June Contests

Well I have never gone out of my way to work the ARRL VHF contest which will be June 8th this year....but. We always seem to do something for ARRL Field Day and this year it was decided to keep it simple.....Jeep road trip to visit some old stomping grounds and to do some radio along the way.....
Let me start at the beginning, I will soon have to tear down my station for new carpet in the shack so...I decided to remove one of my FT 897 stations and install it in the jeep a bit early...ok now we are caught up.....I am now ready for our rolling FD and the June VHF contest so think I will do both I prefer the CQ VHF in July but have another obligation with Search and Rescue that weekend so why not.....
The Jeep is set up with the 897 one of my LDG auto tuners, a home brew antenna switch, dual headset intercom and the following antennas. an old Hustler mobile setup to use while rolling and a 31 foot collapsible vertical for stationary work, I will add a mast for VHF contest later but for now I have a dual band vertical for 2m and 70cm......
We should have a fun time and a good road trip Idaho is a beautiful place in June....get out, get on and have fun....73

6M DX

It is possible...even with low power and bad antennas, 6M can be magic. My first South America 6M DX was great fun....Get on keep trying and have fun ...73

6M Friday

Wow what a great 6M day, had not been up long when bud K7BUY sent a text ...Hearing double hop E on 6 .....So I turned on the rig and computer WOW....what a morning worked from MT. to NY and all points in between....Wound up with 25 good contacts not to list all but Canada, MT, KS, OH, NJ, NY w.VA, VA, GA. Well you get the idea although I had much to get done today I spent way to much time on 6 this morning....What fun, Thanks Larry for the text message and remember it is E season. Get on have fun and 73....

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

It seems that we all mark the seasons one way or another, baseball starts, school is winding down and so on. Well in the weird world of Ham Radio it seems to be E-skip season. Today May 4, 2013 was that day for me....We planted tomatoes that's a sign, we had our new grand daughter out side and 6M opened a little for us deprived operators in the North West....All good signs of spring..

I have said enough about my operating conditions with the CC&R thing but it is so fun when I get in on good stuff like the big guns....My 6m beam is painted camo and installed about 18 feet up with an armstrong rotor ( I turn it by hand) I also use my Hustler 4BTV on 6 for a omni antenna and it works well. I hear a station in Florida calling and on the vertical I respond and work him, I then hear a station in Cuba call and I switch to the beam pointing East and work him...it was great.

About an hour later I see on the reflector a local station which I know has big antennas and big power working Chile, I run out arm-strong my antenna in that direction and on CW work CE2AWW great fun for my puny little station....so spring has sprung even in the North West.

So as always my point is no matter what your operating situation is, get on the air and try...believe nothing is out of reach and you will be surprised with the results.....I have also installed a QRP HF rig at my garage work bench for the times I am out there....running 10W to attic dipole on 10 / 15 M and have had some great contacts even a few JA stations......Get on have fun and 73....