PODXS Ø7Ø Club

APE - August PSK31 Expeditions

2008 APE Tall Tales

N7ELF, 1-2 August

N3VOP/4, 2-3 August

For the past 5 years I have been setup at the Berryville Va hamfest. This hamfest is known for their chicken dinners and they always have good tailgating. I decided to combine the my tailgating with the APE. The club members running the fest were excited when I told them of the special event as I was setting up my Windom.

(* indicates PODXS 070 Club Member)

03-Aug-2008 01:12:50 14070.2 BPSK31 K1GMD* dm84
03-Aug-2008 01:38:47 14071.0 BPSK31 W8TTY Al Oh
03-Aug-2008 01:53:50 7040.0 BPSK31 KU1T*
03-Aug-2008 01:59:35 7040.0 BPSK31 W3HF* Steve
03-Aug-2008 02:16:07 7040.0 BPSK31 W4KRN*
03-Aug-2008 02:23:53 7040.0 BPSK31 N3MK* Don fm19
03-Aug-2008 02:32:11 7070.2 BPSK31 AG4QX* Bill FL
03-Aug-2008 14:00:50 14070.2 BPSK31 AD4RX* Roger FL
03-Aug-2008 14:09:45 14070.2 BPSK31 W7PSK* Scotty WA
03-Aug-2008 14:16:54 14070.2 BPSK31 KC7KZ* Rod ID 070#759
03-Aug-2008 14:21:21 14070.2 BPSK31 W5VGR* Don TX
03-Aug-2008 14:26:24 14070.2 BPSK31 VA7PX* BC, Canada
03-Aug-2008 14:30:50 14070.2 BPSK31 AE5PW* Patrick AR
03-Aug-2008 14:35:51 14070.2 BPSK31 K5SP* Jim TX 070#483
03-Aug-2008 14:47:53 14070.2 BPSK31 N3JWJ* Darrell MI
03-Aug-2008 14:51:26 14070.2 BPSK31 KF4NDH* Bob TN 070#353
03-Aug-2008 14:59:49 14070.2 BPSK31 KA5DON Don MS wants card
03-Aug-2008 15:10:50 14070.2 BPSK31 KB2NNC John NC
03-Aug-2008 15:16:04 14070.2 BPSK31 KC2GIK* Justin NJ
03-Aug-2008 15:21:52 14070.2 BPSK31 N2LD* John NJ 070#738
03-Aug-2008 15:30:20 14070.2 BPSK31 KC8YHW Paul MI said we had wide signal
03-Aug-2008 15:34:03 14070.2 BPSK31 WQ9Z* ROY IL
03-Aug-2008 15:43:09 14070.2 BPSK31 N9DD Tom IN
03-Aug-2008 15:48:23 14070.2 BPSK31 WA4JS John TN
03-Aug-2008 15:58:21 14070.2 BPSK31 KA1JVR Joe CT
03-Aug-2008 16:11:25 14070.2 BPSK31 WB1W* Dick MA
03-Aug-2008 16:26:53 14070.2 BPSK31 VE2VEQ Steve QC FB
03-Aug-2008 16:45:36 14070.2 BPSK31 KB9WWM* Jim F IN
03-Aug-2008 16:51:03 14070.2 BPSK31 K7EV* Harold WA
03-Aug-2008 17:19:24 7070.0 BPSK31 K8IJ* Chas KY
03-Aug-2008 17:24:24 7070.0 BPSK31 KB1PSP* SC
03-Aug-2008 17:29:58 7070.0 BPSK31 KC8YHW Paul MI
03-Aug-2008 17:46:59 7070.0 BPSK31 N2GWK* George KY
03-Aug-2008 17:53:44 7070.0 BPSK31 KC2GIK Justin NJ
03-Aug-2008 18:13:38 7070.0 BPSK31 K3RIZ Ray PA
03-Aug-2008 18:46:43 14070.2 BPSK31 K2ONP George NY
03-Aug-2008 18:57:09 14070.2 BPSK31 AD5VC Dana LA
03-Aug-2008 19:03:51 14070.2 BPSK31 N2MAD Barry NY pwr went off near end of qso

