[Milsurplus] Fort Miles AAR

[Ray Fantini]

28 April 2018 Fort Miles AAR

This was the second year that I participated in the annual Fort Miles WW2 historic event. Being that I operate a vehicle and equipment all from the sixties I am stationed just outside the perimeter of the event but still have the opportunity to operate in public at a state park and a historic location.

Goals: (1) Check into the Moose & Squirrel C-LLRP Net at noon on 5.357. (2) Operate on 3.885, 18.150 or any other targets of opportunity. (3) Monitor 51.0 FM for any local traffic.
Resources included the M151A1 with the AN/GRC-106A SSB transceiver for HF, AN/VRC-12 installation for 51.0 FM and a URC-110 for any VHF-FM 2 meter work.
Also brought a spare PRC-68, assorted long wire antennas with the twenty four foot push up mast and a MEP-025 portable generator with a fifty foot cable to connect to the mutt.

I transported the mutt and all the equipment to the site on Friday and did a quick recon at that time. The trailer and all the equipment was left in the fenced in compound at the Biden Center, the old Navy operations building at the site about a quarter mile from the main gate of the Fort Miles historic park. Arrived on Saturday around seven AM. Unloaded the mutt from the trailer and drove to the small parking lot located just outside the main entrance to the historic park. This parking lot was intended as a display location for all the post WW2 equipment that including me and three other vehicles, my M151A1, an M151A2 and two M38A1
The people who run this event are very serious about what is allowed beyond the main gate of the historic park in that they only allow period correct vehicles, equipment and dress (excluding the public) on the grounds of Fort Miles proper, post war equipment is relegated to the outer lot. That lot and all the locations visited are all within the grounds of the Cape Henlopen State park.
There was a second operations location that was about one half mile from the historic park down at the large general parking lot by the beach access. The state park had the public park at that large lot that would accommodate around a thousand vehicles and ran shuttle buses from that lot to the historic park. It was decided that it would be a good idea to have the newer vehicles drive between the small lot at the entrance of the historic park to the main public lot so people waiting for the shuttle would have something to look at. There was a roped off section by where the shuttle buses operated for this second location.

I set up at the small lot, the same place that I operated from last year with the push up mast and ran an inverted V from the mast to a leg of the entrance sign and a tree that ended up making the V look something like a squashed L but it apparently worked without issue. I did check into the M&S Net at noon as had no issues hearing and being heard by everyone. The inverted V requires additional work in setting up and transporting but gives a consistent ten or twelve Db improvement above the seventeen foot whip on that mutt that justifies the effort.
Had the VRC-21 in operation the entire time and did not hear any activity and between answering questions and talking with the public did not do much other operating. Did drop the inverted V and tried operating on 18.150 on the vertical but got no response.
Just using the vertical spent most of the time with the radio set on twenty meters so the public would hear radio traffic, also monitoring CHU on 7.85 was popular with the people.
Drove the mutt down to the lower large lot but being that was in the middle of a parking lot did not do any antennas beyond the seventeen foot whip and did operate the receiver for a while then drove back up to the small lot and did operate on twenty and checked in with two stations for the Florida QSO party.

In summary, I consider the event a success although I only accomplished goal number one. I did show the mutt and all the radio equipment in a public place, spread the idea of military radio collecting and operation to several other vehicle people.
The things that did not work included failing to coordinate any other contacts on HF or VHF and finding that I had no way of transporting the MEP-025 from the trailer at the Biden Center to any of the active sites so I ended up having to run the engine on the mutt.

For next year I would like to schedule in advance some contacts on 3.885 AM and 51.0 FM, or perhaps plan  a pack radio net that can take place during the event? The park is huge and provide multipole locations for pack operation including beachfront, dunes, tops of earthworks and bunkers along with roads and parking lots to facilitate any such operation.  The people associated with the military park, the state park and everyone else involved are enthusiastic and have been extremely supportive of these activities.
There has been some talk of establishing a second location just down the road from the historic park (battery 519) and setting up a Vietnam - Korea encampment at Herring point that was the location of the Navy SOSUS station in the sixties and seventies.

Will post more as it comes round again.

Ray F/KA3EKH

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