[Elecraft] Putting the K2 in K2ZR/FD; 3rd in 1A-b

[Mark S. Adams, P.E.]

Hi Gang,

Just a quick gloat from the Buffalo Lighthouse Crew 1A-Battery FD event 
2004.  We finished 3rd using my K2 (SN543) and 4 Windoms hung from the top 
of the Buffalo Lighthouse.  The K2 continues to be THE radio for this type 
of operation.  Any laptop and a K2 can go the full event without making a 
deep cycle battery breath hard :-)  And the other group operating from the 
USS Sullivans, just a stones throw up the shipping channel, and operating 
with "real" power, is not even noticed unless we are on the exact same 
frequency working each other.

It also helps having a very nice antenna setup.  K2ZR built 4 Windoms cut 
for 80M using 4:1 current baluns.  They were hung as slopers in 4 compass 
directions and run to an antenna switch with 4 equal lengths of coax.  A 
piece of LMR600 then ran to the operating position. The antennas had low 
SWR on all the bands making for low unmatched losses and child's play for 
the K2's internal tuner.  It was great to be able to have gain in 4 
directions at the flick of a switch.

See y'all in FD 2005, same weekend, same place.  Oh, next year we'll be 
looking to close some more of the gap between us and our 2 "rivals" K6MI 
and N4BP. (Yeah, I know it's not a contest.)

73,
Mark K2QO
Buffalo Lighthouse Crew