EVENT:
ARRL 10-Meter Contest, Sunday, December 15, 2002.
MY LOCATION:
Springfield, Missouri, elevation above sea level 1,382 feet.
ANTENNA:
Two metal folding chairs I bought at Sam's Club last year, fed as a di-pole. The hose clamps are attached near the top, just under the back support.
ESTIMATED HEIGHT ABOVE THE EARTH:
18 feet at the feed-point.
RIG / TUNER:
Icom 746, at 100 watts, MFJ-969, Drake Filter.
I was able to fully load this di-pole to 100 watts transceiver output (my rig's maximum output).
TOTAL CONTACTS / TIME:
15 contacts, from 8:10 UTC to 9:30 UTC.
Total operating time was 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Average of one contact every 5.3 minutes.
DX CONTACTS:
LOWER 48 CONTACTS:
| w6yra, CA | n6cc, CA | n7gyd, WA | |||
| k6am, CA | k2kw, CA | k7ri, CA | |||
| kd7iic, MT | n6zfo, CA | k6ep, CA | |||
| n6xg, CA |
DISCUSSION:
These were very noisy! Background static was noticeably greater using the chairs as compared to all the other antennas. Of course, to be fair, I was using them between 2 and 3:30 local time.
I had my choice of black or tan chairs. I chose the black ones to increase the RF absorption. Maybe this accounted for the high noise level? (hi hi) It certainly worked the DX, I got my first African contact ever!
This di-pole was the highest of my antennas used in this contest. However, the tape measure di-pole was only about 1 to 1.5 feet lower at its feed point.