DM31 grid HF Event Campout at Organ Pipe National Monument.

[K7VZ]

What: DM31 grid HF Event Campout at Organ Pipe National Monument.

When: April 29, 2011 - May 1, 2011

Where: DM31 - Organ Pipe National Monument. Group campground - Site 1
Here's the coordinates for the campground.
31°56.59' N 112°48.82' W - locator DM31OW26II

Campground Cost $8 per vehicle to enter park. $5 per person, per night to camp.

Frequencies
Childs 145.310 (100.0) repeater.
147.52 simplex.
All other operational HF/VHF frequencies will be posted on the main page and kept updated as we operate throughout the weekend.


PreRun to Organ Pipe - Good info in this thread. (http://www.4x4ham.com/showthread.php?738-DM31-Pre-run)


See this thread for more details and planning discussion. (http://www.4x4ham.com/showthread.php?296-FFMA-Worked-All-Grid-Squares-in-U.S.A.-Lower-48-States&highlight=ffma)


4x4 Ham (W7AZO) Grid DM31 Activation - April 30, 2011

FOR: General Announcement

FROM: 4x4 HAM (W7AZO) http://www.4x4ham.com

SUBJ: News Release

Special Event: 4x4 Ham (W7AZO) Grid DM31 Activation

Several hams from 4x4 Ham (W7AZO) will activate grid DM31 from April 30-May 1, 2011. The group will be operating from the campground at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, located approximately 5 miles north of Lukeville, AZ/Sonoyta, Mexico. The location of the campground is DM31OW, and the coordinates are N31.94388 W112.81357.

The 4x4 Hams will operate multiple radios/bands throughout the special event. Current plans include multi-band HF operations, 2m SSB operations around 144.250MHz, and 6m operations around 50.150MHz for those needing the grid square towards the ARRL's Fred Fish Memorial Award. Additionally, 2m & 6m CW operations are planned in the CW portions of those bands. In addition to the grid square activation activity, the club will also host its
monthly QRS CW Net from the campground on 7.115MHz on May 1 at 0300Z. Operating details and band schedules are in the process of being finalized. To keep up to date on the details of this activation, visit the Forums section of
the 4x4 Ham Club website at www.4x4ham.com.

Link to the event on our calendar --> http://www.4x4ham.com/showthread.php?629-DM31-grid-HF-Event-Campout-at-Organ-Pipe-National-Monument.

[K7DCL]

Here are the satellite passes for 4/30 and 5/1. I ran the predictions for AO-27, AO-51, HO-68, ISS, and SO-50. Let me know if you want any others included. I think these are the major ones with operational FM repeaters.

773

Peak Time column: yellow = [05:00 to 08:00 and 21:00 to 23:00]; green = [08:00 to 21:00]
Peak EL column: yellow = [> 45 and < 67]; green = [> 67]

[KE7NEA]

There was a chat room discussion on a day trip to scope things out.
Any suggested dates?
I know Feb is quite packed, March? Weekend of the 19th or 26th?

[K7VZ]

Kurt is submitting the announcement to the ARRL. I've posted it on QRZ and eHam this morning as well as adding a link to our Facebook pages.

http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?284400-4x4-Ham-%28W7AZO%29-Grid-DM31-Activation-April-30-2011
http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php/topic,73379.0.html

Please help spread the word. Here's the announcement text.

4x4 Ham (W7AZO) Grid DM31 Activation - April 30, 2011

FOR: General Announcement

FROM: 4x4 HAM (W7AZO) http://www.4x4ham.com

SUBJ: News Release

Special Event: 4x4 Ham (W7AZO) Grid DM31 Activation

Several hams from 4x4 Ham (W7AZO) will activate grid DM31 from April 30-May 1, 2011. The group will be operating from the campground at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, located approximately 5 miles north of Lukeville, AZ/Sonoyta, Mexico. The location of the campground is DM31OW, and the coordinates are N31.94388 W112.81357.

The 4x4 Hams will operate multiple radios/bands throughout the special event. Current plans include multi-band HF operations, 2m SSB operations around 144.250MHz, and 6m operations around 50.150MHz for those needing the grid square towards the ARRL's Fred Fish Memorial Award. Additionally, 2m & 6m CW operations are planned in the CW portions of those bands. In addition to the grid square activation activity, the club will also host its
monthly QRS CW Net from the campground on 7.115MHz on May 1 at 0300Z. Operating details and band schedules are in the process of being finalized. To keep up to date on the details of this activation, visit the Forums section of
the 4x4 Ham Club website at www.4x4ham.com.

