While on vacation in 1999 I brought along my IC-751-A and an Outbacker Perth antenna. Here I am set up in the E-Z-Up getting ready for a little CW. You can tell by my smile I hadn't tried copying the fast guys yet. I did make a few CW contacts, but most were phone. I worked about 10 states and 12 countries pretty easily, with only operating an hour or so a night. The antenna mounted on the top of that campr at about 10 feet, so travel with the antenna in the raised position was out of the question. It was easy enough to setup in about 10 minutes. This setup would all pack into a milk crate and stow beneath the dinette in the camper.
This is our new camper, it is a 1995 Coachmen 11.5 Ranger. It fits on our 95 Ford F-250-HD. This has many comforts of home, plus it is now equiped with 10 meters, a Radio Shack HTX-10. I have a cut down 11m antenna now, but looking for something better before the summer. Also have 2m and 220 in the truck with a remote head in the camper body.
This is the QSL card I have posted on QRZ.COM, I have others at home but this one memorializes a fantastic trip. I Sysop the Cycling Forum on Compuserve and this trip was with 14 of the guys I know from there. Moab is a mecca for mountain bikes, offroad vehicles, RV's, rock hounds and many other groups. For us mountain bikers it features other-worldly landscapes, unlimited vistas and a trip back in time. You ride out a ways and get to a high spot, from this vantage point you can see for many miles and in these miles there is nothing to give away the century. No wires, no roads, no houses. Just the red rock, cuts, drops and climbs. Fantastic riding, and just sooo much fun. I wish I had had an HT with me, but I think all I could have said was Yeeehhaaaaa!!!!...
This is my son, Justin, he is now 20 years old and a licensed pilot since he was 18. He had his first flying lesson on his 9th birthday. He is as dedicated to flying as anyone I have ever met. Last May he flew me out to Marthas Vineyard to a Ham gathering so that I could cook pancakes for the crew, then flew me home again. Nothing like having a personal pilot!
