I put the finishing touches (trimming/tuning) on a 20m/40m linked dipole today and made some contacts while I was outside. ?I chatted with a ham from France for a bit and chased a few POTA activators and one SOTA activator. ?Things were going well and then I couldn't seem to make any more contacts.
Turns out I wasn't keeping track of my on-board battery voltage and it had dropped down to the point where it won't transmit; I was wasting my breath. ?:-) ? I learned I need to keep an eye on the battery condition. ?Actually, it probably won't be an issue as I usually power up with a 12V 9Ah Bioenno LiFePO (and sometimes have a 38W folding solar panel wired in as well).
Keep an eye on your voltage... those words you're speaking into the mic might not be going anywhere!
?
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Bob
KD2TTM
Bob KD2TTM