06/22/2007 | KI7JA This was one of the most difficult, most destructive contests I have ever operated in. I had a difficult time finding a location to operate from as SOLP in DN03 (S.E. Oregon) after the original location didn't pan out. It was about 8:30 pm when I found another spot. I started setting up, the wind was blowing which made putting up the antennas difficult. I set up the 2m yagi Friday evening only to have the wind blow it down. I straightened the elements, set it up again and went to bed as it was after 10:00 pm. The next day, the 2m antenna blew down again. I set up the 2m antenna, then I set up the 6m antenna only to have it blow down bending the elements on that yagi. I had to cut about 2" off of one side of the refector on the 6m yagi and set it up again. The SWR was a little higher, but it seemed to work. Then the 2m antenna blew down a third time, this time tearing a large hole in the back of the tent. I had to put a tarp over the hole created by the 2m antenna. The tarp caused noise by flapping in the wind. I somehow managed to get all antennas up, and stay up by contest time. Conditions were spotty on 6m with sporadic short openings, but I did work some double hop to the east coast. Two meters, 222, and 432 mhz seemed to be working well even with the damaged elements. I worked K7XC, near Reno, NV on 2m, 222, AND 432 MHZ. This is a 275 mile path, and signals were pretty good. I also worked VA7ISL on 2m and 222. This is a 381 mile path from SE Oregon to Canada. During the night on Saturday, rain found a hole in the top of the tent, and dripped down into the FT-736r. Unfortunately, the radio did not work on Sunday morning. I had to move 2m over to the FT-897 I was using for 6m, and just operated 6m and 2m. The sun came out and warmed things up and evaporated the moisture in the FT-736r, and the radio came back to life in the afternoon (at least on 222 and 432). Sunday night, the temperature dropped below freezing. Monday morning, the radios were all iced over, my water can was frozen solid, and things were not working until later when the sun came out. After the contest, I took a sponge bath and found that a couple of Deer ticks had found their way to strategic spots on my body and had dug in. I hope that I dont get Lime disease to top off this expedition to an otherwise inactive Grid. After getting those out, I packed up and headed for home. I found that the Highway Department was stripping the old pavement off and repaving the Highway, so I had to wait for nearly an hour to have the Pilot truck come and lead myself and the long line of cars behind me through the 15 miles of re-paving. I finally made it back home at about 10:45 pm and had to go to work on Tuesday. All in all, this was still a fun contest, even though the conditions, especially on 6m, were not as good as last year's contest and spotty at best. I hope that I provided a new grid for many ops. It is an experience I will not soon forget.

Bruce, KI7JA -- KI7JA