N6KR FD report and antenna tale

[wayne burdick]

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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[Vic K2VCO]

wayne burdick wrote:

> Our last, best hope was a dead tree branch, covered with half-inch red
> ants, that appeared just long enough.

I think you would probably want three-quarter inch ants for this kind of
job.

--
73,
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco
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[Charles Bland]

This is from last weeks ARRL Letter, in case anyone missed it. I didn't see
mention in the archives, so I thought I'd post it.

Chuck - n6dbt

* Pete Halpin, PH1PH/G7ECN, SK: Pete Halpin, PH1PH/G7ECN, of Hengelo, the
Netherlands, died June 8. The co-developer with Simon Brown, HB9DRV, of the  
freeware Ham Radio Deluxe transceiver-control package, Halpin was considered
its support and services guru. Licensed in 1982, Halpin was a retired aircraft
technician who, in Brown's words, "devoted copious free time to this project.
He will be missed by everyone involved with Ham Radio Deluxe."

The Radio Society of Great Britain recognized Brown and Halpin last year for
their significant contribution to the development of Amateur Radio technology.
Halpin also has received awards from the QRP Amateur Radio Club International,
one for his low-power successes on 6 meters. He was a past director of No Code
International.
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