06/30/2007 | K0AAA My first Field Day was in 1961 at age 13. My first fractured tibia was in 2007 at age 59. (One week before FD) BUMMER! After going to the clinic and having an x-ray, the doctor told me that I would need to see a specialist and the following day I learned that I couldn't see one of those till July 6th. DOUBLE BUMMER!! Fortunately for me, W0GJ entered the scene. AKA, Dr. Glenn Johnson who is an avid DXer, contester and just happens to be an orthopedic surgeon. Glenn has a "no wait" policy and I was in his office 2 days before FD and learned what the problem was. I did not need surgery as I had first thought, but had to wear a black proctective velcro boot for 2 weeks. My original FD plans had been scrapped but now there was a glimmer of hope. Thanks a million Glenn!!! My 1B idea from the top of a local ski hill wouldn't work, I couldn't drive my Jeep and I didn't want to operate from my base station. But, I have a pontoon and the rules say class C allows boats so I began to think about an antenna. Thanks to the local power company where I work, I have a number of discarded extendo sticks ranging from 25 to 35 feet high. Using 3 of them, I was able to get my Yo-yo dipole into an inverted-vee configuration and with the 28 hp Evinrude it was rotatable too. After charging up my deep cycle marine Die Hard, I lugged my trusty IC-746 and LDG tuner onto the boat. Ninety degree temps were abit overwhelming for this northern Minnesota boy but I was able to hang in there until sundown when the mosquitos and a tornado warning forced a rapid "take-down" of the antenna and station. Thunderstorm warnings and very breezy conditions limited my Sunday operation but I was able to log 300 Q's (95% CW) working about half of the contest. The water acts as a tremendous ground plane and I'm already considering was a mini quad or hex beam could do on this boat. All-in-all, it was a great contest and I can't wait until next year! Moral of the story: If Murphy tries to get you down...just use some HI (Ham Ingenuity) PS Duct tape never ceases to amaze me! 73, Zed -- K0TTT