Back on Dec. 21, 2003
Ed and I started hiking around 14:45 UTC. It took us about 1.5 hours to hike up to Pulpit Rock due to ice under the snow. The first thing I did was change my shirt and fleece pull over and get the heavy coat on. I started calling CQ on 14.061 around 16:40 UTC with my K1 at 4 watts. I called and called with no response. Ed was on 7.040 doing the same thing, with no response. Finally Ed worked a QRP station in NY. I got tired of CQ'ing so I started looking for the CQ'ers. I worked DL5MC around 14.019 with 4 watts into Ed's VBWFPA vertical. You can find the antenna at www.wa3wsj.com . He gave me a 549 and we chatted for about 15 minutes. I went back up too 14.061 and called CQ again with no luck. So I went over to 30 meters and worked K9APW in Wisconsin. He also gave me a 549. Not bad signal reports since the radials were laying over rocks and snow. We had a hard time trying to get the PVC tube to stick in the ground.
Over all, I am happy with Ed's VBWFPA antenna. It is a keeper for portable operations and it does go up quick. The winds were starting to kick up so we decided to leave. We were sitting on the rocks in the open. Here are some pictures of our trip.
- The Pinnacle which is the highest spot in Berks County PA is on the left.
- LVAAS Lehigh Valley Amateur Astronomical Society View 1
- LVAAS View 2
- When we arrived to the operating location, we found the Ninja QRP Operator at the lookout.
- Ed, WA3WSJ looking over the valley below.
- Ron, WB3AAL working a DL5 on 20 meters.
- Stream running down the mountain View 1
- Stream running down the mountain View 2
- Stream running down the mountain View 3
- Stream running down the mountain View 4
- Stream running down the mountain View 5
