Well it looks like I finally managed to get a 1296 antenna up (such as it is) so now I"m looking to set up a sched and see if I can actually make a contact on the band. If you're like to set something up, drop me an email. I should be around this weekend so it's likely I'll be on the Sunday net and to give it a try.
In case you're wondering.
I put up the Comet CYA-1216E Beam (16el Yagi) and following Mike's (K7MDL) example, I mounted the SG Labs PA 1296 25W PA/LNA at the feedpoint in a weatherproof box and then am feeding that with some hardline and Hyperflex 10 coax that is driven by a Q5 Sognal 2330PAS PA that is driven by my IC-9700. It SEEMS like this combo has overcome an coax line loss that's in the current setup.
The antenna is mounted on my AZ/EL setup along with the M2 LEO pack that I use for sat work. So i can even elevate it if need be.
Anyways, hoping to see if it all works and hopefully move it to a much higher location when I get my second tower (dedicated 6m and UHF bands) erected later this summer. (fingers crossed).
73,
Marv K7IU