02/26/2004 | W6SN Well this was my first contest; I operated with Nick W6GNU, and Jason W6SN on Top of Mt. Vaca in CM88.

Not knowing what to expect, I brought my IC-706MKII, Nick had his IC-746, and Jason had his Kenwood TS-B2000, and we had extra stuff to go around! I operated 6m (First time on 6m)(100W), Nick handled 2m (100w), and Jason had 440(50w). We had a 6m 3 Element beam at 30, stacked 2m beams at 15, and an Elk 2m/440 for 440 at 20. We also had 1.2 ATV (MDARC ATV repeater) and 2.4 Wifi (Which neither got working)

Now heres the crazy part We are at a radio site, with power, But instead we run off of 3 batteries (2 car, and 1 deep cycle) for the WHOLE contest

We got up there Friday morning about 0900z (we could not wait till the next morning!) We where in the middle of light rain, clouds (2800ft elevation) and darkness, we got everything up by 1400z, and tested.

Time for the real test: Could we do the whole contest and not have any problems? Well we had a couple, about 20 hours into the contest (After we talked to almost everyone that was out that day) the winds kicked up, we are talking 50-60 mph! So here Nick and I go, running around making sure stuff didn't fly away, Thankfully nothing did... We also had to go back down a couple times for various things, including a serial cable for the TS-B2000 OOPS!

Contacts: 158
Multiplier: 22
Total points: 3872

Not bad for a first time! Hear all of you at the next vhf contest! 73s Trevor, KG6MDW

Gas for running my car for lights = $20
Screen tent = $50
Radio Equipment & Antennas = $3750
Masts and related equipment = $100


3 days of sleep-deprived, RF exposed, Cold & Windy Contest bliss = Priceless. -- KG6MDW