Operated portable as KA4KOE Class 1B NC while on vacation in the Great Smokey Mountains with the family. Used my PRC2000 manpack with an amplifier, along with a Harris RF-302 tuner. Managed 35 voice and cw contacts despite my very limited operating time due to familial responsibilities. My antenna was a 40' wire thrown up in a tree at a height of about 20 feet. Also checked in the GA SSB Net to send a field day message to my home state SM.

Earlier that day, and prior to the start of Field Day, the family and I trekked to the top of Clingman's Dome, at a height of 6643 feet above sea level. I also took the PRC2000 pedestrian mobile style on my back, and managed two contacts from the summit with W4REQ and KM4V. Static was fierce! The view from the observation platform was limited due to the area being enveloped in clouds. The temperature was almost 30 degrees below what we were enduring at our campground near Bryson City, NC.

In all, it was a very enjoyable week long vacation, with my trip to the summit and subsequent Field Day contacts finishing up the trip. We departed for our home in Richmond Hill, GA, early Sunday AM.