We were putting up a 2 element Moxon for 40M this week and I ran over a Bumblebee nest. Two of them got me before I bailed out and left the tractor running (in neutral).
Oh the joys of country living :-) 73, Dave, K4TO On Mon, Jul 30, 2018 at 7:54 PM Wayne Burdick <[email protected]> wrote: > I operated pedestrian mobile in Sunday’s /BB QRP event, using a KX2 with a > prototype AX1 4’ whip (15/17/20 m) and a dragged 13’ counterpoise. > > The whip was attached directly to the back of my Patagonia Atom 8L sling > bag, which turns out to have rugged, stretchy loops in exactly the right > places, holding the antenna perfectly upright with no additional mounting > hardware. The antenna is exactly the right length for this when the > telescoping part and base are secured together. > > For control purposes, I just held the rig in my hand, with nothing but a > coax cable running back to the pack. The rig weighs only one pound with > batteries, so this turns out to work much better than putting the rig in > the pack and trying to control everything with fancy firmware (something I > reported on earlier). > > Later I operated a bit of /PM SSB, using the rig’s built-in mic and XMIT > switch as PTT. The KX2 fits easily in one hand, so you might think of it as > a mic on steroids, one that happens to have and all-band/all-mode radio > built in :) I think I’ve finally found the magic elixir -- pure HF Pack > Light. The sling pack gives this lash-up a bit of Errol Flynn cache. > > As for operating, this was no walk in the park! > > During one memorable QSO I was sending fast CW with the built-in keyer > paddle while climbing a narrow 45-degree trail, praying my shoes had enough > tread to grip the loose soil. The operator at the other end put up with a > bit of dodgy sending as the trail’s slope hit a local maxima. > > Arriving at the top of the bluff, I found myself in a maze of imposing > weeds sculpted by some evil California parks department employee. The > plants were Vulcan in appearance, 7 to 8 feet tall, and simply irresistible > to the local oversize bees. Dozens of them. I was ducking left and right to > avoid the real bees while finishing my QSO with the contest “bee." About > halfway through the maze, tuning the VFO knob with the thumb of my > rig-holding hand, I found another /BB station to call. I’m guessing I now > hold the all-San-Mateo-County record for in-maze pedestrian mobile CW > contacts. > > Overall, the experience was somewhere between Little Shop of Horrors and > The Shining. But I didn’t get sunburned, stung, or ejected for public > nerdiness. > > It doesn’t get much better than this. > > 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]
