Bob Cunnings NW8L | |
This year I operated near South Sandia Peak (in the Sandia | |
Wilderness Area, overlooking Albuquerque). The location was atop the | |
long north/south ridge a few hundred yards south of the summit, at | |
approx. 9600 ft. elevation. This is a nice location, with the terrain | |
dropping off sharply to the east and west, but requires a good 4 hour | |
hike to reach. The antenna was a "coupled resonator" 40/20 meter | |
inverted vee with balanced feedline. The apex at approx. 20 feet, | |
supported by a 32 ft. telescoping fiberglass pole lashed to a small tree | |
at the top of the ridge. The "shack" was in a nice sheltered depression | |
in the limestone just below the ridgeline to the west, with a tarp | |
providing shade. I used my 20/30/40 KX1 with autotuner. It was powered | |
from a 2 AH gel cell, charged by a 10 watt solar cell. | |
I managed a total of 28 qso's - 21 BB and 7 home stations, all on | |
20 meters, bees were heard buzzing despite rough conditions. After 3 | |
hours a line of thunderstorms arrived from the west and I was forced to | |
pack up and start back down since lightning makes operation impossible | |
in such an exposed place, even if sheltered from the rain. Signals from | |
the western states were reasonably strong at first, but I heard few | |
stations east of the Mississippi. My only east coast QSO was with | |
N3AO/BB in VA, but also worked K8DDB in MI and K4KO/BB in TN. Thanks | |
all, it was a great time! | |
This year I brought along a camera, and had time to shoot a few pix | |
after setting up... | |
The KX1 setup | |
This is the rig, connected to the gel cell/solar charge controller combo. | |
I like using the little self-powered speaker that plugs right in to | |
the headphone jack. | |
The solar panel | |
The solar panel was placed up above. The day started out with | |
lots of sunshine. I'm told the limestone is courtesy of the | |
Pennsylvanian Era inland sea. | |
The antenna | |
The antenna is made from 64 feet of 450 ohm balanced line. One | |
conductor is opened at the center and connected to the 300 ohm feedline, | |
and serves as directly driven 40 meter dipole. The other conductor is | |
notched out 15 feet in from each end to form a 20 meter dipole centered | |
at the feedpoint, but not connected (the "coupled resonator"). The | |
feedline is 40 feet long and connected directly to KX1, which finds a | |
good match on 30 meters as well as 20 and 40. | |
The radio shack | |
The shack was pretty cozy. Yes, it's well worth it to pack in the | |
lawn chair - it's not that heavy anyway, compared to the water I had to | |
bring up (there's more in the backpack). | |
The view to the South | |
Looking South, in the direction of the Middle Rio iGrande Valley, | |
towards Soccorro. Albuquerque is to the right, several thousand feet down | |
in the valley. | |
The view to the North | |
Looking northward, the summit of South Sandia Peak looms nearby. | |
The tarp served me well when the thunderstorms arrived. The aspen | |
woods to the left, at the bottom of the limestone bluff, are the haunt | |
of mule deer. | |
A waterfall along the trail | |
One of the few waterfalls in the Sandias is found along the trail | |
to South Peak. | |
See you next year! | |