Sunday, August 21, 2009 found me camping at Woodchuck Flat Campground, in the Tahoe National Forest, after an outstanding day of fourwheeling.  Actually, this Sunday was a lucky day for me, as I found a $100.00 bill lying on the ground as I gassed up my truck at the Shell station at Troy - and I didn't even go to Reno!  But that's another story...

After enjoying a delicious meal of cold, canned corned beef hash and green beans, and a few beers, I fired up my MFJ-9475 75meter SSB rig that I take along with me for occasions like this.  When I feed the rig's 12 watts into my Hustler 75 meter antenna, mounted on the side of the truck, I get very good results.  I have the antenna tuned to 3905 KHz, and the SWR is 1:1, and I have about 40 KHz of less than 2:1 SWR, but if I roam out of that range, I keep an antenna tuner in my "go bag" for said occasions.

Photo:  The beer is cold, the campfire is lit, and my MFJ-9475 is right-on frequency, enjoying the friendliest of the California Traffic Net on 3906 KHz, at 1845 on Sunday, August 21, 2009.

I'm a member of the California Traffic Net, which meets every night at 1830, local (Pacific) time, on 3906 KHz.  It's an ARES net, and run with true traffic-oriented protocol, but unlike many nets, it's not all business, and the people who run the net, and those who check in, are a friendly bunch.  So I attempt to check in to the net whenever I can, which averages, unfortunately, to only once or twice a week, due to my very busy work schedule.

On this Sunday evening, I was able to check in, and when asked for a signal report, I was given a 58.  Not bad for running only 12 watts to a vertical antenna, that is a compromise, at best.

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