K6VVA * CQP 2007

K6VVA CQP 2007
SBEN County Expedition

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

As the reigning "SBEN" territory CQP "Record Holder" (to date), I decided I needed to make *some* kind of showing down there this year. However...

If I ever remotely think about hauling 4 large batteries, solar panels, generator, radio equipment, skimpy antennas, etc. to operate out of a small camper on the back of a pickup at a less than stellar radio site *anywhere* at the bottom of the sunspot cycle again, please tie me up and FLOG me. This was self-inflicted Masochism !!!

THE ESSENCE OF CQP 2007

The "Essence of CQP 2007" for me this year included Jack Daniels "Shooter Bottles" (for repeated nipping during the cold night and morning hours plus lengthy Auto-CQ periods with no responses), and a .38 Special (Smith & Wesson "Bodyguard") for rattlesnakes, other critters and possible generator/solar panel/battery "Banditos" :-)

LOADED FOR BEAR

Last summer I bought a used 6 Pac camper from a deputy sheriff friend who was moving to Hawaii, and put it on the back of my dad's old ranch pickup. The purchase included an external nifty cargo carrier widget, so I had a trailer hitch receiver welded on to facilitate it's use. It sure came in handy! After stopping at McDonald's on the way down to SBEN for my favorite contest breakfast food (a sausage egg McMuffin), there was just enough room to add on 3 bags of ice. Every nook and cranny in the camper was filled with "stuff", and the rest of the front seat and floor of the pickup cab loaded as well. Large hose clamps secured a heavy duty 32 foot fiberglass telescoping mast to the ladder on the back.

LOCUST PORTABLE POWER COMPANY

In consideration of the increased concern about "Global Warming", my original plan was to operate strictly "Green Power" with my new "portable" (cough, cough) battery/solar power setup. I repeatedly tried to persuade CQP Officials to implement a new Green Power category to CQP as the way of the future, but it didn't happen. Still, I was determined to make my own humble contribution to the cause. That is, until the weather reports included 30 degree temperatures. That news, along with wanting a bit more RF firepower to supplement the wimpy antenna arsenal, got me thinking I could also periodically QRT off the air and warm up the portable "shack" with a small space heater if I took along my Honda EU2000i. CQP 2007 was now evolving into a hybrid electrical power venue.

I had a local specialty welding shop fabricate tilt-out legs on each of my 3 solar panels to facilitate expedient setup, and, simplify periodic repositioning to (manually) track the sun. They worked great!!!

The Arise Power Manager which uses Anderson Power Pole connectors facilitated a quick "plug 'n play" for all cables from the solar panels, battery bank connection, and cable that goes to a 12v Saratoga Power Panel distribution unit for the TXRX and accessories. The APM has 2 fused 12v outlets plus a 12v cigarette lighter output connector as well. I installed it inside a flip-top lid hard plastic marine type box with a carry handle for convenience and added protection from accidental damage.

OPERATING SITE VIEW

This was *not* a competitive County Expedition site! It was chosen for convenient easy access, as the original intent was to do a limited QRV. I QLF'd my decision to put the front of the pickup underneath one of the trees, which in retrospect was not the correct choice. I ended up getting the sun beating down on the camper in the afternoon, and the trees shaded the morning sun which took it longer to get warmed up after a cold night. I *should* have gone to the other side of the gravel parking area where I could have gotten afternoon shade on the camper due do to the upsloping terrain and trees on that side. This would have also been better for the antennas (away from the trees more, and a clearer shot for the Sigma 5 Vertical Dipole toward the East Coast). "Oh well" ...

I also QLF'd by not noticing some pieces of rebar sticking up through the wood surrounding a small inset dirt area in the gravel parking area *before* I drove over them pulling the pickup under the tree branches. Miraculously, the tires were not punctured !!!

