06/29/2005 | K4CEB The Cabarrus Amateur Radio Society (CARS) operated as K4CEB from Concord NC, just 5 miles north of NASCAR's Lowes Motor Speedway. We had between 400 and 500 hf contacts with the 2 transcievers in our emergency communications trailer. We also had VHF/UHF terrestrial and satelite stations operating.

The highlight of our set-up was the "portable" crank-up tower loaned to us by the county. Acquired from military surplus, this rig is a monster. Self-contained on a trailer, it's generator powers both electrical and hydraulic systems to level and stabilize the rig as well as extend the tower up to 135 feet! That height requires guys, so we kept it at 80 feet unguyed. We had multiband HF and VHF/UHF verticals at the top, and strung an 80M dipole and a G5RV from the side-arms.

I had a ball operating the dark hours right through to the widely scattered light of morning. -- WA4BRL