06/25/2007 | KB5YZG DE KB5YZG - This was my first contest. Single op, low power, single band ops (2 meter) from the top of Mt Mitchell, North Carolina, the highest point east of the Mississippi river (6684'). Learned a lot, had a lot of fun. Simple setup: ICOM-706, with an 11 element yagi on top of a stack of fiberglass tent poles. Car battery provided talk power, elbow provided rotor power. Lots of curious tourist, and few park ranger, who by the way, had no problem with my setup in the state park's parking lot. I ran my IC-706 detachable control head through the car window to my folding chair op position next to the car, with log book and mike in my lap. In 5 hours, I worked 76 contacts in 31 unique grid squares. Next time I'll bring a table, umbrella and a friend with another band to operate.

Final Score : 76 QSOs x 31 unique grid squares = 2356

-- KB5YZG