[K6BW] Great SaturDay at Hamilton!

[Peter Bland]

Congratulations Dave.  I was on 20M PSK31 yesterday but the furthest I got
was Statten Island, NY!  I am happy to work with you on the antennas.  Leave
a message on the reflector or my home phone at 883 1702.  KG6MZV

-----Original Message-----
From: k6bw-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:k6bw-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On
Behalf Of David Mueller
Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2005 9:26 PM
To: Members of the Hamilton Wireless Assn.
Subject: Re: [K6BW] Great SaturDay at Hamilton!

Hi Everyone,
   I just got back down off the hilltop and had just
about all I could take of SSB :)  I ended up with
about  80 QSOs on 15 through 80 meters in the North
American QSO Party.  I was primarily checking out the
site and it really works!  I had no difficulty working
into the East Coast on 75M.  I can only imagine how
the station will play once some "real" antennas are
installed.  20 meters opened up to Eastern Europe so I
put the microphone away and worked a few Ukrainian and
Russian stations with CW during their sunrise.
   I've been speaking at length with Bill and I think
we've come up with a game plan for future antennas at
the club.  One of the first projects is the
installation of the crank-up tower and installation of
the TH7 tribander atop it.  My attemps to mount the
beam above the shack roof failed - it's just too heavy
to do by myself - and it makes sense to do it right
the first time instead of temporarily sticking it on a
pole.  Over the next couple weeks I'll be digging the
hole for the last guy anchor so the tower can go up.
   I'd also love to get a couple pulleys installed at
the top of the big tower for low band wire antennas. 
I'd do it myself but I just don't quite have the
cojones to climb to the top without access to proper
climbing equipment.  Once I find a way to get pulleys
up there, I want to install a sloping 1/2 wave dipole
for 160M.  There's a tall pine tree to the north of
the shack that's far enough away, and the antenna will
be sloping downward to the north.  HC8N has this same
antenna installed and they report a 5db improvement
over a 1/4 wave vertical.  They are quite loud on 160
since I've worked them on that band from KH2, DU, and
the East Coast.  I'm a big fan of the low bands and
I'm like a kid in a candy store since this is my first
ever opportunity to experiment with full sized
low-band antennas.
   I'm hoping to work on improving the shack's
antennas over the next month and a half, a couple
hours a couple  days a week when I have the
opportunity.  I live at the bottom of the hill so it's
easily accessable to me.  I'd love to have effective
antennas (TH7 and wires for 40-160) prior to the
November Sweepstakes in...you guessed it...early
November.  I'm gunning for that to be my first, full
out effort from the club station with a goal of 1000+
QSOs in the weekend.  
   Anyway, Bill wanted me to drop a note to the
reflector.  I had a great time at the meeting last
week and I'm looking forward to future club activities
during my tour here in the Bay Area (atleast 2 years)

73, Dave N2NL

--- Bill Smith <hbcs at sonic.net> wrote:

> We have a new member (details to follow), we had a
> great VEC session, and
> we're contestin'.
> 
> Dave, N2NL will be at the clubhouse this Saturday
> evening warming up for
> some of the bigger contests later this year.  He is
> also setting the stage
> for very serious antennas at the clubhouse!
> 
> Had good participation at the VEC session this
> morning.  Thank you Peter and
> Tim for volunteering time to support the VEC
> program.
> 
> Onward and upward!
> 
> 73 de Bill, AB6MT
> ab6mt at sonic.net
> 
> _______________________________________________
> K6BW mailing list
> K6BW at mailman.qth.net
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/k6bw
> 


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