Titan Missile Museum - October 23, 2010

[K7VZ]

What:
W7AZO 4x4 Ham Special Event from Titan Missile Museum.
Trip to Titan Missile Museum to work HF contacts from the 80ft. tall discone antenna.

Everyone is welcome, ham or not, 4x4 ham or 2wd ham, etc. Bring your kids. Take the tour. (Tour every 30 minutes.)

Virgil K7VZ will bring the radio any anything we need to operate, but if you have a radio or other equipment you'd like to try, feel free to bring it also. We will switch off operators throughout the day and can also switch between radios. We also plan on operating PSK31.

When:
Saturday, October 23, 2010.

Where:
Titan Missile Museum
1580 W Duval Mine Rd
Green Valley, AZ 85614
Hours: 8:45 am to 5:00 pm

Talk in frequencies during meetup and travel to site:
Shaw Butte 147.24 and Mt. Ord 146.92 repeaters
147.52 simplex

If you are unable to join us in person, contact us on air.
Look for us calling CQ around 14.216Mhz and 7.216Mhz. We also plan to operate PSK31 for a couple hours during the day.

Getting there:
Travel on your own and arrive any time to address above.
If you'd like to join the group drive down, meet us at one of the following 2 locations.

Arrive: 6:30am Depart: 6:45am
Circle K west of I-10 on Ray Rd.
4939 E Ray Rd
Phoenix, AZ 85044

Arrive: 7:30am Depart: 7:45am
Love's Truck Stop -Exit 200 south of I-10
5000 N Sunland Gin Rd
Casa Grande, AZ 85222


Here are some links of interest:
http://www.titanmissilemuseum.org/

http://gvarc.us/GVARCFrames/Titan/Discone/Discone.htm

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/4x4Ham/1_TMMAerial.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/4x4Ham/TMMQSLCard.jpg



4x4 Ham Special Event from Titan Missile Museum in Green Valley, Arizona

W7AZO --- Whiskey Seven Alpha Zulu Oscar

Operating from the 80 foot tall discone antenna 15 miles south of Tucson, Arizona.

The Titan Missile Museum is the only publicly accessible Titan II missile site in the nation. There are tours of the underground missile site where visitors can see the 3-ton blast doors, the 8-foot thick silo walls, and an actual Titan II missile in the launch duct. During the tour of the launch control center, they also experience a simulated launch and more!

Discone antennas are a no gain broadband band antenna. The SWR (standing wave ratio) is typically 2:1 over the full range of 6 MHz to 30 MHz. It was built by Collins Radio Company and operational from July 1963 until the site was deactivated in 1982.

For more information on the 4x4 Ham group, please visit our web site at 4x4ham.com. (four x four ham .com)

W7AZO

[KE7NEA]

Sounds like fun! count me in

[KE7GRM]

Sign me up

[KE7TXQ]

I would like to go this year.... missed it the last time due to my son's boy scout trip. Perhaps this year it will not be on the same weekend.

[w7ayu]

Count me in, too. Sounds like a lot of fun.

[KG6VVO]

Hi I love that place what will the date be? please let me know I might be able to come. Steve St.martin KG6VVO weatherby100@cox.net

[KC0NNT]

I wanna go!

[KE7KUS]

Count me in.

[KT7DAD]

Cool.
Make it a special event, and maybe have the museum sponsor qsl cards?
I was there about 8 years ago....

October is a good month...

Complex
571-3
Construction Start
February 3rd 1961
Construction Complete
December 6th 1962
On Alert
October 10th 1963
Off Alert
October 4th 1983

[K7VZ]

We went last fall on Sept. 12 and the weather was just a wee bit too hot to sit outside all day. That's why I suggested October. I guess if nobody has any specific requests to which weekend, I'll just pick one.

[KY7K]

There are a couple big contests in October:
Oct 9-10 Arizona QSO Party
Oct 30-31 CQ WW DX Phone

I would love to attend if the trip avoids these weekends. However, working the AZQP with the discone would be sweet if 4x4ham could muster the operators...

[KE7KUS]

Great idea! I'm in for either weekend. Contest weekend on the discone - it doesn't get any more awesome than that. Wonder if we should try to get a special event call sign and take it to the next level?