W7PAQ, 2-9 August

I managed 62 PSK31 contacts after I arrived back on Melita Island on Sunday August 3, 2008 . I went QRT Friday August 8 around 2300 UTC. My operating shack was a garage tent about 150' from our new dock on the Flathead Lake near Polson , MT. I managed to work 4 new 070 members and for me the highlight was working 5 Eagle Scouts (Eagle Scout in '57). One ham/Eagle Scout, KP4U Carlos, was at the same '57 Jamboree at Valley Forge , PA that I attended.  I lived in NJ at that time, and NY, NJ and PR were all part of Region 2. The odds are we were camping very close to each other.

I used my Kenwood TS570 and a new Carolina windom for 10-40M. I used an EZ-Hang to hang the antenna up 50' in our ponderosa pines.

 I taught the Trail to First Class in the AM, and then ran 4 Radio Merit badge sessions. I passed a total of 45 Scouts over the four weeks on the island.  Three of the scouts and their Dads are planning to study for their Tech license.

Frank Kisselbach   W7PAQ

070 # 354

(* indicates PODXS 070 Club member.)

KC2GIK, 3 August

(Cancelled)

KG4LUN/8, 5-7 August

W7TOD & K7STH, 11-13 August

WA3WSJ, 12-15 August

This year I took an APE to Delaware. I've been camping at Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware every year now for the past five years. I really enjoy camping there as it's close to the ocean and Lewes, Delaware. This year I went APE there! After driving about three hours, I arrived at Cape Henlopen State Park. I then setup camp including my radio gear. I used my Icom 703 Plus qrp rig, a 20m dipole as an antenna that was up around fifteen feet. My old Armada Compaq Computer with a RigBlaster rounded out the gear. To power the operation I put one 12V/70AH gel cell battery in the tent and another in my truck.

Tuesday evening I started my APE. I stayed on 20m for the entire APE! The highlight that evening was working TF2CT in Iceland . That night I worked six stations and all were DX! Twenty-meters was long and the QSB real bad! Little did I know that it would stay this way for the entire APE.

The next morning I awoke early and worked a few more stations state-side and more DX. Then it was off to the Overfalls Lightship for some APE! I setup behind the ship as I wasn't open that day. My rig again was my Icom 703 Plus. The antenna was a Black Widow Vertical and a 20m dipole. I tried the dipole for an hour with no success. I then hooked up the BW Vertical and as usual I started working stations. The band was just horrible! I only worked around five stations at the Overfalls. I then packed up and headed for the beach to operate some cw. After a great dinner of Seafood Marinara, I went back to camp with my belly full.

That night I worked a few more stations with one odd call CS95BD located on MADEIRA ISLAND - PORTUGAL . The next morning I worked a few and grabbed KP4ED. I then packed up all and drove home as bad weather was approaching the area that night.

My entire APE was PSK31 on 20m and I ran QRP with a dipole in camp and my BW Vertical at the Overfalls Lightship. 20M was horrible the entire APE with lots of QSB and just bad band conditions. I still managed to make over twenty BPSK31 Qs, but it was hard. I did swim in the ocean on Wednesday afternoon and setup my BW Vertical on the beach with my Elecraft KX1 on cw and worked some DX! I had a great time there and will return again next year. Hope to see more 070 Members on my waterfall next time!

72,

Ed, WA3WSJ

070 # 295

(* indicates PODXS 070 Club member.)

