Western Travels

 

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, my partner Bonnie and I decided that neither air travel nor staying in motels would be safe for a while, so we bought a small travel trailer. We left Wisconsin in early October on a six week trip through the west. I brought along the portable radio setup I use when traveling by car.  Bonnie's blog for the trip can be found at:

Fall 2020 Trip

During the first part of the trip, all our stops were either too short to set up the station, or in the bottom of a deep canyon. When we got to Zion National Park, the canyon looked wide enough that at least a little RF might escape, so I set up for the October 28-29 CWT's. 

The antenna, as usual, was an end fed 40 meter half wave, supported about a quarter of the way from the far end by a 12 meter fiberglass pole. For 80 meters, I add two quarter wave radials, and feed it like a quarter wave vertical.

Zion Antenna

The station consists of a KX2, KXPA100 amplifier, a laptop, and a small antenna tuner. Power comes from a 35 Ah lead-acid battery and battery voltage booster. Solar panels were used to recharge the battery and laptop via the charging system in the trailer.

100 W Station

I tried it out on Tuesday afternoon, and indeed a little RF was getting out of the canyon.

Zion RBN Reports

It was too windy to leave the antenna up all night, and pitch dark at 13Z, so I skipped the first CWT session and started at 19Z. 

Zion Operation

Zion Operation

I made just 32 contacts in the 19Z session, poorer than I've done at other QTH's with only 5 W, but conditions were poor, and there WAS a lot of rock in the way.  The 03Z session was a bit better, with 44 contacts, including 14 on 80, which was much better than I expected.

It was almost two weeks before I was in a good place to put up the antenna again, this time at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, just north of the border in southern Arizona. I've operated there several times before, but only QRP. The campground is out in the open, for a change, with hardly any rock in the way of signals, so I've had pretty good results.

The campsite where we parked the trailer turned out to not be a great place for the antenna, so I rented one of the tent sites for radio operation.

Organ Pipe Antenna

CW Sweepstakes was the weekend we arrived, so I got on for a while on Sunday as K9MA/7. (I'm sure the call history file tripped up a lot of folks.) I operated almost 4 hours, but had to take a break in the middle to recharge the laptop. (The radio battery was fine.) I ended up with 186 contacts and 66 mults.

Organ Pipe Operation

By the following Tuesday, the wind had picked up, so I once again had to skip the 13Z CWT. When I tried to put up the antenna Wednesday, the pole collapsed several times before I finally got it to stay up. Untangling the wire from the cacti was a pain. The 19Z session didn't go well, with only 40 contacts, most on 20. Apparently, there were actually too many sunspots for daytime operation on 40. It's been a while since that has happened. The 03Z session was much better, with 62, including 4 on 80 meters. Both sessions were slow speed ones. Unlike some of the other regulars, I strictly kept it at 20 wpm or below.

The following week, the winds had died down, so I could leave the antenna up overnight. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to borrow Bonnie's wireless mouse for the 13Z session, and the RF getting into the wired one totally scrambled the laptop. The result was just 53 contacts, and, I'm sure, a lot of frustrated operators at the other end. Lesson learned (again!), the other sessions went much better. At 19Z, the total was 77 contacts and mults, for my best score so far from this QTH. I had one more contact at 03Z, but fewer mults, but still great fun.

It was a calm night, so I took the antenna down in the morning, when avoiding cactus snarls was a lot easier.

Thus ends another series of radio operations on the road. A couple days later, we packed everything up and started the long drive home.

CWT From Governor Dodge State Park

Governor Dodge State Park, about 70 km west of Madison, is one of my favorite portable CWT locations. There is a picnic area up on a ridge, with a big clearing to allow RF to escape. I've had good results there operating QRP when traveling by bicycle. This time, I came by car, so I thought I'd try low power.

To the usual KX2 QRP station, I've added a heavier 12 meter fiberglass pole, a 100 W power amplifier, a 100 W antenna tuner, a laptop computer, a battery voltage booster, and a 35 Ah battery to run the radio. Needless to say, I don't haul all this by bicycle, or by airplane, for that matter.

The antenna is still the end fed 40 meter half wave. As usual, I set up the pole about a quarter of the way from the far end of the wire, making a sort of lopsided inverted Vee. It works well on 40 and 20. Though I didn't use it on 80 this time, it is usable on that band with a couple longer radials.

I got up at 6 AM (11 Z), drove the short way from the campground to the picnic area, and set up the station. Getting to 100 W requires a lot more hardware. In any case, everything was up and running with about an hour to spare.

Smoke from western fires produced a red, hazy sunrise.

Hazy Sunrise

Antenna and Shelter

Picnic Table Station

Another View

A quick test showed that the antenna was working, and that propagation was good.

Good RBN Reports

The wind picked up a bit during the CWT, but the fiberglass pole held up fine. (It's much stronger, and heavier, than the carbon fiber fishing pole I use for bicycle portable.)

I spent the whole hour on 40, mostly S&P. I did have one short run late in the hour, but that dried up, probably because everyone went to 20. I probably should have, too. In any case, I ended up with 92 QSO's, my best so far with the portable station. 

It took about 45 minutes to take the antenna down and pack everything up.

These operation are a lot of work, of course, but I find the combination of being outdoors and operating the radio to be rewarding. I hope to do some more of these later in the fall during travels further afield.

