Stew Perry Topband Challenge
Call: AA5B
Operator(s): AA5B
Station: AA5B
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: NM
Operating Time (hrs): 5
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 122 Total Score = 718
Club:
Comments:
Good to be back on 160, even if it was only for a short time and
with a make-shift antenna. Still living out of boxes from the move
earlier this year, getting used to Field Day style operating.
3 PM Saturday: I have no 160 station, but decided I'd try to
throw something together. Checked NA and the laptop to make
sure they worked, dug the 70-ft telescoping mast out of the
antenna pile in the side yard, lashed a 30-ft fiberglass pole to
the top, and ran some wire to the tip.
3:30 Saturday: Found the post hole digger in the garage, buried
under boxes.
4:00 Saturday: Finished digging a 4-ft hole, set the mast in it,
back-filled with dirt. Telescoped the mast, not as easy as I thought
it would be. The last couple of sections are very heavy.
4:30 Saturday: Put a tuner at the base, connected the antenna
wire, used four 50-ft pieces of RG8x as radials, and ran a chunk
of old RG213 to the shack. A quick tune-up got the SWR down to
about 2, and almost 50 W to the antenna.
5 PM: On the air, and the first 5 guys I called actually came back
to me right away. It's not pretty, it's not efficient, but it seems
to radiate. I didn't have a receive antenna, and a very local AM
station on 1.600 MHz gave me fits (I can see the tower from my
window), but those are problems to be solved next month.
Ate dinner, watched an awful movie (Kung Pow) with the kids,
checked the band occasionally, then hit the sack around midnight.
Worked a few more folks at sunrise... it's sure nice to see the
morning glow over the mountains from the windows in the new shack!
Adios,
Bruce AA5B
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