1 EA5DM 14.0705 PSK31 20080812 22:06 Jaime s:599 r:599 Spain
2 EA8TH 14.0705 PSK31 20080812 22:18 Tomas s:599 r:599 Canary Islands,Spain
3 FG5LA 14.0705 PSK31 20080812 22:57 Phil s:599 r:599 Guadloupe
4 TF2CT 14.0705 PSK31 20080812 23:12 s:599 r:599 Iceland
5 EA1DR 14.0750 PSK31 20080813 00:15 s:599 r:599 Cantabria, Spain
6 YU7YG 14.0750 PSK31 20080813 00:35 Alex s:599 r:559 Serbia
7 HK7AAG 14.0700 PSK31 20080813 11:06 German s:599 r:599 Bucarmanga, Columbia
8 NO8R 14.0700 PSK31 20080813 11:17 Delos s:599 r:599 MI
9 WA4FLZ 14.0705 PSK31 20080813 11:28 Shep s:599 r:599 Miami, FL
10 NF8J 14.0705 PSK31 20080813 11:36 Paul s:599 r:599 MI
11 VO1NAZ 14.0705 PSK31 20080813 11:57 Naz s:599 r:599 Newfoundland
12 AD7OY* 14.0705 PSK31 20080813 16:15 s:599 r:599 NV
13 KI4MTB 14.0705 PSK31 20080813 16:22 Jon s:599 r:599 KY
14 W0KIT* 14.0705 PSK31 20080813 16:43 Doug s:599 r:599 CO
15 KC8SXG 14.0705 PSK31 20080813 16:55 Barry s:599 r:599 OH
16 WB9VKZ 14.0705 PSK31 20080813 16:58 s:599 r:599 IL
17 CS95BD 14.0705 PSK31 20080813 21:54 Joe s:599 r:599 Funchal, Portugal
18 F4EDZ 14.0705 PSK31 20080813 22:14 Jean-Pierre s:599 r:599 Bedarripes, France
19 WB1ABQ 14.0705 PSK31 20080813 22:50 Reed s:599 r:559 VT
20 W2IM 14.0705 PSK31 20080813 23:08 Rich s:599 r:599 NY
21 ND2E 14.0705 PSK31 20080814 00:58 Joe s:599 r:599 TN
22 K5RWR 14.0705 PSK31 20080814 01:08 s:599 r:599 TX
23 WE3J 14.0700 PSK31 20080814 12:07 Gary s:599 r:599 WV
24 KP4ED* 14.0700 PSK31 20080814 13:20 Luis s:599 r:599 PR

N2GWK, 15-16 August

N2GWK Gone APE – August 16-17, 2008

This was my first year to participate in APE and I really had no idea of what to expect. The first thing I must say is many thanks to my most excellent and understanding XYL. She not only agreed to my spending the entire weekend playing radio but, assisted mightily in the process. She managed activities from the packing of the vehicle in my absence to running coax, stringing antenna wires and taking the most excellent pictures.

First of all our APE experience began with my flight from Milwaukee, WI (where I work) to Louisville, KY. There I met up with my XYL who delivered me to KENLAKE STATE Park in Hardin KY., yet another 200 miles away.

She had booked a ‘cabin' in the woods and we fully expected an old rustic log cabin. We were pleasantly surprised however by a modern cottage with all the modern conveniences of home. Yep ! we were roughing it gently with A/C and a Plasma TV Screen. Fine Business!

Due to close proximity of power lines behind the cottage, we had to strike out into the woods. Encountering massive amounts of POISON IVY, we trekked carefully through the ‘bush' and deployed a simple G5RV. I made only a few QSO's on the G5RV that evening and retired early.

The second day, I decided to stand a 30 ft fiberglass mast and run a vertical wire. The wire was 22 gauge Radio Shack speaker wire fed with an LDG 1:1 Balun. I tried to sink a ground rod but the ground was so hard and full of “boulders”, that it was impossible to get it deeper than about 3 inches. I decided to hitch a ride and brace the fiberglass mast on a small tree. It offered up a forked branch that I used as a mast support. The mast was fixed conveniently to the branch with black tape. Lacking a ground I wound up running two 30ft counterpoise wires. Ah! the beauties of field expediency.

The rig I used was the Yaesu FT 857D with an LDG Z100 Auto-tuner. Power was limited to about 25 watts. Digital was provided by a DELL Latitude D505 and Ham Radio Deluxe with its attendant DM780. Rig interface was a RIGblaster NOMIC Interface.

