AA5B:
KK6MC and I have wanted to operate together for a while, and this was a
lot of fun! Arrived
at the site near Tijeras Canyon at about 6:15, greeted by a dusting of
snow on the ground
(7500 feet elevation!) and some still falling. We had the 20-meter inverted
vee up at the top of
a ponderosa pine tree by 7:00, thanks to the EZ-Hang slingshot. The other
antennas, a 40-
meter inverted vee at about 50 feet and a 35-ft. doublet for 10/15 meters,
went up just as
easily. By 8:30 we had all the stations assembled, had gotten a couple
quick reports to confirm
that we were getting out okay, and also discovered a dead battery in the
W9XT memory keyer
(and no spare, of course). It wasn't a big problem, since the K1, NC20
and QRP++ all had
internal keyers anyway. Had a great time in the contest, but we wish there
had been more
activity -- especially oon 15 and 40 meters.
AA5CK:
Friday's weather was terrible, cold north wind, cold rain, and to top it
off, severe thunderstorms
in the area. The forecast for Saturday was more of the same. However, my
enthusiasm was
renewed Saturday morning when the sun broke through the clouds and the
temperature was
mild. "The cultural collision between pioneers and Indians reached its
peak on the Great Plains
during the decades before and after the Civil War. U.S. Government policy
sought to separate
tribes and settlers from each other by establishing an Indian Territory
(present day Oklahoma).
Some Plains tribes accepted life on reservations. Others, including the
Cheyenne, Kiowa and
Comanches did not. They continued to hunt and live on traditional lands
outside the Indian
Territory. At first, this choice produced little conflict. But following
the Civil War, land-hungry
settlers began penetrating the plains in increasing numbers, encroaching
upon tribal hunting
grounds. Indians could no longer retreat beyond the reach of whites, and
many chose to defend
their freedom and lands rather than submit to reservation life. The Battle
of Washita took
place just outside the present day location of the town of Cheyenne, in
western Oklahoma.
The Washita Battlefield National Historic Site protects and interprets
the site of the Southern
Cheyenne village of Peace Chief Black Kettle that was attacked by the 7th
U.S. Cavalry
under Lt. Col. George A. Custer just before dawn on N ov. 27, 1868. The
controversial
strike was hailed at the time by the military and many civilians as a significant
victory aimed
at reducing Indian raids on frontier settlements. Washita remains controversial
because many
Indians and whites labeled Custer's attack a massacre. Black Kettle is
still honored as a
prominent leader who never ceased striving for peace, even though it cost
him his life." Due
to the sacred nature of the site, I had agreed to operate at an inconspicuous
spot, so I hiked
in and set up at the eastern boundary of the site about 3/4 mile from the
parking lot on an
abandoned railroad right-of-way. I was well off the beaten path. This historical
site has few
visitors and fewer still that hike the trails, so I had the area to myself.
I set up my Sunny Day
20 vertical and strung an end-fed wire north over the tops of a couple
of trees. I used both
equally and could not determine if either out-performed the other from
this location today.
My rig is a K1, powered by a 2.9 Ah battery and a Solar World Panel, which
puts out 4.5
watts from a 7-by-8.5-inch package. NK0E's Serial CW Sender, his GOLog
program, and a
Palm IIIxe completes the station. My only problem is that I don't do "Graffiti"
very well
and my timing gets messed up having to re-enter information. By noon the
clouds had all
cleared to the east and it had turned into a beautiful afternoon, and I
made the most of it
enjoying two of my favorite activities: ham radio and being outdoors. I
took several breaks
from operating for lunch and taking a couple of short walks around the
area. I still ended up
with 53 QSOs, more than enough to make my day! Thanks to everyone who participated
and I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I.
AD6JV:
This was great fun as usual, even though I didn't make it to a battlefield.
UR5HAC must
have been listening and wanted to join in the fun.
AE5X:
Great contest, as always! Reading about where other folks will be operating
from is almost as fun
as the contest itself. Thanks to all who put effort into arranging this
contest. See you next year!
AK7Y: "The Battleground"
proved to be a bit elusive when I tried to pin down the specific location.
