[MRCA] MRCA Meet Recon Patrol Operations

[Radio Station KW1I]

BlankRecon Patrol Ops at MRCA in 2012

A Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol communication event is again scheduled 
for Friday afternoon at the MRCA Meet this year.  Five locations 10-12 miles 
distant from the base headquarters at the West End Fairgrounds, Gilbert, PA 
have been selected.

Brief descriptions of these sites along with a driving instructions, terrain 
map between the location and base, and an aerial view of the recon target 
will be posted to the MRCA website in the near future.

This advance posting of recon targets will enable those using Friday as a 
travel day to drive directly to a site and begin their radio fun without 
prior check-in to communications headquarters at the fairgrounds.

This year we would like to encourage the use of AM field sets as well as SSB 
radios sets on HF frequencies.  To accomplish this the base communication 
station at the fairgrounds will plan to support AM ops in the 3875-3885 kHz 
(+/- ) frequency segment and SSB ops on 5357 kHz (USB, Chan 3, 60 Meters). 
Some participants are planning other frequencies and other modes as well for 
this event.

In recent years we have attempted some “scientific inquiry” with signal 
comparisons with vertical and horizontal antennas and the use of Near 
Vertical Incidence Skywave propagation.  Let's expand this experimental 
trend this year.

Some possible areas for a comm team experiment:
 . Comparison of a stock AS-2259 antenna to one modified to amateur 
frequency    wire lengths
 . Comparison of a stock AS-2259 antenna to a home brew AS-2259 
configuration, or a simple low dipole, or another commercial antenna.
 . Repeat of an NVIS experiment from a couple years ago where signals were 
compared using a dipole whose height could be rapidly changed.
 . Comparison of various mobile antennas, e.g. screwdriver, bug-catcher, 
auto-tuned whip. etc.
 . Comparison of a whip antenna in vertical position to the same one tilted 
at various angles
 . Compare operation of similarly configured half wave antennas, one end fed 
and the other center fed.
 . Comparison of a low dipole with and without a counterpoise

I know there are MRCA Meet attendees interested in some of these 
experimental areas.  Make your interest known by posting on the MRCA 
reflector. You may get some comments, ideas and volunteers.  You may have 
all the gear necessary for an experiment.  If not, other interested comm 
team members may be able to bring an extra antenna, supports, coax, tuners 
and switches to assemble an experiment and configure it for rapid signal 
report comparisons.

51.1 mHz FM will be the mobile and pedestrian liaison frequency.