PODXS Ø7Ø Club

APE - August PSK31 Expeditions

2006 APE Tall Tales

W4KTF, 1-3 August

I and my family traveled to Bald Head Island , North Carolina and I was active on the mode of PSK31 from August 1 until August 3. Bald Head Island is in the NC State West Group IOTA NA-112. It is USI NCØØ3S. The lighthouse on the island was Old Baldy USAØ32 although I didn't really give that one out.   

Bald Head Island is an island which is only accessible by boat. Once we were there the only transportation was by golf cart or bicycle. There were very few cars on the island. We stayed in a 2 bedroom 3 bath beach rental with views of the south beach ocean. (A few pictures are attached) My operating position was in the bedroom which looked out over the water and my antenna was mounted on the deck just outside that bedroom. (I did my best to circle the antenna in the picture)

I used my Icom 7Ø6MKIIG with about 4Ø-5Ø watts. The antenna used was my High Sierra Sidekick antenna which was mounted on a tripod on the upper deck of the house (pictures attached). I did use an 8 foot whip on top instead of the short whip that comes with the antenna. This helped some. I used the Dell Latitude CPI Laptop with MixW 2.17 and an EZPSK 7Ø6/3 interface.

I was the only operator of the station, however, Sandra (N2JOY) my mom and Jim (KI4FVT) my Dad helped with transportation, setup, and takedown.

There was really nothing noteworthy other than the fact that I had to carry an 8 foot whip on the ferry and get it to the beach house. I fortunately did not poke anybody's eye out (HI HI). One thing I did find while operating was that there were quite a few people who asked me what the Ø7Ø club was and what's an APE (besides a big primate). I gave them a short description of the club and directed them to the website. Hopefully it will help put us over that 5ØØ mark.

I have not made up the QSL card yet, but I plan to do so in the near future. I think I'm going to get them professionally made this time because I have some really good sunset pictures from the cape fear shoals.

I think that's it. If I think of anything else I'll send it along or if you need anything else from me just let me know.

73 and Keep The Faith DE Kyle W4KTF # 428 in vacation recovery mode

Stations in the W4KTF APE log:

KVØS, KG4RMB, KFØGE, K5YCM, K2TFT, IK5ORQ, LU5VV, WG5T, KA4RAB, YV6DX, AC7IU, AC4BB, W4IFI, K9VIC, KC9IMR, N8MS, KG4FSN, K8IJ, KE9PH, AC7ZG, N7XB, KD7KST, N5YAK, K5PAX, NJ5N, KC4TVZ, W4JAG, W4GTM, KC8U, W3HF

W7PAQ, 1-6 August

After spending 3 weeks on the beautiful BSA Camp Melita Island in the Flathead Lake north of Polson , MT I am home taking showers anytime I want. No cots, no bugs, no outhouses etc.

I used my Yaesu FT-897 with a simple folded dipole for 40/20M up a flagpole in front of the dining hall. All my equipement was transported to the island via the Ark. Pictures of the Ark with the American Flag are included. My operating site was a picnic table on the front deck and facing the lake and the boat landing area. I usually taught and operated from this location from 1PM until around 8PM most days.   Melita Island in a 64 acre site in the Flathead Lake near Polson, MT. The Flatheadlake is the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi . The camp was home to 33 staff members and over 450 Scouts and Leaders for 4 weeks.

I managed to teach the Radio Merit badge and passed 47 Scouts during my three week stay. One young Scout and his father have started studying for their Novice license.   I went APE from 8/1 until 8/7.

Here is my log:

WA3WSJ/P, 3-7 August

W7PSK, 5 August

I'm Ø - 2 in APEs.

SWR wonky,

Noise from computer I didn't have last year

Power supply for computer is a white noise generator.

10 contacts in 4 hours of Heat, 'cause All the Shady bits were taken.

Plus No one could hear my CQ with the Grid dip thingy.

Sigh.

See what Bend brings in 2 weeks.

Scotty, W7PSK

N7QU, 5-6 August

W3HF, 6-12 August

For the ninth year in a row, the family and I vacationed on Bogue Banks Island, NC, and for the sixth year I brought radio gear. We rented a beach house in Pine Knoll Shores, a small community just west of Atlantic Beach, and southwest of Morehead City. The site is in Carteret County, grid FM14, and the island is part of the NA-112 IOTA group.

