After finally getting a rig with six meters a few years ago, my VHF contesting effort has been a short road trip or camping expedition but always ended up in just a few hours operating and few contacts.

This year was no exception, except for the exceptional propagation on Sunday from the Pacific Northwest to the Northeast U.S. and Quebec as well as the Upper Midwest, Alberta and Manitoba.

Didn’t even leave town this time. Just parked on a hillside in Portland, OR at about 500 feet elevation with a view to the east.  Buddipole configured as a two element beam and IC-7000 only netted 32 contacts and 16 grid squares, but the short time spent was a “real hoot”.  May add another element to the antenna for the next time. This time, a am finally sending in a log.