06/14/2004 | K0XXX Desperate to work the contest and with my tower not yet up, I set up a ten ft. tripod with twenty feet of mast in my back yard. With the tripod held in place with metal fence posts driven into the ground, the 6 meter beam was set at 15 ft. and the two meter, at twenty five. The cable for rotor and the coax for the two meter beam were a bit short, so they were strung above the ground. The 6 meter coax, being longer, was left to lay across the grass. I experimented with making contacts for two weeks before the contest.

An hour before the contest starts and its time to make a few last minute checks. With my daughter cutting grass outside the window, Im getting a lot of electrical noise from the lawnmower engine. Finally, she stops and I can try a few local contacts to try things out. Six meters is unusually quite. Six meters is dead. Six meters has had the lawnmower run over its coax. No problem, the shorter coax will now be off the ground with the other wiring.

Finishing up repairs on the coax just as the contest is starting, I notice dark skies to the southwest and the wind is picking up. Checking the weather on the local NWS site, I see that my county is under a severe thunderstorm warning. I quickly make a local 6m contact and prepare the equipment for the storm.

Two and one half hours later, the storm has moved off far enough to re-connect the equipment. Then, my wife asks, Have you looked at your antennas lately? The rain has softened the ground and, under the heavy winds, one of the fence posts has pulled out of the ground. The tripod and antennas are leaning as a 45 degree angle.

Finally, everything is ready and Ive only lost three hours. Theres a nice opening on 6 meters and I soon forget the earlier inconveniences. Even the two meter amp dying during the first meteor scatter contact doesnt bother me and I have a blast. -- K0XXX