No wonder my cup isn’t empty yet.

I went on family vacation in a hurry and I left behind one imporant item. A case containing the antenna tuner, power amplifier, multiple cables, baluns, power supply, and pretty much everything I need to operate the radio except for the radio, about 5 meters worth of coax and a mobile antenna for the 40m band.

I pretty much assumed that all hope was gone for the RSGB IOTA contest, so I forgot about the radio for a few days while we were busy building an extension on the family summer home which is located there.

As the contest start approached I started feeling anxious and wanted to join in, so I started looking around for anything that could get me on the air.

I found two battery clamps in an old boat house, which allowed me to use the car as a power supply. The 40m hamstick antenna wasn’t great, but good enough to log a few contacts – even thought the SWR is low, the Pin versus the Pout on that thing is negotiable at best.

On the second day of the contest I found some spare wire that I used to construct an inverted V dipole for 20m. That one worked allright too, and I got a few more precious contacts in my contest log.

The midnight sky in the north is nothing but spectacular, with its palette going from one end of the spectrum to the other. Quite a comforting sight while fighting against those pesky black flies that tried to drain all my blood.

I took my dog for a few walks, and we explored many potential sites for radio operation later on. We visited some SOTAs, a lighthouse, and a few more attractions that were too good to be left out from this summary.

Lesson learned, but I don’t think the dog complains, though.