Hey everyone,
What a hoot that was! If any of you are thinking about making a drive to activate a not-so-active grid or a not-so-active state ... go for it! You will have a blast. I did.
From here in northeast Georgia, South Carolina is closer than Ham Radio Outlet's Atlanta store. Last night, I drove up U.S. 441 to I-85 and headed north to the state line. I found a couple of really good locations very close to the border and just off the interstate. I chose the South Carolina Welcome Center at I-85 mile marker 1 last night because (1) the pass would be after dark and the center is very well lit, and (2) it was rainy and foggy. I figured the light and security of the center would be nice to have. They were.
My home grid, to six characters, is EM84ha. On this pass, I operated from EM84ll.
This was a busy pass of AO-51, and there were multiple Mexican stations operating portable from different grids. In spite of that, I made a personal high of 11 contacts on the pass, with:
AA5PK K8YSE - EL98 N5AFV K8YSE - EN91 KB0RZD WA5KBH N1RCN N9AMW WA2S K5KNT K8NWD
Thanks to everyone on the pass. It was great hearing all of you and working so many of you. This location is a good one for working passes to the west, and I'll be using it again to activate South Carolina.
QSL cards will be on the way in the next day or two. No return card is necessary.
73 to all,
Tim - N3TL EM84ha