Brought the 7300 out and erected the 7-band OCF; it was huge! Literally. It spanned nearly 200’ in its longest dimension. While I could probably have done better if I were able to have gotten the feed point to 30’, I managed to make 24 contacts and participated in a 10-10 net via relay that I had chanced on while zipping around 10m.
It was a beautiful day down in EL96, I setup the radio bench under the tree for shade and kept a close eye on the antenna in case someone wandered around it.
Running barefoot, I managed QSOs with Namibia (7000+ miles), Chile, Spain, Costa Rica, and New Foundland. Amazing people all around.
Got my mom spun up and handling the radio (we got licensed at the same time a couple years ago) and the contacts nearly poured in for her.
An all around amazing day.
E: Updated the photo; the klansman look was terrible. Do not recommend.
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100W. Even picked up someone with a ground plane antenna four inches off the ground and another fairly distant station who was pushing something like 20W.
Mind blowing how little power it takes to go so far in the right conditions and antenna setup.
EL96 I remember. It could have been you. Sounds like you had fun!
If it was in the SSB Tech section of 10m, it probably was. We had a great time. The kids ran around like banshees and slept like logs!
I either need to sleep or see an eye doctor - for a short second I thought you were a Klansman. So happy you’re not. Good luck with what looks like an awesome pastime…
Oh man, that’s something I didn’t even see. Yikes.
That was some quality pareidolia for me. My eyes were half way up the “flag pole” dreading what obscenity was flying at the top before I realised my mistake. I’m pretty sure nobody else will have the same problem… you can rest easy, my friend.
But like, now I can’t un-see it haha
My first thought too haha
I feel so sorry for 667. They’d obviously had a brilliant day with their hobby and wanted the world to know. Sensibly they’d decided not to broadcast their face because now the internet is what it is… and as a result at least two random people have momentarily jumped to the worst possible conclusion. I just hope they continue to have fun. I’m glad they could see the funny side though.
The lesson here for me is to just use a plain circle or a square next time.
I am fortunate I don’t harbor any kind of bigotry in my heart.
