Quick Fixes and Maintenance

Foundations of Amateur Radio

There is a time for everything. Mostly when it's most inconvenient, like in the middle of a rare contact, or while you're running a pile-up like you have never done before, or while you're getting a multiplier during a contest.

For two years I've been using an antenna on my car that on occasion has the ability to remind you of it's presence. In this case, there is a lead, a so-called wander lead, that runs from the base of the antenna to one of the various connectors that are spaced along the length of the antenna. In case you're wondering, it's an Outbacker antenna and it's the first antenna that actually worked on my car.

This lead has two banana-plugs on it, and those are connected to the lead with little screws which have an uncanny ability to come loose when you least desire it.

This ability of an item connected to your radio to make itself known to you is not limited to my wander-lead. I've seen the same behaviour on microphone connectors, interface adapters, baluns, speaker leads, power leads and the like.

Often you cobble together a quick fix and off you go again, doing what you were doing. Only the quick fix turns into "the fix" and nothing is ever actually fixed. I've been to many shacks where a quick fix has been applied that lasted days, weeks, months, sometimes even years, but at some point it will fail again, perhaps with disastrous results, like letting the magic black smoke out of your radio - and if you're not sure what I'm talking about, ask a friend, but the smell is memorable and often there is a matching invoice to pay.

During the week I did something novel. I remembered the last quick fix I did and instead of thinking: "I should do something about that", I actually went to my car, got out the antenna, pulled off the wander lead and actually fixed it, that is, got out a proper screw driver and actually tightened the screws. Mind you, as I'm thinking about it now, I have started to think about if I should solder the lead and remove the screws from the whole thing. I'll let you know how I go.

The point I'm making, badly perhaps, is that the hobby we are engaged in, Amateur Radio, is about more than making contacts and building stuff, it's also about doing maintenance and thinking about how to make your station safer, more reliable, more usable and fixing those niggling little things that will come and bite you at some point in the future.

Before I go, I should anticipate some responses which will be along the lines of: "Well, it was a quick fix, but it lasted for years." - good for you, you're a better fixer than I am. For the rest of us, have a good look at your station and think about some quick fixes you've applied.

I know I'd prefer to complete the QSO with that rare DX station, rather than have them vanish and later learn that their microphone packed up mid-contact.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB