070 Club 2004 APE

2004 APE Tall Tales

K8IJ, Charlie, 1 August

On Sunday, 1 August 2004, K8IJ went APE from Kincaid Lake State Park in Northern Kentucky.

The night before I packed up the TS-570D portable rig, the old Dell Inspiron 3500 laptop, a new RIGblaster nomic interface, an assortment of cables, the trusty marine battery that had been topped off, and threw the 20M Hamstick in the back of the pickup.

Sunday morning was cool and foggy. Because of the fog, it took about 45 minutes to drive the 25 miles from the home QTH to the State Park. The place I chose in the park was a high parking lot overlooking the lake. There were no humans in the area when I arrived - only some critters. I passed 2 deer and 3 wild turkeys.

Setup was fast, only a few minutes. I had a little trouble with the power connector for the DC adaptor for the laptop, but it had a happy ending. Popping the Hamstick on the magnetic mount with the quick disconnect took all of 5 seconds and we were ready to go.

Here is an excerpt from the log:

01-Aug-2004 11:55:07 14070.0 W5DP 579 TX Houston
01-Aug-2004 12:03:45 14070.0 W3HF 579 PA
01-Aug-2004 12:11:55 14070.0 NI5F 599 Jackson MS
01-Aug-2004 12:27:07 14070.0 K4FBP 599 FL
01-Aug-2004 12:38:16 14070.0 N3UYI 599 Chelsea, AL
01-Aug-2004 12:59:02 14070.0 W3MZ 599 PA
01-Aug-2004 13:09:40 14070.0 N7CMJ 599 Kalispell MT
01-Aug-2004 13:29:36 14070.0 K3PSK 599 FL
01-Aug-2004 13:42:09 14070.0 KA2UQW
01-Aug-2004 13:56:04 14070.0 KB1IKD 599 NH Rye
01-Aug-2004 14:08:58 14070.0 VA7ET 599 Texada Island BC
01-Aug-2004 14:28:43 14070.0 AC7ZG 599 OR Beaverton
01-Aug-2004 14:28:48 14070.0 KD7KST 599 WA
01-Aug-2004 14:37:02 14070.0 WB4MNK 599 FL Port Orange
01-Aug-2004 14:46:57 14070.0 KR4U 599 FL
01-Aug-2004 15:00:22 14070.0 WJ2V 599
01-Aug-2004 15:07:22 14070.0 W7QQ 599 WA
01-Aug-2004 15:19:05 14070.0 N7HJ 599 Everett WA
01-Aug-2004 15:40:17 14070.0 KJ7NO 599 UT
01-Aug-2004 15:51:01 14070.0 K7RU 599 Williams AZ
01-Aug-2004 16:01:20 14070.0 KC0DEB 599 KS
01-Aug-2004 16:08:12 14070.0 KF4FHS 599 WA

A fun time, all in all. The time passed quickly. I could have stayed longer, but needed to get home and get the lawn work done before the rains came.

Vy 73,

Charlie

K9VIC, Eric, 7-8 August

We (XYL, 3 kids and I) left the house for Lake Kegonsa about 1300 on August 6. Lake Kegonsa is about 2.5 hours away, and check-in time at the camp ground is 1500, so we didn’t want to be too early. I was ready. I had the Icom 706 MKIIG, a 500 watt inverter, a power supply (a good old fashioned transformer model, not the switching supply that won’t run off the inverter), a 50 foot extension cord, plenty of feed line, my laptop, an interface, antenna analyzer, and a tripod to mount the antenna. Heck, I even brought an extra copy of MixW just in case. About an hour into the drive it occurred to me that I had left all my mobile whips safely tucked away in the garage. I called my sister (K9NIX), who would be coming up later in the evening, and explained my predicament. She was kind enough to drive over to my house and break into the garage to retrieve the antennas.

We arrived at the camp ground at about 1800. N9ANA and my niece and nephew (visiting from Oregon) had already arrived and set up their tents. After setting up our tents, I set up my equipment, sans antenna. The site we were staying on is a large group site for up to 20 people. Vehicles are not allowed off the roadway, so the plan was to run the inverter in the back of the van, and run the extension cord over to a picnic table to power the radio (I didn’t think running 12 volts that distance would be a good idea). A problem arose when I realized that the picnic tables in the gazebo (to avoid glare on the screen and rain) are about 65 feet from the roadway – 15 feet farther than my extension cord would permit. Not a problem that a quick trip to Wal-Mart didn’t solve. What the trip to Wal-Mart didn’t solve was the peculiarities of the inverter. It didn’t like 100 feet of extension cord plugged into it. Any more than 50 feet and it would shut down. Oh, well, I thought as I dragged one of the picnic benches out of the gazebo and within reach of my cord. I now had power, and as my sister arrived, antennas as well.