The QSO count was a modest 34 but each one was a blast. Most were made on the field expedient vertical. The most exciting QSO;s were with a Light House in Chile, 3G1F and N7C Special Events Station commemorating Navajo Code Talkers.

The only negative part of our APE was our having to break it down and head home. I can GUARANTEE you this: I'll participate in APE again next year. Great activity! 73, N2GWK

Here's my log.

(* indicates PODXS 070 Club member.)

W7PSK, 15-17 August

(Cancelled)

WB1W, 16 August

It all started with our boat leaving at 8AM . Trip is a little over a half hour to reach the island. Upon arriving we do not get off as you would normally, but are greeted by the lighthouse keeper who hands over a line that pulls the boat up a ramp. The boat is a landing craft that gets pulled up the ramp around the rocky coast. The front of the boat is lowered and we depart. All our equipment plus power source (generator) must now be transported to the other end of the island to the North Lighthouse. We had three stations to set up, CW, PHONE & PSK. Only a couple of us had been to the island before so logistics had to be quick to get on the air.

My responsibility was to set up the PSK station and provide support for antenna lines from the top of the lighthouse. Up I went with complete station and chair in hand and on my back. Around and around the circular stairs up, up,…… 154 steps and over a hundred vertical feet later, I lost track of how many circles were made getting to the top.

The day was perfect, clear skies, light breeze and able to see for miles. With these conditions we moved our station to be set-up on the catwalk at the top, a 150 feet above the ocean. A quick set-up of the 706 with a hamstick dipole and was quickly on the air. Stations were coming in one after another,but the band started going in and out. Decoding became a problem and whenever we would return a call, they would be gone before the exchange. Shutdown for a while and checked with our phone station and found he would be return calls and then be talking to himself. Interesting conditions, which then continued through the morning and into the early afternoon. Finally the band opened up, but it was 2 PM and our boat was scheduled to leave at 3. Time to pack up and then dream if I only had a few more hours.

Upon arriving back to the mainland, met with some local's operating PSK and they mentioned what great band opening, mid afternoon.

Did not make our 20 PSK contacts (if our boat was only a little later), but a great adventure had by all involved .

For info on the lighthouses and island visit, http://www.thacherisland.org/index.html

Logbook, callsign used, W1T.

Date	Start	Station	Band	Mode
8/16/2008	16:59	VE6EPK	20m	PSK31
8/16/2008	16:27	KD8DKU	20m	PSK31
8/16/2008	15:37	W1GLO	20m	PSK31
8/16/2008	13:55	WB8UJB	20m	PSK31
8/16/2008	13:52	KN8DMK	20m	PSK31
8/16/2008	13:47	W4ET	20m	PSK31
8/16/2008	13:46	KI4IOV	20m	PSK31
8/16/2008	13:43	W4FRA	20m	PSK31
8/16/2008	13:39	NN2RL	20m	PSK31
8/16/2008	13:36	W5VGR/5	20m	PSK31

SV1/N3JWJ, 21-31 August

SV1/N3JWJ APE Report

August 2008, I returned to Greece in August for the first time in several years. While the expedition was successful, it could've been much better. There is always next year to improve.

Previously the international baggage allowance was 2 70 pound bags for each person. Now the allowance is down to 50 pounds for each bag and I had to consider both weight and size. The end result was that I fit everything into a single laptop bag weighing 12 pounds, not including the laptop that I would be carrying separately. I eliminated the full size 20M dipole that could only be set up in 1 of the possible locations. The 2 antennas I carried were the Par QRP 10-20-40 end fed dipole and the Super Antenna MP-1 whip. I hoped to use the dipole, but in the past I've resorted to the whip when deploying wire antennas was not possible.

Also in the bag were my Yaesu FT-817, power supply, RigExpert interface, assorted parts and cables and a very complete tool selection. For modern laptops without serial interface I've switched to using only a USB connection to the computer. The software soundcard seems to perform better than build in laptop sound cards as well.

