Call: KB7Q
QTH: DN66db Captain Clark Fishing Access Site
Frequency: 144.138 MHz +_ QRM/Birdies KB7Q always first JT65b
Gear: 2x 9el. Yagis, 800 watts, K3 w/ internal transverter, excellent pre-amp, 2KW generator
You just never know how these trips will go. The first fall storm was moving through Montana when I rolled east to the operating spot on the Yellowstone River out past Pompey's Pillar. I figured this trip might turn out to be a soggy bust as it rained hard and even snowed on Bozeman Pass while traveling out. It rained a bit while I was setting up, but I'm pretty organized so there was no wasted motion and before long I was inside the warm camper setting up the radio and amp. I was concerned that heavy rain would cause my SWR to shoot up. Nope, never happened, which was a relief.
From my 0900z moonrise for the next four hours I had a - 600 to +700 Hz pile-up going. What fun! When the dust settled 10 hours later 70 stations were in the log. This was my best one day effort ever - what I thought was going to be a slog turned out to be a maximum fun outing even with a Kp index of 4.
The only glitch was that my K3 transceiver (internal 2M transverter) would sometimes produce no transmit power when going from RX to TX, I'd have to reach over to the radio and turn the power knob slightly to get the RF drive flowing again. Hmm, that K3 is getting long in the tooth, probably time to pull it apart and re-seat all those edge connectors.
Anyhow, a great outing for a cool, rainy fall day. I never saw the moon or the sun for that matter so it was all best guess aiming with my GPS/compass, and inclinometer.
Stations worked:
S52LM (-20), I2FAK (-10), DF2ZC (-14), SM7GVF (-16), PA0JMV (-19), DL1KDA (-19), EA2AGZ (-16), DK3WG (-18), PA3FYC (-19), RK3FG (-24), OZ1LPR (-19), RX1AS (-19), EA5CJ (-15), OH6ZZ (-19), SM5CUI (-20), PA9RX (-16), LZ2FO (-21), SM5KWU (-19), HA6NQ (-18), DL8GP (-14), DK5SO (-19), DK5EW (-21), F5LNU (-19), PA3FPQ (-17), HB9Q (-19), DL6SH (-15), OH3KLJ (-23), ON4KHG (-19), DL8FBD (-21), DL1VPL (-25), I2RV (-26), OH6UW (-24), FK5YA (-16), EA8DBM (-16), PA2CHR (-17), DL7FF (-20), DK4TG (-22), LA8KV (-16), HA8CE (-17), UX5UL (-13), UR7DWW (-18), G4FUF (-22), OH4LA (-17), I3EVK (-19), IK1UWL (-21), DK4RC (-15), RX3A (-20), DL4KUG (-27), OH3AWW (-26), PA3CMC (-24), W5ZN (-160, SM5KWU (-26), OH7PI (-25), KB7IJ (-18),AA4SC (-19), OK1DIX (-15), OH2BYJ (-17), K1DG (-21), N4QWZ (-26), W8KEN (-27), K7MAC (-19) KB0PPQ (-22), W7MEM (-24), JR3REX (-17), KG7P (-18), JF3MKC (-21), JH0BBE (-25), W9JN (-24), ZL2MQ (-24).
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| That's the Yellowstone River. The site is extremely RF quiet. |
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| A nice way to start the day! I2FAK was -10. |
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| All the comforts of home. |