Back in 1991 (or was it 1992), Ken Smith (VA3SK), Roger Hildeshiem, (VE3LPQ who came from Richmond near Ottawa) and Mike Walker (VA3MW) ran their first contest from Corbeil. North Bay, Ontario (about 10 kilometres to the NW) was the home town for both Ken and Mike. But, at the time of this setup, Ken lived near Timmins, ON, while Mike drove from the Toronto area.
We quickly set up (almost field day style) in "The Barn". The Barn used to house 2 horses, but had been vacant for a number of years. Not only was it empty, but it had 40A, 220VAC service. We set up some temporary towers, beams on extension ladders and got on the air in time for the Canada Day Contest.
As we continued to get set up, we noticed that 6M was open to the south. Going through the pile of aluminum, we found a 3 element 11M beam that need surgery. Out came the calculator and pipe cutters. Within 30 minutes we had a 3 element 6M beam. Hooked up to the TS-680 (10 watts) and the beam 10 feet off the ground we worked many stations on 6M as well as putting FN06 on the air.
Of course, Murphy did show his face. We went to bed late in the evening, only to come back in the morning to find the TS-930 with little or no power out. We quickly replaced that with the TS-680 and got on with the contest. We feel that Murphy blessed the station at this point.
The Corbeil Contest Club was on the Air.
Mike Walker VA3MW
(10/6/2000)