Everything was powered up and appeared to be working except that I couldn’t hear a thing on 14.070. I tuned up the band a bit and it was clear. Dragging the radio to the van, I listened as I flipped the inverter on and off. It generated a tremendous amount of hash from about 14.065 to 14.085 MHz (odd, because it worked fine during Field Day). I borrowed one of those jump start kits from N9ANA, and set things up to run completely on batteries. It wasn’t optimal because I had no idea how long the battery in the jump starter would last, but knew the battery in the lap top was just about shot and would only last an hour or so before needing to be charged. Anyway, it was 1930 and I was on the air – at least for a little while.

A couple hours later the laptop battery did die, and I turned the inverter on to recharge it. I returned the jump start kit so that it could be recharged as well. A few hours hours later and the laptop was good to go. The jump start kit, however, hadn’t charged well off of the 12 volts provided by the car. I decided to call it a day and made another pitcher of Manhattan Monkeys.

The following day, after waking from my Manhattan Monkey induced coma, I decided to run the radio off of the car battery (against the advice of the XYL). To shorten this up a bit, I’ll just say that I played with various configurations to try and get the inverter to run the laptop (to no avail) and the radio to put out more than a couple watts (there were some crazy RF issues going on). I managed to work a few stations on reduced power (including KD9KST and W3HF/4 – thanks for hanging in there), but it wasn’t any fun. I decided to put the stuff away for a while and go get something to drink other than another Manhattan Monkey. Easier said than done – the XYL was right; even running on reduced power, the battery in the van had died. Good thing the jump start kit had enough juice left in it to get it going.

Upon returning to the camp site I set everything up just as it had been on Field Day (I resisted until now because I didn’t want to have to sit in the van). I keyed up the rig and managed to squirt out the normal 20 Watts or so. I worked a few more stations, and got decent signal reports. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get the inverter to be “quiet.” This severely limited the use of the laptop as it constantly needed to be charged and I couldn’t hear anyone while that was taking place.

We typically go to Lake Kegonsa the first or second week of August every year. Next year I’ll leave the inverter at home and bring a marine battery and a charger (and try not to forget the antennas).

Number of QSOs: 23

Number of stations worked: 22 (KD7KST, no stranger to PSK while camping, made it into the log twice)

APE to APE contacts: 1 (W3HF/4)

Number of 070 club members worked: 8

QSL cards: Despite the lousy pictures I gave her, K9VIX whipped up some impressive cards last night and they’re in the mail today.

07-Aug-2004 00:45:47 14069.4 BPSK31 WX7P Wilse at DN08
07-Aug-2004 00:50:41 14069.4 BPSK31 N3FX Tony-FM19
07-Aug-2004 00:56:09 14069.4 BPSK31 KD7JPR Sabra CN 84
07-Aug-2004 01:01:44 14069.4 BPSK31 K4HMB Joe EM85
07-Aug-2004 01:06:16 14069.4 BPSK31 KD7KST Bill DN06
07-Aug-2004 01:38:23 7071.3 BPSK31 K8IJ Charlie - EM78
07-Aug-2004 02:01:09 14069.1 BPSK31 YV5AAX Aldo FK60
07-Aug-2004 18:42:28 14069.7 BPSK31 W8JYZ Bob - EM85
07-Aug-2004 18:48:43 14069.7 BPSK31 K5WW GERT DL99
07-Aug-2004 18:52:51 14069.7 BPSK31 W4EEH BOGDAN GRID EL79
07-Aug-2004 18:59:05 14069.7 BPSK31 KB3FN Lynn FN10
07-Aug-2004 19:07:10 14069.7 BPSK31 WM2U Ernie FN32
07-Aug-2004 19:08:39 14069.7 BPSK31 KR4U DAVE EL87
07-Aug-2004 19:11:35 14069.7 BPSK31 N7UVH Pat dn17
07-Aug-2004 19:15:32 14069.7 BPSK31 N4LI PETER EM55
07-Aug-2004 20:01:51 14069.7 BPSK31 W3YY Bob FM18
07-Aug-2004 22:13:27 14069.7 BPSK31 KG4YWD Jim Grid is FM06
07-Aug-2004 23:06:35 14069.7 BPSK31 W4IM JOHN FM18
08-Aug-2004 01:49:45 14070.0 BPSK31 W3HF/4
08-Aug-2004 16:56:37 14070.0 BPSK31 KD7KST
08-Aug-2004 18:54:28 14070.0 BPSK31 NN3SI KF4PPF operating
08-Aug-2004 19:44:38 14070.0 BPSK31 AE3H
08-Aug-2004 23:15:07 14070.0 BPSK31 AB7VA

W3HF/4, Steve, 7-14 August

Well another APE on Bogue Banks Island has come and gone. This was my seventh consecutive summer with a week spent there, and the fourth with amateur radio. (The last three have counted as APEs.)