Unlike Bald Head Island (W4KTF's APE site), Bogue Banks is a “full-service” island. There are numerous stores, supermarkets, restaurants, gas stations, as well as a full range of tourist attractions. And there are two bridges to the mainland. So unlike Melita Island (W7PAQ's site), this can hardly be called roughing it.

The equipment setup was the same I've used for the past four years—my FT-817, Rascal interface, and Toshiba Portege 660CDT computer (running Win95 and DigiPan 1.5). The antenna was the portable vertical by AD5X (the original July 2002 QST version, not the updated version published in July 2005 QST). I had brought the 6m dipole, but never got around to putting it up, so I still haven't made any 6m contacts from the island.

As I did two years ago, I arrived on the island in time to get in a few hours operating in the Grid Dip contest, formally making me a Rover this year. I was also able to stay an extra day, operating through the day and into the evening of the second Saturday. But due to other family activity commitments, I had a little less operating time than during previous weeks. This, combined with generally poorer propagation conditions, resulted in fewer total QSOs than in the past.

This year (fortunately), there were very few technical difficulties. One feed line was damaged, but I had brought a spare. I continue to fight corrosion of the metal fittings on the antenna, brought on by the proximity to saltwater. And I think I may have an intermittent connection somewhere in one of the Rascal's cables. But all in all everything worked pretty well.

Final stats:

76 QSOs (3 on 17m, 60 on 20m, 1 on 30m, 12 on 40m)

70 Different Stations

17 070 Members in the log (including four new ones for LONP for me!)

10 DXCC entities

24 States

Two stations (KT4NM and W2QO) even worked me on three bands—17, 20, and 40.

All contacts have already been uploaded to eQSL. Note that this is my W3HF/4 account. Please do not eQSL to my W3HF (home QTH) account. Paper QSLs will be out within the next few weeks. As before, all 070 members will receive a QSL card direct. All other DX stations will receive a QSL via bureau. Other US stations can receive QSLs upon request.

070 Members in the log: AG4QX, HP1ALX, K4ORY, K7RE, K8IJ, K9VIC, KE4BCN, KF4NDH, KG4WNA, KJ7NO, KT4NM, N1VP, OK1VSL, W2QO, W4GTM, W4KTF, WA4EEZ.

Other stations in the log: AA8EY, AB4WG, AI4FR, CO6RJ, FM5AA, IK6NUZ, K0BX, K1EPT, K3ML, K4OP, K4VIC, K4WIL, K5LN, K5NQ, K9RMJ, KA2ZDX, KC0UXC, KC8SQC, KD8CGH, KE1LA, KE5DHY, KF4BI, KF8HR, KI3DS, KI4EEY, KP4ED, L30BST, N0OB, N4SCS, N5EAR, N5JFJ, N8RGF, N9LLS, VA2BMG, VE2EH, W1NRB, W3LRC, W4MIX, W4RTE, W8JJO, W8JYZ, W8TTY, W9PSE, WA2EXQ, WA4KBD, WA8LBZ, WB8MKH (unfortunately, 42 minutes before Don's 070 membership started!), WD5GNR, WQ9Z, WS3S/2, XM2CBF, YV5AAX, YV6DX

W7PSK, 18-2Ø August

Well APE attempt #3 was a bust also. I so admire the guys that are
successful, 'cause believe me this is really a difficult achievment if
not done right. And I think I've done everything wrong there is so far.

Try #3 yeilded 1 8land WG5T from the 070 club and A VE7 from Salt
Creek Island. That's it. I kept looking over at the A3 and sighing
heavily as I was reminded of Rule 3, even though the Camp owner came
over on Saturday and said the Beam is ready and free to use. ARRGH.

Next year I'm taking a G5RV and some rope and 100 ft of Coax, as the
owner said that will reach the site I'll be at easily. Then I'm going
to set up with my Tuner, Laptop, power supply and 706 and see if we
can't finally get the APE next year.

That and Hole 13 would make my day.

Scotty W7PSK

K8YS, 18-20 August

Sorry folks, I was unable to play APE!

My campout plans were dashed by a kidney stone attack.

Thank God Almighty for percocet.

Bob, K8YS

Well, the doctor said, "We will do something about those kidney stones
when they start to act up..."

DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where is my percocet?

So much for my nice relaxing campout in the Old Man's Cave area of Ohio,
the nice hills and valleys of Hocking County OH, and doing two of my
many favorite past times - radio and camping...

MAYBE next year.

Bob K8YS

W7PSK, 26 August

Well, through good fortune and persuasiveness or just pity from the committee, I launched the 3rd attempt for 2006 back up to the Valley Camp camp ground. Off I went at 8 and to the camp by 9:30, sloper in hand.

Thom, the understanding (sort of) host welcomed me and we chatted about the antennas and stuff.  He said a local has a G5RV they use for Emergency communications.  Not wanting to tempt Fate, I went and picked it up and brought it to the site myself.    We hooked my coax on and up went the G5RV at 100ft ... wow its impressive up there.

I set up the table and off I went. 20 wasn't terrific but by 10:30 I was CQing and worked a few .... boy its tough ... hey, see lots of Europe but can't seem to get to them.   Then I get Alaska 59 and then Asiatic Russia.

Boy things picking up... maybe I'll make it,  CQed lots, worked very little, but slowly 1 by 1 the stations counted down.  Finnally at 4:49PM 6+ hours later #20 hits the log.  Tired and committed and in trouble with the wife I packed it up and left the camp, stopped and dropped the G5RV off and came home.

Success at last!

Stations in the log (* indicates Ø7Ø Club member):

Date Time Freq Mode Call Name
26-Aug-06 13:47:39 14072 BPSK31 W8TRX DON
26-Aug-06 17:10:33 14070 BPSK31 KH7CC Tom
26-Aug-06 17:41:57 14070 BPSK31 WG5T Bill *
26-Aug-06 18:14:34 14070 BPSK31 KP4MD Carol
26-Aug-06 18:31:45 14070 BPSK31 W6YJE Bob
26-Aug-06 18:50:16 14070 BPSK31 AL7JK John
26-Aug-06 19:02:56 14070 BPSK31 WA4EEZ Leslie *
26-Aug-06 19:33:03 07070 BPSK31 WA7HYD Bob *
26-Aug-06 19:41:17 14070 BPSK31 UA0ZK VASILIY
26-Aug-06 19:50:09 14070 BPSK31 K6MKF Mike *
26-Aug-06 19:58:06 14070 BPSK31 N5JFJ Jerry
26-Aug-06 20:27:06 14070 BPSK31 WB6YTE Ed
26-Aug-06 21:01:59 14070 BPSK31 WU9B Steve
26-Aug-06 21:13:08 14070 BPSK31 K7OAH Skip
26-Aug-06 21:37:07 14070 BPSK31 K5CLP Chuck
26-Aug-06 22:05:22 14070 BPSK31 N9FTC/4 Tim
26-Aug-06 22:21:20 14070 BPSK31 JM1LQW Mac
26-Aug-06 22:28:44 14070 BPSK31 RA0CFA GENNADY
26-Aug-06 22:46:09 14070 BPSK31 KI5FJ Joe
26-Aug-06 23:26:48 14070 BPSK31 N6NR Rick
26-Aug-06 23:49:16 14070 BPSK31 HK4QMH MARIO

N1ZZZ/2, 27-30 August

Cutchogue, NY is a picturesque village in the town of Southold, located about half way up the north fork of Long Island. The village was settled in the 1640's and my family traces its roots to the area from that century and therefore it always feels like home when I return.

“The Cottage” is a small, rustic building built in the 1920's and was originally the “hired man's house” on the family farm. It sits on about three acres of land at the head of a salt-water creek and it and the land were kept after the Great Depression claimed the family farm in the 1930's. The Cottage has been the family retreat for over fifty years and I remember spending many happy summers there at the end of August growing up.

It has been several years since I have been to The Cottage in the summer. The demands of being at sea or other obligations have kept me away, however this summer I was at school in New Jersey in the middle of August, and it afforded me the perfect opportunity to visit The Cottage at the tradition time.

Since I live in Dallas, TX and my father, K2KKH, and mother, N1CJA, in the middle of Connecticut, the Cottage offered the perfect opportunity to try an APE. My father packed a suitcase with an Icom 706 MK2IIG, homebrew dipole, a tuner, and some coax. From Dallas I brought a power supply, power cable, computer, and homebrew interface. It would be a simple set up, but hopefully adequate for the task.

The rain began as we neared the driveway and did not quit for most of my scheduled APE. After getting the luggage and gear into the main room of the Cottage, I strung the dipole around the front porch and ran the coax to the makeshift shack that was set up on a card table in the main room. I plugged in everything and did a quick test. The antenna was a bit out of tune for the digital portion of the band, but a quick correction with the tuner and I was down to 1.1:1 SWR on 20 meters, the low end of this antenna.

Tuning around the band was disheartening, there was broadband noise on the rig and despite some shielding attempts, there seemed to be some local QRN from S7 to S9 that was covering over most of the signals on the band. I have a feeling that the ancient wiring in the Cottage was not helping the noise floor, and perhaps some of the wires in my interface had been adversely affected by the travel from Texas.

Not to be disheartened, I fired up the PSK31 signal at about 20 watts but was only able to work 10 stations in the 3 days. My parents took interest in my QSO's, which tended to be fairly long rag chews rather then short contest exchanges. I was only able to work two other 070'ers but it was nice to at least talk to a few others.

In the end, I did not hit the magical 20 QSO's required for an official APE, but it was a good time getting on the radio and meeting a few new folks on the waterfall. If I get back down there again, I think that one of my father's gel-cells and a charger might take the place of the electrical mains.

73's Jeremy Allen N1ZZZ

End date    UTC       RX kHz    Mode    Call    RST S  RST R  Name     QTH            
--------------------  --------  ------  ------  -----  -----  -------  -------------- 
27-Aug-2006 16:32:33   14070.0  BPSK31  WB9VKZ  559    599    Frank                   
27-Aug-2006 16:44:27   14070.0  BPSK31  N5RJS   579    599    Jim      AR             
27-Aug-2006 18:15:18   14070.0  BPSK31  WB4CIW  579    599    Frank    CO             
27-Aug-2006 18:43:03   14070.0  BPSK31  KK5PJ   559    449    Richard  TX             
27-Aug-2006 18:57:00   14070.0  BPSK31  K5PNG   599    599    Kevin    TX             
27-Aug-2006 19:01:54   14070.0  BPSK31  WG5T    579    599    Bill     OK             
27-Aug-2006 23:44:45   14070.0  BPSK31  EA5FKE  579    599    Pedro    Care, Spain    
28-Aug-2006 00:24:20   14070.0  BPSK31  K5RKS   599    599    Roger    OKC, OK        
28-Aug-2006 00:34:25   14070.0  BPSK31  WA4EEZ  559    599                            
29-Aug-2006 17:35:29   14070.0  BPSK31  AC4BB   529    599    Bryan    Talladegoa, Al 

N3MK, 28-31 August

N3MK Boundary Waters Canoe Area APE 2006: Don Jr. (N3MK), Anne, Don Sr., Mary

This APE wasn't supposed to happen.... My wife and I had just returned from a two week drive down the California coast and we were over at my parent's house for dinner. Conversation turned to our wonderful experiences in the Boundary Waters and it turned out all of us had been casually thinking about possibly making some kind of trip up there. That evening we began our preparations for yet another trip to the BWCA. We would stay on Ensign Lake, which would not require too much canoeing but still give us the full experience of the BWCA. It was the middle of July and we had lots of work to do. BWCA permits had to be acquired, airplane tickets had to be purchased, and food and equipment planning had to be made...

8-27-06

We arrived on time in St. Paul/Minneapolis and rented an SUV to drive the remaining five hours to Ely, MN. The trip was long and un-eventful. On the way we passed the United States Hockey Hall of Fame museum in Eveleth, MN. It's odd to see that so far from the big cities. We passed through the Iron Range area of Minnesota famous for its iron ore mining. Finally we reached Ely, MN where we visited the International Wolf Center for our camping permits and to visit the museum. In addition to the museum, the center has four wolves in a spectacular habitat which is configured to allow visitors to see them in action. If you ever pass through Ely, be sure to visit the Wolf Center. It's a great experience. Ely is a wonderful town to visit so we toured the local shops and had an excellent dinner in town. After dinner we drove again for another 45 minutes to reach our outfitter on Moose Lake.

