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...
IMG 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.
IMG 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.
IMG 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.
IMG 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).
IMG 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.
IMG 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.
IMG 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!
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