The station this year was the same as that of the past two years. I took the trusty (and now almost three-year-old) Yaesu FT-817 and Rascal interface. My laptop is a (significantly older than that) Toshiba 660CDT, running Win95 and DigiPan 1.6-something. The antenna was the same vertical from the July 2002 QST that I've used before, repaired after last year's unfortunate "falling-off-the-deck-and- breaking-the-whip-off" incident (see message #4770). This time I brought long cable ties to strap it to the deck, instead of relying on duct tape. I also brought along the mic, to attempt a few SSB skeds with some folks who needed NA-112, but couldn't work PSK.

This year we (including my son Matt, KB3JJV) also brought a 6m dipole, and a PVC T-structure to mount it on. Unfortunately we never heard anyone on 6m at all, SSB or PSK.

W3HF/4 went on the air about 2130z on 7 August, in time to make 19 QSOs in the Grid Dip contest from FM14. The station came down at about 0100z on 14 August. (More about the situation surrounding the teardown later.)

Unlike some of the other APEs I've read about and my own experiences the past two years, we had no equipment problems at all. Nothing broke, nothing died, no emergency visits to Radio Shack or Walmart, nothing even temporarily stopped working. Of course, when you're out for a full week, you can skim over the times when propagation was poor. The only issues were related to weather.

The remnants of Hurricane Bonnie blew through us early Friday morning. I took down the antennas before dawn, just before the weather got really bad. I don't know what the wind gusts were, but it was the worst I've seen in our seven visits there. We even were under a tornado warning for about an hour, as a twister was spotted about seven miles west of us. Fortunately (for us) it moved northeast, not just east, and passed about nine miles to our north.

I got the station back up later Friday afternoon. But with Hurricane Charley breathing down our necks, I took it back down sooner than planned Friday night, so that we could leave (earlier than planned) early Saturday morning. By the time we left, the whole island was under a voluntary evacuation order. Charley ended up coming ashore southwest of where we were, in South Carolina. As of this writing, I haven't heard any details about how bad it was on the island.

We raced the storm up the coast, making it back into Collegeville at about 7 PM local time. It rained most of the way up, but we stayed ahead of the heavier rains from Charley.

Here are the high-level statistics:

115 QSOs (113 on PSK, 2 on SSB)
103 different stations
1 station on two bands (20 and 40)
43 QSOs with non-US stations
23 DXCC entities outside of the US
29 US states
4 Canadian Provinces
3 continents (NA, SA, EU)
1 QSO on 15m
107 QSOs on 20m
4 QSOs on 30m
3 QSOs on 40m
26 070 club members worked (all on 20m), including two new ones for LONP
2 APE-to-APE contacts (AA8QQ/3 and K9VIC/p)
1 sked QSO on SSB (with someone who saw the IOTA posting)

Most surprising observation: how easy it was to work Greece (four stations, tied for second-most to a country outside the US. Canada was first.)

Most interesting QSOs: tracking a /AM as he crossed grid squares in the Caribbean back to Florida

Most unusual signals heard: Two mornings (Sunday and Thursday, I think), I heard JM7OLW CQing, and even working a few stations. I also heard a DU station CQing. This was the first time I had heard any stations in eastern Asia. I tried to call Suke (JM7OLW), knowing that if he heard my callsign, he would reply. (We've QSOed many times before when I was in California.) But I knew it was a long shot--he had told another station he was running 300 watts. He also has a 4-element monobander up 35 meters.

Most frustrating moment: trying to finish a QSO with GW1EAX/p (operating from a national park) and having two US stations (not 070 members) who wanted to work my IOTA jump on top of his final, THREE TIMES EACH. (They did get their QSOs after Bob was done.)

Biggest Disappointment: Hearing ZB300GG two nights in a row, and not being able to work him.

