CAL QSO PARTY SUMMARY SHEET
Date : 5-6 Oct 1996
Callsign Used : AE0M/6
Operators : AE0M, N0BBS
Category : MS
Default Exchange : # YUBA/BUTTE
Time : 15:46 hrs
Name : Anthony J. Becker
Address : 3273 B. Rocky Water Lane
City/State/Zip : San Jose, CA 95148
Country : United States
email : becker@sprintmail.com
RIG : FT-990, and 486DX2-66 MHz running TRLog v 5.82
Power : 100W
Team/Club : Northern California Contest Club
BAND Raw QSOs Valid QSOs Points Mults =20
__________________________________________________
80CW 62 62 186 0=20
80SSB 72 72 144 3=20
40CW 67 67 201 2=20
40SSB 54 52 104 4=20
20CW 154 151 453 13=20
20SSB 123 119 247 29=20
15CW 11 11 33 0=20
15SSB 13 13 26 0=20
__________________________________________________
Totals 556 547 1394 51=20
Final Score =3D 71094 points.
Story: The AE0M/6 CQP Yuba and Butte counties expedition/operation:
The good news is the antennas stayed up and weren't stolen this year, we=
were at the high point of the site instead down in the ravine (result of=
first stolen antenna last year...), and we even had such creature comforts=
as not just one but two working refrigerators and a real gas stove in a RV.=
Now for the bad news.
We ended up not repeating the invitation to NCCC members and any local=
reflector readers to join us. While surveying the site for the new=
clearing at the high spot of the property we found a pound of nails strewn=
in the entrance to the existing drive one week before the event and began=
to ask questions of a couple of neighbors as to why. =20
Both counties sheriffs departments confirmed much of what the neighbors=
reported and more. It seems the vandals were connected with a gang they=
had just partly arrested and convicted last June of operating a crank=
(methamphimine) lab on the property directly across the road from ours. =
The gang members as a whole--including those still at large may have been=
suspicious of our radio antennas, equating them with extra law enforcement=
attention in the area, and sort of blamed us as being partly responsible=
for their troubles. =20
It seems not to have occurred to their drug fried brains that had they not=
_stolen_ two antennas of ours in the first place, maybe the local law=
enforcement officers wouldn't have gotten extra curious and checked them=
out. This turned out to be irrelevant as we learned only Butte County was=
suspicious for that reason.=20
Yuba County did the actual raid on the crank lab and knew nothing about the=
stolen antennas or any of the other numerous property crimes that had=
happened along our access road because the deputy responsible for that area=
had never actually filed any of the reports he collected. It seems he also=
grew up with a couple of the gang members... Yuba county was acting on=
information collected about the source of problems in another deputy's=
area.=20
Sooo, not only did we apparently have the doubtful perceptions of reality of=
those still at large to worry about, but the questionable reliability of=
the local deputy in the event the hoodlums decided to do more than their=
usual petty larceny, vandalizm and target practice on the site as reported=
by the neighbor next door to the former crank lab. Yet, both sheriffs=
departments--and the lots of good neighbors all wanted us up there... So=
with a "yippee-yikes - Yuba and Butte counties _and_ bust." up we went.
Not knowing how much we really had to worry about, we did decided that NCCC=
members and Reflector readers probably would prefer not being invited to a=
site whose updated apparatus list now included "9 mm or 44 caliber=
communications equipment" and extra "security personnel". The RV, as well=
as the 9 mm and 44 caliber communications equipment both belonged to the=
personal security personnel, one 'Pheonix' Bill. Bill is a friend of mine=
from High School who was forced to interrupt our time at college together=
for a few years in the service by an Uncle. Bill got the nickname =
'Pheonix' after he joined the Navy in San Diego, accidentally came to know=
something he should not have, and was given a choice of a transfer to "No=
Such Agency" or "The Company" and chose the latter. (No it is not a=
misspelling, look up Operation Pheonix in the transcript of Bill Moyers=
white paper report "The secret government").
Tony and Bill called ahead on Friday morning to check on the contractors=
progress with the clearing and new driveway, and learned that all was=
ready. Hearing this, Bill decided to drive up in his RV, actually a 40=
foot long GMC Coach formerly used to transport the Guy Lombardo Orchestra. =
=20
Just to make certain we were not molested, we requested and received visits=
and extra patrols by the Butte county Sheriff's department, patrols by at=
least a quarter of a local motorcycle club, both courtesy of the efforts of=
one of the members of Butte county's reserve communications unit, and=
visits by virtually every neighbor on the road except for the ones plinking=
in our general direction Saturday afternoon. (Yes, that was gunfire, and=
not ours, you might have heard in the background on 20 SSB) This last item=
meant I never did get to try out my metal detector down in the creek, but=
that is another story.=20
On the positive side, the new clearing was really nice for the tower and=
tent. Since we didn't have a power outlet yet installed on the new=
clearing, we had refrigerators but no air conditioning, meaning we needed=
the extra refrigerators.... We figure it will be even better after the=
rainy season when the poison oak oil is all washed out of the soil and it=
no longer blows around like talcum powder in the slightest breeze, like=
those from all the patrolling and visiting vehicles... In the meantime, buy=
stock in "Benadryl" and "Cortaid" ointments...