8-28-06

We had a wonderful breakfast at our outfitter, Williams and Hall, and then checked our supplies before departure. Dave in the office reported there had been no bear sightings since June. We loaded everything into boats which would tow us to our first portage into the Boundary Waters. The morning was perfect. There was not a cloud in the sky, no breeze, and the lakes were as smooth as glass. We canoed to our favorite camp and found it un-occupied. In fact, very few campsites were occupied on Ensign. The last week in September is the perfect time to go to the BWCA. The mosquitoes have died down and the kids are headed back to school.

We've been to this camp many times. It's often a jumping off point to locations deeper in the wilderness but this year we base camped at this site. We set up camp and relaxed for a while. I set up a couple hammocks and crashed in one of them for a nap. One of the great things about the BWCA is that the entire world melts away as soon as you get out there. You don't have a care in the world with maybe the exception being Mother Nature.

In the afternoon my wife helped me set up my Carolina Windom 40 LP antenna from Radio Works. I've tried many antennas in the BWCA over the years including dipoles, loops and longwires but the 40 LP has quickly become my favorite. It consistently out performs anything I've used out there. Its combination of dipole and vertical radiator seems to give me a great all around radiation pattern. It's also very quiet on receive. It's a bit bulkier than a basic dipole but it's worth the extra weight. I use my trusty golf ball on a fishing pole to get antennas up. The golf ball has loop screw screwed right into it so I can attach the fishing line and cast the ball for a couple hundred feet if needed. The golf ball is not a perfect solution. On long casts the line will drift in the wind and get tangled up in the trees. When this happens you have to cut the golf ball off, reel the line in and try again. NEVER try to reel the line in with the golf ball attached. It will always snag on the branches. After a few tries I got the fishing line where I wanted it, cut off the golf ball, attached a rope for the antenna and reeled it in. My Carolina Windom ended up 25 feet high which is just about where it needs to be to perform properly.

As evening fell we cooked a steak dinner with hash browns. What an awesome meal to start out the trip. In the early evening we found there were very few mosquitoes which was a welcome convenience. We also discovered that we had a Bald Eagle nest nearby with a juvenile eagle. The evening was perfectly clear without a breeze. After dinner I worked with my dad to set up a pulley to hang the food pack. I tossed one end of the rope over a branch with a big roll of duct tape but the rope wouldn't fall far enough to reach. I tried to pull the rope back up but the tape roll got stuck in the crook of the branch. Both of us pulling at full force couldn't budge it so we decided to leave it as-is and attached the pulley to the rope. We attached the other end to a fairly weak tree but decided to leave it as is due to the lack of bears in the area. When we hung the pack it was about 6 feet off the ground which was a bit too low since it was within easy reach of a bear. We decided to leave it and I went to set up the ham station.

My ham station for the trip included an FT-817 with narrow filter and the TCXO reference crystal (reference crystal a must due to widely changing temps out there), a Rigexpert interface (adds bulk but this thing is ultra clean on rcv/xmit), a Lifebook P-1000 micro laptop, an Emtech ZM-2 tuner and the Carolina Windom 40 LP antenna. Power for the rig was provided by a 7 AH gel cell and I brought a few extra batteries for the laptop so I wouldn't have to worry about recharging the laptop. Power was monitored by an Astro Flight Super Whattmeter. The Whattmeter is a wonderful addition. It monitors voltage, current, watts in use, and total amp hours used. If the meter reported I used 3.5 Ah then during charging I just charge from the solar panel until I get 3.5 Ah back in. It's a great system that removes the guesswork from battery maintenance. Charging was accomplished by a Unisolar USF-11 10 watt flexible solar panel. I learned long ago not to bring a glass panel into the BWCA. There is no way to get it out in one piece. I have modified the FT-817 to run at up to 15 watts. I've set it up for power levels of 1.5, 5, 10 and 15 watts and normally run it at the 10 watt level. I've run it this way for years without trouble. I just make sure I have an excellent antenna match. All the gear was protected in an Otterbox. Another piece of gear I used before I left is the West Mountain Computer Battery Analyzer. It tells me the exact condition of batteries I'm taking out before I leave so there are no surprises.

