Snow Adventures

I just got back from another ski outing.
In barely ten minues I worked six stations
including New Mexico, Florida and Texas.

Meghan (good dog) and I went up Shute Hill.
It's only a mile and a half from home.

We skied about 20 minutes in. I had prepared the
FT-817 and the Elecraft T1 tuner in
the backpack. The idea was to have everything wired up
and be ready to operate so I didn't have to assemble the equipment
the way I do with my summer outings.

Yesterday I had gone on a ski outing, and I worked
Vancouver BC from the edge of a field. But it was
a bit complicated getting ready to operate on a
blanket out in the snow. Connecting the ATS2... the battery,
the earphones, the tuner, the key and throwing up a real antenna.
It went OK, but it was a little messy for cold weather
operating. So today I made some changes.

Today I brought two lengths of 15 foot
wire. Rather than putting up a horizontal
antenna and tramping around in the snow setting it
up, I would just use a plain vertical... just set up
under a branch and suspend it.

Everything was pre-wired and the batteries charged.
I was set up in 5 minutes. Worked like a charm. Threw
the line over the branch. tied one end
of the 15 foot wire to the pack for strain relief and
then to the tuner. hauled it right up. Chucked the
other 15 feet out into the snow. bang... I was tuned on
20 meters. some strong stations, but all in the
middle of QSOs, so I went to ten. 10 meters! Yes! the
contest. Dozens of strong stations. The T-1 tuned right up...
I operated for 10 minutes and worked six stations.
Florida, Texas, New Mexico, I sat on my haunches.
My hands got cold. but everything worked. So I gotta
start a fire next time? bring the 3 legged stool? who knows.
my cheeks are rosey. my legs and arms well exercised
and my log is full. The whole jaunt took about an hour
and 20 minutes.
-the end-
no... no... the beginning. (it's only winter.)