Made a turn into a shopping center and all of a sudden I hear something make a really loud snap followed by a tinkling sound on the roof of the Cherokee. Yep, it was a low bar that you couldn't see because it was that close to the turn-in. The 40m coil on my UHV-6 snapped off. And, of course, I'm 300 miles from home on the way to play radio during the eclipse. Managed to find most of the parts and get them back together again but couldn't find the radiating element. So, went to Michael's and got some copper-clad 12ga aluminum wire (because that's what they had and it was the only place nearby). Had to file the diameter down just a bit. Also had to reinforce the base because the aluminum wire would bend of you breathed on it. I won't be driving with the 40m coil on until I get a replacement. Tried the jury-rigged setup first on 20m to make sure that wasn't hosed, then on 40m. Made a contact in Indiana on 20 and in Cuba on 40.
So, I'll be playing radio tomorrow probably starting around 1pm Eastern and going till 4pm Eastern. The Virginia Tech folks that are working to develop an ionospheric propagation model are wanting hams to use digital modes like PSK and JT-65 because they can either hear them directly or get info from PSK-reporter and others like that. I gather even if you're not in the band of totality, they'd still like info to use.
I need to get a tarheel screwdriver that auto retracts.