THE "SHACK"

It was pretty cramped quarters inside, including the Porta-Potti. Since this was my first experience with the latter, I almost forgot each time to pull out the little "lever" in the front of the unit *before* use ;-( When I was looking for a suitable receptable to take along for trash, my pal K6DN just happened to have an empty "Tidy Cat" container with a nifty hinged lid that worked out great. I thought it would be large enough, but also ended up filling a Safeway bag with more junk. Unfortunately, with all the "stuff" inside, in the interests of safety I decided not to even try to use the new small portable space heater I bought to heat the "shack", so "layered up" instead.

Another reason I ***LOVE*** the small footprint of the TS-480 Control Head can be seen in the photo below. The TS-480 "body" sat conveniently on top of the SKB hardshell case which was on top of the seat on the opposite side of the table. Fortunately, I had just enough room for my mini-Ergo keyboard (I can't use a regular keyboard anymore). My "Vertical Mouse" is unseen to the far right.

"EAT FRESH"

As "The Locust", of course I had LOTS of food supplies (including "junk food" :-) One thing that worked out great was the nice folks at Subway packaged up the inner fixings (ham & turkey, lettuce, tomato, dill pickles, green peppers & mustard) in separate little containers so I could keep them cold in the ice chest. The *soft* honey oat bread for the sandwiches was not put in the ice chest, and was still nice and soft a day later. I love soft bread! However, in my haste to whip together the first sandwich after setting up, I completely QLF'd and forgot to add the ham & turkey until I made the next sandwich for dinner. I knew *someting* was different, but I guess chugging the mini bottle of Cabernet after the laborious (late) setup made the pure veggie sandwich more palatable.

MUPRHY STRIKES

Yeah, Mr. Murphy showed up a LOT. Perhaps it was due to RFI (I'm sittting underneath the inverted vee) or not having anything grounded, but I couldn't run the ALS-600S more than 250 to 300 watts without it tripping into fault status. This generated many requests to repeat my exchange (no wonder my signal dropped!). My generator only had about 1 hour of prior use, but it kept taking a mysterious dump at least once an hour which was frustrating. When it finally bit the dust late Sunday morning, Thank God I had the battery/solar power and was at least back in business with 100 watts. Yes, the generator had plenty of oil !!! My apologies to those who experience my "disappearing act" in the middle of a QSO.

MAJOR OMMISSION

I went to the hardware store to buy a Yellowjacket trap. On the same aisle, I saw "flypaper" strips, had an inner "nudge" that maybe I should get a few, but the YJ's were of more concern so didn't buy any. #&^! In SBEN I left the camper door open for some air, and spent the rest of the time there swatting off pesky flies...kicking myself for not buying those FP strips. I absolutely hate flies, and simply do not understand why God created them in the first place ;-(

MAJOR CONFESSION

"The best laid plans..." I was partially packed up on Friday night, and had a checklist to quickly (so I thought) finish loading on Saturday morning to boogie down to SBEN. The plan was to get setup and ready for action at the drop of the CQP checkered flag (9AM local time). I slept through one alarm, but the backup go me out of bed. After mucho caffine, I kept looking at the thermometer outside through the kitchen window but it still read 30 degrees. I confess I wimped out, and waited for it to get above freezing, and even had 2nd thoughts of not going through all the hassles. After all, I had not committed to operating "full time" :-) By the time I finally got on the road and setup down in SBEN, it was half past Noon ;-( No wonder I had so many requests to "repeat" my QSO number during the first hour!

AUTOMOTIVE MIRACLE???

I had warmed up the pickup for 10 minutes before leaving, but when I pulled out of the driveway, it sputtered and quit. I got it started again, drove about 15 feet, and it quit again. That's when I wondered if this were some kind of "sign from God" that I was not to go, and go crawl back into my warm bed. But I realized there were CQP'ers who needed SBEN, so said a prayer, and gave it another try. Things were "sluggish", but I was finally underway (but not without continued thoughts of having it crap out for good along the route). Perhaps I experienced an "Automotive Miracle" ??? :-)

OPERATIONAL REFLECTIONS

One reason I decided to take along the Sigma 5 Vertical Dipole is due to the fact during pre-tests here, I just had squirrely SWR problems on 20m & 15m with the 80/40m 450 Ohm fed inverted vee (even with the tuner). Oh how I yearned for a 3 element BEAM down there!!!

