ARRL Field Day
Call: K7IA
Operator(s): K7IA
Station: K7IA
Class: 1B QRP
QTH: NM
Operating Time (hrs): 9
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs Dig Qs
----------------------------
160:
80:
40: 82 2
20: 326
15: 35
10:
6:
2:
222:
432:
903:
1.2:
2.3:
3.4:
5.7:
10G:
24G:
----------------------------
Total: 443 0 2 Total Score = 4,800
Club: Arizona Outlaws Contest Club
Comments:
Score above includes bonus points. Dupes: a bunch!
Erin and I returned to the Field Day site we discovered in Catron County years
ago. Except for 2011, when Arizona's Wallow Fire threatened it, I've used it
ever since. At an elevation of 8500 feet, the site and the event have always
been a chance for us to escape the high temps of SW New Mexico (June is the
hottest month of the year at home in Grant County).
NOAA forecasts of 85 degree high temps at the FD site did not materialze,
however--afternoon temps were 95-97 instead, making any outside activity
undesirable (there's a lot of ultraviolet at 8500 feet too!). The mountain
bikes and the hiking boots remained unused this year, and we didn't spend our
usual week up there.
Afternoon wire antenna erection both uncomfortable and difficult (slingshot
rubbers lose their "snap" at high temps). Try and try again, I just couldn't
pass a monofilament line over my usual Ponderosa Pine branches at 65 feet--55
was the max this year. All five antennas went up: vees for 40 and 80m,
homebrew Moxon Rectangles for 20 and 15m, and an apex-down delta loop for 10m.
Another new wrinkle this year were wolf pack howls and yaps. Cross-bred
Mexican wolves were planted well south and west of our FD site years ago, but I
suspect that last year's Wallow Fire had destroyed a good part of wolf habitat,
and the wolves responded by moving northeastward. We never saw them, but we
saw some of their tracks atop our 4WD tire prints in the loose dirt.
Naturally, we kept a sharp eye out for them whenever we were outside of the
truck camper, just as we watch for bear and lion at our remote home QTH. At
least bear and lion are somewhat predictable--who knows about domestically-bred
wolves? Another reason not to hike or bike ride this year...
20m conditions were wonderful, and my five watts were very loud with the 20m
Moxon pointed NE. Its broad main lobe was loud all the way to VE7 and SFL, and
for the first FD ever, I was able to hold my run frequency, even when a few
alligators tried to steal it! Maybe 55 feet is better than 65 after all! I
kept checking 15m, hoping for something better than scattered weak signals and
an occasional strong sig. I was "loud" (read: no repeats needed) only when
working loud runners. My running attracted no one. I swept 15 and 10m as S&P
every hour, adding a few to the total. Ten was dead.
The first T-storm swept through at sundown, and I disconnected everything.
Erin had the satellite TV going, and even the sat signal got knocked out by the
storm cells (years ago, I rewired the RV, splitting the 120 vac and 12 vdc
systems, so the only FD equipment connected to the generator was the Acer
laptop--blasted 19 vdc battery!!). Subsequent T-storms passed through during
the evening. Usually, in the SW mountains, the first T-storms of summer are
dry--with little or no rainfall. Not so this time--rain on Sat night was
plentiful, a blessing, because the country was tinder dry and a setup for
lightning-induced fire(s). The rain was very welcome, even though lightning
kicked me off the air again and again.
Without my knowing it (until Saturday night), age has crept up on me--I can no
longer sit working the radio for hours on end sitting at the "dinette" in a
slide-in truck camper without my back and legs complaining. And complain they
did! Despite Advil and Running rates of 60-80 per hour (pig heaven for FD
QRP!), I lost my concentration and decided to hang it up and hit the sack. We
struck the antennas on Sunday AM and headed for home, arriving just in time to
see one of my Alma Maters--U of Arizona--shell South Carolina in the first game
of the final playoff of the College World Series. SC had won the CWS back to
back in the past two years, and both teams are extremely talented and
well-coached. Second game (and last??) is tonight on ESPN, and the comfy
seating at home is surely welcome.
Thanks for the QSOs and for making this Old Man enjoy feeling loud for the
first time on QRP! I would urge the multitransmitter clubs who are breaking in
newbie CW ops to mentor them on the fly--many thought it sufficient to get my
exchange without giving theirs to me (or confirming what they had attempted to
send), among other things. They didn't make it into my log... I QRS for all
slow speed ops, but it's a disappointment not to complete an exchange and then
find the mini pile that had called me gone... This phenomenon happened a
couple dozen times, and in each case, a multitransmitter operation was the
common thread. Your Elmering may be just the ticket to turn these chaps into
CW contesters!
73, dan k7ia
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