Tales from Solo Portable Operations

California QSO Party 2018

Tony Monroe W6SFI

October 2018

Front Matter

Agenda

  • Share my experiences operating portable in the 2018 California QSO Party
  • Show off some photos taken along the way 📸
  • Present without presentation software 😎
  • Don’t use any emoji more than once 🤓 (except 📸)

Primary Objectives

What did I want to accomplish for this portable operation?

  • Celebrate being a life-long California resident 🎉
  • Give out a relatively rare county to out-of-state contesters.
  • Operate at moderate power in a low-noise natural setting. 🌲
  • Learn lessons for future portable operations.
  • A satisfying number of QSOs.
  • Enjoy a weekend out of the house! 🌴 But not too far out.

Targets of Opportunity

What would make things better if it happened, but no worse if it didn’t?

  • A large number of QSOs. 😳
  • More running time than search-and-pounce time.
  • Bum some overnight crash space from my parents! 😆

What to Avoid

  • Operating QRP, or effectively so 🤐
  • 100% search-and-pounce time
  • Angry park rangers
  • Losing my voice 😶
  • Injuries 🤕 and illnesses 🤒
  • Wildfires 🔥

Preparation

Selecting Locations

One week before the event I visited http://cqp.org/ and looked for unclaimed counties.

  • Stanislaus and Yolo are not claimed yet.
  • I drive through northeastern Stanislaus County whenever I visit my parents.
  • I wonder if the contest organizers know any operating spots? 🤔

Mail to More Experienced Operators

So I sent mail to the contest organizers.

I’m interested in operating from Stanislaus County. I would prefer to operate from a nature-oriented location somewhere near highway 120, as that’s how I would travel from my residence in Alameda County to visit family, but if there are better locations elsewhere I would like to hear about them.

Certainly the members of the Northern California Contest Club would know something about portable operating spots!

Mail from More Experienced Operators

Any ideas [name redacted]?

I took a quick look at Google Earth, and there seems to be a nice little park called Orange Blossom Recreation Area about 4 miles east of Oakdale…GL, I’m going to need STAN myself this time.

Glad to hear you will going to Stanislaus…Maybe someone on the email list will have a suggestion for a good location.

Equipment

  • ICOM IC-7200 transceiver, covering 160 thru 6 meters 📻
  • MFJ-902B transmatch
  • Outbacker 500 vertical antenna, covering 75 thru 10 meters 📡
  • Hamstick mount on slightly modified modified camera tripod
  • Extremely Sophisticated (cough) Radial System
  • Laptop computer with N1MM 💻
  • Borrowed generator ⚡
  • Shade tent ⛺
  • Folding table
  • Folding chair
  • Toolbox 🔧
  • Overnight bag 😴
  • 2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Sportwagen 🐎

Saturday

Scouting: Turlock Lake

East of Modesto on CA-132. A (metaphorical) stone’s throw from the Tuolumne River.


View Larger Map

What would make a decent location?

  • Open to day use. Day use entrance is on northwest side.
  • Nearby bathroom.
  • Close to parking.
  • Plenty of lake view.

How about the northwest shore of the lake?

  • Southeast corner of CM97qp
  • Lots of parched grass nearby…
  • Power lines across the road…
  • Not really flat and level…
  • Almost completely exposed to the elements… 🌞

We’ll take it!

Northwest shore of Turlock Lake
Northwest shore of Turlock Lake

A Parking Lot with a View 📸

A local grandmother who brought her two grandchildren said the lake was very full!

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Setting Up

  • Weather was pleasant, partly cloudy and breezy…
  • …but setup was a drag!
  • I didn’t have suitable stakes for sandy ground.
  • Of all the tools in the world, why did I forget a hammer 🔨 to drive the stakes that I did have?
  • Too many trips on a sloped path between the beach and the car, without a wagon or dolly.

Shade tents are made for days like this 📸

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Very close to the water 📸

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Let’s operate! 📸

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Antenna setup 📸

With Extremely Sophisticated (cough) Radial System.

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Saturday Operating Summary

  • Noisy all day (S4-S5 on 15 and 20 meters). 💥
  • Was it the power lines or the generator?
  • 40 meters was useless (S9 noise floor). 💣
  • Chair was perhaps better for tailgating than operating.
  • Still made 30 contacts.
  • Teardown was faster than setup but possibly more of a drag…
  • …because my car was up a hill and I didn’t have a wagon! 🏋

Relaxing on Saturday Evening 📸

Dog tax! Meet Misty, my parents’ 8-pound toy poodle, who wouldn’t smile for the camera.

