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June
VHF Contest, 2001 |
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Scott (KB1FXY) and I set out for the top of Mt. Wachusett for our first
adventure. Located in Princeton, MA, on the west border of FN42, this
modest mountain gives a nice view.
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Here's our site. The 6m antenna is an M2 5el up around 20 ft. To the
left of the truck is a mast holding a 2m Cushcraft 17B2 and their big 70cm beam.
Yeah, you're right, I hosed the 6m beam when I assembled it... you'd think I
did it in the dark! One quick yank and the ol' switcheroo and we're back
in business.
About this time Scott saved me from my hunger by firing up the grill.
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Scott's liking his first contest. He's running his Icom IC-706MKIIG for 2m
and a Yaesu FT-817 for 70cm. The FT-847 in the foreground handled 6m.
We have some new toys for next year... A Kenwood TS2000 and a 10 GHz
transverter coming along. The 817 should be a great IF rig. Also,
we'll be running meteor scatter on 6m and 2m if there's nothing interesting
happening propagation-wise.
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Here's a pic of me and the handy-dandy truck-mounted mast. The mast is a
12 ft. aluminum tube mounted to a Yaesu rotator. The rotator is
hinge-mounted to the 2x8 under the wheels, allowing the mast to be pivoted down.
In the upright position, the mast attaches to the cross member spanning the
width of the bed. It worked pretty well, but it's not very tall...
something to correct next year!
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Scott racking up the points while I'm goofing. Caffeine to keep us going...
looks like we finished the chips already.
Scott's Honda 5kW generator hummed along all weekend... excellent!
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So these look like they're six feet off the ground... damn that 17B2 is
huge! Too huge, I think. Might go for something smaller next
year. Someday the 17B2 will find a nice place atop my tower beside the
house... once I get a tower... once I build the house!
The 70cm droops quite a bit. Even if it doesn't affect the pattern
much, I'd still give it more support next time cuz it looks pretty sad in its
present form.
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...and Wachusett at dusk.
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feedback welcome - [email protected]
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