01/05/2003 | K6OM This was our second 160 contest, and it was more fun than the first! Our contest QTH was at Bodega Bay, California, made famous by the Hitchcock move "The Birds".

We had everything up and running the night before the contest, only to awaken Friday morning to a double whammy from Mother Nature and Murphy, all rolled into one. The area we had set the antenna up in had stayed high and dry of bay waters last year by at least a hundred feet. Not so this year!

We had elevated the base of the antenna (a top loaded Hustler 5-BTV) about five feet above the ground, thinking that would be plenty of height to miss any advancing water... WRONG! We awoke to a rain storm and all but the top few inches of the 26-radial ground system marinating in salt water. Lovely. The attached photos show the Friday morning high tide and our seaweed collection a bit later in the day.

It was not until way past midnight on Sunday morning (after we had driven ourselves crazy about why nobody was responding to our calls) that the MFJ analyzer told us the salt water had gotten into the feedline as well at the base of the antenna, and was shunting our RF into the ground radials. We were thrilled.

OPs this year were Tim, K6OM on his first 160 forway with Dick, WB6HII and me, Gary, WA6HZT.

Next year? A very long wire and helium balloon come to mind... -- WA6HZT