06/14/2005 | KQ6EE KQ6EE hiked up to Mt. Disappointment ( 5994' ). On Saturday, I didn't do any contest because of my son's high school graduation. So on Sunday, I packed up everything(Ft-817, Alinco 220 ht, Icom 4 bander ht, and 2 bander beam antenna) , and summit at Mt. Disappointment. I didn't bring my magmount( for 6 meter ). I made my 6 meter antenna by connecting to my tripod on one side and on the other side, I connected it to a ground rod. It is because at Mt. Disappointment, there are a lot of antenna towers (commerical and repeater). The weather was cloudy at Los Angele basin, but I was above the cloud all day breathing fresh air, and do cq contest, cq contest. I only did contesting from about 8 am to 3:30 pm. The longest distance was dm 16 (Telescope Peak, Death Valley, CA) or dm 12 (Mexcio). It is was too bad with 5 watt. An old hiker ask me what I was doing. He asked " is it a CB or VHF?, and how far it can make contest?" I told him that I was doing HAM contesting, and it can reach San Diego. He said "woo". He also asked " you hauled all the stuffs here?????" I said "YES". I have so much fun hiking and playing with my radios. Field Day is coming soon. I plan to hike to another peak and do cq field day, cq field day. 73. -- KQ6EE