Death Valley CWT

As a brief respite from the Wisconsin winter, I drove out to Death Valley in early December. Among other things, this was my first test of the car camping radio setup.  It consists of the K3, end fed 40 M half wave antenna supported by an 11 meter carbon fiber fishing pole, antenna tuner, and an old netbook for logging. I added a couple 20 meter radials for 80 M operation. Power supply is a 33 Ah SLA battery and N8XJK voltage booster. I can recharge the battery in the car while driving, though it takes a while. Fortunately, the battery proved adequate for 3 hours of CWT operation without recharging.

My first western stop was at Willow Beach, on Lake Mohave, just south of Hoover Dam. While enjoying the nice weather there and relaxing after the long drive, I set up the station just to check everything out. Everything seemed to work fine, and I even made one DX contact on 20.

Willow Beach Campsite

Willow Beach Antenna

On to Death Valley, where I moved into campsite 139 in the Furnace Creek campground.  

Death Valley QTH

I think it was only really about 190 feet below sea level. Precise QTH was DM16nl. (36.46200,-116.87048; you can actually see the picnic table in the Google satellite view.)

Death Valley Station

Power Supply

Death Valley Site and Antenna

Shortly after I arrived was the ARRL 10 M contest. I made a 10 meter half wave wire, and strung it up more or less vertically. Conditions were predictably dismal, but somehow 32 operators managed to hear me over a couple hours of operation Saturday.

A few days later, I set up for the Dec. 14-15 CWT's. I put the antenna up Tuesday afternoon, as the 13Z CWT starts way before sunrise. Fortunately, winds were light. Unfortunately, some klutz stepped on the fishing pole and broke a section, so it was a couple feet shorter than usual. (Never, ever, lay your fishing pole on the ground!) I put the wire up in its usual configuration, supported by the pole about 5 meters from the far end, with monofilament lines from the ends to conveniently located mesquite trees just tall enough to keep the lines above head height. On 80, of course, the wire is only a quarter wave, so I expected some "RF in the shack", but it wasn't a problem.

Crawling out of the tent at 4:30 AM wasn't fun, but the antenna was still up. I heard nothing on 20, but managed to make 53 contacts on 40 and 80.  

It was a lot warmer at 19Z, though the sun made it hard to see the netbook screen. In spite of a little run on 20, I just ran out of stations to work, and ended up with just 43 QSO's. There were interesting echos on 20, and I even worked N5ZO on backscatter. I was briefly interrupted by a curious park ranger, whom I should have tipped off first. (She thought the bottom of the fishing pole was illegally buried in the ground. She probably didn't notice the fishing line in the mesquite. No trees were damaged in this operation, though those thorns are nasty.)

By 03Z, the hole was getting deeper. It was tougher than any of my QRP operations, save the one from that Utah canyon. Lots of loud, usually responsive operators just couldn't hear me at all. As far as I could tell, 100 Watts were coming out of the radio, but going nowhere. I think conditions were pretty good, though 40 started long and got longer. I expect there was lots of activity on 160, but I didn't bring that much wire. I ended up with 37 QSO's. As winds were forecast to pick up overnight, I took the antenna down in the dark, then walked the half mile over to the Furnace Creek Ranch to post the results.

It was an interesting operation, but it seems my favorite desert camping spots are poor for radio operating. At least there were no mosquitoes, and it was a lot warmer than Wisconsin in December. Perhaps in the spring, in addition to my QRP bicycle portable operations, I'll try some with the car camping station. Hopefully, I'll be able to find some places that aren't deep in holes in the ground.