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Sunday

Morning Sightseeing: Knights Ferry

  • East of Oakdale on CA-108/CA-120, straddles CM97pt and CM97qt
  • One of the Stanislaus River Parks
  • Longest covered bridge west of the Mississippi River!
  • Former grain mill and hydroelectric generator station.
  • Popular site for river rafters to put in, but possibly not that day

Knights Ferry 📸

The covered bridge, viewed from the south end.

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Knights Ferry 📸

The office building across the path from the mill.

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Knights Ferry 📸

Panorama of the bridge, from underneath on the west side. It does not actually curve.

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Knights Ferry 📸

Looking up the Stanislaus River in the morning.

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Scouting: Orange Blossom Park

  • A few miles east of Oakdale, on the north side of the Stanislaus River.
  • Northeast corner of CM97os
  • Right next to the river, but basically in a valley.
  • Nice place for a picnic, but possibly not for daytime HF operating.
  • We had another place in mind anyway, let’s move on.

Scouting: Woodward Reservoir

A few miles north of Oakdale on county highway J14. Takes up a lot of CM97nu.


View Larger Map

A Closer Look at Woodward Reservoir

So where to operate here?

  • The road to the peninsula in the middle of the reservoir was closed.
  • How about picnic areas on the west shore?
  • Definitely more flat and more level than yesterday!
  • Green grass, shade trees, concrete picnic tables…
  • …but very windy today. 🌬
  • Maybe we can make use of bushes and trees.

We’ll take it!

Picnic area on west shore of Woodward Reservoir
Picnic area on west shore of Woodward Reservoir

View from the Water’s Edge 📸

This looks like a pleasant spot, even if we’re not operating.

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Setting Up

  • Setup was easier than yesterday!
  • Table, seating, and shade were already provided.
  • Used another concrete picnic table to block acoustic and possibly RF noise from the generator.
  • Used a bush to shield the antenna from the stiff wind!

Using natural features to my advantage 📸

Flimsy camera tripod not falling over in the wind, thanks to a nearby bush.

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Let’s operate! 📸

The antenna hasn’t fallen over after a few minutes, so let’s try to make some contacts!

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Nobody came to visit 📸

No visitors all day! Well, almost.

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Sunday Operating Summary

  • Noise floor was much lower, S0. Easier to make those contacts!
  • Got most of my contacts for the contest from calling CQ on 21373 and holding it for a lot longer than I expected! 🤩
  • No pileup, but it was fun to be a wanted station.
  • Maybe this solo portable operating thing is really a thing!
  • Teardown was only about 15 minutes.
  • Back home within 3 hours of contest end.

Contest Log

Map of Completed Contacts

Summary

  • 85 QSOs, 74 unique calls
  • 30 on Saturday, 55 on Sunday
  • 36 on 20 meters, 49 on 15 meters
  • 84 via phone, 1 via CW
  • 84 out-of-state, 1 in-state

Highlights

  • 36 contacts in 55 minutes from calling CQ and running on 21373 on Sunday 😀
  • Stopped running when only Tennessee was answering, and not often.
  • Made it as far as Alaska, Maine, and Florida.
  • Nothing off-continent. Where were Hawaii and Japan? 😞
  • About a dozen “thanks for the new county!” 👍

Lessons Learned

Tools

  • Should have made a packing list and worked from it.
  • Shade tent was a good idea. Even better when you don’t need it!
  • Should have brought a hammer for stakes.
  • Should have brought corkscrew sand stakes.
  • Should have brought a wagon to make hauling gear easier.

Antenna

  • Vertical antenna low to the ground got good distance…
  • …but in-state was very difficult!
  • Holy Skip, Batman! Out of state, nothing closer than Colorado.
  • Should have brought an NVIS dipole to get 6- and 7-land.
  • Unknown if Extremely Sophisticated (cough) Radial System had any effect. It probably didn’t hurt.

Power

  • Generators are useful but noisy and smelly and fussy. ⛽
  • For daylight-only operations with 100 watts, a battery and solar setup should be sufficient.
  • For less than 5 hours per day at 100 watts, a big battery should be sufficient. 🔋

Location

  • Visiting ahead of time is invaluable, but not always possible. 💰
  • Prior research with a web browser can help.
  • Hilltops covered with parched grass are not attractive to generator users. 🚒
  • Convenient bushes can help flimsy verticals remain upright on windy days…
  • …but a weight system is probably a better idea!
  • Operating portable can help you meet the locals…
  • …if any locals are out and about.

Operating

  • Should have set up recordings to save my voice, at least for calling CQ. 🎙
  • Calling CQ in an empty spot on 15 meters got me most of my QSOs…
  • …until all I got was a thin stream of Tennessee. Time to change tactics.
  • N1MM is actually good software. 😲 Surprising for someone who wrote this presentation.
  • Being a desirable station can be fun! 😁

Back Matter

About This Presentation

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Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Map page source code: not public yet, maybe some day!

Any Questions?

QRT

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