Afternoon at the Knox Mountain Pond
August 2014
This afternoon Hanz W1JSB and I hiked up to Knox Mountain. What a
beautiful
place. We worked Russia, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Germany and
Croatia.
Along the trail, the first bridge has deteriorated significantly
since we made the trip last. The
timbers have sagged so badly that the planks at the leading edge are
sticking several feet above
the ground. We crossed cautiously. We came to the pond after hiking
forty minutes or so. It's
always a welcome sight.
Hanz and I set up between the two cabins on the hill above the pond.
I tossed a half wave wire for
20 meters over a high branch of the cherry tree and we shared the
antenna. I brought the KX3.
Hanz brought his new rig. It's an enhanced HB-1B in a waterproof
Pelican case. It's really gorgeous.
Hanz has added a large display, an amplified speaker, internal
battery, charger, power monitor, and
a touch keyer to the HB-1B. It's beautiful and really works just as
well.
Hanz took the first turn with the antenna. He worked Russia, Poland,
Georgia,
and South Carolina. We were working the Romanian DX Contest.
Here's my log:
30 Aug-14 1941 14.025 HG8C CW 599 599 Hungary
30 Aug-14 1946 14.014 R3ZV CW 599 599
Russia
30 Aug-14 1953 14.031 W4IX CW 599 599 SC
30 Aug-14 1957 14.011 I3FIY CW 599 599
Italy
30 Aug-14 2003 14.027 YR9F CW 599 599
Romania
30 Aug-14 2029 14.026 DJ2QV CW 599 599
Germany
30 Aug-14 2032 14.018 N4AF CW 599 599
NC
30 Aug-14 2033 14.014 W4BQF CW 599 599 GA
30 Aug-14 2035 14.019 9A5Y CW 599 599
Croatia
We passed the antenna back and forth for an hour or so.
We packed up after a perfect afternoon and headed down the trail
alongside the
brook. Hanz took one last picture of the afternoon sun shimmering in
a pool in
the rocks.