ARRL Field Day 2013

N4LA at ARRL Field Day 2013

"CQ Field Day"

Here is my ARRL field day site for 2013

Location ... South bound rest area off Hwy 220 

South of Asheboro NC ( near the Seagrove Exit )

Yes we operated from the rest area ... 

with permission of course.

Station # 1 .... a nice hill top location

Op : N4LA / Todd

We had 2 stations set up (operating independently)

Both were in the 1B class

One station was qrp (5 watts) and mainly CW

While the other was SSB (100 watts)

Antenna mount ... charcoal grill w/ 31 ft Jack kite mast

Secured with ... bungee straps

Antenna ... LNR Precision 20/40 Par End Fed

Power / Class .... 1B 

( One Transmitter w/ Solar & Battery Power )

Solar .... Goal Zero (27 watt) portable solar panel

Battery ... Buddipole A123 Lithium

Charge Control .... From Buddipole

Operating Position # 1 ....

Rig ... Yaesu FT-857D @ 100 watts

Tuner .... LDG Z11w/ internal batteries

Computer ... Lenovo S10-3 ideapad netbook

Batteries ... Buddipole A123  ( 4S3P & 4S2P )

Station # 2 .... QRP & CW

Another nice hill top location

Operating  Position # 2

Rig ... Elecraft KX3 @ 5 watts

Computer ... Cell Phone

Keys ... Straight key and paddle

Battery .... Lithium

Antenna .... Beta testing unit on 31 ft Jack Kite pole

( Possibly something new from LNR Precision ??? )

Ops at station # 2...

AE4LD / Larry (left) & KB4QQJ / Randy (right)

These guys are the R&D team from LNR Precision

( Larry is the company owner )

Wrapping up another field day................

(As we head back to our vehicles ... 

Notice how we are looking down on them ...

from our operating position.)

We set up from 4 pm to 7 pm (local time)

with just over 2:30 actual operating time.

I ended up with 74 contacts in the field day log...

I 'm not sure about Larry and Randy's totals...

But I do know they were having no problems putting

contacts in the log !!

FIELD DAY

IS

GREAT FUN 

& 

GREAT FELLOWSHIP

Thanks Larry and Randy  for another year

of field day memories.

I can't wait till next year !!

73 de N4LA

"Get Radio-Active"

SOTA Shack Sloth Award

I would like to thank Dennis (WA2USA) and Rich (N4EX) for their SOTA activation
efforts today ... As well as all the activators I've worked in the past few
months.......
This morning 5/28/2013... I worked Dennis (WA2USA)at 15:23 UTC (7.033 cw)... on
(W4G/NG-023)Big Cedar Mountain in Georgia.
This contact allowed me to surpass the 1000 pt chaser milestone and qualify for
the SOTA Shack Sloth award !!!
Not only did Dennis become a Mountain Goat a few days ago ... he also helped
transform me into a Shack Sloth this morning........
Guess I'm now a official " SOTA-HOLIC "
Thanks again to all who helped me reach this milestone ... SOTA Rocks !!!!!!!
72 de N4LA / Todd

CQ SOTA >>>>> Summits On The Air !!

N4 .... LIVE ACTION !!!!

From Buffalo Mountain, Virginia

Hello this is Todd (N4LA) in Denton, NC. 
Radio-wise, Saturday was a blast. 
At mid-morning, my buddy Jack, W4TJE and I drove up to Buffalo Mtn with our backpacks 
and portable radio gear, in Floyd County, VA. Jack and I are the same 
age (49), from the same town originally in NC (Siler City), grew up together, 
both learned radio together, and even have common relatives by marriage. After 
school, he joined the Marines, while I joined the Navy, so it did my heart 
proud today to show the Marine how a Navy guy humps to the top of a mountain 
peak (SINGING ANCHORS AWAY WHILE CARRYING BOTH BACKPACKS).
So a full hour after I (USN) had made it to the top carrying all of the gear, 
Jack (USMC) finally arrived, and we were ready to get on air. We set up at the 
summit at 3970 feet, with me (USN) doing all the work, while Jack (USMC) 
drinking coffee and telling Iraq war stories (LIES) about How he had trained Navy Seals
and physically beat the Taliban into submission !! (This guy can lie with the best of them )
It was then that I  introduced him to the world of the Summits On The 
Air (SOTA). IT WAS AWESOME.!! We operated both phone and cw and put that peak 
on the air for only the second time. We had stns calling us from Europe to the 
West Coast, and put over 70 of them in the log before shutting down and 
climbing down the mountain ( I had to carry Jack, he had ran out of both coffee 
and war stories ((LIES)) by then). Of course Jack will deny this day till the day he dies !!
I can't wait until the next summit ... but I hope jack lays off the doughnuts until then !!
By the way this was my very first SOTA activation .... it was also Jacks first activation.
So Thank you Jack for still hanging out with me, and the great friendship over all these years.
Also thanks to all the stations that showed up to work... without you guys it wouldn't have been possible!