Date UTC Call Mode Band QTH Name 070 member
8/7/2004 21:35 WM2U PSK 20 Ernie x
8/7/2004 21:39 KR4U PSK 20 Dave x
8/7/2004 21:42 N9SV PSK 20 Tom x
8/7/2004 21:51 YV5AAX PSK 20 Aldo
8/7/2004 21:57 WX7P PSK 20 Wilse x
8/7/2004 22:02 N9LF PSK 20 Tim
8/7/2004 22:45 N3FX PSK 20 Tony
8/7/2004 22:47 CO2GL PSK 20 Alberto
8/7/2004 22:53 WB8BGY PSK 20 George
8/7/2004 22:56 YV4FUE PSK 20 Jose
8/7/2004 23:07 KD7JPR PSK 20 Sabra
8/7/2004 23:11 W4IM PSK 20 John
8/7/2004 23:15 K5PAX PSK 20 NM Harvey x
8/7/2004 23:18 LU8XW PSK 20 Ushaia Pablo
8/7/2004 23:23 HP1AC PSK 20 Cam x
8/7/2004 23:31 VO2/K2FRD PSK 20 Fred
8/7/2004 23:50 AB1AW PSK 20 MA Mike
8/7/2004 23:52 KE1LP PSK 20 VT Bruce
8/7/2004 23:59 AA6YQ PSK 20 MA Dave
8/8/2004 1:16 PT2BW PSK 20 Brasilia Ari
8/8/2004 1:29 N9BUB PSK 20 x
8/8/2004 1:37 KJ7NO PSK 20 UT x
8/8/2004 1:48 K9VIC/p PSK 20 WI Eric x
8/8/2004 1:54 K1KID PSK 20 Wareham MA Carl
8/8/2004 2:34 WA5EOG PSK 20 AR Ken x
8/8/2004 2:43 W5DP PSK 20 TX x
8/8/2004 3:04 WA1IIE PSK 30 Vassaboro ME Chuck
8/8/2004 3:14 W8TRX PSK 30 OH Don(?)
8/8/2004 3:23 KI4CKT PSK 30 Prestonburg KY Clyde
8/8/2004 12:50 KY4AMK PSK 20 KY Lou
8/8/2004 13:30 KB3FN PSK 20 PA Lynn x
8/8/2004 13:48 KC5BYE PSK 20 New Orleans Paul
8/8/2004 13:57 AA8QQ/3 PSK 20 Thompsontown PA Jay x
8/8/2004 15:38 KW1K PSK 20 Simsburg CT Joe
8/8/2004 19:10 KB8MOU PSK 20 Cleveland Paul x
8/8/2004 19:19 K3PSK PSK 20 FL Tom x
8/8/2004 20:00 W5JAY PSK 20 Ft Smith AR Jay
8/8/2004 20:22 HP1KZ PSK 20 Aurelio x
8/8/2004 20:30 YV5AAX PSK 20 Aldo
8/8/2004 20:41 KZ1Z PSK 20 Wesley Chapel FL Pete
8/8/2004 22:57 AB7VA PSK 20 Grandview Mark
8/8/2004 23:07 IV3TMT PSK 20 Paolo
8/8/2004 23:16 K6QLZ PSK 20 Moreno Valley CA
8/9/2004 2:01 CO6CR PSK 40 Santa Clara Ciro
8/9/2004 2:18 NK7Z PSK 20 OR Dave
8/9/2004 13:45 W2ELC PSK 20 Plattsburgh NY Ed
8/9/2004 13:54 AA1XO/mm PSK 20 Portland ME Stan
8/9/2004 14:45 KI4DBJ PSK 20 Naples FL Jean
8/9/2004 23:33 SV1GGF PSK 20 George
8/9/2004 23:52 N1ZZZ/6 PSK 20 Jeremy x
8/10/2004 0:10 WB0ZYU PSK 20 KS George
8/10/2004 0:47 VE9NC PSK 20 Hampton NB Paul
8/10/2004 0:54 LW1DGD PSK 20 Fabio
8/10/2004 1:05 WP4HSZ PSK 20 Fajardo Gil
8/10/2004 1:20 KD5WKK PSK 20 Bulverde TX Randall
8/10/2004 1:44 N0PV PSK 20 SD Rich
8/10/2004 1:54 KB5BFA PSK 20 Houston David
8/10/2004 2:07 N7YJ PSK 20 Portland OR Jack
8/10/2004 14:22 WA5UBN PSK 20 Tulsa Mel
8/10/2004 15:02 N4GVA/AM PSK 20 FL15fr Scott
8/10/2004 15:44 N4GVA/AM PSK 20 FL05ft Scott
8/10/2004 15:46 N4GVA/AM PSK 20 FL05du Scott
8/10/2004 15:47 N4GVA/AM PSK 20 FL05dv Scott
8/10/2004 15:48 N4GVA/AM PSK 20 FL05cv Scott
8/10/2004 16:10 KE9PH PSK 20 Chicago Tony x
8/10/2004 19:01 WA9FFV PSK 20 Ashland WI Doug
8/10/2004 20:18 HA1ZH PSK 20 Zoli x
8/10/2004 22:11 SX3A/3 PSK 20
8/10/2004 22:56 M0BKV PSK 20 Damian
8/10/2004 23:07 VE9DX PSK 20 Andy x
8/10/2004 23:20 LU1ILB PSK 20 Luis Alberto
8/11/2004 0:40 N9DLP PSK 30 South Bend IN Mike
8/11/2004 1:30 K5PAX PSK 20 Harvey
8/11/2004 1:38 KB5BFA PSK 20 Houston David
8/11/2004 2:06 KG2QM PSK 40 Mike
8/11/2004 2:51 KC5BYE PSK 40 Paul
8/11/2004 19:22 KC0KBH PSK 20
8/11/2004 19:42 CX5UR PSK 15 Luis
8/11/2004 22:38 UA6JD PSK 20 Vlad
8/12/2004 0:18 EA1AHF PSK 20 Miguel
8/12/2004 1:17 W1GQL PSK 20 Dave
8/12/2004 13:25 CO8FD PSK 20 Baracoa Fred
8/12/2004 13:31 K5PAX PSK 20 Harvey
8/12/2004 13:42 WA9FFV PSK 20
8/12/2004 13:46 KF9WV PSK 20 Shelbyville IL Jack
8/12/2004 13:54 CO8FD PSK 20 Fred
8/12/2004 16:34 N9BPE PSK 20 Jim x
8/12/2004 16:53 N9SV PSK 20 Tom
8/12/2004 20:37 W5AP/m PSK 20 Colleyville TX Jim
8/12/2004 21:13 VE3CI PSK 20 Thunder Bay ON Jim
8/12/2004 21:45 OK1VSL PSK 20 Ludek x
8/12/2004 21:57 EW3BF PSK 20 Brest Alex
8/12/2004 23:37 F4PAN PSK 20 Tavernay Jean-Luc
8/13/2004 0:12 CE5VKK PSK 20 Concepsion
8/13/2004 0:51 PH5T PSK 20 Teo
8/13/2004 0:59 CX6DAP PSK 20 Las Piedras Jorge
8/13/2004 1:09 OE3XRC/90kk PSK 20
8/13/2004 1:16 N4LI PSK 20 x
8/13/2004 1:27 KR4YD PSK 20 FL Dave x
8/13/2004 1:48 KF0OH PSK 20 Rochester MO Bill x
8/13/2004 2:14 CO5DX PSK 20 Dariel
8/13/2004 22:35 SX2004ALX PSK 20
8/13/2004 22:41 PA0WCH PSK 20 Will x
8/13/2004 22:50 MI0DJX PSK 20 Richard
8/13/2004 23:01 TK5IH PSK 20 Jean
8/13/2004 23:12 SX1A PSK 20
8/13/2004 23:14 WG0I PSK 20 Mike
8/13/2004 23:29 IZ7DMT PSK 20 Adelfia Vito
8/13/2004 23:45 W5ZPA PSK 20 New Orleans Mike
8/14/2004 0:19 GW1EAX/p PSK 20 Bob
8/14/2004 0:39 K5KR PSK 20 New Orleans Wondy
8/14/2004 0:43 AA5AT PSK 20 Baker LA Don
8/14/2004 0:58 VE6VK PSK 20 Russ

