Sometimes things just don’t go according to plan. I have proven that many times over the years. My activation this morning was another example.
I drove up to Evansburg State Park (US-1351, KFF-1351) this morning for an early morning activation. My original plan was to operate from a picnic table in a wooded area, but heavily overcast skies prompted my decision to operate under a picnic pavilion.
My antenna of choice was going to be the “Gabil on a Table” configuration I used recently. I looked up at the ceiling of the pavilion and assumed there was enough headroom for the Gabil vertical on a table. Well, it did—until I slid the coil up to tune up on 40M. Doh! I probably could have used the vertical on 20M if I collapsed the radiator a little. Given the early hour, however, I really wanted to get on 40M. So, I took down the Gabil and packed it away.
Fortunately, with the KH1, there are always other options. I opted to operate the KH1 in tabletop mode with the whip, a right-angle adapter, and AXE extender coil. I had everything I needed in my KH1 box. No need to walk back to the truck to get stuff. Within minutes, I was up and running on 40M.
This configuration on 40M never ceases to amaze me. Within 10 minutes, I had my first 10 contacts. Not too shabby for a 45-inch whip and a huge loading coil. After making 20 contacts, the action slowed considerably. I logged a few more contacts on 40M before changing bands.
I could have moved up to 20M, but I didn’t feel like changing the antenna and counterpoise wire. Instead, I went to 30M. That band always works fine with the same configuration I use for 40M. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much activity on 30M (except for a station that started calling CQ on top of me). After spending some time fruitlessly calling CQ with no takers, I called it quits.
After about 45 minutes on the air, I had logged 25 contacts—all of them on 40M. I also picked up three park-to-park QSOs. My best “DX” this morning was out to Missouri.
The little KH1 came through for me once again.
72, Craig WB3GCK