Interviews of lifelong residents of the privately owned "Ghost Town" of
Sprucedale could
not yield the answer. An old cowboy, a member of an early pioneer Mormon
family, finally
gave me a very definitive description of the location near the confluence
of the Black River
and Reservation Creek, in the extreme southwest corner of Apache County.
This is about
8 miles WSW of Sprucedale, Ariz., in the Apache National Forest. We operated
on a ridge
overlooking the "battleground." -- BATTLEGROUND: El: c. 8000', Loc.: Ap;ache
3, G-9.25.
"On Black River near Sprucedale Lodge. Some years after his arrest for
cow stealing, followed
by his escape from jail, young Bill Smith came back into home territory
to see his brothers,
Al, George and Floyd. They made the mistake of showing up at Crosby's store,
sixteen miles
south of Eagar. After the Smiths left, Crosby organized a possee to track
Bill down. The
Smiths were found in a sunken marshy meadow where a fierce gun battle ensued.
Bill and
two of the posse were killed. The place is now called the Battleground."
Ref.: Thompson.
Map: None. -- excerpted from "Arizona Place Names," by Byrd H. Granger.
K0EVZ: I live about
a mile west of Edgewood, NM, and the site was roughly half-way. Some
year I plan
to put up a better antenna, but this little wire is light weight and easy
to carry and deploy. I simply
tape it to an SD-20 pole. Many thanks for putting together this contest.
It truly was fun this time,
and the weather was great. Only problem I had was road noise from being
so close to historic Route
66, and I-40 just beyond.
K4JSI: Propagation
seemed good and the antenna appeared to work well on 40m. I received a
number
of 599 reports from other participants with my 3 watts. Pity my power cord
shorted out and
brought things to a halt after two hours. My site was the scene of fighting
just prior to the
Battle of Antietam, early in the fall of 1862. I think the theme of this
year's QRPTTF was great!
This annual event is a great favorite of mine and many others!
K6JSS:
In honor of the upcoming QRP ARCI Four Days In May, operated under the
ARCI Club Call,
K6JSS. Had a really hard time getting the KX1 paddle to send a 6 followed
by a J, but otherwise,
tremendous fun. Operated from the summit of Stone Mountain, Georgia, one
of the bastions of the
Confederacy. Officially, there were no major battles fought during the
Civil War at Stone Mountain.
However, local pundit Lewis Grizzard (now deceased) used to tell the following
story: Seems
General Sherman had raped and pillaged most of downtown Atlanta and was
headed east (to deliver
Savannah to President Lincoln as a present). He and his troops were passing
Stone Mountain when
they saw a Confederate soldier up on top of the mountain calling them all
kinds of names and just
generally causing a ruckus. Well, this was something that Gen. Sherman
couldn't stand, so he sent
one of his best soldiers up to take the guy out. The guy goes up and there
was all kinds of hoot'n
and holler'in and swearin' and any kind of nastiness, and finally, the
Union soldier's body comes
flying off the mountain and lands right at Gen. Sherman's feet, dead. Well,
by this time, Gen.
Sherman was pretty mad, so he sent 10 men up the mountain to fetch that
Confederate soldier. Once
again, there was all kinds of noise and swearin' and gunfire and sparks
flying, and finally, one of the
10 men comes flying off the mountain, lands at Gen. Sherman's feet, and
dies. At this point, Gen.
Sherman has gotten really mad and sends 100 men up the mountain, with orders
to kill the guy. Trees
start crashing, guns are blarin' and sparks are flyin', all kinds of swear
words and such like you never
heard. Finally, one Union soldier comes flying off the mountain, and just
barely alive, lands at Gen.