Please Note: This story is not true !!  ( Hi Hi )  .... but I wish it was !!

73 de Todd / N4LA

Jack (W4TJE) at the trail head

W4TJE at the start of the climb

A view from the top into VA !!

Looking the opposite Direction

View into NC from operating position

Jack operating CW on 20 meters

Todd operation 40 meter SSB

W4TJE on the Summit ... CQ SOTA !!

Radio Equipment list

Rig:  Yaesu FT 857D @ 25W

Antenna::  LNR Precision EF-40/20

Battery:  Buddipole 4S3P A123 Battery Pack

Antenna Mast:  31ft Jackite Fiberglass Pole

CW Key:  Palm Mini Paddle

73 de N4LA

Get Radio-Active

LA7GNA Moose Pics

My buddy John (LA7GNA) sent me a couple of pictures he took of moose that 

he spotted from his drive going into his home.

John is located in Norway , and is a very good friend of mine.

We chat almost every weekend on 21.217

Thanks for the pics John !!

New "ManCave" for N4LA !!

N4LA ... My Last Project & Post for 2012

( Click on pics to enlarge)

In the beginning ..... There was lots of work to be done.

I purchased a new pre -fab 12ft X 12ft Building.

to make into my new Ham Radio Shack / ManCave !!

Sheet Rock and Painting ... Not alot of fun !!

.... will it be worth all the effort ?

I used 3 gallons of Cabot "Australian Timber Oil" 

on the exterior.

Coax / Cable and Station Ground Entry Points.

Here's the new look at N4LA !!

Looks like all the hard work paid off.

Here is my main operating position at N4LA

Happy New Year to all ...

"ManCave" Complete !!!!!

To view additional pics of my new shack

click here on QRZ.COM

73 de N4LA

RARSfest 2012 SOTA presentation

What is SOTA ?

by

W4MPS / Marc Sullivan

Thanks Marc !!

Check out more of Marc's excellent Videos
at
http://www.youtube.com/w4mps

Get

"RADIO-ACTIVE"

73 de N4LA

VP2M with new KX3's !!!!!

The "Buddies in the Caribbean" mini-DXpedition group is off to VP2M (Montserrat) April 8-16th, 2012 with a new group of operators who have never experienced the "other side of a pileup"! We will have two of the new Elecraft KX3's (Ser#23 and #24) with us! We believe this will be the first DXpedition using the new KX3 radio!

Because of severe baggage limits on the Antigua to Monserrat flight (one bag under 50 lbs!), we will be limited to 100 watt or less low power radios and the Buddipole portable antenna systems. Yet our goal is to demonstrate "ultralite" dxpeditioning into magnificent "vista" locations, operating a field portable, battery-only KX3 radio with backpackable, lightweight antennas and most of all "having fun" on the "volcano isle".

The eight operators are: Budd/VP2MFF (W3FF), Guy/VP2MUN (N7UN), Paul/VP2MVO (KB9AVO), Larry/VP2MLR (W7DGP), Russ/VP2MQR (N7QR), Tom/VP2MTM (K2GSJ), and Chris/VP2MYZ (N2YYZ). There will be several Gingerbread Villa stations in operation on 160-10m using CW, SSB, and RTTY or PSK. At the same time, several teams will be battery-only, field portable either from Montserrat beaches or scenic mountain tops with the KX3 and signing callsign/p. 

QSL via LoTW, eQSL,or mail to the operator’s home callsign (SASE required).

73 de N4LA