We arrived mid week, but it was not until the weekend of Aug 23/24 that I could get the dipole up and get on the air. I ran the antenna between a 3 rd floor balcony and fence along street. That weekend was the most productive 2 days of PSK I've ever had in Greece including my first 40M and PSK-63 contacts (which don't count for APE). I noticed a higher percentage of stations that use eQSL and LoTW.

After the great weekend, we drove to the mountain cottage in Zemeno. I put up the antenna and then discovered that I had left my coax in Athens . I considered driving the 4+ hour round trip to pick it up but decided to wait for my sister-in-law to bring it up over the weekend which would give me operating time on the last weekend in August. By noon Saturday an amazing display of lightening hits on nearby mountain tops started and kept up all weekend. There was no safe way for me to operate.

Final count was 26 PSK-31 contacts, all in Europe . No 070 members.

9H1JJ JAN Malta JM75GV
IK8NIJ Renato JN70JV
UT1KY Pavlo Rivne KO 30 DO
IK4CLF PAOLO FORLI
EA5EYW Joaquin ALICANTE IM98RJ
IK5FKB/5 ADELIO PIANOSINATICO JN54IC
EA5DM Jaime ALICANTE IM98XO
OM7OM MILAN SLOVAKIA JN98UJ
F6ECI christian BRIVE JN05SA
OK1MSP STANDA H.BROD
HA6IFX Attila Eger KN07ew
RK6JS Alexander Troitskoe, Mozdokskij North Ossetia LN23IS
HA1DRA Frigyes Zalaegerszeg JN86ju
PD0MCR MARCEL ZOETERMEER J022GL
UY2IC ALEX Donetsk KN88WC
RA6MH VLADIMIR BELAY- KALITVA LN08KA
RZ6BH VLAD TERNOVSKfY
DB1NWA Willy RJO50SD
EC1AJM Juan Carlos Oviedo IN73BI
LA9VPA Thor Oslo JO59JW
F6DPD Francis La Gueriniere - Noirmoutier Island - IOTA EU-064 IN86VX
OS0S Léon Lillois JO20EP
UR4HWF/P Sergey Gelon ko70ib
OE6JFG FRANZ KRIEGLACH JN77SN
UA9UDC Vladimir Berezovsky NO35DP
UW2ZM Serge Pervomaisk kn58ma

KD4QIT, 30 August

On August 30, 2008 got up loaded the car an trailer with the needed equipment to get my APE on the air at Westmoreland State Park in Montross Va left home at 12pm edt for the park an arrived about 12:30pm went to setting everything up. I used a standard cut to frequency 20-meter dipole with a mast that was in a cement bucket on the trailer, which put the dipole up about 15- 20 ft in the air and made the antenna into an inverted V format. I also setup my screwdriver antenna and got it set for 20 meters also I was ready to go by 1:45 pm EDT. Fired up the Yaesu Ft-897d with rigblaster plug & play interface hooked to my dell laptop and the qso's was slow to say the least tried CQ'ing but didn't get but a few contacts so I started making calls to stations on the band which really made for the contacts. All in all the contacts were slow but made 25 contacts during the event some stations were hearing me better than me them but the qrm was really bad and lots of stations on the air worked the setup until about 7:30pm it was a nice sunny day at the park a little humid but I managed to work the equipment in the front seat of the car on the passenger side every so often I would get out walk around and readjust the antenna by turning it to a different angle. I had the park ranger come by and he was amazed on what I was able to do with the station setup I really enjoyed the day and had a few visitors stop by who were curious as to what I was doing but was quite amazed at it all. I broke down everything at 7:30 loaded everything back into its containers an headed back to my home located in Northumberland County well that is all I can say for this event im sorry that no pictures were taken of the setup but maybe next year that will be taken care of.

Jeff Newsome KD4QIT

(* indicates PODXS 070 Club member.)

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