WD9EWK/7 (with Mike KC4VG/7) from Maricopa County, Arizona, on 20 February
2003
Updated 23 December 2003
Over the last couple of years, I have operated from a variety of locations in
3 countries (USA, Canada, Mexico) and have met many people on the air and also
through e-mail. One person I have talked to on the radio many times from
3 different locations has been Mike KC4VG, from Iowa. Mike mentioned to me that he would
be in Arizona in February, and I offered to meet him and possibly go someplace
to play radio. He liked that idea, and on Thursday, 20 February 2003, we
went to two different locations northeast of Phoenix for a day of radio and
fun.
For this day of radio operating, we used the following equipment:
- KC4VG/7
- Yaesu FT-817 multiband
transceiver (5 watts)
- W3FF Antennas
"Buddipole" portable multiband dipole
- WD9EWK/7
- RadioShack
HTX-10 transceiver (25 watts)
- W3FF Antennas "Buddipole" portable multiband dipole
Both stations operated on battery power - a 12V 21Ah gel-cell battery pack for
my HTX-10, and a combination of the rechargeable battery pack in Mike's FT-817
and a 7Ah gel-cell battery pack I brought along for the day-trip. I
decided to let Mike take the lead in selecting which band to operate on, and I
would go someplace else so we could avoid interfering with each other.
Had I used other bands besides 10m, I would have used my FT-817 as well.
"Sears-Kay Ruin" Recreation Site
The first location Mike and I operated from was this recreation site, a few
miles/km northeast of the towns of Carefree and Cave Creek (grid DM43cv) -
northeast of Phoenix - on the Tonto National Forest. This place had covered picnic
tables, restrooms, and some trails into the hills around that area. At
3400 feet/1036m elevation, we were above the Phoenix area yet we could not see
the city from here.
Our first effort was to get Mike's station on the air, and try to work
stations on the 17m HFpack 18.1575 MHz frequency. A little while after
1700 UTC (1000 local time), Mike and I heard many stations working Tom
G0SBW in
England, and we thought we heard his signals briefly. Later on, Mike
worked a couple of stations in Texas and another in Michigan.
Once Mike was set up, I set up my station and tried my luck on the 10m
band. I only made 3 QSOs from this location, all using SSB:
- WB8AJR, in
Akron, Ohio
- KC8RCR,
near Cincinnati, Ohio
- CX1KZ, in
Uruguay (my first SSB contact with that country - ever!)
We stopped operating just before 2000 UTC, so we could head back to Cave Creek
for lunch and to decide on where we would operate after lunch. I sent an
e-mail message to the Buddipole Yahoo! Group list as well as to another
ham, advising that KC4VG/7 would return to the air around 2230 UTC on 18.1575
MHz.
Mike KC4VG/7 took a couple of pictures while we were at this location.
Each picture is a .JPG file, which will appear in a new browser window:
"Rattlesnake Cove" Recreation Site, at Bartlett Lake
We moved approximately 15 miles/25km east of our first operating location, to
this picnic area next to Bartlett Lake on the Verde River (grid DM43eu) - also
within the Tonto National Forest. We had to pay a $4 fee to park at this
area, which we did, and then found a pair of picnic tables where we could
operate from and not interefere with each other. Again, our first effort
was to get Mike's station on the air, and then I would get my equipment
working.
Shortly after 2200 UTC (1500 local time), Mike started making contacts with his
station on 18.1575 MHz, and appeared to keep busy for the approximately 90
minutes we spent operating from here. Once he was on the air, I set up my
equipment and tried the 10m band again. From this location, coupled with
the propagation at this later hour compared to our first efforts, I made 8
contacts from here:
- KF4GLE/m,
in South Carolina
- N1RPH, in
Maine
- PY2RDS,
near Sao Paulo, Brazil
- N2ETJ, near
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- PY2TO, near
Sao Paulo, Brazil
- LU2FV, in
Rosario, Argentina
- PY1LJ, near
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- CX5BW, near
Montevideo, Uruguay (my second SSB contact with that country ever - and my
second SSB contact with CX on this day!)
Between some of these contacts, I would walk over to Mike's station and listen
to his activity. He was having a good time working different stations,
and some of them stations he has had contacts with in the past. We both
were having a fun time, and despite not putting a lot of effort planning the
day's activities things were going well for both of us.
A few minutes past 2330 UTC (1630 local time), we packed our equipment into my
car for the drive back to Mike's hotel in Phoenix. We both had fun, and
Mike is looking forward to springtime, when he can resume operating outside
and not deal with the snow in Iowa.
I did not get a copy of Mike's log for this day, and I did not get a count on
the number of contacts he made from Rattlesnake Cove.
QSL information for WD9EWK/7 and KC4VG/7
Please note that WD9EWK/7 QSL cards for all contacts made on 20 February 2003
were mailed by 26 February 2003. Please
contact Mike
KC4VG for a KC4VG/7 QSL card from this day, or for any of his contacts
while he was in Arizona.
These portable operating ventures are fun for me, and more fun when there are
other people around who also enjoy this type of activity. There are so
many locations I can go to and do this, at any time of the year. Until
the next time, 73!
WD9EWK/VA7EWK - WD9EWK (in USA) - QSL VIA WD9EWK