Mr MURPHY (Coyote, Trickster)

Lets talk about Mr Murphy for a while. Haven't heard about Mr Murphy, well you know him. He the character that comes around just when you need to get something done and creates havoc so you find your self behind the eight ball, lacking time, money and everything goes in the trash can.

A couple of examples. You need to call your wife to set a Dr. appointment, Your hand held is working and the phone patch works, but half way through the conversation the connection drops, low battery. You decide to clean up the connectors on you outside antenna. It works fine, but it has been awhile since you did any preventive maintenance, so now is the time. You already know what happens, the connectors fall off, the coax is full of water, the antenna supports are rusted almost through and us spend a whole day, where you anticipated at most one hour, lost golf game.

What can we do to anticipate Mr Murphy and keep him at bay, nothing. What can go wrong, will go wrong.

A little prior planning will help put him in his place.

When batteries go dead and the radio is needed, well you have many batteries available that you probably have not considered.
Garden tools, edge trimmer, lantern batteries, shaver batteries, power tool batteries, car batteries, and tractor batteries. If you have thought abut the situation and how to make use of these sources, then Mr Murphy is out of luck.

All these batteries that can be use to run handheld. The car battery will last the longest. A cigarette lighter is available on older cars. An adaptor is needed, but you probably have that for some other appliance, like a portable phone. Connecting it to the hand held is the problem, solve it and my Murphy is out of business.

Tools needed for Mr Murphy's visits. A freezer storage bag containing side cutters, small screw diver, flat and Phillips, needle nose pliers, set of wires with alligator clips on both ends, Molen connectors, two or more sets with press on fixtures, not the solder type, why give him another chance to get in the way. You should have three new rolls of duck tape, inexpensive volt meter to show positive and negative, wires of different sizes and lengths and any thing else you use often on small repairs. One other thing, a ten-foot roll of lamp cord. Establish it is the type that has a white strip on one side. It makes it easier to match + and - when hooking up items. Coat hanger for an antenna, 19 1/2 in. for a 2 meter antenna to replace a broken rubber duck and a tiger tail when you have to use a short rubber duck. What is a tiger tail? Well it is a 19 in piece of wire that is connected to the rubber duck connector. It's called a counter poise and is 19 in. long.

In an emergency, What can go wrong, will go wrong, expect it, live with it, get on with the task.

Mr Murphy is sometimes called The Coyote and some times The Trickster. You can not avoid him, prepare for his acts of chaos, remember his appearances, they make great stories to tell on Field Day.