KA6U Update - June 23, 2022 2330UTC

I completed operations in Utah and have driven to the small town of Jackpot, Nevada on the border of Idaho and Nevada.

I will activate Nevada on Saturday morning and Idaho on Sunday morning.  Both activations will be in the vicinity of DN21px.  I plan to operate 2M and 23cm at moonrise followed by 70cm then 222.  Because of very smooth station operation today I believe I can run 2M and 23cm at the same time.
  • No operations on Friday June 24
  • Nevada Moonrise Saturday June 25 1000UTC
  • Idaho Moonrise Sunday June 26 1100UTC
When I go to an activation site, if possible, I try to arrive 2 1/2 hours before the schedule start time.  I plan for 90 minutes to set up the station (2 antenna systems) and 60 minutes to fix problems.

Today I was able to setup in 60 minutes and NO problems at all in setup or operation today!

The Moon wasn't visible today so pointing alignment used compass, digital protractor and your signals and reports.

This is the station running 70cm and 23cm.  The tripod shows the 70cm antennas mounted.  The 2M and 222 antennas have their own mounting points.  All cables are cut to length and coil up in the back of the truck.  I open the tailgate, uncoil the cables and set the antennas up where the cables end.



After I finished operations today I packed up everything in 30 minutes.



The ICOM 705 twins sit on the console in the center of the front seat.  705 on the left is the exciter for 6M, 2M and 70cm.  The exciter on the right is for 23cm and 222.  The sequencer under the left 705 switches antenna polarity and provides 12V on receive for preamps and tripod mast mounted preamps, isolation relays, etc.  I am using a 70cm cavity filter preamp with isolation for the 70cm band.  I have a similar setup for 222 however I have found that I don't need the "fancy" preamp setup. 222 is either usable or it is locked out.  Rarely will a couple of db on RX make a difference.


I have decided to use the laptop with one of the side screens.  When running two bands both WSJT-X instances fit on the center screen with the rotator control software windows visible at the bottom.  I have learned to not trust rotators on portable operations so now I can monitor continuousll.


After the Idaho activation I will go to a small town on the Washington/Oregon border for about a week.  I plan to do several activations while there.

After finishing in the PNW I plan to head to Montana.  Then to North Dakota, South Dakota and activate in Wyoming again.  I plan to return to Denver, CO around July 11th.

Thanks everyone for your patience while I sort out the issues with this new and much more complicated station than last year.

73 Peter, KA6U


Comments

  1. W5GLD RichardJune 25, 2022 at 9:10 AM

    Peter, thank you for your travels. I must get my 23cm preamp replaced so I can participate. What transverter are you using for 23cm operations with the Icom 705? Good luck. Richard.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Peter Van HorneJune 25, 2022 at 3:00 PM

      I am using the DEMI 144Mhz to 23cm Transverter with 5W input for 25W output. I have a 6db attenuator on the TX output of the transverter. 6 watts input drives my PA to 600W output. WIth the attenuator it is impossible to overdrive the PA. I use a similar approach for each of the bands to it is not possible for a tired operator to accidentally or intentionally overdrive a PA.

      Delete
  2. Peter Van HorneJune 25, 2022 at 3:00 PM

    DEMI is Down East Microwave in Florida

    ReplyDelete

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