Bob Cunnings NW8L

This year I operated near South Sandia Peak (in the Sandia 
Wilderness Area, overlooking Albuquerque). The location was atop th
long north/south ridge a few hundred yards south of the summit, at 
approx. 9600 ft. elevation. This is a nice location, with the terra
dropping off sharply to the east and west, but requires a good 4 ho
hike to reach.  The antenna was a "coupled resonator" 40/20 meter 
inverted vee with balanced feedline. The apex at approx. 20 feet, 
supported by a 32 ft. telescoping fiberglass pole lashed to a small
at the top of the ridge. The "shack" was in a nice sheltered depres
in the limestone just below the ridgeline to the west, with a tarp 
providing shade. I used my 20/30/40 KX1 with autotuner. It was powe
from a 2 AH gel cell, charged by a 10 watt solar cell.

I managed a total of 28 qso's - 21 BB and 7 home stations, all on
20 meters, bees were heard buzzing despite rough conditions. After 
hours a line of thunderstorms arrived from the west and I was force
pack up and start back down since lightning makes operation impossi
in such an exposed place, even if sheltered from the rain. Signals 
the western states were reasonably strong at first, but I heard few
stations east of the Mississippi. My only east coast QSO was with 
N3AO/BB in VA, but also worked K8DDB in MI and K4KO/BB in TN. Thank
all, it was a great time!

This year I brought along a camera, and had time to shoot a few pix
after setting up...

This is the rig, connected to the gel cell/solar charge controller 
I like using the little self-powered speaker that plugs right in to
the headphone jack.

The solar panel was placed up above. The day started out with
lots of sunshine. I'm told the limestone is courtesy of the 
Pennsylvanian Era inland sea.

The antenna is made from 64 feet of 450 ohm balanced line. One 
conductor is opened at the center and connected to the 300 ohm feed
and serves as directly driven 40 meter dipole. The other conductor 
notched out 15 feet in from each end to form a 20 meter dipole cent
at the feedpoint, but not connected (the "coupled resonator"). The 
feedline is 40 feet long and connected directly to KX1, which finds
good match on 30 meters as well as 20 and 40.

The shack was pretty cozy. Yes, it's well worth it to pack in the
lawn chair - it's not that heavy anyway, compared to the water I ha
bring up (there's more in the backpack).

Looking South, in the direction of the Middle Rio iGrande Valley,
towards Soccorro. Albuquerque is to the right, several thousand fee
in the valley.

Looking northward, the summit of South Sandia Peak looms nearby.
The tarp served me well when the thunderstorms arrived. The aspen 
woods to the left, at the bottom of the limestone bluff, are the ha
of mule deer.

One of the few waterfalls in the Sandias is found along the trail 
to South Peak.

See you next year!