1200Z Sat. 5/8 to 2359Z Sun. 5/9. Bonus points for first-year members, numbers <2545.

Rules, etc.: http://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/weekend_sprintathon/May_wes.php

Hey Frank, you're a bonus station!!  But then, you knew that.  

I really need to get back with it.  I haven't turned on the rig in quite a while.  I've been busy with a lot of other things lately, not that that is a good excuse.

Yeah, and I'm running QRP to make it even more fun.

I'm going to get on there in a little while and call CQ and see if I can start a QRP pileup.

Fired up the radio and made contact with a few of the usual suspects.  I'm rusty on the straight key, but my bug work is still OK.  Your SKCC number is easy for me to remember, because it is the same as my membership number in my shooting club.

Not hearing a lot of activity on 20m. Maybe I'll mount the mobile antenna on the truck, and give 40m a go, tonight.

Same here on 20. 40's been much better so far.

Okay, so where the heck were all the 1^st year bonus stations? Out of 51 contacts, I only worked one.

I did cause a couple of pileups once they heard my low number.

I scored higher running 5 Watts than when running my usual 50. Very few didn't return my call.

I never got back on the air.  At the risk of sounding like an old geezer ham,  I managed to get hit with shingles this past week.  Went to the doctor on Friday, and got a shot in the ass, along with a bunch of big ol' horse pills to take. That has made my head a little "cloudy" feeling, and I haven't much felt like doing anything today.   I'll try again next month, I guess.

Yeah, I know. Last month's SKS was the same with me, lacked the energy to do much due to painkillers from the Coronary bypass I had April 4th. I quit taking them two days ago and so far so good. I felt pretty good today, even put in a half mile on the treadmill.

How are you mounting your antenna to the truck? I think something like this placed in the center of the bed would hold up even a screwdriver antenna since the truck would remain stationary.

Three or four "radials" of heavy braid could be run from it and laid along the bed of the truck for capacitive coupling to it. Or the magnets alone even may be enough since theyr'e pretty big. I work hams running CW mobile on 40 from several hundred miles away. Heck, it may even work on 80 after dark.

Dang Frank, I hope everything is going OK for you.  I noticed you weren't as active last month.  

I'm using the heavy duty pocket stake mount form Breedlove Mounts.  I figured I would go ahead and get the truck set up for a mobile rig, even though that will probably never happen.  I also bonded all of the body panels to each other, and the frame too.  All I have to do is back the truck out of the garage, screw the antenna onto the mount, and run some coax into the house, to the K3.  I guess adding a couple of radials would help, but it seems to do pretty well, as it is.  The antenna is from Wolf River Coils.  It does fine on 40m, but is rather narrow banded on 80m.

Well, on 80, most of the SKCC contacts occur within a 10 or 15 KHz bandwidth.

Get better soon!

I got the first half of Shingrix vaccine but haven’t been back for shot 2 due to other medical issues that the Shingrix can screw up.