One constraint was to not use trees. Therefore I chose the N6BT Bravo 7K vertical. It has a nice tripod and is self contained. It does require setting the element lengths and coils based on the band. However the settings are repeatable and no tweaking is required. The rig was the Icom 7100.
I made 12 contacts on 40 CW, 6 on 40 SSB, 5 on 20 CW. On 20 phone the pileup hit. I had 138 contacts in about 80 minutes. I am not that good at pile ups but I eventually tried going by call area and that helped alot. I did not know if the vertical was going to work well inland. But it was good enough.
I did cover 370 miles round trip in one day. But it was worth it. My wife and I may return to go through the museum and the sights there. I did like the passenger train that runs through the town. It makes several sightseeing stops. I have my eye on the Selma to Montgomery Trail and two Tuskegee NPOTA sites in Alabama. I think they will be in high demand like Plains.
BTW, Suzy liked everything but the train horn. She got special attention even from the Park Ranger.
During the three hours I operated I was contacted by 161 stations in 40 States, 5 Canadian Provinces and Puerto Rico, Aruba and England. On 20 SSB there were 138 contacts in 80 minutes. It would have been better if I was quick on the draw.