Link to the event on our calendar --> http://www.4x4ham.com/showthread.php?629-DM31-grid-HF-Event-Campout-at-Organ-Pipe-National-Monument.

[K7VZ]

An idea was presented to get together before this event some time and build a 3 or 4 element beam for 6m as a group. Any takers?

[K7DCL]

That sounds like a good idea, I would join in.

[KE7NEA]

Be glad to help too!
Also on the Net Chatroom a few weeks ago we kicked around a plan of a carpool day trip to check out the site.
One date that came up was Mach 27th
Any takers on this or other ideas for a pre-run / planning trip?

[N1HX]

Is anyone heading down on Friday? I had heard on the 4x4 net that someone may be heading down early on Friday. Also any updates on making the 6 meter beam? I would like my son to have a look at that process.

[KE7NEA]

As of now it looks like KE7KUS & I will be headed down on Friday late in the morning, I think theres also a few others who plan to head down Friday as well.

As for the antenna project there's another thread on that 6Meter Build (http://www.4x4ham.com/showthread.php?728-6-Meter-Antenna-Group-Build)
Please feel free to post comments and or if your interested in stopping by.
Ill have an update later tonight in that thread.

[K7VZ]

I need to do a major update on the first post, but I was able to extend our group campground reservation for both Friday and Saturday nights. Group campground - Site 1 for April 29/30.

[KE7GRM]

Hello Virgil,

How many tents, campers, vehicles, etc are allowed at this campsite?


I need to do a major update on the first post, but I was able to extend our group campground reservation for both Friday and Saturday nights. Group campground - Site 1 for April 29/30.

[KE7NEA]

Hello Virgil,

How many tents, campers, vehicles, etc are allowed at this campsite?

I think it was mentioned in the pre-run thread, But to quote Virgil, well have to park smart.
Here is an areal of the area, the tent spot's are just south of the main parking area.
then there's also more tent sites up from camp 2
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/ONM.jpg

[K7MJC]

Will Not be bringing a radio, but do have batteries and solar charging system I would like to test. Anybody in need of battery power is welcome to use my setup. Plan to have two 12v 55ah batteries connected in parallel (12v 110ah pool). Will hook up a 36w solar panel during day time ops and hopefully the solar panel will provide enough power so NOT to draw down the batteries. Any help in abusing my battery pool would be appreciated.

Thanks
K7MJC Mike

[KE7NEA]

Will Not be bringing a radio, but do have batteries and solar charging system I would like to test. Anybody in need of battery power is welcome to use my setup. Plan to have two 12v 55ah batteries connected in parallel (12v 110ah pool). Will hook up a 36w solar panel during day time ops and hopefully the solar panel will provide enough power so NOT to draw down the batteries. Any help in abusing my battery pool would be appreciated.

Thanks
K7MJC Mike

Im sure well have enough radios there to employ your set up :D
Look forward to seeing the set up!

[K7MJC]

Im sure well have enough radios there to employ your set up :D
Look forward to seeing the set up!

Thanks; will be the first time using them in parallel and this is a good time/place to do it.

Looking forward to seeing your M101. I took the sleeping unit of the top of my trailer (Height, age, and beer; bad combination). Can't change my age, won't change my beer habit, so the height (latter) had to go.

Mike

[KE7NEA]

Okay were just a few days away!!!
I'm sure we'll have a nice grip of radios and some antennas (31' vertical, 6m 3element Yagi & possibly a 2m SSB Quagi, think Virgil is bring a di-pole as well)
A few of us plan to leave the Phx area Friday morning between 10-12 & expect to arrive around 2-3
Not sure if anyone is interested in a potluck type dinner on Saturday? I was thinking of bring down some tri-tip & charcoal and grillin some meat! Any thoughts on that??

[K7VZ]

Updated first post. Reading through the Pre Run thread is also full of good info towards the end of it.

Please check back to the first post in this thread before you depart. I'll keep it updated if there is anything else that needs added.

