We have visitors

Tuesday is internet day. The IT folk are supposed to arrive around noon, to put up our tower. They plan to fly out in the Bell 212, dropping off two people and a repeater tower on Mt. Discovery; the other two will continue on to visit us, and set up the tower here. The noon-ish arrival breaks up the day, since we need to put everything away before the helicopter arrives - both they and we don’t want anything blowing around.

Radio contact is made, and the helicopter comes into sight and lands. However, four people pile out, more than doubling the population of our burb. Unfortunately, Mt. Discovery was foggy, so the pilot couldn’t land. They bring a fair bit of gear, including a package for us containing a few essentials: a strap wrench, 200 feet of rope, vanilla pudding, some carrots and limes, and a cookbook. Everything that we asked for (plus the carrots and limes, which are a still a mystery).

It takes a little while to get used to the crowds. Lunch raises an etiquette question. How will we feed everyone, with only four forks, four spoons, and four knives. Plus a spork or two. Fortunately, they brought their own lunches – the easiest kind of guests.

With four people, the internet tower rises quickly, and there is lots of time to talk, compare antennae (unlike us, they usually install their antennae above ground), discuss frequencies, etc.

Because of the helicopter-winds, we do not return to the transmit-receive measurements. Instead, we dig two more antenna holes, assemble antennae, and make measurements of radio noise. The holes are starting to get a bit easier to dig, and ending up a bit deeper.

Before dinner, there was finally time to celebrate Channukah – I lit the shamash, recited the blessing, and then lit 5 candles, for the 5th night. Although the wind was pretty low, it wasn't so easy to keep the candles lit. Dinner was salmon with pesto and garlic, wild rice, and broccoli. After dinner, we finish a few anchors, and plan for tomorrow.