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LOOKOUT DUTIES, SO I DONT OPERATE DURING A FIRE WATCH SHIFT.  INSTEAD, I
FREQUENTLY SET UP AND GET ON THE AIR BEFORE OR AFTER MY DAYTIME SHIFTS,
DURING A LUNCH BREAK, OR WHILE IM ENJOYING AN OVERNIGHT STAY.  FROM THE
ELEVATED LOCATIONS OF THE TOWERS, I CAN REACH JUST ABOUT ANY REPEATER IN
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ON UHF/ VHF.  WHILE OPERATING SIMPLEX, IVE TALKED TO
SOTA ACTIVATORS AND CHASERS MORE THAN 100 MILES AWAY ON 5 W HANDHELD
RADIOS.  TYPICALLY, MY CLIMB TO THE TOWER INCLUDES AN ALL BAND HANDHELD
<  QST DE W1AW  =
TRANSCEIVER IN MY GO BAG.  THIS ALLOWS ME TO MONITOR LOCAL REPEATER TRAFFIC
OR TUNE IN TO 146R520 SIMPLEX TO LISTEN FOR SOTA TRAFFIC.  FOR HF
OPERATING, IVE ASSEMBLED A ONE BAG KIT THAT INCLUDES A YAESU FT 891
TRANSCEIVER AND A SUPER ANTENNA MP1DXR THAT OFFERS 40 THROUGH 10 METERS,
PLUS 6 METER COVERAGE WITHOUT AN ANTENNA TUNER.  SWR CAN BE ADJUSTED BY
TURNING A COIL, BUT I ALSO CARRY A RIGEXPERT ANTENNA ANALYZER TO FINE TUNE
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