When you put up an antenna it is inevitable that there will be problems.

Today, in the midst of hours of 60 MPH gusts, mine came crashing down.

That’s a slight exaggeration. It is just a wire antenna, not a tower. The wire itself is fine. The paracord that ran into the tree the far end was anchored to failed. No wonder no one was calling me back on either phone or digital this afternoon.

With more bad weather ahead I’m going to wind the wire up and set it aside for the time being. The last piece for my POTA antenna will arrive Monday. I will build it and put it out in the yard. Might as well test it at home before I attempt to deploy it in the field.

So no operating for a few days. Which means no final shot at Bouvet. I heard them deep down in the noise one day, not close to loud enough to dive into the pile and make a call. I decoded them on FT8 twice, briefly, but they just as quickly disappeared. On to the next…