[SCCC] Portable Five?

[W.H. Scholz]

Hi Tony,

Sounds like fun doing the TX trip.

On the question of airline issues -- Over the past few years I've carried a
lot of radios on the airlines and haven't had any problems. My choice so far
has been to actually check the bags with the radios in them. I use Pelican
cases, and have had no breakage with only one exception and that was my
fault for not packing a set of Vibroplex paddles correctly so the result was
that the finger pieces got broken. The trick is to make sure that nothing
can move inside the Pelican case.

With reference to the security issues, I have never had a problem, although
if you do the radios carry-on, be prepared to explain what some of the stuff
(notably paddles) is. On my last trip which was to South Carolina in July
(Ontario, CA to DFW and then to Charlotte) I had a multimeter along with the
probes and wires attached to the meter in my carry on. It was questioned and
I was told that the combination of the electronics and the wire looked
suspiciously like a shoe bomb. On the way back I put the meter in one bag
and the probes in my briefcase and it sailed right through.

Even when I went to Havana in 2003, I had no issues with security, just a
lot of questions.

Remember that if you check stuff, the bags cannot be locked unless you use
the TSA locks.

73 de Bill, W1HIJ/6
aka NP4A, CO0US, KP2AA, FO0SCH

-----Original Message-----
From: sccc-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:sccc-bounces at contesting.com]On
Behalf Of N6OO - Tony
Sent: Monday, October 16, 2006 1:26 PM
To: sccc: contesting List
Subject: [SCCC] Portable Five?


I attended the SS clinic last weekend & I want to say thanks for all the
great information. It is helpful to a newer contester like myself.

During CQWW SSB I will be traveling down to Mission, Texas. The South East
portion of the state near by Harlingen & South Padre. There is a family
wedding that will likely prevent me from operating for much of the contest.
In addition, I will be too far away for my score to contribute to the SCCC
total. But I might have some opportunities here & there to get on the air.

I'll be flying out there on Southwest airlines & am still debating if I
should bring my radio to do some Portable 5 operations.

On one hand, I'll likely be preoccupied during most of the contest. I am
also
not certain how much hassle it will be bringing along ham radio gear onto an
airplane. If it is checked baggage, I'm worried it might be bumped around
too much. If it is carry on, I wonder if it will be a major hassle getting
through security.

On the other hand, it is an appealing thought to be able to try and catch
some new DX from that part of the country. A different path from near the
Gulf of Mexico might help add to my DXCC counts.   Maybe I'll be able to
contact a few new ones I might not otherwise be able to work from the west
coast.

Any thoughts, airline traveling experiences or suggestions will be
appreciated. 73

de N6OO

Tony
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