Band conditions on 20m (and especially 15m) were generally pee-poor. Sometimes I'd check 15m and there were some LOUD VE3's but virtually no one else on the band. Too bad more folks didn't get on 15m at various times for these "moments of opportunity".

I'm sure many thought I was an "alligator", but I gotta tell you, more often than not, someone would call (right at my noise level), but halfway through the callsign, they disappeared. Other times I could get the callsign, but after sending my exchange, it was "vaporsville". I felt bad that some "partially completed" QSOs never got finalized in the log. Apologies to those who tried but we just couldn't successfully complete a QSO 100 percent.

Umh, err, I do need to "confess" that when I first fired up in SBEN, somehow my IF Shift knob on the TS-480 had been turned, and it was some time later that I realized why I just couldn't work anyone I called or hear any responses to my CQ's. Apologies, folks! OK, I guess I was really an "alligator" during the first 15 minutes I was on the air :-)

AMAZING INNOVATION

One of the greatest innovations in portable candlepower is the small LED "headband" light. This sure helped when refueling the generator in the dark! What I discovered was that if I put the thing around my neck (loose), I *always* had a light with me, and could quickly reposition it back on my head. This also worked out well when I had to crawl into low-headroom upper bunk area to sleep, since none of the lights inside the camper were hooked up to electricity (a To-Do list item). It was also especially useful when the generator took an unplanned dump.

GRINDING IT OUT

I don't think I've ever had so many unanswered CQ's in a contest in my life! That may also be one reason the ALS-600S kept crapping out on me, because of periods of ten (or more) CQ's in a row? Since I got a very late start, I learned quickly that my SSB signal wasn't cutting the mustard so about 78 percent of my Q's were on CW. Another reason is that I left home without my SignaLink external soundcard necessary to use the .wav files in WriteLog (so much for my Master Checklist). Calling CQ on SSB with my SBEN setup was virtual futility, but I had trouble finding non-CA stations CQ'ing until late Sunday morning.

Multipliers didn't come very fast, and I ended up missing NH, RI, KY, ND, SK & NT. I hate it when that happens! Total operating time was about 18 hours (including many 5 to 10 minute breaks). In the final stretch it was like crawling on my hands and knees through a hot desert without water trying to find enough folks to work so I could make at least 700 Q's and break 100,000 points. Those last few QSO's took every ounce of my being to stay inside that warm/hot camper. Then I pulled the infamous plug about 90 minutes before the offical end because the torture had to end!!!

MAJOR BUMMERS

I had purchased a nifty widget from Kooleraire. It runs off 12v and lays inside the top of a 25 quart IGLOO cooler, which when filled with ice, operates like an air-conditioner. More personal QLF...I didn't discover that the outlet cap on the old cooler was cracked until Friday afternoon. I made phone calls to retail outlets trying to find a new one, but as a "seasonal item", no joy. I can't tell you how many times inside that warm/hot camper I kicked myself for not checking this out sooner!

One thing that kept me going was thinking about the awesome BBQ'd tri-tip sandwiches I was going to get at the Dunneville Cafe & Market on the way home (one of my favorite places in Northern SBEN). Packing everything up was tedious, and I was worn out, but the taste of what was to come kept driving me on. As I got within a mile of the place I could hardly stand it...and then... "Oh No!!!" Yup, at about 4:45PM I discovered they were "CLOSED". ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!! So another 5 to 7 miles more to the South end of Gilroy, where I ended up at Carl's Jr. ;-( Looks like I'll be going back down to SBEN again this week!

TNX!!!

Thanks to all who showed up in CQP 2007, and for the QSOs.

73...

Rick, K6VVA * The Locust