[KC0NNT]

Remember the Green Valley Club sponsers that site. They may have plans for AZQP.

http://gvarc.us/

[N7IYT]

Sounds interesting, but at the moment, I work on Saturdays.

[N7ELL]

The Superstition Amateur Radio club has planned an event at the TMM for Oct 9-10 and the Scottsdale club has planned for a different weekend in Oct. I don't remember which weekend in Oct.

[K7VZ]

I'm leaning towards October 23. Good, bad, indifferent?

[KE7KUS]

23rd works for me.

[K7VZ]

Updated first post with Oct. 23.

[KC0NNT]

updated my calendar!

[WB7SCK]

Please sign me up.

Last time I operated the Discone it was an active site.

WB7SCK

[KF7IJB]

Last time I operated the Discone it was an active site.


WHOA! That must have been quite the experience.

To this day I am absolutely dumbfounded by the fact that an accidental launch never occurred.


Yeah, I might be up for making the trek down there. The 23rd works for me because the weekend prior my YL wants to celebrate our 1-year anniversary of being together (not married, so I dunno what her fascination is... LOL), and the weekend prior to that is a huge camping party with my friends up on the rim.

KF7IJB

[W6SDM]

Hey, that sounds like a fun trip. Count us in. I will make some arrangements to hook up with you guys when you pass our place going down I-8, which will save me about 35 miles.

Steve

[K7VZ]

Hey, that sounds like a fun trip. Count us in. I will make some arrangements to hook up with you guys when you pass our place going down I-8, which will save me about 35 miles.

Steve

Last year, we met up at the Gila Bend Love's station. I'll figure out the times and we'll do something like that again.

[KC0NNT]

Last year, we met up at the Gila Bend Love's station. I'll figure out the times and we'll do something like that again.

Nope. I-10 south of Phoenix. Did you go the long way? LOL

[K7VZ]

Casa Grande Love's? We met south of town. I don't know where I was.

[N7IYT]

My work schedule has changed, sign me up. Is PSK31 part of the plan?

[K7VZ]

My work schedule has changed, sign me up. Is PSK31 part of the plan?

I don't see why not. Sounds fun.

[W6SDM]

Doesn't PSK31 mobile constitute texting while driving? :)

[N7IYT]

Sounds interesting, but at the moment, I work on Saturdays.

My schedule is changing next month, it looks like I will be able to make this event after all

[w7ayu]

I just realized I'm signed up to help MCECG at the Javelina Jundred that weekend. I'm out.

[K3BLS]

Ya know, that's the day before my BD this year ... maybe I can use that to talk my wife into it ... Of course, it would help if I were to be working by then, 'cause you know I wouldn't want to leave without touring the silo!

[K7VZ]

I plan on announcing this event on the AEN-MAR net next week. Feel free to spread the word to other organizations.

W7AZO 4x4 Ham Special Event from Titan Missile Museum.
Saturday, October 23, 2010.
80 ft. tall discone antenna.
Sauharita, AZ.

[KC0NNT]

Has anyone talked with Green Valley ARC yet?

[K7VZ]

Has anyone talked with Green Valley ARC yet?

Yeah, I've contacted them.

[K7VZ]

This event is coming up fast. Here's a cool aerial shot.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/4x4Ham/1_TMMAerial.jpg

[KF7IZQ]

I'm in. Sounds like fun

[WB7PZH]

I'm going.

[K7VZ]

Updated first post with quite a few more details. I tried to arrange 2 meetup locations to caravan down and get us there approximately 9am when they open.

[K7VZ]

How should we handle what frequencies we will operate? I was going to advertise our special event on QRZ.com and EHam.net. I'm guessing 20m and 40m will be the best for us. Should we pick specific frequencies to advertise?

[N7HWA]

Not sure that I can make it down there for this, but I'd sure like to. I'd like to see what one looks like intact.
That being said, I did have a chance to explore 570-3 and it was awesome. HERE are some pictures (http://stangsgarage.com/gallery/exploration/570-3-titan-ii-missile-site-a-silo-social-62709/) from that adventure if you're interested to see what an abandoned silo looks like.

http://stangsgarage.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/570-3-titan-ii-missile-site-a-silo-social-62709/thumbs/thumbs_dsc05010.jpg
http://stangsgarage.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/570-3-titan-ii-missile-site-a-silo-social-62709/thumbs/thumbs_dsc05011.jpg

[KY7K]

How should we handle what frequencies we will operate? I was going to advertise our special event on QRZ.com and EHam.net. I'm guessing 20m and 40m will be the best for us. Should we pick specific frequencies to advertise?

