01/26/2004 | WB8DQT It has been about 30 years since I last operated CW/SSB on two meters. This Fall I decided to try SSB/SSTV on the band and put together a very basic station using an old IC707 HF transceiver, a Ten Tec 1210 transverter, and a Mirage B-310-G "brick". It was late enough in the season to preclude real antenna work, so I quickly erected a pair of stacked M2 halos to hold me over until Spring. The station turned out to be surprisingly effective on SSTV, but the January Sweepstakes provided a chance to see what its limits might be. The weekend was far from ideal, with no evidence of enhancement on the band, sub-zero temperatures, and intermittent high noise levels at my QTH in south-central Michigan (EN72). Despite all the rational reasons not to participate, I'm glad I did. I netted a total of 19 grid squares (five states plus Ontario) and the operating standards on both CW and SSB were very high. It's just too bad the band will be so quiet between now and June! -- WB8DQT