2012 ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes
I made plan for portable operation, but weather (as always) changed my plan. It was very difficulot to choose location for portable operation, because ot was rain during whole SAturday that changed to snow later. Frotunately, it was sunny on the Sunday, and I decided to operate from Ensign Peak. Ensign Peak is a peak in the foothills near downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. I hiked it before during spring time, and trail was very muddy. This time it was covered by fresh snow, and hike was very pleasent. I used simple lightweight antennas for my operation, because my weight was limited. Because of simple setup, I was able to make contacts with local amateurs only. Suddenly, something changed on 2 meter band, when antenna was pointed to the Nortth. Noise level increased and I heared noise similar to the noise from the thunderstorm. I switched to 6 Meters and heared stations from California( DM03, DM12, etc.). Unfortunately, they were unable to copy my week signal. I realized that it became colder and decided to finish my operation. When I returned back to my home, I found on Internet that it was Aurora (k=5) at these moment. I was lucky, because one lady hiked to Ensign Peak with digital camera and E-mailed me some pictures.
-- KD7WPJBack