N3JWJ, Darrell, 9-14 August

August 2004, I made my annual summer trip to Greece. For the second time, I brought a radio to take part in the PODXS 070 August PSK Expedition (APE). 2004 turned to be much more eventful then the 2003 expedition.

Special for 2004 was a new prefix in honor of the 2004 Athens Olympics. Foreign hams were allowed to use a j42004 prefix. The j4 prefix is allocated to Greece, but apparently has never been activated before. I could've requested a customized call sign such as j42004jwj, but I saw advantages to using j42004/n3jwj. Routing for bureau cards would be much clearer and the extra 3 characters wouldn't be a burden on PSK.

After deciding on the exact call sign, I proceed to register the call with eQSL and LoTW. I received the LoTW certificate with in a few days. At last count, there are 20 Greek calls registered with LoTW and I account for 2 of them. eQSL turned out to be quite an odyssey that took 4 months to resolve. At every stage of the sign up process, I had to send feedback about errors caused by the length of the call sign. The call sign field size was expanded in every part of eQSL except the actual confirmation database. eQSL finally reorganized the actual database in late December 2004, so now I can confirm contacts and my logs have been uploaded.

I was scheduled to arrive in Athens in time to take part in the Grid Dip contest. My radio, antennas and assorted paraphernalia were packed in one of our checked suitcases. Unfortunately, only 1 of our 3 bags arrived in Athens. The other 2 were still in Amsterdam. My experience with KLM connections leads me to always carry extra clothing in my carryon bag when changing planes in Amsterdam.

Baggage in Athens was amazing with every plane full and Olympic teams arriving with everything from large duffle bags to kayaks. KLM told use that our missing bags would be delivered between midnight and 6AM. The next day was Saturday. By that afternoon, the Grid Dip contest was almost over and I still couldn't get KLM baggage service to answer their phones. Finally we got a call from the delivery company asking for directions. I found both the bags had their tie wrap locks cut off, but nothing was missing and the radio seemed in good shape. I found TSA inspection cards in both bags. That seems to explain why they were separated from the bag that arrived with us.

