Well, the day finally came for a true test run of my "QRP Go Pack." The YL (Linda Bob) and I went up to Keystone Lake (KFF-2788) to test it out. Finding a nice spot was a challenge but I built up the courage to crash a family Christmas get together at the Community Center high above the lake and set up my little QRP ukits hb1b with a random wire attached to a squid pole on the highest point I could find. I tuned up on 14.063ish but all I heard was crickets. I started to worry if my signal was getting out. I decided to go down to the WES (Straight Key) contest and see. I got a 589 from W4AFB (Keith in FL).
He told me he nearly drowned in Lake Keystone in 1987. Wow that was when Steve and I was operating field day on the same spot I was sending from today.
Putting up the antenna was quite a chore and managed to mangle the loop provided at the apex of the pole. Then after making the lone contact I found that the top piece of the pole became stuck and had to take it home that way. I had to saw off the top piece close to the joint and put a round of electric tape on the end to make a friction fit once again.
