responses rather quickly. Many commented it being related to the DC power supply (Astron RS-35M) I use to power the Yaesu FT-1000 MP. I attempted to confirm the chirp by listening to CW in my truck on my FT-857D. In my opinion it sounded more like a click, but not being really knowing what I am listening for I cannot confirm it for sure.

Hopefully I can investigate a but further today with another club member on the air. Regardless I need to resolve this problem before the start of WPX on May 28.

Not all news was bad this weekend. I am hoping to put the hex beam on the peak of the roof just for WPX, but my problem would be turning it. Currently I have 3 guy wires I use to turn the hex in the intended direction and then tie the guy wires off.

The members at the Hex Beam Yahoo Group confirmed I could use a Channelmaster RC Antenna Rotator System (Model CM9521-A) in order to turn the hex. At $99 from Radio Shack, this is a great deal than sending off my CDE Ham-M off to be fixed and hoping it would be fixed by WPX. Hopefully in a week or so I will add the CM9521-A to the mast and see how it works. This would definitely help me from running in and out of the shack to change directions.