After a weekend of visiting and visits, we drove up to the cottage in Zemeno. Soon after arrival, I was putting my 20M dipole up in an inverted V configuration. I finally got on the air that night. Over the next few days, I found the best openings were at 8 AM local time. Despite the valley location surrounded by tall peaks, the dipole seemed to perform well.

Finally came the incident. I thought I saw the power out indicator drop to nothing. Since the band was quite busy, I moved to the edge of the display and tried transmitting again - nothing out! My first thought was that my FT-817 had joined the blown finals club. I checked and rechecked everything, or so I thought. I couldn't find anything wrong with the interface. We drove to an Internet café and I looked for trouble shooting ideas. I worked out how to use the buttons on the microphone as a keyer and verified CW worked with full power out. Only after I got home and discovered everything worked fine did I figure out the error of my ways. By moving to the edge of the display to avoid interfering with anyone, I had moved out of my SSB filter's pass band. I found a warning about this in the Digipan help text. The next time I need to send a test CQ on a busy band, I will take Steve W3HF's suggestion and click the tuning knob one notch. This will put me up 2.5KHz and out of everyone's way.

We came back to Athens early to attend some Olympic events. We had a great time and marveled at how well Athens came through at the last minute with a fantastic experience for everyone attending. I'm sorry I didn't actually get to work PSK from Athens with my special Olympic call, but I was very busy having a attending the Olympics and watching events on television.

My final count was 52 contacts from 18 countries and 4 continents. The only 070 member I worked was Duncan ZL3JT. The next morning I worked a Florida station. Otherwise, all my contacts were Europe and Asia.

I already have 3 QSO's confirmed on LoTW. There were 4 eQSL cards waiting for confirmation when the eQSL database is reorganized and more confirmations are trickling in. I expect to get quite a few bureau cards due to the unusual prefix and will reply to all bureau and direct cards requests.

