Before we tell you about our May 5, 2001 AT adventure, our first, perhaps some would like to know how we got involved in this new adventure.

In May 1995, while having lunch with several hams, one asked me what was my DX count. I answered, “None, never worked DX in almost fifty years!” Another ham then asked me… “What kind of antenna do you have?” My answer…”G5RV”. The first ham then said… “Oho… you can’t work DX with that antenna!” Well, five years later and after a lot of hard work, I concluded my DXing after receiving my 5BDXCC with endorsements on 17 and 12 meters (all with the G5RV). Since May 2000, I basically have been inactive in ham radio.

Several months ago I was in the final stages of my family genealogy project when I read, and reread, the February QST article featuring Ed, WA3WSJ on the Appalachian Trail!!!! That did it! A NEW CHALLENGE!

I ordered the K1, and the xyl and I purchased hiking boots, backpacks, AT maps, etc. We sure did raise many eyebrows in South Florida, walking around in the hot sun with shorts and wearing hiking boots! (We wanted to be sure they were well broken in before we arrived in North Carolina!)

For our first AT adventure, we selected a site that was only 35 miles from our summer QTH. The site location was several miles South where I-40 crosses the AT, located in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We hiked about one hour… always going UP… crossing several water filled streams, one stream being fed by two or three cascading water falls, etc. Neat!

I sure had trouble getting the antenna up. I found that a two oz. sinker was too heavy for my Wal-Mart slingshot! After getting the antenna up… found that I couldn’t hear anyone… and the K1-ATU could not match the antenna. The only way I was able to operate was connecting both feed lines together and using it as an end-fed wire antenna. After one hour of operating, I finally gave up and took down the center insulator. I found my problem… the small center insulator was being twisted by the twin-lead and was shorting out the transmission line! After I fixed the antenna, I worked NJ, MI, IL, and IN. The total count was only 7, all on 40 meters. Operated from 1400 to 1600 UTC.

Dean, W9KX and xyl Pat

PS: Some may be interested in the paddle I used shown in one of the attached photographs. The paddle is a “V22”, vertical, two-lever iambic paddle by WBL Design. This paddle is a natural to be attached to the Elecraft optional K1 tilt stand!!