Would be nice to advertise a freq ( or near freq) if you are going to send out special qsl cards for the event.
Something near the bottom end of the general portion prolly...

[w7ayu]

I just realized I have double booked that weekend. I'm signed up to do the Javelina Jundered that same weekend. I'll have to try to make it down there another time.

[K7DDK]

This sounds like a lot of fun. We'll definately try to make it...

[K7DCL]

I just realized I have double booked that weekend. I'm signed up to do the Javelina Jundered that same weekend. I'll have to try to make it down there another time.

yea, me too.

[K7VZ]

Added talk in frequencies to first post and sent email out to AZhamserve groups to invite them.

[KE6VRL]

We will be out in the Anza-Borrego desert and will be setting up HF communications. It would be nice to set up a scheduled contact.

Do you have a planned frequency or at least planned operating hours? I see the hours on the OP but I don't know if that was for the tours or the radio operations.

Hector KE6VRL

[K7VZ]

How should we handle what frequencies we will operate? I was going to advertise our special event on QRZ.com and EHam.net. I'm guessing 20m and 40m will be the best for us. Should we pick specific frequencies to advertise?

Ok, I'm going to post on QRZ and eham.net today. I think I'll advertise frequencies to find us as 14.216 and 7.216 and PSK31 standard frequencies. (Frequency picked using 4x4=16)

[K7VZ]

I will be bringing my 12x12 pop up canopy, but if anyone else has one to bring, please do. If we can connect 2-3 of them together for ample shade, that would be great.

QRZ.com special event post.
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?t=268645

eHam.net special event post.
http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php/topic,71298.0.html

Please feel free to publish the following "news release" elsewhere.


W7AZO 4x4 Ham Special Event from Titan Missile Museum.

From location south of Tucson, Arizona.

October 23, 2010
9:00 MST to 17:00 MST (16:00 to 24:00 zulu)

The 4x4 Ham (http://www.4x4ham.com) group will be operationg a special event from the Titan Missile Museum this Satruday using the 80ft. tall discone antenna.

Look for us calling CQ around 14.216Mhz and 7.216Mhz. We also plan to operate PSK31 for a couple hours during the day.

Here are some links of interest:
http://www.titanmissilemuseum.org/

http://gvarc.us/GVARCFrames/Titan/Discone/Discone.htm

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/4x4Ham/1_TMMAerial.jpg

QSL card sent out from previous trip last fall.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/4x4Ham/TMMQSLCard.jpg

[KC0NNT]

Nice Work Virgil!

[KE7NEA]

Dont have shade, but I do have a table I can bring with.

[KF7IZQ]

FYI
The Copperstate Fly-in is also this weekend at the Casa Grande Municipal airport. Watch for some unusual aircraft in the air as you drive down to the Nike and discone. Maybe listen Too? I attended this event a couple years ago and it was a lot a of fun. Cool aircraft and several vendors of radio and gps navigation to talk to.

[K7VZ]

There is a picnic table there, but additional tables won't hurt. Also, bring your own chairs.

Suaharita and the area around the TMM is fairly remote. Everyone should probably plan on bringing their own lunch. There is a gas station and maybe a fast food restaurant within 5 miles, but that's it. We can stop somewhere in Tucson on the way home and grab supper together.

[W6SDM]

I missed the net last night... Sharon and I are down for it. We will meet up with you at the Love's Truck Stop and I-10 and I-8 in Eloy. I will be on one of the repeaters. For anyone wanting to follow the group on APRS, I will be beaconing W6SDM (no designator) and W6SDM-9 (handheld).

[K5MJS]

Look forward to meeting everyone. Count me in.

[K7VZ]

Ok, here's a Special Event info fact sheet I put together. Randy, I used Green Valley instead of Sahuarita.