Sherman's feet. "It's a trick, General Sherman," the soldier says, "...
there's two of them!" It is true
that on his destructive "March to the Sea," General Sherman destroyed the
Georgia Railroad line
between Stone Mountain and Decatur to the east of Stone Mountain. In addition
to Atlanta, the Union
army burned some of the buildings in the village of New Gibraltar (present
day Stone Mountain). The
face of Stone Mountain features the largest high relief sculpture in the
world. The Confederate Memorial
Carving depicts three Confederate heroes of the Civil War: President Jefferson
Davis and Generals
Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. The entire carved
surface measures three-acres,
larger than a football field. The carving of the three men towers 400 feet
above the ground, measures 90
by 190 feet, and is recessed 42 feet into the mountain. The deepest point
of the carving is at Lee's elbow,
which is 12 feet to the mountain's surface. My operating position was at
the summit of the mountain, in
the shadow of some scrub pine trees (more like "pine bushes"). The
summitIt is at 1,683 feet above sea
level, rises 825 feet above the surrounding area and can be reached by
cable car or by hiking. I hiked
the 1.25 (10.4% grade) to the summit. Rough conditions, lots of QSB, but
operated 2 hours on 20M using
KX1 #73 with a modified MP1 antenna. Carried K1 to summit as well, but
it didn't seem to work (darn,
wanted to try 15M). -- 72 de Mike, KO4WX
K7NWS:
Operators are members of the Boeing Employees' Amateur Radio Society (BEARS).
K7NWS
is the BEARS club call. We operated from a park in the city of Bonney Lake,
Wash., the site
of skirmishes of the Indian War of 1855-1856. See attached pdf file for
details. Rigs were
Ten-Tec Triton and Elecraft KX1 feeding end-fed wire antennas.
KD4ORO: I had a personal
battle with the yellow flies during contest. I think something was helping
fight
them that I couldn't see.
KG4HTT: This was my first try at QRPTTF, it was a fun contest.
KI0II: Since it was
quite a distance to any historical battlefields, I decided to operate from
a spot near the
largest wildland fire in Colorado history, the Hayman Fire. What a battle
it was with Mother Nature
the clear winner having charred 137,760 acres.
N0KE: Breezy weather
near the Ute Creek Trail in the Lost Creek Wilderness in Colorado. Leisurely
time
working the contest and enjoying nature. Used my K1 on 15m and 20m into
a PAC-12 antenna (tried
40m a little but no success). The PAC-12 seems to be a good performer on
20 and 15. Thanks for a
fun contest!
N7CEE: At the last
minute I had to cancel my plans to operate from the Battle of Big Dry Wash,
one of Arizona's
last Apache War battlefields. I operated from home but conditions here
in northern Arizona were awful.
All bands were dead most of the time- I couldn't even hear the PSK crowd
up at 14070 most of the day-
a very bad sign. At first I thought the rig or antenna had a problem, but
checking with a second rig and
antenna confirmed that it was propagation. Every now and then I could hear
activity just down in the
noise floor on 20 so I hoped something was happening elsewhere. Eventually
I made 1 (ONE) contact on
40 meters with another AZ station. So I respectfully submit the next to
lowest possible score (could have
been worse, could have missed the 100 bonus points).
N7OU: I hiked 3 miles
down the beach to a favorite spot so I could operate next to the several
miles of saltwater
in Tillamook Bay. I just leaned back against a piece of driftwood and enjoyed
the radio and the view. It
was a beautiful day -- about 70 and sunny.
NA5N:
Myself and Jan (N0QT) decided to go down to historic Fort Craig, which
was established in 1854 and
the area has been the site of several Civil War skirmishes. I went on over
the hill overlooking Black Mesa
where the famous Battle of Valverde was fought while Jan stayed at the
main fort itself. Jan didn't do so well
as the minute she hooked up the antenna to the tuner on her 817, then turned
on the power, the radio
turned off and refused to come back on. So she cranked down the power on
her FT-100 with the ATAS-100
antenna and immediately the antenna crapped out. Any of you who know Jan
know that she is not
one to be caught off guard. She even carries spare antennas. So she got
out her spare 6-band Comet
vertical and gave it a go anyway. Luck was just not with her and she threw
in the towel and propped
her swollen ankle up on the table and read a good book. I fared pretty
well over by the mesa. Managed
to work a few on 20 meters and only 5 on 40m, which was a surprise as conditions
seemed to be pretty
good here. I used my 817 and a homebrew vertical antenna and NO WIND! Yep,
you saw it right, no
wind!
NE4LS: Had a great time. The 1/2 wave vertical on a salty beach worked better that I had expected.
