My wife had some business in Destin FL. So I had a couple of ours to enjoy QRP portable ops. I went in the Bass Pro Store for the first time and looked at their crappie pole selection. I did not find any suitable poles. I did spy a interesting item called a fish-n-mate sand spike. It turns out it will mate with 1.5 inch PVC pipe which mates with my 20 foot crappie pole. I tried it out in an empty lot next door to the Bass Pro. I lofted a slightly less than half wave wire for some 30 meter contacts. I had a couple of tough contacts but the last one was a good one with Rich AC0MP in Columbia MO. The sand spike will come in handy I am sure. See the photos below.
I enjoy Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio, Field Days, QRP, satellites, and CW. I have many friends in the hobby that make it fun. I will keep you posted on what I learn about amateur radio on this blog.
