This was my second year in amateur radio and my second time operating Phone Sweepstakes from my little cabin near Joshua Tree.  I operated last year using a borrowed Tri-Ex T-436 crank-up tower with a 75 meter inverted vee up 23 feet at the apex, a two-element tribander (Hy-Gain TH-2) at 25 feet, and a 40-meter ground-mounted vertical.  The little tower, which had crisscrossed the country on Wayne Overbeck's (N6NB) "cabover kilowatt," was getting up there in years and was binding so it would only go up to about 20 feet. When I decided to do the contest again this year, we knew a better antenna system was in order (the seized up rotator was probably also a sign).

Lo and behold, Dave Glenn (N6TEB) had an unused 5-section Tristao tower lying in his side yard.  Before we knew it, that tower was on a trailer headed up to Joshua Tree, where it sat until we realized that Sweepstakes was coming up. We had to GET TO WORK!

A few weeks ago, we raised my newly-adopted tower and bought a shiny Cushcraft A4 tribander with the 40-meter extension.  Putting up the antenna was challenging.  Missing parts galore and a fiberglass insulator that failed 5 minutes after the driven element was up.  Yep, five minutes.  That meant Wayne had to drag John, N6MU, up to Joshua Tree on a weekday to reinstall the driven element with a heavier fiberglass insulator. 

So, Phone Sweepstakes was a chance to try out the new station and tower, now 45 feet tall with an inverted vee that stretched out forever.  Thanks to Wayne's expert wiring skills, we didn't even need to cut a new hole into my house.

Everything seemed to work really well.  I received many compliments on my signal and was very surprised when a few people actually knew me.  I even "ran" on 20 and 15 meters for a while and was amazed that there was a pile-up from all the people trying to work ORG.  Seriously?  Orange?!

Sweepstakes this year was a lot of fun, especially once the sections (and multipliers!) started rolling in.  I ended up with 78 sections (missed NL and PR) but hardest section to get was... LAX!  I worked W6TA ten minutes before the end of the contest for my only LAX Q.  Like last year, I'm really glad that I jumped in, even as a beginner, and did my best.  I'm inspired by all of the legendary contesters out there, many of whom I worked but more importantly, listened to and hopefully learned from.  And lastly, I want to thank all the supportive hams on the air.  Hope to work you all next year.  I should have my
bird-deflector owl mounted on the tower by then.  73, Carrie Tai

Equipment: FT-857 transceiver, AL-572 amplifier, CQPWIN 12.0 software

QTH: My cabin near Joshua Tree, CA.