07/01/2004 | KC0MWM This is my second year with a General class license and my first attempt at Field Day as a single operator portable station. My loyal companion, (my wife Arlene) and I set up my station at Windmill State Recreation Area, about 40 miles from home. It was an extremely cool day for Nebraska in June. The rig is an ICOM 706MKIIg through an MFJ-969 tuner all powered by a marine battery. The first antenna we put up was nothing more than a simple 80 meter dipole fed with ladder line. Couldn't get it to tune up to save my soul. At this point field day was in its second hour and I hadn't made a single contact. Down comes the 80 meter dipole to be replaced with a previously tried 40-20-10 multi dipole. Hurray, got on the air. I figured the problem out on Monday morning after Field Day. The tuner requires a jumper to connect the internal 4:1 balun. I thought the jumper was internal to the tuner. The second antenna I put up was fed with coax. Lesson learned. Never overlook the simplest things. I had never used the tuner with a balanced feedline. We hung it up about midnight local time. I was kind of sad to see it end. Looking forward to Field Day 2005 and trying that 80 meter dipole out.

Roger Hammond -- KC0MWM