It sure was different going up to the hill this September. For 29 of the last 30 years K3YTL had made the trek up Red Rock mountain, but not this year. The operator of our 432/ 1296 station called it quits. There was serious doubt that the remaining 3 operators could rally enough help to not only get the towers up, but also more importantly, get them down safely on Monday morning. So we pulled the plug. 

I spent the week prior to the contest pulling together the ingredients for a single op effort. The little generator I purchased from Harbor Freight was junk, so I planned on a solar power QRP effort. I knocked together 3 elements on 6 meters from pieces on the scrap pile in the woods behind the house. The 13B2 for 2 meters was reserected from the same pile. The 222 yagi had been used on FM in the past and was ready to go. 432 was a very old 21 element F9FT which had been under the front porch for many years. The 1296 antenna was 18 elements remaining of a 23 element F9FT. And half of those elements were taped onto the boom. I borrowed a small military surplus crankup tower and had a 20 foot pushup mast. 

It was raining lightly when I arrived on the hill. I assembled the antennas, attached the feed lines and prepared to raise the towers. I tried 6 meters and 1296 on the push up mast first. No luck. I hefted the other tower holding 2/222/432 and realized I couldn’t get that up either. Bummer! As I took a couple of minutes to speak with a hiker passing through, I heard a rumble coming over the hill. George, WB3FKQ! Talk about a prayer being answered. In short order, we had the tower and mast up and the antennas and rotors checked out. George also loaned me a small generator. I was back up to the 100 watt power level! 

Inside the trailer the station consisted of a Kenwood TS-2000X on 6/2/432 and 1296. (100 watts on 6 and 2, 50 watts on 432 and 10 watts on 1296.) The TS2K also drove the Elecraft 222 transverter and brick amplifier to 100 watts on that band. 

Band conditions were pretty flat. I was glad to have the generator. There was not enough sun Sat./Sun. that the battery would have made it for the weekend. The 100 watt power level really helped me pass out the multiplier to a lot more folks. I had a good time, but it would have been better if the whole gang had been there.