It took five hours total to set up tower with tribander, wire antennas, tent=
(necessary if nothing else to keep the dust out of all the equipment and to=
keep the keyer working), etc., etc.. Tony came to the conclusion he really=
needs to do something to minimize all this, especially when he found=
himself so exhausted he could barely keep awake after the set up. The rate=
suffered a good deal most of Saturday. We also found that somehow during=
the transporting (perhaps it was that last two miles of washboard/gravel=
road), the FT990's IF shift knob (not normally noticed or used) got moved=
to fully CCW. As a result I probably sounded like an out of tune baritone=
for nearly four hours on 20 SSB Saturday morning, and probably why not many=
people answered my calls. I had suspected "something was wrong", only it=
didn't seem to be any of the usual things. The manual for the radio, along=
with the _new_ LMR coax had _not_ been packed and Tony couldn't hear me=
yell while he was giving directions and helping string the 80 and 40 meter=
antennas about 25 yards away.
The 1750 W generator did not have enough juice to power the amplifier, and=
at 2 p.m. both days, the computer decided it had enough of the 100 degree=
heat in the tent--despite the use of additional sun-shades and a fan--and=
took a siesta. Soooo, we had to get a couple of repeats, reload DOS and=
TR, and log with paper--all while trying to operate and answer questions=
from neighbors. Those of you who got QSO numbers 140 to 155 had better=
check with us before turning in your logs. BTW, can we count the eyeball=
QSO's with the neighbors ????
We retired to the motor home Saturday night and left everything in the tent=
overnight. We weren't terribly worried about security at that point. =
Between the poison oak, roots and the loose rocks still strewn over the not=
yet fully smoothed clearing, and the more than 30 guy wires and lines to=
the tower, 40 and 80 m dipoles, the tent, and two sun shades, we figured we=
would hear anyone coming long before they got to the tent. If they=
successfully missed all these obstacles (some of which we failed to avoid=
even in broad daylight) we were sure to hear them when they either fell=
over the small refrigerator or various bric-a-brac we strategically located=
just inside the closed door flap of the tent. =20
At about 2 a.m., our Bill and I heard something stumble over one of the guy=
wires, but since the sound wasn't followed by recognizable cussing, we=
figured it was a four-legged beast rather than two. Since it also didn't=
growl or roar, it wasn't the local mountain lion either. He or she was=
apparently still camped out at Mrs. Winchell's (the neighbor not the=
doughnuts), along with the bobcat we spotted.
We had to interrupt operations for a longer period Sunday when the=
contractor came by to review what had been done and still needed to be=
done. Tony insisted on leading the troupe over every road and trail that=
now existed and then beyond. Despite what we'd gone through he had finally=
decided we should build some sort of cabin--bunker style, mind you, but=
something permanent. Of course in his enthusiasm he never gave us a chance=
to put on either the anti-poison oak solution or any insect repellant... =
Like I said, buy stock in Benadryl and Cortaid ointments. If there is a=
square inch of skin on my legs below my knees that is now uncovered with=
bumps of one sort or another, I can't find it. Bill is complaining of the=
same thing. Tony was the only exception, and we're still trying to figure=
out why.
However in our review we learned two things about the newly opened parts of=
our property. There is a spring near where Tony thinks we ought to build,=
so we won't have to pipe water _uphill_ from the creek, and there is=
apparently a spur of the quartz pegmatite dike that cuts right across the=
center of the property and the quartz has evidence of minerals in it... =
Tony now wants to talk to Force 12 about _big_ antennas and a bomb-proof=
tower, besides building the bunker... I wonder if I cooked the wine in the=
beef bourguignonne enough Saturday night...
At the end of the contest we packed up and started to leave only to discover=
entering the new drive with a 40' bus was easier than leaving. The=
entrance wasn't quite wide and flat enough and we bent back the tailpipe on=
itself and the muffler--requiring another half hour jury rigging the tail=
pipe... We all had just cleaned up and changed clothes by the way.
Oh well, despite the tension, heat, bugs of all sorts, poison oak, dust,=
mishaps, missteps, extra non-radio traffic, etc., in 15 hours we still=
managed to put 556 QSO's and 51 multipliers into the reconstructed log. =20
Funny Stuff: QSO # 555 was W5EHM whose exchange to us was serial number 55=
in TX. That's a whole lot of dits!, or as Pheonix Bill put it "a perfect=
ending to go with the two ditzes who came up with this ditsy idea."
;-)
Celia/N0BBS (with Tony/AE0M's editing and Pheonix Bill's kibitzing)
P.S. Do we hear any additional wild west frontier volunteers for next=
year??? Fire one round for "yes" and two for "no"...
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