[Elecraft] Field Day Fun!

[David Y.]

Bill and All,

Like  Bill, I've been doing this ham radio stuff for a long time--54 years. 
It still "floats my boat!"

I committed very late to join a couple of ham friends on a camping outing up 
on Mt. Lemmon, which is 9K feet and 30 degrees cooler than the 100's here on 
the desert floor.  The best part is I can go from my house to the top in 
about an hour.  That fact alone makes Tucson a better place to live than 
Phoenix!!!

I took my K2, and some battery packs, and headed up the mountain on Friday. 
I also used an end fed HW for simplicity.  The others with me are hams, but 
alas, they aren't all that interested in CW or QRP.  So, I was the only 
"op".

I've been on many intense Field Day operations, but I'm just as happy to do 
it very casually.  I operate a couple of hours, then go visit with everyone 
for even longer, or just go take a long walk!  I also like to sleep, so you 
won't hear me in the middle of the night.

I only made about 160 contacts, but since I'm not really a threat to win 
anything, I usually just try and see how many different sections I can work. 
In the process, I pass up a lot of contacts I could easily make to up the 
total.  I probably didn't operate more than 5 or 6 hours total, and much of 
that was searching for new sections.  I ended up with 67 sections, and I 
missed a few that I shouldn't have.  But what the heck!  It's fun to have a 
"mini" objective like that if you aren't trying to rack up a big score.

K2 worked great, and the WX at 8400 feet was very nice too.  Ate well, and 
even had a little "nectar of the Gods" with my steak!  Now, how can you beat 
that?

Dave W7AQK
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill W4ZV" <btippett at alum.mit.edu>
To: <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, June 27, 2009 7:12 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] Field Day Fun!


>
> My XYL was participating in a singing event this afternoon so I made a 
> hasty
> decision to pack up my QRP K2 and head for the top of Morrow Mountain (NC
> State Park).  After several misfires with my slingshot (out of practice) I
> got my Par EndFedz-20/40 installed in a tree over a picnic table. 
> Connected
> my 7AH SLA battery to the K2 and turned it on.  Nothing!  Are the 
> conditions
> that bad?  Went to 40 and it sounded the same.
>
> I hadn't used the EndFedz in several years after removing it from a
> semi-permanent installation at a mountain cabin.  Apparently I must have 
> had
> a nearby lightning strike sometime which blew out the sealed matching 
> unit.
> Fortunately I had my Emtech ZM-2 tuner which loaded the wire from the
> EndFedz (no radials).  I set the K2 to 5 Watts on 20m and was finally 
> ready
> to go.
>
> I made my first QSO at 1846z and operated ~3 hours, mostly S&P on 20m but
> also a few on 15 and 40.  Made 107 total QSOs including KH7 and KP3 with 
> the
> last one at 2201z when it was time to pack up and head for home.  If you
> worked me, you can congratulate yourself on your good ears.  I was frankly
> amazed anyone could hear me with QRP to that band-aided antenna!
>
> After almost 52 years on the air I'm still thrilled with this hobby.  It's
> just amazing that we can communicate across the country with 5 watts to a
> piece of wire.  What fun!!!  And thanks to Elecraft for the K2...the ideal
> Field Day QRP rig.
>
> 73,  Bill  W4ZV
> -- 
> View this message in context: 
> http://n2.nabble.com/Field-Day-Fun%21-tp3168641p3168641.html
> Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>
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