09-Aug-2004 11:48:38 14070.000 BPSK UY1LS 599 579 Walery Dergachi KO80bc
09-Aug-2004 11:58:35 14070.000 BPSK DK5IZ 599 529 Rainer Altenberge JO32GB
09-Aug-2004 17:07:12 14070.000 BPSK DD7IW 599 599 Johann Kaiserslautern
09-Aug-2004 17:14:32 14070.000 BPSK RU3QR 599 599 Sergey Voronezh KO91pr
09-Aug-2004 17:23:20 14070.000 BPSK DH0LQH 579 599 WOLF WINTERSDORF JO61eb
09-Aug-2004 17:31:49 14070.000 BPSK RW6AQ 599 599 SASHA TIMASHEVSK KN 95 LO
09-Aug-2004 17:53:00 14070.000 BPSK RX6APY 599 599 ALEX Novovelihkovskaya KN95KG
09-Aug-2004 18:03:19 14070.000 BPSK DG0OCZ 599 599 ZELLA- MEHLIS JO 50 HP
11-Aug-2004 05:28:53 14070.000 BPSK DL1SWB 599 579 Dieter Neu Krenzlin
11-Aug-2004 05:39:51 14070.000 BPSK F5LMJ 599 599 Alain Paris
11-Aug-2004 05:45:18 14070.000 BPSK DF1KAG 599 599 Karl KOELN JO30MX
11-Aug-2004 05:53:18 14070.000 BPSK 4L1GW 599 599 VLAD TBILISI LN21JQ
11-Aug-2004 06:04:32 14070.000 BPSK ON4CCX 599 599 ROBERT OOSTENDE JO11lf
11-Aug-2004 06:11:49 14070.000 BPSK OH1TD 599 599 TONY Korpo Island KP-00-SD IOTA EU-096
11-Aug-2004 06:17:50 14070.000 BPSK PA3CAU 599 599 JOOP RYEN JO1KO
11-Aug-2004 16:22:10 14070.000 BPSK UA6JD 599 599 Vlad
11-Aug-2004 16:35:29 14070.000 BPSK DL4ARJ 599 599 Hartmut Gera JO60AV
11-Aug-2004 16:44:37 14070.000 BPSK HB9EBV 599 579 Toni Basel JN37TN
11-Aug-2004 16:50:48 14070.000 BPSK RN9AU 599 599 EUGENE KORKINO MO04QV
11-Aug-2004 17:01:46 14070.000 BPSK I8SDB 599 589 WILLY NAPLES
11-Aug-2004 17:13:42 14070.000 BPSK DB1NAB 599 599 BURKHARD MASSBACH JO50DE
11-Aug-2004 17:20:57 14070.000 BPSK EA1AHY 579 549 Arsenio Torrelavega IN73xi
11-Aug-2004 17:30:19 14070.000 BPSK F6KTY 599 599 Robert AVIGNON JN23QV
11-Aug-2004 17:59:02 14070.000 BPSK SM2GSR 599 599 Björn Holmsund KP03er
11-Aug-2004 18:17:40 14070.000 BPSK SP9UH 599 599 STAN DABROWA GORNICZA
11-Aug-2004 18:24:35 14070.000 BPSK EA5GQM 599 599 Juan BENIFAIO IM99SG
12-Aug-2004 05:42:24 14070.000 BPSK 4Z5LF 599 599 Yuri Ashqelon KM71GQ
12-Aug-2004 05:56:19 14070.000 BPSK ZL3JT 599 439 Duncan ChristChurch
12-Aug-2004 06:06:42 14070.000 BPSK EA4IA 599 569 José Madrid IN80DI
12-Aug-2004 06:10:50 14070.000 BPSK PA0RU 599 599 AAD LISSE jo22gg
12-Aug-2004 06:20:13 14070.000 BPSK DF5BE 579 Juergen JO43HM QRP to QRP
12-Aug-2004 06:23:44 14070.000 BPSK DH2JG 599 599 Guenter Cologne JO31OD
12-Aug-2004 06:34:32 14070.000 BPSK EA1UY 599 599 Jose Vigo
12-Aug-2004 06:41:10 14070.000 BPSK DL1AMZ 599 KLAUS FRANKFURT bad QRM?
12-Aug-2004 06:51:28 14070.000 BPSK DL8CYG 599 599 HELMUT OSCHERSLEBEN JO52OA
12-Aug-2004 20:15:16 14070.000 BPSK IK2REA 599 599
12-Aug-2004 20:20:44 14070.000 BPSK DH1RQA 459 599 Uwe Thyrow
12-Aug-2004 20:24:14 14070.000 BPSK PA5O 599 579 Albert Maurik JO21RX
12-Aug-2004 20:31:32 14070.000 BPSK DK1PU 599 599 Ulli Cochem
13-Aug-2004 05:23:44 14070.000 BPSK EK3GM 599 599 BORIS
13-Aug-2004 05:32:36 14070.000 BPSK W4KDB 599 555 KENT APOPKA, FLORIDA
13-Aug-2004 05:44:17 14070.000 BPSK F8TSV 599 599 GERARD CONDE JO10AA
14-Aug-2004 05:55:42 14070.000 BPSK F5OAM 599 599 GERARD TONNEINS JN04DJ
14-Aug-2004 07:19:32 14070.000 BPSK YU1LC 599 599 RADE NIS KN03WH
14-Aug-2004 07:35:09 14070.000 BPSK YZ1MW 459 599 Misha Belgrade KN04FT
14-Aug-2004 09:01:18 14070.000 BPSK DJ6NH 599 599 Klaus Luckenwalde JOae2O
14-Aug-2004 09:08:59 14070.000 BPSK IK2WAS 599 599 EMILIO VARESE JN45KT
14-Aug-2004 09:12:36 14070.000 BPSK DL1SAG 599 589 Hans-Peter Oberreichenbach JN48IR
14-Aug-2004 09:15:23 14070.000 BPSK DL4MAK 599 599 Max Gundelfingen JN58EN
14-Aug-2004 09:22:17 14070.000 BPSK F5MKD 599 599 MICHEL STRASBOURG JN38UP
14-Aug-2004 09:25:54 14070.000 BPSK DL3YGK 599 599 Frank Geretsried JN57RU
14-Aug-2004 09:32:54 14070.000 BPSK DJ4TJ 599 599 HEINZ ERKRATH JO31LF

KF4FHS, Bernie, 14-15 August

Our 2004 APE was held at Millersylvania State Campground, not too far from Olympia, WA. that's the place that used to brew that awful tasting beer, now they turned the brewery into a water bottling plant. I shore hope the water ain't as bad as the beer was.

Anyway, we got to the campground on Saturday the 14th of Aug and I immediately took on the task of unfolding the lawn chair, so I could have a good observation point to make sure that Melonie got the truck unloaded and the tent erected in a proper fashion. My supervisory skills were exemplary in this process going smooth as planned.

On Saturday evening, there was a lady that came strolling (staggering) into our campsite and asked if we had anything to drank, and of course we told her to open up the cooler and get whatever she wanted... Well she opened up the lid and saw that there wasn't anything in there except beer and rum, and she looked at me and said you damn hillbillys don't know how to drank.. She waddled back to her tent and came back in a few minutes with the biggest bottle of Tequila that I've ever saw. Perhaps that's why I didn't make any APE contacts on Saturday :-) Wish I knew that girl's address, I'd send her a thank ya card.

