09/16/2009 | N7XB With temps in the mid-80's, I could not miss the chance to head up into the Cascades in Western Oregon. I normally operate this contest from Larch Mountain (4,076 ft) east of Portland, OR in CN85.

But this year I decided to add an hour to my drive and activated CN94, operating portable QRP from Mt. Lowe at 5,200 feet on the western flank of the Cascades between Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson.

The gear is pretty basic, but effective. Yaesu FT-100D (with FT-817 as back-up), running to a Par SM-50 stressed Moxon on 6M, and the very compact but capable Elk Antenna Log Periodic dual-bander for 2M and 432.

The antennas are mounted on painter pole/PVC pipe inserted into a 2x6 that is anchored by rolling up the rear wheels of my Tundra pick-up. Not a rover set-up, but very efficient as a portable set-up for overnight (tent camping) or day use from front seat in cab.

Propogation was basically limited to the I-5 corridor from central Oregon (CN83) to British Columbia (CN88, CN89). September is my favorite month in Pacific Northwest. Absolute spectacular sunrise Sunday morning that no photograph could adequately capture.

73 de Bruce N7XB
(LoTW and eQSL.cc logs uploaded) -- N7XB