First, I'd like to say thanks to George, KJ6VU, and the K6SRA club for
their good company and comfortable chairs at base camp (Henry Coe state
park, near Morgan Hill, CA). I really appreciate your trading me a
bar-B-qued sausage dog for my box of Pop-Tarts. Saved me from having to
explain the box to Lillian.
On Saturday, I backpacked up the hill from base camp with just the KX1
and enough #26 silky to put up a decent wire vertical. No feedline --
just matched it with the internal tuner. I was determined to do the
entire FD with internal batteries, too, so I had a fresh set of six
lithium AAs.
The bands were in great shape in Northern California. Bottom line?
Haven't figured that out yet. But I did make 164 Qs, all on 20 and 40
m, and all with 1.5 watts. If I had stayed up late or gotten up early
this morning I could have done a lot better; there was nearly no
atmospheric noise on either band. This morning I even dared call CQ
(with 1.5 watts!) and ran a couple dozen on 40 meters. Batteries were
still at 8.0 V key-down when I called it quits.
Funniest moment:
A friend (name and call withheld) was helping set up my antenna. (A
Really Good friend. Still.) He held the connector end while I tossed
the weighted end, repeatedly, exhausting my stock of expletives.
On my fifth try the weight cleared a high branch. Beside himself with
joy, my happy helper unwittingly let go of the connector. The wire
promptly settled into an upside-down U with both ends 12 feet off the
ground, unreachable. He tested the height with a disconsolate little
hop (not even close!), then tried valiantly to hit the weights with
rocks. I briefly considered a long running start, but rejected the
idea. After all, he'd just had double knee surgery.
Our last, best hope was a dead tree branch, covered with half-inch red
ants, that appeared just long enough. Remember that famous photo of
Marines erecting a U.S. flag at Iwo Jima? This event bears no
resemblance to that noble effort. Imagine two six-footers, synchronized
in a clumsy, bear-like dance, gripping the fat end of a branch and
trying to swat a pair of dangling 5/8 hex-nuts with the tip. (On a
steep slope, looking directly into the sun.) After a few tries we hit
it. Mercifully, no other humans (in particular, Dave Barry) were around
to witness this.
Photos later
Wayne
N6KR
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