‰ NOW 30 WPM ‰ TEXT IS FROM MARCH 2015 QST PAGE 78‰ AT WWW. RSGBIOTA. ORG. ED., AND OTHER SUCH THINGS THAT I HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF, I REALIZED THAT I NEEDED TO STUDY UP AND THAT ID NEED TO POSTPONE AND RETHINK MY GUERRILLA PORTABLE TRIP. GRID CHASERS, ISLAND CHASERS MY STUDY BEGAN WITH THE FRED FISH MEMORIAL AWARD, OR FFMA. FRED FISH, W5FF SK, WAS THE FIRST AMATEUR TO WORK AND CONFIRM 6 METER CONTACTS TO ALL 488 MAIDENHEAD GRID SQUARES SEE THE SIDEBAR, THE MAIDENHEAD LOCATOR SYSTEM IN THE 48 CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES. THE FFMA IS GIVEN TO HAMS WHO ACCOMPLISH THE SAME THING. I COULDNT SEE MYSELF CHASING GRIDS, BUT THE IDEA OF PROVIDING A RARE GRID TO OTHER HAMS WAS ENTICING. CLEARLY, IT WOULD BE A WASTE TO GO ALL THE WAY TO DRY TORTUGAS WITH A RANDOM BAND PLAN AND AN AVERAGE ANTENNA, SO I BEGAN RESEARCH FOR AN OFF GRID STATION FOR 6 METERS AND OTHER HAM BANDS. CHOOSING COMPACT GEAR THATS RIGHT, OFF GRID. THERES NOTHING AT GARDEN KEY. YOU EVEN HAVE TO BRING YOUR OWN WATER. PACKING IT ALL IN WOULD BE A CHALLENGE. BECAUSE OF THAT, I KNEW MY ANTENNA WOULD HAVE TO BE LIGHTWEIGHT AND BREAK DOWN TO LESS THAN 48 INCHES A NUMBER I DECIDED ON AS SIMPLY BEING EASY TO HANDLE, GIVEN THAT I HAD TO BRING A NUMBER OF ‰ END OF 30 WPM TEXT ‰ QST DE W1AW ƒ