At 01:00 on the 29th I fired up the rig and started making contacts right away. I spent a little over an hour making contacts then the band shut down so I went to watch the stars for the rest of the evening. There was no moon and the stars were super bright and clear. The Milky Way was a solid carpet of stars. Around 22:00 or so we saw the ISS fly over and it was so big and bright it looked like a jet flying overhead. Finally we settled in for a good night's rest.

Everyone slept in fairly late. I think it was at least nine before people started coming out of their tents. The morning was cloudy and breezy making it a good morning to sleep in. My wife cooked us all a wonderful bacon and egg breakfast. After breakfast I set up the solar panel to begin recharging the battery. I had used about 3 Ah the evening before. Everyone relaxed in the morning and in the afternoon I went with dad fishing while Anne and mom watched the eagles and other wildlife from camp. Fishing was great. We used pumpkinseed tubes to nab the smallies. This year we decided on catch and release, a first for us. Back in a nearby cove we noticed a river otter playing around and keeping an eye on us. I'm sure he had a visit planned in case we had caught some fish. We saw the eagles including the juvenile eagle fly directly overhead. We passed the rock outcropping in front of our neighboring campsite and noticed about 30 rock pillars that had been created by someone with some time on their hands. They were designed to look like different things and people. As the afternoon wore on we decided to head back to camp for dinner.

As we neared the rock outcropping in front of our campsite we found our wives waiting with Hors D'oeuvres. We pulled up and began snacking. Anne cooked a wonderful Skyline chili mac 4-way dinner (Cinci folks will know what that is) and we sat around the campfire for a bit. Dad asked if I could use the ham radio to find out the status of his sister Rose who had just gone through heart bypass surgery that morning. Now admittedly I should have set up a schedule with someone in advance knowing that dad would be beside himself anxious to know his sisters status but somehow I wasn't thinking that far ahead. Besides, it was more exciting pulling it off on-the-fly.

I decided to try to contact Karen W4GTM who in 2002 had helped me get in touch with our outfitter so that we could get additional stove fuel and a water filter to our camp. As a result of that effort she was awarded the 070 Ambassador's Award. Around 01:00 I got on the air and started making contacts assuming I would run into her at some point. After all, I had a QSO with her the evening before. By 02:30 I realized she probably wasn't on the radio and dad was getting anxious. I asked Harold K7EV to post a note on the 070 reflector letting everyone know that I was trying to get in touch with her. By around 02:45 I realized I was getting low on battery power and that I better reach out to the next person I contacted. Surprisingly at about 02:50 W4GTM rolled across the screen and I had 100% print. She had about 75% print on me. I sent my brothers phone number and a description of what I was trying to do several times and she pieced it all together and made the call. As I waited for a response I chatted with K7EV briefly who offered to relay in case copy was too rough. In all this excitement I hadn't realized the temperature had dropped quickly and I was out there in my sandals and shorts away from the fire. I was suddenly so cold my hands started to shake and it seemed like an eternity before Karen got back to me. At about 03:05 she came back and I read the words aloud to dad as they printed on the screen. Rose was doing fine and had come out of surgery around 1PM. I thanked Karen with trembling cold hands, signed off, ripped the connections from the laptop and ran over to the fire to warm up. I brought the laptop over so he could see the print for himself. Was he ever relieved to hear the good news and was I ever relieved to be warming up by the fire. Once again the power of ham radio proved itself again. We sat around the campfire for awhile to watch the ISS fly over again and ate roasted marshmallows. Just before bed I helped dad hang the food pack. We had re-arranged the pulley in the afternoon and as a result our pack only hung about 3 feet in the air. Anne reported that she had seen three otters playfully swim by camp looking for fish. We went to bed.

03:00 local time: Anne woke me up saying she heard a crack and a thump. I asked her if she thought it was a bear and rolled over and fell back asleep knowing that there had been no sightings. A few minutes later we heard the sound of a rip into a pack. I immediately sat up at attention and yelled "Hell yes it's a bear!" I jumped out of the tent with two bright lights in my hand and ran down the trail towards the food pack. There I saw two big green eyes staring back at me. I yelled "we got hit!" and yelled at the bear at the top of my lungs but he was barely moving back from the pack. After a moment Anne arrived, grabbed the pack and ran back to the campfire. My dad came out and started blowing a whistle at the bear which he ignored. Finally we started throwing rocks at him and he retreated.

