10/05/2008 | KB8VAO I started the first half of the contest on Mt. Shasta (CN81vi).
I worked VE3RWN/W6,Randy on Mt. Diablo (CM97av) for one of his first 10 GHz contacts, and at 384.5 km! W6SR,Rick (CM98mr) provided a nice contact by bouncing signals off of Mt. Diablo for a 310.3 km QSO. Things started out slow, with only 5 QSO's in the log by noon. I decided to pack up the gear and look for a spot closer to home. Before I left the mountain, I installed the slot antenna on the car and listened for the W6ASL, Mt. Vaca beacon on 10368.325. Just North of Sacramento, CA (CM98av) I was able to copy the beacon again. I gave a call on the ERG linked repeater system, and N6JV,Norm was the first to pounce. I worked Norm from(CM98hl) at 68.6 km with easily heard signals. I kept moving South on I-5, it sure was a challenge to listen to the beacon while driving, because of the doppler shift. At the next stop AA6IW,Lars was ready and waiting. I worked Lars in (CM87vi) for a 149.6 km QSO! After dinner I decided to continue working stations from the car with the slot antenna. This worked out great with temps well above 100 degrees and the air conditioning working overtime.
Sunday morning I drove South toward Harris Ranch (CM96wd). I was able to work WA6CDR,Robin N6LL,Paul and W6QIW,Steve on Mt. Frazier (DM04ms) with huge signals at 185.7 km again using the slot antenna. So why not try even further DX? W6DL,Dave(DM04rq)called and we worked at 192.6 km. over Mt. Frazier! It was about this time I noticed my front tire starting to lose air. I tried to do a quick fix with a can of fix-a-flat. It seemed to do the trick until I was on I-5 going 70 mph. Then a loud bang. Thank You to the CHP officer that stopped by and was able to shine the light. Thanks to the trooper who even helped me unload the tripods and dishes. I'm glad I took Monday as a vacation day, because I didn't get home until 2:45 Monday morning.
The second weekend I worked from Mt. Frazier(DM04ms). Activity was
much better this weekend. AA6IW,Lars KE6HPZ,Glenn KN6VR,Jeff WB6CWN,Frank N6LL,Paul and myself were working the rovers as quickly as possible. I was able to work W6QIW,Steve on 24 GHz very easily in (DM04am) at 95.7 km. I worked K6QPV,Greg N6IZW,Kerry WI6M,Rodney and W6OYJ,Ed in San Diego with very loud signals on 10. But when I tried to work the group on 24, no luck. Another highlight was working WB6NOA,Gordo WA6RIK,George and K1RDF,Robert while they operated Maritime Mobile at 166.3 km! Thanks to XE2HWB,Bernardo for making the trip to (DL27nt),and providing a DX contact at 863.7 km! K6GZA,Ron had his usual loud signal from Mt. St. Helena(CM88qp) at 540.5 km. The Frazier group tried to work the group in Arizona. WA6CDR,Robin helped us line up the dishes with his huge signal blasting in from (DM35bb), but it just wasn't in the cards. Before leaving the mountain I installed the slot antenna for the trip home. Just before going down the hill I was able to work the "Z CREW" rovers, KJ6HZ,John and KH6WZ,Wayne in (DM05fl). Wayne commented my signal was loudest it had been all weekend, but I was on the slot and not on the 1 meter dish. So it's back to the drawing board with the feed. On the way home I stopped at Stockdale Highway (DM05kf),
and was able to work KK6MK,Rex (CM96wj) at 157.8 km. I also worked
WA6CDR,Robin again in (DM14qp)at 237.4 km! What an amazing contact from the San Joaquin valley floor and over Mt. Frazier and only using the slot antenna! A special Thank You to Brian, W6BY for making the slot antenna that I had so much fun with. Thanks again to all the rovers for all you do.
73 Steve -- KB8VAO