Sonoran Desert CWT

For a brief respite from winter this year, I flew down to Tucson, rented a car, and drove a couple hours west to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. It's one of the only pieces of public land I know of in the Southwest with good camping and hiking, and at low enough elevation to be comfortable in December. The campground is just a few miles from the Mexican border.  Typical daytime temperatures were around 20 C (68 F), going down to around 5 C (40 F) at night. Not exactly tropical, but a lot warmer than Wisconsin this time of year. It's very uncrowded, as the crowds don't arrive until after Christmas.

  

I arrived at dusk Tuesday night and found a nice campsite with a shelter. The shelter turned out to be really handy a couple days later.

Campsite, Mexican Mountains

I was planning to be there on two Wednesdays, so I brought along the KX2, 11 meter fishing pole, the end fed 40 meter half wave, and the rest of the bicycle portable gear. I skipped the 13Z session, as that would have meant setting up in the dark, but the antenna was up in plenty of time for the 19Z session.

Fishing Pole Antenna Support

This time the antenna was set up in the open, rather than in the bottom of a canyon, so I was hoping for better results than on my last western trip.  The RBN reports looked pretty good before 19Z on both 20 and 40.  However, when the fun started, things were pretty slow on 20. I stayed there until about 1940, then spent the last 20 minutes making just 5 contacts on 40. I think the antenna was working well, but I just wasn't strong enough to get through to the east coast, and most of the western stations stayed on 20. The end result was a mere 33 QSO's and 32 mults.

The 03Z session wasn't much better. 40 wasn't bad, but when things slowed down after 25 contacts, I went to 80. My 40 meter half wave wire is, of course, a quarter wave on 80, so I added two quarter wave radials. It works, but not all that well. 10 excellent pairs of ears added another 10 contacts, for a total of 35, with 32 mults.

Taking the antenna down in the dark is always a hassle, but miraculously nothing got tangled in the cacti.

That was the end of radio operations for a week. There was some "interesting" weather, but it cleared up and I did some great hikes. I had plenty of time to practice the oboe, work on reeds, and just relax. For those interested in the non-radio story, see this blog:

Organ Pipe National Monument 2018

Storm in the Desert

Desert Sunset

My last day was another Wednesday, so I set up the radio station one more time. Rather than risk taking down the antenna in the dark again, I decided to only do the 19Z session. This time I set up a sun shade to make it a little easier to see the displays. I hadn't brought the laptop, so I had to log on paper. However, since I had cellular data service, it occurred to me to watch the RBN reports on the iPad in hopes of making a few more QSO's. I think it helped. Things were going pretty well on 20 so, recalling the previous week's dismal result on 40, I just stayed on 20. There must have been some Es around, as I made quite a few west coast QSO's, in addition to those further away to the east. I ended up with 49 QSO's and mults, my best desert portable score so far. And that includes the Death Valley operation 2 years ago with 100 W.

Operating Position

Fishing Pole Back Up

With Sun Shade

Thus ends another desert CWT diversion. With plenty of time on my hands, it definitely was worthwhile bringing the radio gear. Though I wasn't traveling by bicycle, the fishing pole and KX2 sure made packing for air travel easy, especially with all the camping and oboe gear.

The last morning, I packed everything up, gave the rest of my stove fuel to some other campers, and drove back to Tucson in plenty of time to catch my 2:45 flight. Back to winter!

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.

Canyon Country CWT

The KX1 and 11.5 M fishing pole came along on a recent trip to southern Utah.  Our base was a friend's vacation home on the Escalante River, near Calf Creek.  On Tuesday, four of us drove 60 km down the Hole in the Rock Road, did a nice hike to an arch, then camped just off the road in the Escalante Desert.  My plan was to try to operate the 13Z and 03Z CWTs without inconveniencing my companions too much.

Bonnie at Broken Bow Arch

13Z QTH

I put the antenna up in the evening, as I knew it would still be very dark at 13Z.  The terrain was fairly open, so I thought I might have a decent signal with the end fed 40 M half wave supported by the pole.

13Z View South

13Z View West

However, the only RBN station I could wake up was K2PO, near Portland, OR.

13Z RBN

So, with the first hint of daylight, I started on 40.  It was hard work, but I ended up with 37 QSO's and 36 mults.  I stayed on 40 until 1340Z, which was way too long, but I really didn't expect 20 to open up that early.  There was no DX, and working the east coast was tough.  Conditions weren't too bad and the antenna was in the clear.  I suspect all that rock and sand makes for very poor ground conditions, so the ground reflection probably wasn't helping much.

On the way back to the house, we did another hike to some slot canyons.  There was no chance to do the 19Z CWT.  I can do CWT's at home, but I can't do a hike like that!

Tunnel Slot Canyon

The house is right in the bottom of the Escalante River canyon, with high canyon walls in most directions, so I didn't expect much.  I did get the antenna up just before dark, and later set up the radio on the patio behind the house.

03Z QTH

03Z View West

03Z View Northwest

That canyon wall doesn't look that high, but it's actually well over 100 meters.  The horizon to the west was at about 30 degrees, though it was lower to the east.

A CME was just arriving at 03Z, so conditions were deteriorating.  Between that, the canyon walls, and lack of 80 meters, I didn't expect much.  I could't raise a single RBN station on 20 or 40.  I stuck it out for 45 minutes, and made just 18 contacts, thanks to some really, really good ears at the other end.  Apparently N0UR and W1UU took the night off, as I ended up with the high QRP score.