Corsica (1990)

Corsica was one of my greatest holidays ever.  It's a biker's paradise. We found a couple of nice spots to operate from.  In the Seaside QTH above, the antenna was almost over water at high tide.

Although I [almost] always ride with protective clothing, it was so hot on the island that we rode in jeans and t-shirts; of course we wore proper boots and helmets, as well as thin leather gloves.

At the Seaside QTH, the rig sat out on the rocks, and was covered with my army poncho at night. Conditions were outstanding towards the states and just about anywhere else.  Again I ran only about 20w to save battery power.  The rig, like on most of my trips, was a TEN-TEC Argonaut 509, with matching 405 Linear Amplifier.

The antenna was a 40m dipole with jumpers to shorten it for 20m.  I used thin RG-174 coax because I valued its light weight over its additional loss.  The ends of the dipole were tied to the ground at distant points, almost in the water.

There is actually a mountain in the middle of Corsica. We spent only one night up there and I didn't work the bands much.  Our biggest concern was trying to cool our beer without any refrigeration.  We wrapped the beer in wet towels and hung them from the antenna. The wind cooled them enough to meet European drinking standards. They were probably too warm for most Americans.