High Bluff Re-Match

250% more contacts than last Saturday's outing on the High Bluff Trail -- that counts as a success!  Of course 10x the power on digital modes and 20x the power on voice tends to make the most of the current poor ionospheric conditions.  First some pics, then on to notes.

Same place, different day.  10x the power.

And 4x the weight.

After struggling with 2.5 watts of digital brawn last Saturday, it seemed like time to step up to the similar 100-watt unit.  OK, that's 100 watts on voice only, have to dial it back to 25 watts on digital modes to keep things from melting down.  Still, it's a good step up.  The price of course is approximately 4x the weight: 6-ish lbs for the FT-817nd & Talon pack, vs 22-ish for the FT-857d & medium ALICE.  Noteworthy contacts were a voice conversation to NC (voice! finally! the ionosphere is recovering!), a PSK-31 chat to Canada, and most importantly, a 5w digital contact to Delaware.  So I still operated QRP today, if only briefly and when the ionosphere momentarily smiled.

Lessons for next time:

1. That 21' W3EDP antenna (other posts on this beast here)  is easy to hang, but I really do need to bring along a throwing weight.  The pocket knife just isn't heavy enough to easily get some line over a 22'+ limb.  
2. Also, stepping up from 25' to 50' of coax would be nice.  It opens up some other farther-from-operator antenna positions and just makes the whole tree-picking exercise that much easier.  For a small, small weight penalty, to be sure.  TANSTAAFL.
3. The new full-brimmed hat did well.  My neck and cheeks feel pretty un-burnt this evening.
4. Bring the seat pad.  Even if it's not that cold, the table lumber was still wet after last night's rains.
5. ps: Bring a UHF-male-to-SMA-female connector (I've got one around here somewhere... I think) and leave the FT-60 home.  Unlike with the digital/audio interface, if I'm using the data port (and yes, lugging a laptop along) the switch from HF to VHF/UHF is seamless.