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It was gorgeous today. Tim W3ATB and I headed to Profile Falls and set up right alongside the Pemigewasset River. We worked Russia, the Canary Islands, PA, OH, NC, and Belgium.

We had lunch in Bristol and then drove out the back road toward Hill Village. We turned left toward the Smith River and parked the car not far from Profile Falls.

We walked through the woods about a half mile toward the Pemi. The Corps of Engineers has a picnic area along the river. We set up right under an 85 foot pine tree.

Tim brought his HB-1B and tossed a line over the pine branch and pulled up his portable Par antenna. He was running about 4 watts with internal batteries on 20 meters and snagged W1AW/8 in Ohio within a few minutes of sitting down. He was ecstatic.

I set up on a nearby table. I tossed a line over a second pine branch and pulled up a 33 foot wire. I was using the earchi.org 9:1 unun with the internal tuner on the KX3. I set up on 12 meters with 5 watts.

I worked Alex RA6MQ in Russia almost immediately. He was a 599 and gave me a 559. Within two minutes, I worked another station… EA8/OH2OT in the Canary Islands. We exchanged quick 599’s.

I switched to 10 meters, and worked ON6MG in Belgium followed by Alex RA6MQ again. He had also switched to ten meters. It was fun to work him on two bands. By now my fingers were getting a bit chilly so I built a small fire in the grill by the table and listened while Tim racked up the QSOs.

Tim had a long chat with Don, KD3CA in PA and told him we were operating outdoors alongside the river. When they finished Tim made a quick contact with K4DJ in North Carolina and exchanged SKCC numbers.

We packed up and walked along the river to enjoy the remarkable scenery… sparkling water, deep blue sky and brilliant snow. We stopped for a minute to soak up some warm sun before heading back down the trail towards the car.

From here, it only gets better… warmer days, melting snow and finally spring!

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