06/17/2002 | AB0TX I headed out at 12:00 so that I would be in the best possible position in EM17 as the Contest started. First stop was the gas station to top off the fuel cans that would run the 12 volt generator to charge the batteries when the truck was not running. With gas in cans and weeks of planning and preperation behind me, I was sure I was ready to run for 24 hours of run and gun contest. Murphy rears his ugly head! It was half way to the first site that I realized I had not purchsed anything to drink and the cooler had no ice which I was supposed to pick up at the first stop. I figured I would live so I continued on. A funny thing happened at the first site. I raised the antennas and began to listen to 6 meters. Low in the noise I could hear stations to the East calling CQ! Eastern seaboard to be exact. I had my contest headphones with boom mike on and I quickly pulled them off and jumped into the back of the bed of the truck and turned the antennas to the East. When I got back into the truck, stations from the East coast were booming in here in the midwest. I was so excited that I put my headset back on and grabbed the microphone (which was not connected to the radio because I was using the CW keyer to key the radio) and tried to answer some of the stations. It took about three tries before I finally realized what I was doing and felt pretty stupid. I quickly corrected the problem and went on to work the rest of the contest error free. Gary Gerber (KB0HH) and Steve (K0UO) helped me find a spot where four grids came together in Manchester Oklahoma. I didn't so much as get everything set up when a rough thunderstorm came through and dropped rain, high wind, and lighting right on me. I really didn't want to get out and grab onto a lightening rod at the highest point around so I turned off the radio and rode out the storm. I made a few good contacts, so I packed up and headed west for the remaining contest and had superb weather until the trip home through Western Kansas where I fought a 45 mile an hour cross wind. All in all, I had a great time and look forward to the next contest and maybe take along a few more bands, and ice! I activated six different grids on six and two meters. EM17, EM16, EM07, EM06, DM86, and DM97. I was running an Icom IC-746 with 100 watts output on 2 and 6 meters. Antennas were a Cushcraft 13B2 and a four element Comet 6 meter beam mounted on a 16 foot telescoping pole. CQ CONTEST! -- AB0TX