Marcia and I plan to depart mid morning on Friday and arrive at campground around 3pm. We'll have the campground ready for everyone else as you arrive.

[K7VZ]

Ahh crap, I updated the first thread and it appears I deleted the RSVP roster.

[K7VZ]

APRS for W7AZO is prepped/ready to go. I checked everything out to make sure I had the equipment setup right and it's beaconing the fixed position down there accurately. Over the weekend, we'll use the APRS comment text to update our operating frequencies.

http://www.4x4ham.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=922&d=1304006155

[WB7X]

I gave you guys a plug over on the AR15.com Ham Radio Forum.

Hopefully you'll stay pretty busy.

[KE7KUS]

Thanks, Marty. Will we see you on the CW net on Saturday evening?

[WB7X]

Thanks, Marty. Will we see you on the CW net on Saturday evening?

Hopefully the coax pull in Payson will go smoothly and I get back at a reasonable hour.

If so, I'll give it a shot.

[KE7NEA]

Just a reminder well be using the Childs (http://k5ehx.net/repeaters/qrepeater.php?id=26438) repeater 145.310 PL= 100.0
And well also monitor 147.520 simplex
APRS (http://aprs.fi/?call=ke7nea-9&mt=roadmap&z=11&timerange=43200) track :)

[WB7X]

Just a reminder well be using the Childs (http://k5ehx.net/repeaters/qrepeater.php?id=26438) repeater 145.310 PL= 100.0
And well also monitor 147.520 simplex
APRS (http://aprs.fi/?call=ke7nea-9&mt=roadmap&z=11&timerange=43200) track :)

Funny, I found out that I can bring up from home a 145.31 repeater with a 6 call. It has a voice and CW IDer which kind of blocks each other. Still haven't gotten
a good callsign. It also voice broadcasts that the PL is 91.5.

Anyone have a clue where this thing is?

[K7VZ]

Funny, I found out that I can bring up from home a 145.31 repeater with a 6 call. It has a voice and CW IDer which kind of blocks each other. Still haven't gotten
a good callsign. It also voice broadcasts that the PL is 91.5.

Anyone have a clue where this thing is?

Checked azrepeaters.net and it matches this one.
145.310 Active Scottsdale Backyard KB6POQ 91.5 03/2011 O,PL,EL Echolink Node 346428

[KE7NEA]

Had a great time! Good to see all who showed up.
VERY windy Saturday morning but it did calm down.
Thanks again to Kurt for the use of the toy hauler!! made a big difference.

Now... FIELD DAY

[KE7KUS]

DM31 Thoughts/Aftermath:

1) The only thing "magic" about "The Magic Band" would be if you were calling CQ on it and someone actually came back to you. Several months of preparation, several weeks of antenna building, several days of planning time invested, and all we came up with were five XE stations on 6m. Weird. You drive all the way to Mexico and all you get are Mexican stations.

2) I've started an ADIF file with W7AZO logged contacts. If you have a paper, typed, crayoned, etc. W7AZO log from any W7AZO event since we got the club callsign, please scan a copy and send it to me, type it up in a quick text file and send it to me, or in some other way get it to me. I'm working on putting all our contacts in an electronic log file so we can submit to LOTW, eQSL, etc. and have a durable record of our station log. I need the following info for the log:
CALLSIGN, GMT TIME OF CONTACT, TX/RX FREQUENCY, NAME OF W7AZO OPERATOR, GRID SQUARE OF W7AZO OPERATION. Also, please note during which W7AZO event the contact was made.

3) As of this posting, we had 20 contacts in the log from the operations out of the trailer. The tally is as follows: CW-15 contacts, SSB-3 contacts, PSK31-2 contacts. Most of the contacts were on 20m from the Florida QSO Party. There were a couple of contacts with Nebraska stations from the Nebraska QSO Party. I'm missing the log page that has the contacts from the 6m operations the first night, as well as a few contacts I jotted down on a yellow legal sheet while working SSB on David's TS-2000. If anyone has those contacts, or others from the weekend, please send the info to me so I can get it in the computer.

4) Tent camping in a lot of wind doesn't look like very much fun.

5) We attempted the 40m QRS CW Net on Saturday night on 7.117, but no takers. Propagation wasn't super-great, and we were using Paul's S9 vertical, which I suspect has limited performance inside about 800 miles due to low takeoff angle, so there were some things working against us. The May net will be held from back here in Phoenix. If you listened up for the net and didn't hear us, thank you for trying. We'll get back to normal next month.