NQ2RP: Seagulls and
COLD winds! The #$&*(@&$ gulls broke one leg of the 40 Meter
dipole and it was too cold
for the PyroPen to heat up the joint enough to take solder, so I went home,
fixed the antenna an went to a
different local battlefield, this one on the shore of Lake Ontario where
the US and British navies had a running
battle from near Sodus, NY to Point Breeze. Still cold but no gulls and
a tree to hang the dipoles from. Lots
of fun, and a good chance to check out the QRP++ I just picked up.
NU7T: For this event
I bicycled to Windy Hill in Reno, Nev. Upon this promontory where combatant
leadership would have been posted, I strung out wire across the sage brush.
PA0CMU: Signals were
rather weak here in the Netherlands but I worked one more station than
last year, hi.
I will bring along my QSL cards to delever them personaly when visiting
the Dayton Hamvention
in May.
VE3WMB: During a four-day
period in November 1838, British troops and local militia defeated an
invasion force of 300 American "Hunters" and Canadian rebels. The Battle
of the Windmill
victory prevented the invasion force from capturing nearby Fort Wellington
and cutting the
St. Lawrence communications link, which would have left Upper Canada open
to invasion.
The windmill was built in the 1820s to grind grain and in 1872 was converted
into a Lighthouse
that remained in service until 1978. Today the mill (Lighthouse) and adjacent
land are a National
Historic Site. This site is located in New Wexford, Ontario, which is a
small village east of
Prescott on the St Lawrence River (across from Ogdensburg, NY). I managed
to get in about 2.5
hours of operation, although I wasn't on the air for all of that time.
I had a visit from "Murphy" in
the first hour, in the form of a sudden violent wind gust that toppled
my W3FF Buddipole doing
some damage to the antenna and the mast, so I spent a lot of the last hour
and a half fiddling with
my broken antenna and trying to make it work properly. This was the maiden
voyage for KX1
serial #290 (running on 10 AA NiMH cells at 3 Watts) and it performed flawlessly.
Also this was
the first time that I used GOLOG on my Palm Pilot and it worked great for
me. I used the Buddipole
in a horizontal position at 10ft for 40M NVIS and, with the accessory Rotating
Arm Kit, as an L
antenna for 20M. Next year I'll be better prepared for the wind!
W0OOW:
About 45 deg. Rain, rain, rain, wind, rain, wind. Then the keyer
paddles stuck due to the cold.
Then the band went belly up. I gave up and went home - soaked and
frozen. See you next year!
W0UFO: Cold wx, but fun. Thanks to everyone.
W1PID: Very little
QRP activity during first few hours. 15 was surprisingly good. AA5B in
NM was best DX.
Winds were gusting to 35 MPH in New Hampshire. I was at the site of an
Indian skirmish on the
Merrimack River in Penacook NH. I worked the first 2 hours of the contest.
Thanks to all.
W2AGN: Gorgeous Day,
good band conditions. Wonderful time. Brandywine Creek, site of August
1977 Battle
in Revolutionary War that lost the City of Philadelphia to the British.
Unfortunately, we got it back.
Battle had all the modern stuff: 1.) Friendly Fire Casualties; 2.) General
(Washington) ignored intelligence
that British were coming; 3.) Locals betrayed American Army to enemy; 4.)
French "allies" cut and run.
W3CD: I had a terrific
time operating from the Marin Headlands, the site of Battery 129. This
was a
partially completed anti-aircraft gun battery built during WWII. No battles
were fought there
and not even a single round was fired from the two installed twelve inch
guns. Information
I've gleaned from the Web indicates that the guns awaiting installation
were sold to Gillette
and sliced up into razor blades for the never ending battle of the beard.
Sitting at the western
edge of the continent, I was able to work a number nearby states on 20
and 15m and there
were a few openings to east coast. I heard AD6JV in VA working stations,
but wasn't able to
raise him. Doc, K0EVZ, was holding court on 14060 as was AK7Y on 40m. Only
28 Q's in
my log today during 5 hours of operation alternating between S&P and
calling CQ. The solar
cycle is definitely taking its toll since this is my lowest count, and
I've been using the same gear
for several QRPTTF outings. Can't blame the equipment because it checked
out fine the day
before the contest. There were many signals heard at near-ESP levels
that I never worked. The
weather was absolutely perfect! I was distracted during one Q when a plane
resembling a P-51
Mustang flew up the channel leading to the Golden Gate Bridge, banked right,
flashed its belly at
me and leveled out over San Francisco.