4x4 Ham Special Event from Titan Missile Museum in Green Valley, Arizona

W7AZO --- Whiskey Seven Alpha Zulu Oscar

Operating from the 80 foot tall discone antenna 15 miles south of Tucson, Arizona.

The Titan Missile Museum is the only publicly accessible Titan II missile site in the nation. There are tours of the underground missile site where visitors can see the 3-ton blast doors, the 8-foot thick silo walls, and an actual Titan II missile in the launch duct. During the tour of the launch control center, they also experience a simulated launch and more!

Discone antennas are a no gain broadband band antenna. The SWR (standing wave ratio) is typically 2:1 over the full range of 6 MHz to 30 MHz. It was built by Collins Radio Company and operational from July 1963 until the site was deactivated in 1982.

For more information on the 4x4 Ham group, please visit our web site at 4x4ham.com. (four x four ham .com)

W7AZO

[K7VZ]

Yeah, I'm excited for this trip...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Weephoxg1tQ


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuJqCdaTS7U

[KE7GRM]

Did not get the new tires today ... no spare ... so I will miss tomorrows trip .....

[KF7IZQ]

Thanks Virgil for the post! I look forward to the discone and the museum. I was looking for my school desk to crawl under when I saw the video of the missile launch. It was wonderful and terrible growing up in the 50's!

[Charlie56]

I just made contact with Virgil on 20 meters
5x5 from Santa Rosa California.
Very cool.

KZ6T

[K7VZ]

Awesome day!

I did a quick count of the log sheets and we made 170 contacts. Mostly on 20m, but Paul and Kurt rocked 10m too. I'll get my pictures posted tomorrow.

[KE7NEA]

Home!
Had a blast!!! 10m took some work but hey 1st call on 10m & I made a contact... NICE! was interesting to hear the band come & go as the wind picked up & let down too.
Thanks to Virgil & Randy for the use of there rigs & to the Museum / Green Valley Amateur radio club for the use of the discone.

[KC0NNT]

I had a great time too. Great to see old friends and make a few new ones. Great jobs on the contacts guys!

[W6SDM]

Awesome trip. There were no shortage of contacts for sure. Here are a few of the pictures that I took...

http://desert-dweller.smugmug.com/Other/Missile-Museum/4x4ham-w7azo/1060792003_QSn5D-O.jpg

This is one hell of an antenna. When the XYL saw it, she said not to get any ideas and she didn't care if we did have room for it - no "big ugly antenna that looks like a hula hoop." I think that maybe after a trip somewhere tropical and a new wardrobe, I could probably get her to soften a bit...

http://desert-dweller.smugmug.com/Other/Missile-Museum/discone/1060791906_n6fwT-O.jpg

The world famous KC0NNT starts off the list of contacts...

http://desert-dweller.smugmug.com/Other/Missile-Museum/randy/1060791778_wkrxZ-O.jpg

Randy managed to grab my camera and catch a shot of me...

http://desert-dweller.smugmug.com/Other/Missile-Museum/w6sdm/1060792198_zVk3V-O.jpg

Whatever this contact was, it had them both smiling...

http://desert-dweller.smugmug.com/Other/Missile-Museum/virgil/1060792395_9M8YF-O.jpg

[K7VZ]

Here are my pictures from the day.

The 4x4 Ham crew meeting up at the Love's truck stop.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9611.jpg

View of the underground complex.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9618.jpg

Maybe they will go run some trails with us later?
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9622.jpg

Stage I engine.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9627.jpg

Stage II engine.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9624.jpg

Titan II
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9630.jpg

One of the pop up antennas on site.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9632.jpg

Another antenna they used.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9635.jpg

One of the 3 ton blast doors.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9637.jpg

Control room. Their communications radios are straight back in the center of the picture.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9640.jpg

[K7VZ]

The whole underground complex is "floating" on springs to survive a near hit and still be able to launch their rockets.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9645.jpg

Another shock absorber in the long hallway.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9647.jpg

Hallway from the control room to the missile silo.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9659.jpg

9.5 milllion mega tons of BOOM.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9651.jpg

Suits crew wore.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9660.jpg

Stairway access to underground complex.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9662.jpg

Paul exiting tour underground.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9663.jpg