Back at the campfire Anne was examining two large holes in the food pack. The bear had dug out seven small packs of trail mix and the lemon pie mix. The holes were covered in thick bear slobber. We sat by the campfire as we plotted our next move. Some wanted to move to a different camp but we opted to stand our ground and come up with a way to protect the food pack. The tree we had hung the pack on had snapped so we couldn't hang it. Anne came up with the idea of stuffing the pack under the canoe struts, turning the canoe over and covering it with pots, pans and silverware to make a loud racket. Anne cleaned off the thick slobber with large cleaning wipes and duct taped the holes shut. We moved a canoe out onto the rock outcropping in front of camp, stuffed the pack in the canoe, flipped it, and covered it with utensils. We sat around the campfire until about 04:30 when we heard the howl of the wolves in the distance. It turns out we had a pack of wolves on Ensign and it was wonderful hearing them call to each other. Finally we went back to bed.

8-30-06

Anne woke up about an hour later to watch the sunrise. The rest of us got up around 9 AM. Anne found a water bottle with a bunch of teeth marks in it. It turns out that we had left a bottle of grape drink out in camp the night before. The bear had found it and had sucked every ounce of fluid out of the bottle. Wow, who knows how long the bear had been rummaging around camp without us ever waking up. Anne cooked an awesome buttermilk pancake breakfast then we all went to explore the neighboring camp with the stone pillars. Later we explored deep into a nearby creek while an otter followed along. We saw all kinds of plant and wildlife. In the afternoon people napped or went for a swim in the brisk water. In the evening I canoed into a nearby cove with my wife to watch the sunset. Later I made contacts until my laptop battery power finally ran out.

8-31-06

We packed up our belongings early in the morning and canoed back to the portage where our outfitter would pick us up to begin our long journey home.

Stations logged (* indicates Ø7Ø Club member):

