KG6ONE (plus KG6KVI, KI6BNE and KI6BZI) in the 2006 ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes
We arrived at our location and as expected Bill (W6ZM) was already there. We had been tipped off by Tom
(K6VCR) that he might be there. We knocked on the door and chit chatted for a while. It was very cold
for SoCal, but we were at 6200 feet. We cannot thank Bill enough for showing us how our borrowed RV worked.
He got the heat, hot water and gas stove running.
We started about an hour late after assembling three masts with rotors, a few painter's poles and a 6m vertical.
Six was dead and we were reminded agin that we need amps and preamps. Our only 900mhz contact was actually the
result of calling CQ. Bruce (KG6IYN) is an awesome contester and knows that it pays to listen on all the
calling frequencies. Our 1.2ghz HT and very dodgy "Ghetto-Tenna" got us a few contacts. It turns out that the FT-104
only puts out about 1/2 a watt even powered from DC.
We considered it a victory and learned a lot. We're looking forward to June.
the log
pictures
Bands, modes, antennas and notes
- 6 meters (50 - 54 megahertz)
- 100 watts, ssb/fm, 5el yagi and gain vertical
- 2 meters (144 - 148 megahertz)
- 50/65 watts, ssb/fm, 13el/5el yagi and whip
- 125 centimeters (222 - 225 megahertz)
- 35 watts, fm, quagi
- 70 centimeters (420 - 450 megahertz)
- 20 watts, ssb/fm, 15el yagi
- 33 centimeters (902 - 928 megahertz)
- 12 watts, fm, 6el yagi
- 23 centimeters (1240 - 1300 megahertz)
- 1 watt, fm, 15el quagi