06/26/2006 | W7MRG ~ MACHIAS RADIO GROUP RULES THE AIRWAVES ~

WB7FJG and N4SL operated 2B from a treed hilltop near Somers, MT.
We made 1,102 contacts total after duping; 700 CW, 402 SSB.

Antennas,
all homebrew wire arrays modeled on NEC-Win Plus+, strung-up in tall pines with bow and arrow and slingshot:

80m: 135' center fed zepp

40m: 2el wire yagi and elevated-radial wire vertical

20m: 2el quad

15m: Lazy-H (this is a great antenna)

10m: Ya, right.

Radios: K2/100 and FT990

Logging: Writelog with 2 notebook PCs.

Power: 1200W generator with Group 27 deep cycle batteries on each station for backup.

Huge fun, we had perfect weather and a wonderful setting.
It was like operating a QRO contest station, our location was perfect, we busted pileups first time every time and could hold a run freq for 60-90 minutes at a time. Pretty good conditions for the bottom of the sunspot cycle, but 20m SSB got pretty freakin' crowded when 15m was closed!

We were just visiting MT from Snohomish, WA.
Montana is an astoundingly beautiful state. -- N4SL