For 2013 I worked my 17th year as in the outdoors as a solo operator.  This Field Day had me as a 1B in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) section in the Los Padres National Forest in Southern CA at a secluded location at 7400’.  Since I was in a dispersed camping area, no campfires were allowed so it got a little chilly at night.  With the full moon acting as a spotlight over my site, I was able to keep my artificial illumination to a minimum. While I usually make most of my QSOs by tuning and calling stations, I did have an hour run when I found a clear frequency to call “CQ Field Day” on 40 meters and racked up 70 contacts.  Using an FT-857 to either a 75 or 40 meter end-fed dipole or a G5RV, I ended up with 336 contacts of which 102 were on CW.  While I did set up a Buddipole for 6 meters, I did not catch any band openings.  The only wildlife company of note I had was the biggest jackrabbit I had ever seen loping near the camp perimeter.  I enjoy the Friday evening pre-Field Day QSOs to test out my equipment by conversing with other 1B stations similarly located in remote areas along with reading about their experiences on this Soapbox.

 73 de Scott