Ok, now for the Ham stuff... On Sunday the 15th after the fog lifted from my eyes, I had 23 QSO's all on 20m. The rig was pretty much the same as in 2003, except I cut a war to 20m and fed it with ladderline to the same ole MFJ-969 and the same ole TS-430

High Points::: Workin my long distance drankin friend K8IJ Workin AL7PW (I think he's in Alaska Charlie) :-) Workin my friends in the 070,,, Jeremy/6 (I didn't know ya ever got off that boat) :-) ,, Brad,,,Rick,,,Tom,,,and everyone else that made it such an enjoyable weekend. The inebriated girl with the big ole jugs... opps I meant to say the girl with the big ole jug of Tequila.

Low Points::: Not seeing any of the Fab Four on my waterfall :-(

73 All, We can't wait until next August,

Bernie/KF4FHS...Melonie/KD7ORS

08-15-2004 20m K5PAX Harvey
08-15-2004 20m K7LRB Larry
08-15-2004 20m N1ZZZ/6 Jeremy
08-15-2004 20m KJ7NO Brad
08-15-2004 20m N6CRR Steve
08-15-2004 20m K8IJ Charlie
08-15-2004 20m K0SU Rick
08-15-2004 20m VE6AYM Marty
08-15-2004 20m K3PSK Tom
08-15-2004 20m AL7PW Ed
08-15-2004 20m XE1HJN Jose (no kin to Cuervo)
08-15-2004 20m W6LOR Lorrie
08-15-2004 20m WA0KNP Ray
08-15-2004 20m K4HMB Joe
08-15-2004 20m W7EFR Rick
08-15-2005 20m AD5EN Charlie
08-15-2004 20m AA9DY Wayne
08-15-2004 20m W5NCK Nancy
08-15-2004 20m N5PU Luther
08-15-2004 20m K0HW Jim
08-15-2004 20m KC5NYO Mikel
08-15-2004 20m KA1ZT Ken
08-15-2004 20m WA9NBU Bob
08-15-2004 20m KM6WC Jim

K3PSK, Tom, & W4TMM, Terry, 21-22 August

August PSK Expedition to Carrabelle, Florida

Leaving before sunup, a quick breakfast stop then a 3 1/2 hour drive, we reached Carrabelle. Very little traffic as Terry knew the back roads. Setup went well. We used a Kenwood TS570, Rigblaster interface, IBM laptop, Mixw2 software. Antenna was a 20 meter hamstick mounted on a homebrew clone of an outbacker tripod ground mount. We were on the air with the first contact being TG9BD. 22 Qsos, 21 Calls, 6 DXCC contacts for these countries ... Guatemala, Cuba, Yugoslavia, Columbia, and Spain. We had quite a deluge for a couple of hours and not much psk activity during that time. We stayed a little longer than planned and so did not get home until around midnite.... it was a long day but very enjoyable.

All QSL cards are in the mail. A return QSL is not necessary.

A few pictures here ... http://tinyurl.com/3wvly

Tom, K3PSK and Terry W4TMM

----------

21-Aug-2004 15:41:40 14071.0 BPSK31 TG9BD 599 599
21-Aug-2004 15:58:49 14071.0 BPSK31 KC0HMJ 599 599
21-Aug-2004 16:10:50 14071.0 BPSK31 N3UYI 599 599
21-Aug-2004 16:24:14 14071.0 BPSK31 KA3GMP 599 599
21-Aug-2004 16:54:11 14071.0 BPSK31 K3AFA 599 599
21-Aug-2004 17:29:16 14071.0 BPSK31 K6QS 599 599
21-Aug-2004 18:11:48 14071.0 BPSK31 W3HF 599 599
21-Aug-2004 19:08:24 14071.0 BPSK31 N6RUH 599 599
21-Aug-2004 19:30:28 14071.0 BPSK31 K8YF 599 599
21-Aug-2004 19:45:03 14071.0 BPSK31 KW1K 599 599
21-Aug-2004 20:22:00 14071.0 BPSK31 W3HF 599 599
21-Aug-2004 20:56:39 14071.0 BPSK31 W8HYG 599 599
21-Aug-2004 21:53:27 14071.0 BPSK31 W1QMT 599 599
21-Aug-2004 22:13:56 14071.0 BPSK31 K5PAX 599 599
21-Aug-2004 22:25:54 14071.0 BPSK31 CO8FD 599 599
21-Aug-2004 22:32:25 14071.0 BPSK31 AD6HF 599 599
21-Aug-2004 23:25:43 14071.0 BPSK31 YU1BVD 349 599
21-Aug-2004 23:53:47 14071.0 BPSK31 CO8AW 599 599
21-Aug-2004 23:59:33 14071.0 BPSK31 HK3JRL 599 599
22-Aug-2004 00:07:03 14071.0 BPSK31 EA7HZ 599 599
22-Aug-2004 00:30:40 14071.0 BPSK31 KC2ILU 599 599
22-Aug-2004 00:51:06 14071.0 BPSK31 KV6O/2 599 599