W4GGM: Our team operated
about 5 hours from Holland Hill, the site of Civil War skirmishes in Columbia,
TN, 40 miles south of Nashville, TN. This is private property and old breastworks
are still visible
on the landscape. Numerous Minnie balls and other similar projectiles have
been found by
"treasure" hunters on the site. General Nathan B. Forrest's Columbia encampment
is now the site
of an adjacent subdivision (Forrest Acres). Columbia is better known as
the Mule Capital of the
World with mule auctions in the 1800's involving the sale of as many as
30,000 mules each spring
season. More recently our mules have served in Afghanistan! Tennessee
is second only to Virginia
in the number Civil War battles and skirmishes fought on its soil. If CIVIL
WAR is the theme for
another QRPTTF we will have to appropriate some reenactment guys (there
are a lot of them around
here) and run a bit of land line telegraphy to adorn our operations.
W5KDJ: Props were West
on both bands all day. Ran 250mw & worked everyone I called.
Had more replys
to CQ's in this test. K1-4 and 7 element yagi at 50'. AA1MY came
in on 15M 599+. Rain was
predicted for STX & we had about 3 inches so I operated From the Home
QTH. Started slow but
picked up in PM. Had fun supporting the Field stations.
WA7LNW: QRPTTF is one
of my all-time favorite QRP operating events ... so I chose to operate
this
year from historic "Fort Harmony" the stratiegic Mormon Militia headquarters
of the "1857
Mountain Meadow Massacre," near Enterprise, Utah. In September 1857, nearly
140
Arkansas emigrants camped near Enterprise in southwestern Utah. Local residents
had
heard rumors that the U.S. Army was en route to put down the growing Mormon
movement,
so the wagon train was viewed with suspicion and animosity. The Fancher-Baker
Party was
attacked without warning by Indians and later by local Mormon militia.
In all, approximately
120 people were killed, mostly women and children. In 1877, twenty years
after the
massacre, participant John D. Lee was tried, convicted and executed by
a firing squad on
the very spot that the Mountain Meadows Massacre took place.
WA9PWP:
I operated from the battlefield of the "Battle of Wisconsin Heights," which
took place
July 21, 1832, during the Blackhawk War. This was, of course, a "war" of
U.S. militiamen
chasing and killing Sauk and Fox Ntaive Americans under Chief Blackhawk
and 50 of his
warriors held off the militia while the rest of his warriors helped the
women and children
cross the Wisconsin River to safety. At nightfall, the militia retreated.
The actual battlefield
has been preserved and mapped; the land is owned by the Wisconsin Dept.of
Natural resources,
and is near Sauk City, Wis. Due to prior commitments, I only operated about
4-1/2 hours. The
weather was overcast and windy with temperatures in the low to mid-50s.
Shortly after I left, it
began to rain. I'm glad I left when I did! The Elecraft K-1 and Pacific
Antennas PAC-12
performed extremely well. I operated mostly 20 meters and found few TTF
stations on 40 meters.
I did not have an antenna set up for 15 meters.
WB1HGA: There were
no conflicts in Fall River area, we got along with the Indians, I guess.
Most of the
Civil War or independence battles were either Boston or Newport, RI. Neither
location will
allow me to "set up." So I picked a nice public park. Could only operate
less than 5 hours.
WB3GCK:
I
operated from Valley Forge Park, which is only about 15 minutes from home.
The weather was
beautiful. The bands seemed a little weak early on but they opened
up a bit as the afternoon wore on.
The park rangers drove by several times, eyeing my 28-foot fishing pole
vertical but never said anything.
Right before I left a park maintenance worker drove up and asked what I
was doing. He said he saw me
there all afternoon and his curiousity just got the best of him.
All in all, it was a fun afternoon.