07/02/2009 | K7AUO K7AUO operated 1A from Ocean Park, Washington for the fourth year. Operators included Bob W7BKN, Blaine W7JHJ, and Chuck K7BVT. Our new tower trailer worked out well and the EX-14 beam came in very handy with the openings on 10 and 15 meters. We had a little trouble getting the 135 dipole up due to some tree interference which was solved with a chain saw. Our laptops power supply decided to radiate on 20 meters which ultimately was solved with a judicious location and duct tape. Equipment included Honda EU2000, TS-450, and MFJ 989C. Although we heard a lot of east coast stations being worked from six land most of our contacts were in the southwest, California to New Mexico. Our location was within a half mile of W7R but as in past years we both seemed to be able to operate without too much interference. Weather was good, 50 degrees during the evening warming to 75 degrees during the day which also proved to be great flying weather for mosquitoes. Total contacts this year 522; 496 PH, 26 CW. 80 meters 47 phone, 40 meters 26 CW 43 phone, 20 meters 171 phone, 15 meters 135 phone, 10 meters 100. Last year our contact total was 392.








Chuck K7BVT, k7bvt@msn.com -- K7BVT