Boating in CW Mode
17 June 2008
This evening I participated in my first ever CW contest. In keeping with my habit of making life interesting, I decided to try contesting from my eight-foot rowboat. Using 1 watt, I made five contacts during the one-hour contest to Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, and Ontario, Canada. All but Nevada qualify for 1,000 miles-per-watt. Below are some photos of the boat taken just before setting out.
Boat with 33' EFHWA for 20 and 40 meters
Prospect Lake, Wheatridge, Colorado
Prospect Lake, Wheatridge, Colorado
Although the toroid-loaded antenna
works on both 20 and 40, I decided to stay on 20 meters for the short
sprint - mostly due to high noise levels. The 33-foot pole is sold by
MFJ. I am a huge fan of end-fed half wave antennas - in part because
maximum radiation happens halfway up the wire, in the clear, and
because at QRP levels, I need no radials or counterpoise.
Cockpit view
The Yaesu FT-817 hangs in a case from an MFJ-259 analyzer. Also seen above is the homebrew matching unit at the base of the antenna.
An iRiver MP3 with an "line-in" phone jack records both sides of a QSO. Headphones also plug into the player. The MP3 player rests in the case's pocket, and the Palm paddles balance on a mini logbook Velcroed to my leg.
It's a small lake, but it's free and only ten minutes from home! Here is the Google Map link to the lake.
With the weak signals and noisy conditions, I kept my transmissions short and did not sign NØLX/MM. I was disappointed to see the hour go by so fast and look forward to the next QRP sprint. Here is the NAQCC contest results page.
72/73,
Jake, NØLX
.....