Dockton County Park by W7UUU

Finally had all the gear come together right! I added a 30-watt Mirage amplifier to the 2m FM handi-talkie, and using the 10-Element 2m Yagi at 2.5 meters finally got me to where 146.52 Simplex can make reliable contacts. It's a very different thing in an urban area with tons of high rolling hills to work 52 simplex from sea level and expect to have any reach at all!! Come summer, I'll be hitting 20m CW QRP and that will help things out a lot. But for now, we really enjoy heading out for a day (wife Anne and our dog Molly) hiking trails, relaxing on a beach playing radio, and in general getting out of the house for a while. So today from Docton Beach on Maury Island (adjacent Vashon Island) I worked the following: 3/19/2016 UTC 21:06 AA7SB Carlos 146.52 QTH Seattle, WA 21:29 KF6NFW Don 146.52 QTH Clearview, WA 21:42 W7PUY John 146.52 QTH Puyallup, WA 21:53 W7GMB Greg 146.52 QTH Vashon, WA 22:55 KA7CEE Wayne 146.52 QTH Kent, WA 23:10 N7ANN Anne 146.52 QTH Vashon, WA So it's picking up for me! Plus, I can now sign up for IOTA and log Maury Island as my first Islands on the Air activation as well.