Topband: 160/M---Time for a new topic--- 160mobile?!

[Mike & Coreen Smith]

TOPIC - How many of you have every operated 160m mobile? - TOPIC (or worked 
a far away mobile maybe)

I know AA1K has and I have even heard and worked Jon when he was mobile. I 
would love to hear more from Jon.
Then there was that KH6......I am sorry, my brain can't remember his 
callsign @ the moment. Big truck, big power.

I did myself, but only briefly.  I would like to try it again.  Even if just 
for a contest, or on Wednesday nights when I make a long dark drive into 
town and back for some different things I have going on.

In the mid 90's I was on for 1 or 2 winter "seasons" (very 
sporadically).....I ran an FT-101E strapped under the glove box of a 1989 
Ford Escort Station wagon.  90W-100W (or thereabouts). Straight key. No 
tuner.  My antenna was a 10m-80m WEbster Banspanner on a roof rack.  To the 
top of the whip I mounted an ice cream bucket wrapped with 100 to 200 ( I 
forget exactly) feet of very small insulated wire.  Above that I had 4 or 5 
aprox 6-7' long wires as a capacity hat that came back down to all corners 
of the roof racks.  I moved the WB tuning whip up and down for a match. 
(also a base match for best SWR)

It didn't work "well", but it did "work".  The one QSO that sticks out was 
with a CT3 that I got on the 2nd or 3rd call.  This was while mobile in an 
ice storm while I was on my way to VE1PZ's house for a CQWW160m SSB contest 
(we won for our category iirc).  I worked 13-14 countries with this 
jury-rigged setup which had who knows how much efficiency? 1.2%? HI HI 
(kc5oia, are you reading this?)

I would really enjoy hearing your 160m MOBILE stories. I am sure others 
would as well.

Mike VE9AA

  All - This thread about the east coast advantage has been a good one,
  but I think it is time to move on.