6 METERS AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD: Or, “How do I keep making the same mistakes over and over?
Special to The ARS Sojourner
The spot is easy to get to, about 3 miles in on the Pacific Crest Trail going north from Walker Pass, due West of the home QTH of Ridgecrest, CA. We had used this spot before for QRPTTF with good success and the southerly view and 6,000 ft elevation look good for the Top of the World contest.
I hadn't had the chance to do a lot of operating lately due to an ill father, daughter getting married, son graduating, etc, etc, etc. Plus Paula had just gotten a new backpack for birthday and the ever faithful Sparky was itching for a hike out of the hot desert. So off we went.
I decided to do a mono band, 6 meter attempt this year. The rig used was the Ten Tec transverter (20 meters-to-6 meters) along with my Ten Tec Argonaut 509.
Now I am a strong proponent of the Trail Friendly Radio (TFR) and I can tell you the Argonaut is not in that category. In fact, with the reduced weight of the typical rig(s) I take along backpacking it is quite evident the Argonaut has been putting on weight
I remember when I purchased the Argonaut back in 1978 it was a small, lightweight rig. Well, I guess its like a lot of us, as we get older we get a tad bigger and heavier. I have built a White Mountain 20 SSB rig for use in the field as an exciter but haven't put it into a box as of yet.
It's going to be a lot lighter and TFR but it wasn't ready. Mistake #1.
Also, the transverter is in a dark, almost black case. Loves to find the sun. I've got to fix that.
The antenna was a 4 element collinear wire beam I had used at the Zuni Loop the previous year. Like all good hams I had put it away and not looked at until I needed to put it in the pack. Mistake #2. Oops!, I forgot the phasing elements had almost broken away. So I spent a couple of hours fixing that.
I took along the digital display I built for it as well because I didn't trust the dial calibration. Mistake #3. The display is light but bulky, and I can't read it in the sun. What I ended up doing was to calibrate the dial skirt and use that, shutting off the display. Worked fine.
Could have done that at home and saved me the bulk / weight. I did bring along a 2 meter handheld. I always do when hiking in this area due to the availability of repeaters. Did I bring the lightweight rig? Nooooooooo, I had to bring the heaviest one. I did listen a little to the simplex frequencies but with only a rubber duck I couldn't raise anyone.
A small 2 meter beam would have snagged me a few QSOs. Mistake #4.
The contest went well. I set the antenna up just prior to the start. Now, which way is the gain on it? After much discussing with the ever faithful dog Sparky I decided it was indeed off the ends. Didn't really matter much because the only usable high trees were in the north / south direction anyway.
The initial rate went well, working just about everyone available the first half hour. Then they straggled in, a CW contact here, a real weak one there.
In the 3.5 hours I was set up I worked a total of 22 stations for 7 grids.
Only stations in about a 200 mile radius were heard and worked. No DX was heard and sounded like the same for everyone else as well.
What would I do different? In reality probably not much because it seems like with work and family these contests always creep up on me and I'm never as ready as I should be.
I do keep making the same mistakes over and over.
But if I could been ready, I would definitely had the trail friendly radio ready, a small, light weight 6 and 2 meter beam; the light weight 2 meter radio.
The one thing I did do right was have fun. Even with only 22 QSOs I had a ball. We had a great view and really enjoyed the day.
Having a fun time makes all the mistakes worthwhile. So even if your radio set up isn't “optimum”, go out and enjoy yourself and have an adventure.
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Mike Herr, WA6ARA, is an avid QRPer, builder and outdoorsman living in Ridgecrest, CA. herr@ridgecrest.ca.us