Bravo Wayne - great story with a great moral. Thanks for reminding us to get out of the shack and enjoy this great country! Catalina is a great place to do so ...
Bill K4YJJ ex Huntington Beach resident > On Jul 28, 2018, at 3:49 PM, Joseph Reed <[email protected]> wrote: > > Sounds awesome, a great solo expedition. But what did you work? > > Joe N9JR > >> On Jul 28, 2018, at 12:21 PM, Wayne Burdick <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Last week my family and I went to Avalon, Catalina Island, off the coast of >> southern California. What an awesome place! It feels like a coastal tourist >> paradise in another country, except that it’s just 26 miles from Long Beach. >> Definitely a bucket-list item. >> >> To recover from two days of gawking at beach scenery and tapping generous >> libations, I set off on a 6 mile solo hike to take in the view from 1500 >> feet. And to sneak in a little stealth radio op. >> >> From downtown Avalon I walked to the Wrigley Memorial, then zig-zagged up >> the Garden to Sky trail for 1.2 miles, where I was rewarded with a vista to >> the north that includes another of the Channel Islands. At this point I >> picked up the jeep road for another half mile, heading east, ascending even >> further to a gazebo overlooking the Hermit Gulch campground far below. (The >> trail down from here is very steep; if I ever do it again, I’ll go the >> opposite direction.) >> >> This gazebo was the perfect spot to break the KX2 out of its tiny ES40 bag >> and deploy the whip, which took all of 30 seconds. >> >> Aside from the obvious (gorgeous WX, killer view, and the joy of running 10 >> watts hand-held to an AX1 whip on 15/17/20), I was blessed with both >> acoustic and RF noise floors so low that I was reminded of a minor tinnitus >> condition. No wind, no other humans, the occasional cry of a hawk, and the >> radio equivalent of a peaceful, easy feeling. I could hear stations that >> were merely thinking about transmitting. >> >> It would be tempting to weave a tall tale about DX worked from this idyllic >> overlook. Truth is I just listened for awhile, marveling at how sparkling >> clean everything sounded without the usual three coats of RF grunge we often >> suffer at home. The noise drops with any trip away from civilization, of >> course, but this was exceptional. >> >> It’s yet another reason to get out of the shack. And why we keep designing >> rigs like the KX2. >> >> 73, >> Wayne >> N6KR >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> ______________________________________________________________ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >> Post: mailto:[email protected] >> >> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net >> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html >> Message delivered to [email protected] > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [email protected] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [email protected]
