07/25/2006 | K5WA The Tilson Contest Group once again made the trip from Houston to Columbus, Texas where we set up at our RF quiet ranch with public access from State Hwy 71. Visitors were able to see our operations and antennas from the highway where we had Doug, KB5GTB and myself as operators with one non-operator assistant entering the 1A category. We had no rain, but lots of bugs and cows (someone left the gate open).

We made a huge leap in technology by using a trailer mounted bucket lift. It helped raise our 60 foot tower and we then used it as a second support. We also got organized enough to turn in a few bonus points as well, so our score went up about 20% over last year. We are also getting great peformance out of the pair of Elecraft K2/100s we use. It was nice to have a great QRP rig by simply turning down the power output to 5 watts while we completed the Solar Power bonus contacts.

Lots of fun (at least it seems that way the longer away we get from June) and we thank everyone for the contacts. Hope everyone had a good time. -- K5WA