Back With The Great Hill Gang: 20 Degrees And A Foot Of Snow!
(Special thanks to Joe WB1EMS for letting me use his pictures!)
The Great Hill Gang’s monthly “Day of Radio” perched on top of Great Hill Park in Weymouth MA is quickly becoming one of my favorite radio events. Organizer Mike K1UVH is fond of saying “We are not fair weather hams.” And, well, they are not!
By the time we got there around noon, the crew was starting to pack in. This is what it looked like when Joe WB1EMS showed up.
We parked Limey (my van) and set up a 20M EFHW antenna from the tow hitch mounting bracket that Jim KC1MJB made me. Worked perfect with a Mr. Longarms painter pole! Unfortunately I did not take any pictures, but maybe for the VHF contest this weekend??? AA1F chased POTA. While I mostly hung out, because, well, I left my antenna and coax sitting on the floor at home by mistake. Ho hum.
(Those buckets are filled with concrete with a PVC pipe embedded in them as a mast holder by the way.)
In total, sixteen of us gathered around at one time or another a bunch of radios, antennas, pizza, and coffee, and shot the breeze as if it were a balmy 70 degrees out. I was having such a blast, I forgot to take photos for this! (Thanks again Joe!)
Eventually the cold got the better of our toes and we packed it up and went home. There is just something about the Great Hill Gang that makes me think I’ve found my radio qth.
Forever,
KM1NDY
Another great day on the Hill!
I imagine it won’t happen again anytime soon but, if you ever have an -antenna shortage- while on the hill…Hill… free to ask. I usually have an extra antenna or…three with me. Not sure what you were looking for but I *almost* always have a spare 2M antenna and (depending what I am operating that particular day) a 10M and a 20M dipole, and because it takes up so little room…a 70M Yagi.
Or even better, find NA1XX and give him a paperclip, some duct tape, and a tree branch and he will build something to communicate with low orbit satellites. 😎
Thanks for sharing your blog!
Scott
N1KMX
Haha! NA1XX is indeed a regular MacGyver! I actually was excited to check the length of a new radiator I had made, and left the entire box of coax and the unun home. No big deal, Marc’s was fine. And really I got to hang out more anyway! Looking forward to the next one!!
Mindy