I got the idea to operate portable from Koehn Dry Lake from Earl K6SE
(SK) who had operated from there prior to me. I think he went there
with K6ZZ and K6NDV and perhaps a couple of other operators whose
callsigns I can't recall. They phased a pair of AB-577 military masts
for their transmit antenna. When I got the idea to go in 2006 for the CQ
160 CW contest, I contacted Earl and he graciously instructed me on who
to contact at the Bureau of Land Management to get permission. It was
quite an experience. There was virtually no man-made noise out there.
The biggest problem I had were the high winds which snapped the ridge
pole on my tent. The side of the tent ended up blowing in against me all
night and made a lot of acoustic noise as it was flapping in the high
winds. The band never really opened to Europe that weekend, but I did
manage to work over 100 Asian stations which was pretty cool. Stations
on the East Coast of the North America were staggeringly loud at times.
As a prelude to the Koehn operation, I operated from the eastern shore
of the Salton Sea for the 2005 CQ 160 CW contest. That location provided
Saltwater takeoff towards Asia-Pacific, but no advantage for CONUS or
Europe. I had hoped to find a location that would provide Saltwater
takeoff over a broader swath of the compass, but I wasn't successful. I
also did a couple of operations from the El Mirage Dry Lake Bed. That
place is interesting in that the dune buggy's zoom around the hills
seemingly all night long, then in the morning the dirt bikers show up.
It is a crowded place that kind of has a "Mad Max" vibe. By contrast,
Koehn Lake was desolate. There is off-roading at Red Rock Canyon, but
that is much further away than the activity at El Mirage which was way
too close for comfort at times.
Niko AC6DD was the guy who operated portable from the end of the long
saltwater pier on the California Coast. He had some pretty impressive
results from up there including some good openings to Europe.
73, Mike W4EF...................
On 7/18/2026 11:56 PM, Jim Brown via Topband wrote:
On 7/18/2026 9:08 PM, Richard (Rick) Karlquist wrote:
Some 15 or 20 years ago there was a station operating from some dry
lake in Southern California in 160 meter contests. He too really
cleaned up.
You may be thinking of W4EF, who did that a few times. Mike was on the
team that got us driving around on Mars.
73, Jim K9YC
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