On Wednesday, July 4, 2012 2:55:03 PM UTC-7, Sal M. O'Nella wrote:
"NM5K" wrote in message

...







FD can be a lot of work. I know dragging a tower and beam

out there got to be a tad strenuous.

And I rarely used the thing myself..

I string up dipoles for me, which is pretty easy to deal with.

But even with an easy setup, I still don't care for contest

type operating all that much. Just not really my cup of java..

I skipped this year again. Too busy with work, even if I wanted

to go.

If I do any more in the future, like I say, I'll probably just

hang out on my own property. That way I can operate at a leisurely

pace, and if I get burned out, I can just quit and go do something

else for a while.





Amen to that!



Last year, I put up three 30-foot poles to support a 20m dipole at its

optimum height. This year, I thought I was gettting off easy with just one

pole. Maybe so, but with the top section having a crossarm and the extra

weight of the elements and tethers, getting that sucker up the same 30 feet

was still an adventure. I'm thinking of something simpler next year and not

ruling out being a home station for the first time ever.



"Sal"

This is Sal again. I don't know where my login data went.

I dropped out as club FD Chairman. It wasn't fun any more. I was so happy when I assembled the last of the material I needed to report to ARRL.

"Sal"