[3830] 7QP K7IA Cnty Exped SO LP

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                    7th Call Area QSO Party

Call: K7IA
Operator(s): K7IA
Station: K7IA

Class: Cnty Exped SO LP
QTH: AZAPH
Operating Time (hrs): 6:46

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs  Dig Qs
----------------------------
  160:                   
   80:                   
   40:                   
   20:   84     53       
   15:  145    135       
   10:                   
    6:                   
    2:                   
----------------------------
Total:  229    188      0  Mults = 58  Total Score = 61,654

Club: Virden Contest Club

Comments:

It was a lot of fun while it lasted, but it didn't last very long!

Erin and I hit the road with the camper and Jeep in tow on Wednesday late
afternoon to avoid the bike riders on the highways in the annual "Tour of
the Gila" bike races.  We arrived at our intended site just before
sundown, a spot from which we have never operated in the Apache National
Forest, about 6 miles from Alpine, AZ and about one mile from the AZ-NM border.
 We had enough daylight to shoot two lines into the Ponderosa Pines with a brand
new -Air Boss Antenna Launcher,- a pneumatic device that propels a 2 oz. fishing
weight (with fishing line attached) at least 100 feet into the air with only 40
psig in the chamber.  Rest in peace, Mr. Slingshot!

On Thursday we put five wire antennas into the treetops:  homebrew Moxon
rectangles for 20 and 15m, a delta loop for 10m, and vees for 40 and 80.  On
the air tests on Thursday afternoon showed excellent matches with all antennas,
and, while 20 and 15 were long I worked EU and JA DX.  But at sundown, a stiff
breeze broke one of the three redwood spreaders on the 15m Moxon, rendering it
useless.    These things always happen on Field Day, so why not immunity on
7QP?

On Friday morning, I had a plan to rebuild the 15m Mox.  For some reason, when
I packed up the equipment on Tuesday, I included extra spreaders--the ones I
milled from 2x4 fir for my first version of a wire Moxon for 20m.  All I need
to do was to drill some holes for attaching the wire elements and the haul
ropes.  Hmmm, I didn't pack an electric drill or bits.

Fortunately, KK7AC was up from Tucson in his Alpine cabin for the 7QP, and we
had planned our usual eyeball for Friday.  Did he have a drill and bits?  Yep! 
Homeowners have these things, but campers do not, and our eyeball revolved
around the Moxon rebuild and placement aloft.  Many thanks, Andy!!

20m was so-so at the opening bell on Saturday, while 15 was essentially empty. 
I enjoyed pretty good rates on 20m CW for an hour, and then moved to 15, which
had become more active, despite deep and slow QSB. As usual in QSO Parties, SSB
rates exceeded CW rates--there are simply more talkers than pounders.  I had
lunch on the fly, and when the IN QP chaps began their Party, rates picked up
even more.  N1MM logger did a masterful job of logging IN counties and county
lines--just enter the counties and press return, and multiple QSOs are logged
without any fuss.

Many thanks to the W1-land ops who handed out points and mults before their own
QSO Party began!  I worked all New England states in the morning, before the
disaster struck.  Yep, 15 minutes before the NEWE QP began, Erin and I went out
to top off the little 900 watt generator with fuel, and Erin looked around at
the beautiful pine forest and saw a tiny plume of smoke just clearing the
treetops at what appeared to be 2-4 miles distant.  A minute later, the plume
was larger, and it was indeed a growing fire.  And, of course, the wind was
blowing from the fire's direction.  

Fortunately, the 2mFM radio was tuned to the Eastern AZ Amateur Radio Society's
(EAARS) Alpine machine, which is part of a large linked repeater system in the
Southwest.  I made a general call to the linked system to report the fire, and
several stations responded--first responder was Steve, a mobile in Holbrook,
AZ, and the second was another mobile in San Manuel, AZ.  Neither had landline
telephones, but both took my description of our location and the fire's
presumed location.  A third responder had a landline and reported the fire via
911 (the Alpine Ranger Station is closed on weekends, but the Forest Service
never sleeps!  Thanks, guys, for taking my call and for handling the landwire
communications.  My apologies for not recording your callsigns, but I went QRT
to put the radios onto the camper's bed, throw the gensets and the Jerry can
into the Jeep and to get out of Dodge.  We dropped off the camper at Luna Lake
and drove the Jeep eastward on Hwy 180 to see if we could zero in on the fire's
location.  We encountered a Forest Service employee who was returning to New
Mexico from a weekend meeting in Flagstaff--just "happening by" as it
were.  He told us the fire was two miles from that spot on the highway, which
made it about 3 miles from our 7QP camp, which was within sight of Hwy 180.  We
returned to camp, and in 45 minutes, we had the antennas down, rolled up, and
packed. 

We repacked all of our gear at Luna Lake, and as we were finishing up, the
helicopter that was hauling a small water dump bucket to douse the fire was
joined by two large slurry bombers--only 2.5 hours after we saw the smoke
plume!  We are well familiar with slurry bombers, for last June, a
lightning-induced wildfire, requiring over 700 firefighters, began only 5 miles
from our home QTH in New Mexico. 

That was the end of 2014 7QP for me.  Erin and I feel most fortunate that we
went out to refill the generator with fuel when we did--had we done so any
earlier, we wouldn't have noticed the smoke plume, but we would have certainly
smelled it later on, depending on the wind direction, which was never constant
that day.  Saturday was a bright and sunny day with no clouds at all, so the
fire was not ignited by lightning.  It is known now as the Cameron Fire for
those who wish to follow it.  As of an hour ago, it is some 400 acres and zero
percent contained, burning on the south side of Hwy 180 (our camp was on the
north side). 

So, what are the learning issues here?  The American West is dry as a bone
these days, but that's hardly different from past years.  We always have escape
routes planned, and we never do portable ops at locations having only one way
out.  Considering my QSO rates and how the bands (especially 15m) had improved
before QRT time, I felt I was on track for a score bettering past years, but
the retrospectroscope is always a favorable one.  One plays the odds when
working portable, and we've been fortunate that this is the only natural event
that has run us off before an event is finished.  So, next portable op will be
Field Day from roughly the same QTH.  Hat's off to the firefighters!  We pray
for their safety and their success.

Oh yes, an electric drill and bits are on the packing list!

As for antenna performance, I made more 7QP DX QSOs on Saturday than in any
other year, working 57 Qs and 21 DXCC entities, exclusive of W, VE, and KH6. 
What an 18 hour event it could have been!  Many thanks for the QSOs and to the 
the Organizers and Sponsors.  My apologies to New England ops for bailing out!


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