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Lithuania from the Beach
12 August 2016 | by Judy and I went to the beach today. It was 93F. We walked along the shore, rode our bikes, and I worked a little DX.
After walking a mile or so along the beach, Judy took a swim and lay down for some sun, and I set up the KX3 on a bench overlooking Rye Harbor. Above the rocky shore wild roses decorated the entire area. I set up a 33 foot collapsible DK9SQ mast, which I happened to have in the camper. I used a cord to hold it to the back of the bench.
The wire is running alongside the pole. The yellow string you see coming out the side is just a line attached to the wire. I usually use it to toss over a tree branch. I didn’t bother to disconnect it.
I tuned up on 20 meters and made my first contact with John W5LNI in Arkansas. He gave me a 559 and he was 599 with 300 watts and a log periodic antenna. “UR 8 watts doing FB here,” he sent. I was really happy to make a contact with the poor band conditions.
Next I heard another station in Arkansas calling CQ. Darron KG5ABL answered and we exchanged quick 599s. He said he was having trouble with QSB and we signed.
Up the band a little, Remi LY8O in Lithuania was very strong. I answered his CQ and he gave me a 559. What a thrill to work Europe from the beach. Thanks for the nice QSO, Remi.
After packing up, we rode our bikes along the coast for a couple of miles. What a glorious day!
6 Responses to “Lithuania from the Beach”
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- Matt W1MST, Managing Editor
Perfect conditions! Nice weather, and a vertical wire near salt water. Looks like fun.
Great time along the seacoast! I love Rye Harbor. We lived in Derry, NH back in the 80’s and went to Rye Harbor a lot.
Love working portable with the KX3 when hiking or just stopping for a while on the road.
73,
Charlie
Guys – thanks for the nice comments. Rye is a wonderful spot!
Jim W1PID
sweet
Jim, nice work! I’m curious about the details of your antenna. So its just an endfed wire held up by the 33ft telescoping pole? Any balan or straight into the tuner of the KX3. Do you run any sort of counterpios or radial?
Hi Brian… thanks for the note. I’m using a 9:1 unun from EARCHI.ORG.
It makes tuning on multiple bands easier. No counterpoise. I usually
use this setup with a tree branch without the telescoping pole. vy best,
Jim W1PID