[Elecraft] Mostly OT: T1 only Elecraft player in Yellow Aster Tales

[Bruce Prior]

Margaret K7MWP is getting ready for her coming visit to family in Scotland and England, so our three-day backpack trip was our last hurrah of this snow-free season.  Yellow Aster Meadows with its many tarns is situated below Yellow Aster Butte, a common day-trip destination from the Twin Lakes Road.  We left our car [10 U 0597899 5422000 – WGS 84] (about 3800 feet elevation) shortly after noon on Friday, September 12th.  I spotted a Northern Harrier playing with updrafts, and at the lowest switchback on the trail down to the tarns region, I spied a Hoary Marmot's nose sticking out of a grotto on a lush-green hillside.  We arrived at our campsite (about 5450 feet elevation) just before 6 p.m.  This collection of tarns represents the quintessence of the Mount Baker Wilderness in Washington State.  A campsite in the tarns region could make a base-camp for a week's worth of day excursions to the alpine tundra.  

The season was late enough that we didn't even pack our ice axes and crampons.  The trail was almost entirely snow free.  Insects were still present, but not much of a bother.  We'd heard some reports of bears in the area, and, uncertain about the availability of appropriate food-hanging trees, we packed our Bearikade Expedition MKII canister made by Wild Ideas, Inc. http://www.wild-ideas.net/index2.html , which doubled as a nifty camp stool.

I left the Elecraft KX1 at home this time. I had removed its KXAT1 internal tuner because of some reliability problems with the KXB3080 module installed.  That's a winter project to get it fixed.  I'd forgotten that with the internal tuner not installed, the bar graph for RF output always just shows just one bar while transmitting.  Not certain of my power output, I chose another strategy.  (I've just now roughly measured the KX1 power output into the dummy load of my MFJ Deluxe Versa Tuner II, and it shows about 4 W on 80 m and 40 m, 5 W on 30 m and 3 W on 20 m.)  Instead of the KX1, I carried my Small Wonder Labs DSW-20 (2 W) and DSW-80 (3 W) rigs, plus an Elecraft T1 external tuner, a 6-foot length of RG-58 coaxial cable, light-gauge resonant dipole wires for 20 m and 80 m, plus heavier gauge wires for an end-fed system, with the main radiator 25.9 m long, and three shorter counterpoise wires.  As I'd learned on earlier trips, those counterpoise wires are messy – often getting in the way of camp chores.  Years ago I removed the magnets from my G4ZPY Model 54 miniature paddle and installed Velcro® hook-side tape on its bottom instead.  It meshes nicely with the loop-side Velcro® pads on my DSW rigs or on plastic refrigerator cartons.  I secure that paddle even tighter by cinching it with a loop tied with a scaffold knot around the DSW's.  Regrettably, the DSW series monoband rigs are now available only on the used market.  Anybody who finds one should snap it up!

We found our beautiful campsite (10 U 0595694 5422163) above one of the many tarns in this sub-alpine paradise.  In clear weather it was splendid, with a few handy trees nearby for hanging antennas.  After a few throws, I managed to lob a fist-sized rock tied to a light cord with a scaffold knot over the very top of the tallest tree.  It turned out to be just the right distance for the 25.9 m radiator.  I didn't actually transmit that night, but at 0730 on Saturday morning I checked into the Washington State Net on 3563 kHz with a radiogram for our son and daughter-in-law in Vancouver, BC.  I've just learned from my friend Dave Goodwin VE7DWG in Aldergrove BC that he copied the message perfectly, including my omitting spaces in the beginning of the preamble: NR2R instead of NR 2 R!  The end-fed system loaded just fine through the T1 tuner on 80 m and 20 m.  

Our project for Saturday was to climb up toward Tomyhoi Peak, the 7451-foot summit of which requires climbing gear to reach safely.  Margaret had her heart set on lunch at a high-point just above the tree line.  I preferred a spot a bit lower with available trees, so I could explore 20 m while she photographed and read a page-turner novel.  I promised we'd still visit her favorite spot after lunch.  I strung up the 20 m dipole between two suitable trees.  I noticed that 4U1UN in New York was coming in stronger on 14.1 MHz than either VE8AT in Eureka, Nunavut or W6WX on Mount Umunhum, CA.  Chester Zalewski K1IQI in Monson MA correctly copied my callsign on 14 033.74 kHz, but he didn't know it for sure, and gave up.  Then an amazing thing happened:

I called CQ on 14 025.07 kHz while eating lunch.  I've installed the DSWK chip from Jackson Harbor Press http://home.att.net/~jacksonharbor/dswk.htm  into each of my DSW rigs.  That chip includes two message memories which can be joined alternatively into a single beacon.  With that combination, I was able to transmit:

CQ de QRP N7RR K . . . pause
CQ de N7RR/P N7RR K . . . pause, etc.

While chewing on a granola bar, my CQ was answered  at 2043 Z by Randy Fulco K5SL from Haughton in northwestern Louisiana, not far from the Texas border.  Randy's antennas were still intact, but he was experiencing gusts to 50 MPH from Hurricane Ike.  We enjoyed a leisurely rag-chew in spite of what was going on outside of Randy's ham shack.  (The situation reminded me of my friend Nodir Tursoon-zadeh's operating EY8MM from an apartment in a contest during the 1992 civil war Battle of Dushanbe!  While the fighting raged on the streets below, Nodir kept on racking up the QSO's!)  Randy turned on his amplifier at one point, boosting his signal from about S7 to S9.  Answering my query, Randy was still on commercial power, but expected that he might lose it at any moment.  I was sitting in perfectly clear and calm weather looking out at a sea of mountains using a transmitter putting out about 2 watts to a low dipole antenna to chat with a guy on the edge of a hurricane!  Who says Amateur Radio is nothing special?

Back in camp, I composed another radiogram to our daughter's family in Vancouver, BC, which I sent to Ron Morell KA7U in Ontario OR on the Idaho Montana Net on 3578.5 kHz, shortly after 0300 Z.

Sunday was our hike-out day, but we were pretty leisurely about it.  I had rigged up my 20 m dipole in camp that morning and listened a bit.  While packing up, I left the dipole up and attached my little amplified dual speaker to the DSW-20.  I called CQ on exactly 14 060.00 kHz.  At 1828 Z Steve Galchutt N0TU answered.  Accompanied by pack-goats Rooster and Peanut, Steve was camped near Buffalo Peak, Colorado.  That portable-to-portable QSO was another fine hamming highlight!

I experienced some consistency problems with the G4ZPY paddle.  It is well put-together mechanically, but the contacts don't seem to operate flawlessly.  The moving bar appears to be gold-plated brass, and the striking surface seems to be a silver-on-copper laminate.  Under magnification, the silver seems to be a bit tarnished, or maybe worn down.  For a portable paddle to work well over the years, gold-on-gold is probably the best contact system.  Yep, there's always something that can be improved, even in paradise!  

73, Bruce N7RR

 J. Bruce Prior
 853 Alder Street
 Blaine, WA 98230-8030
 360-332-6046
 Amateur Radio Station N7RR
 Grid CN88px
 FISTS 10539    QRP ARCI 4241    GORC 015    NAQCC 2618




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