11/05/2008 | KE0Z/VE4 I noticed the past couple years that a lot of ops were missing the sweep because of the troublesome Manitoba section so I began thinking about making a kind of mini-dxpedition there for this year's CW SS.

In September, my work brought me up close to the Canadian border so I went across to look at possible sites for portable operations. Just across, and only 300 yards from the US/Canadian border was the Maple Leaf Motel in Emerson Manitoba. It is a mom and pop sort of motel with a small yard which looked like a good spot for a vertical.

I told the owner what I had in mind and he was okay with it. On the afternoon of the contest I was setting up my station and before long slinging the dits and dahs into the ether. I prefer search and pounce but I tried to spend some extra time calling cq so it would be easier for everyone to work the section. It was fun to be on the other end of the pile-up for a change and I hope I helped some folks with the sweep.

Incidently, Sunday was a beautiful day so I took about an hour break from the radio to go for a walk. The motel owner pointed out a marker placed on the border between US and Canada. It was curious to me that there wasn't even a fence there, just the marker and I could simply step from one country into the other.

IC-706 and a Butternut vertical, ground mounted with 18 radials. -- KE0Z