Livermore Falls Adventure
May 2016
Tim W3ATB and I went up to Livermore Falls in Plymouth today.
I worked North Carolina, Austria, Scotland, Lithuania, and Germany.
I setup the KX3 and a 29 foot vertical wire with a 9:1 unun above
the railroad track overlooking the
falls. As soon as I turned on the rig, I heard Joe W2KJ working
another station on 14.060. When he
was done I called him. He was running 4 watts with a KX3. We had a
really nice chat. There were a
few dips with QSB, but solid copy both ways. Joe was a strong 599 at
the beginning and faded a bit
toward the end.
I moved down the band and heard GS3PYE/P in Scotland working
stations. We exchanged 599s
and when I was finished, I heard Tim work him. Tim was about 100
yards to my north sitting
on the hillside right near the track.
A little further down the band LY/ES5ZF was working stations. We
exchanged 599s, then I went
briefly to 17 meters to see if the band was open. To my surprise
there was GS3PYE/P operating
again. We had a second QSO on 17 meters. Then I packed up and walked
down to Tim's
operating position. He was running a setup just like mine... KX3 and
29 foot vertical wire with a
9:1 unun.
We had a picnic lunch and then tuned around the band a final time.
There was DP65HSC calling CQ
and working stations. Both Tim and I had trouble sorting out his
call sign, partly because he was
going so fast, but also because the call is a bit of a CW tongue
twister in itself. Turns out it was
a special event station celebrating the 65th anniversary of the High
Speed Club in Germany. Tim
worked him after I did.
It was an absolutely gorgeous morning and the bands were in pretty
good shape. After a fantastic
time operating, Tim and I packed up and headed back to the car.