Mike and Kurt towards end of tour.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9664.jpg

Front of visitor's center.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9666.jpg

80 ft. tall discone antenna.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9671.jpg

[K7VZ]

Steve W6SDM
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9673.jpg

Kurt KE7KUS and Paul KE7NEA
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9683.jpg

Paul KE7NEA
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9684.jpg

Kurt KE7KUS with Mike KF7IZQ logging
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9692.jpg

Randy KC0NNT, Paul KE7NEA, and Mike KF7IZQ
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9701.jpg

Randy KC0NNT and Mike KF7IZQ
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9705.jpg

The discone antenna
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/2010-10-23-TitanMissileMuseum/DSCF9707.jpg

I still have a few videos to get loaded.

[KC0NNT]

Great pics everyone! Thanks for posting.

[KE7NEA]

Here's some of mine.

KM??? what the !?!?!?
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_5601.jpg
Missile stuff
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_5608.jpg
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_5610.jpg
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_5613.jpg
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_5639.jpg
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_5624.jpg

Discone
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_5602.jpg
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_5642.jpg
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_5647.jpg
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_5652.jpg
Operators
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_5648.jpg
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_5643.jpg

[KE7KUS]

Great photos, guys! Randy, Paul, Mike, Steve, Marcus, and April it was great to meet all of you in person. Thanks to everyone who brought equipment down. We had fantastic weather, great propagation (especially on 10m), and a ton of fun to boot. Virgil, I've already got the next Tucson trip on the hook - all I need is a date:


670

[K7VZ]

Wow, what a day. It gets even better as I've started reviewing the logs.

We worked 41 states and 2 Canada stations.
170 total contacts logged.
15 contacts were on 10m. The rest were all on 20m. We tried 40m with no success.
First contact was logged at 9:53 and last contact was logged at 15:42.

Top contacts from states were.
California 34
Texas 16
Washington 13
Colorado 9
Kansas 6
Ohio 6
Many states tied with 4 and 5 contacts each.

[K7VZ]

Looking for images to use on the Special Event QSL cards.


Paul, can I use this photo? (With credit of course.)
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_5613.jpg

Steve, can I use these 2 photos? (With credit of course.)
http://desert-dweller.smugmug.com/Other/Missile-Museum/4x4ham-w7azo/1060792003_QSn5D-O.jpg

http://desert-dweller.smugmug.com/Other/Missile-Museum/discone/1060791906_n6fwT-O.jpg

[KE7NEA]

Looking for images to use on the Special Event QSL cards.

Absolutely!!
go for it :)

[K5MJS]

It was great meeting everyone! Thanks for letting us tag along! Amazing what you can pick up with that antenna.

[K7VZ]

4 QSL cards so far. Here are scans of the front and backs.

680
681


682
683


684
685


686
687

[K7VZ]

Here are the scanned images of the log files. I'll post links as they are somewhat large files.

TMM Log Page 1 (http://4x4ham.com/adminftp/4x4HamTMMQSL022.jpg)
TMM Log Page 2 (http://4x4ham.com/adminftp/4x4HamTMMQSL023.jpg)
TMM Log Page 3 (http://4x4ham.com/adminftp/4x4HamTMMQSL024.jpg)
TMM Log Page 4 (http://4x4ham.com/adminftp/4x4HamTMMQSL025.jpg)
TMM Log Page 5 (http://4x4ham.com/adminftp/4x4HamTMMQSL026.jpg)
TMM Log Page 6 (http://4x4ham.com/adminftp/4x4HamTMMQSL027.jpg)

[K7VZ]

Ok, here is what I came up with for a QSL card. Love it? Hate it? I know there were more people there than pictured, but I included all the close-up pictures of people operating the mic. Let me know if there need to be any edits. Otherwise, I'll get them printed and mailed this week.

http://www.4x4ham.com/images/4x4Ham/TMM2010QSLCard.jpg

[KC0NNT]

Wow, very nice Virgil! I love it!

[KE7NEA]

Looks good!!

[K7VZ]

Got behind on scanning QSL cards in. Here are 5 more that we received, so that makes 9 total.

692
699

695
697

698
696

700
693

694
KB1THU back of card blank.