6) Damage: one torn toy hauler awning from 50+ mph winds, one broken bench seat from when Virgil sat on it, and one $125 diesel fill-up in beautiful downtown Ajo, AZ. Not bad for five 6m contacts.

Thanks to everybody that came down. Despite the weather and no 6m propagation to speak of, we had a fun time hiking in cholla, wondering where the camp Gila Monster was hiding out, figuring out if anyone at the Visitor Center had actually ever been trained on how to work a cash register, and working on putting up and tearing down some great antenna setups. Thanks to Virgil for putting the trip together. Looking forward to Field Day!

[K7VZ]

1. The XE stations were 800 miles away. It would have been a real slap in the face if they were located in Soniota.
2. Randy will have the last 2 year's Field Day logs. I have copies of both TMM logs.
3. The yellow legal pad is mine and I have it. I'll get those contacts to you.
4. I've had my fill of wind and sun. You are what you Jeep, red.
5. Thanks Randy and Marty and anyone else that may have tried to check in.
6. Hey now, I didn't break your bench.

[KY7K]

1. Unfortunately, propagation on the higher bands really nose dived over the weekend. I saw a propagation prediction last week saying it would be bad due to low sunspot numbers and increased instability due to solar wind velocity increase or some such. Even 20m seemed bad. Just bad luck I think...

Wish I could have made it over to play, but I spent the weekend replacing the fuel line in my 26 year old motorhome in preparation for 7qp. I would have scraped the motorhome had I not just payed $138 to fill it up prior to trying to replace the fuel filter which led to the broken fuel line.

[K7VZ]

Something to consider if we do this again: Coordinate it with a VHF contest weekend. Here may be an example for March 16, 2012 - SARL VHF/UHF Analogue/Digital Contest.

[WB7X]

Checked azrepeaters.net and it matches this one.
145.310 Active Scottsdale Backyard KB6POQ 91.5 03/2011 O,PL,EL Echolink Node 346428

Thanks Virgil. My 2010/11 repeater directory and Oct 2010 printout from AZ repeater didn't have it. Should have checked but the 6
call was throwing me.

[AD7TI]

In my free time over the weekend, I was watching the www.vhfdx.info site. Saturday and Sunday had almost no 50MHz activity. Although, there was a fairly good opening on Friday night. Kinda freaky.

[AD7TI]

Better link: http://www.vhfdx.info/spots/map.php?Lan=E&Frec=50&ML=M&Map=NA

[K7VZ]

In my free time over the weekend, I was watching the www.vhfdx.info site. Saturday and Sunday had almost no 50MHz activity. Although, there was a fairly good opening on Friday night. Kinda freaky.

Friday night indeed. That's when we made all the 6m contacts. Between 9:20pm and 9:45pm.

[KE7NEA]

Wind sucks! but the temps were good! not too cold and enh, wasent HOT.
6meters... magic band my ***
So heres a few pictures.
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_6250.jpg
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_6257.jpg
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_6272.jpg
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_6262.jpg
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_6232.jpg
Our camp mascot
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_6248.jpg
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_6242.jpg
And some night time shots
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_6227.jpg
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_6230.jpg
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_6228.jpg
this one is a bust, but still looks neat, sensor heat makes the weird color in the upper corners, 30min exposure looking west.
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w79/pzelez/DSC_6278.jpg

[K7VZ]

Great weekend guys. That wind was unexpected. I'm not so sure the special event was a huge success, but overall it was good to get out and work some radio. Propagation proved to be interesting for us also.

Here are my pictures:

Friday night.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1219.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1220.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1222.jpg

Paul grilling steaks.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1225.jpg

Camp Saturday morning.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1226.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1231.jpg

Who ordered the wind?
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1232.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1233.jpg

Our camp mascot.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1235.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1237.jpg

[K7VZ]

Setup in Kurt's camper on Saturday morning.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1238.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1240.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1241.jpg

Tracking the ANSR balloon on APRS.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1242.jpg

The 6m yagi setup.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1249.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1252.jpg

David's antenna/station setup.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1250.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1251.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv231/k7azv/20110429-dm31/DSCF1253.jpg