End date UTC TX kHz Mode Call RST S RST R Name QTH
-------------------- -------- ------ ------------ ----- ----- ------ --------------------
29-Aug-2006 01:04:14 7071.2 BPSK31 K2EZR 599 589 Frank Providence, NJ
29-Aug-2006 01:10:45 7071.2 BPSK31 K9VIC* 599 599 Eric
29-Aug-2006 01:14:33 7071.2 BPSK31 W2QO* 599 599 Jamie Island Heights, NJ
29-Aug-2006 01:25:39 7071.2 BPSK31 K5PAX* 599 599 Harvey Albaquerqe NM
29-Aug-2006 01:26:59 7071.2 BPSK31 N0TCP 599 599 Brad Lucas IA
29-Aug-2006 01:44:24 7071.1 BPSK31 W3HNL* 599 599 Dick Braddock Heights, MD
29-Aug-2006 01:51:33 7071.1 BPSK31 W7PSK* 599 599 Scotty Everett, WA
29-Aug-2006 01:57:36 7071.0 BPSK31 W4GTM* 599 449 Karen
29-Aug-2006 02:00:59 7071.0 BPSK31 W3HF* 599 569 Steve
29-Aug-2006 02:05:21 7071.0 BPSK31 K3HSK 599 599 Dave Rome, PA
29-Aug-2006 02:10:49 7071.0 BPSK31 KD5JHE 599 599 Jerry Oxford, MS
29-Aug-2006 02:13:18 7071.0 BPSK31 KT4NM* 599 599 John FL
29-Aug-2006 02:18:24 7071.0 BPSK31 N9ANA 599 599 Don La Grange, IL
30-Aug-2006 00:59:30 7071.6 BPSK31 N7GVV* 599 599 Jim Winona Lake, IN
30-Aug-2006 01:04:49 7071.6 BPSK31 WA4EEZ* 599 449 Leslie Florida
30-Aug-2006 01:08:59 7071.6 BPSK31 KC8U 599 599 Mike Dublin, OH
30-Aug-2006 01:16:40 7071.6 BPSK31 W8JNK 599 599 Jack Springfield, OH
30-Aug-2006 01:24:59 7071.6 BPSK31 N8VI 599 599 Brad Detroit, MI
30-Aug-2006 01:33:16 7071.5 BPSK31 W9HAK 599 579 Smith Evansville, IN
30-Aug-2006 01:42:21 7071.5 BPSK31 KB8UPA 599 599 Bob OH
30-Aug-2006 01:52:13 7071.5 BPSK31 KB8USZ 599 599 Bill Oberlin, OH
30-Aug-2006 01:58:27 7071.5 BPSK31 KD7KST* 599 539 Bill
30-Aug-2006 02:09:28 7071.3 BPSK31 WA3GPM 599 589 Dave Celona, PA
30-Aug-2006 02:16:26 7071.1 BPSK31 N7XB* 599 599 Bruce Portland, OR
30-Aug-2006 02:21:44 7071.1 BPSK31 NX8J 599 599 Dale
30-Aug-2006 02:33:03 7071.1 BPSK31 K7EV* 599 599 Harold WA
30-Aug-2006 02:35:40 7071.1 BPSK31 W1HKJ 599 589 Dave Martinsburg, WV
30-Aug-2006 02:46:40 7071.1 BPSK31 K7HCP 599 599 Val Ogden, UT
30-Aug-2006 03:10:11 7071.1 BPSK31 W4GTM* 599 599 Karen
31-Aug-2006 01:42:05 7071.2 BPSK31 WB5FTJ 599 599 John Biloxi, MS
31-Aug-2006 01:45:55 7071.2 BPSK31 WG5T* 599 599 Bill OK
31-Aug-2006 01:53:58 7071.2 BPSK31 K0YNE 599 599 Paul
31-Aug-2006 02:02:05 7071.3 BPSK31 AD7HW 599 599 Aaron Athol, ID
31-Aug-2006 02:07:46 7071.3 BPSK31 KC0QKL 599 599 Dave Fulton, MO
31-Aug-2006 02:13:48 7071.3 BPSK31 VE3FGU 599 599 Mike Keswick, ON
31-Aug-2006 02:32:09 7071.4 BPSK31 KG4BIR 599 599 Dave Stephens City, VA
31-Aug-2006 02:35:56 7071.4 BPSK31 KC9IMR* 599 599 Eric
31-Aug-2006 02:47:07 7071.4 BPSK31 W7EIT 599 579 Darryl Columbia Falls, MT
31-Aug-2006 03:00:40 7071.4 BPSK31 AD5WO 599 599 John Murchison, TX
31-Aug-2006 03:06:25 7071.4 BPSK31 K0SU 599 447 Rick CO
31-Aug-2006 03:14:28 7071.4 BPSK31 K0FW 599 599 Jeff Colby, KS
31-Aug-2006 03:20:22 7071.4 BPSK31 KC0UXC 599 599 Chuck Blair, NE
31-Aug-2006 03:27:08 7071.4 BPSK31 N9CX 599 599 Bill Gahanna, OH
31-Aug-2006 03:56:04 7071.5 BPSK31 NX8J 599 599
31-Aug-2006 04:08:26 7071.5 BPSK31 W7TOM/VE7/MM 599 599 Bob
31-Aug-2006 04:23:25 7071.5 BPSK31 KB7PEF 599 579 Steve Medford, OR

Don N3MK, relaxing after setting up camp

N3MK operating the station

Stone pillars at nearby camp

Don catches a small mouth bass

Food pack in the canoe

Solar charging setup

Super Whattmeter

Ø7Ø Club members appearing in 2ØØ6 Official APE logs and getting 2ØØ6 APE "attaboys":

	W4KTF	W7PAQ	WA3WSJ/P	W7PSK	N7QU	W3HF	W7PSK	K8YS	W7PSK	N1ZZZ/2	N3MK
	Official	Official				Official			Official		Official
AG4QX						X
HP1ALX						X
K0SU											X
K2TFT	X
K4ORY						X
K5PAX	X	X									X
K6MKF		X							X
K7EV											X
K7RE		X				X
K8IJ	X					X
K9VIC	X	X				X					X
KC9IMR	X										X
KD7KST	X	X									X
KE4BCN						X
KE9PH	X
KF4NDH						X
KG4FSN	X
KG4WNA						X
KJ7NO		X				X
KT4NM						X					X
N1VP						X
N7GVV											X
N7XB	X	X									X
OK1VSL						X
W2QO						X					X
W3HF	X										X
W3HNL											X
W4GTM	X	X				X					X
W4KTF						X
W7PSK											X
WA4EEZ						X			X		X
WA7HYD									X
WG5T	X								X		X

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