Bob Cunnings NW8L
This year - to the desert for FOBB. The location was up on a mesa
overlooking the Arroyo Bernalillito area of the Ojito Wilderness
northwest of Albuquerque, NM. A narrow promontory juts out northward
from the main body of the mesa, with its head standing about 300 feet
above the surrounding terrain at an elevation of 6100 feet. This is a
great spot for a QRP station and provides a clear shot for signals to
the west, north, and east.
IMG West view of mesa
Getting up there isn't too difficult if you take your time. The
lower portion consists of steep debris slopes, and the uppermost portion
a sheer sandstone vertical wall. Fortunately a cleft in the sandstone
is located near the operating spot, marked by a gnarly old pinon tree
growing out of the rock. A faint, intermittent trail provides a rather
tortuous path from the base up to the cleft, and from there a little
rockslide on the unstable slope of decomposed mudstone leading to the
caprock.
IMG The antenna
Once on top I set up the antenna. It 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
feed point was supported by a 32 ft. telescoping fiberglass windsock
pole, tied to a juniper tree. Orientation was North/South.
IMG The KX1 setup
The rig is my trusty Elecraft KX1, with a small self-powered speaker.
Power is about 3W on 20 m, 4W on 40 m.
IMG The solar power setup
Power was supplied by a 10W solar panel charging a 2AH gel cel.
IMG The radio shack
Near the edge the caprock is broken up, and I set up the shack in
this cleft under the juniper tree holding up the antenna mast, with a
"Noah's Tarp" for shade.
IMG The view to the West
The view to the West, with Cabezon, a volcanic plug, on the horizon.
IMG The view to the North
To the North, the mesa overlooks the area in the Ojito
Wilderness where the dinosaur "Seismosaurus" was excavated. Less than a
half a mile in are some nice petroglyphs.
IMG The view to the East
To the East is seen White Mesa, where gypsum is imined to make wallboard.
The clouds were building as the day went on, as remnants of Hurricane Dolly
were drifting in from the southeast.
IMG The view to the Southeast
Looking Southeast the main body of the mesa can be seen, and Sandia Mountain
near Albuquerque is off in the distance.
IMG The radio shack before the start of FOBB
Ready to go. Conditions were a little better this year, it
seemed. I made 46 QSOs, 42 on 20 meters and 4 on 40 meters. 29 were with
fellow BBs, and 17 with home stations. It was great to hear more home
stations this year, thanks! 20 was the hot band, with some great signals
- N7OU, N5GW and K5OT come to mind as being strong at my location. Not
all were easy however, and I had to really strain to hear those which
were fading in and out. I switched to 40 only at the tail end, even then
signals were quite weak here. 21 states were worked: MI, TX, IL, MN,
AL, CA, AR, MO, OR, OH, CO, WY, NM, FL, ID, KY, WA, WI, MS, VA, and GA.
It was nice to work into the South, but I couldn't raise any stations in
New England, although I did hear a few, very faintly.
Once FOBB was done, I packed up and headed down since I wanted to do
a little sightseeing in the area and take some pictures before driving home.
IMG North side of the mesa
At the bottom there is a tiny relic population of Ponderosa Pines,
left over from better (wetter) times. They seem really out of place here.
IMG Some old ruins
I hiked in about a half mile to the North, near the Seismosaurus site,
where there are some old ruins.
IMG Some petroglyphs
Nearby are some petroglyphs, on horizontal rock at the edge of
the Seismosaurus mesa, overlooking the Arroyo Bernalillito area. Human
arm, turtle, snake, sun, crescent moon, north star - it's the full catalog!
IMG Petroglyph - hunter and prey
Here is an action scene, the Hunter and Prey...
IMG Petroglyph - lizard?
... and here, a lizard?
IMG The abandoned ranch house
On the way out, a short side trip reveals an abandoned ranch
house, at the boundary between BLM land and the Zia Pueblo Reservation.
IMG The road out
The old ranch house is sited along an arroyo which crosses the main road here.
It's a bit muddy from recent rains.
IMG A free range cow
Seismosaurus may be gone, but now the open range is roamed by New
Mexico's new dominant megafauna, the beef cow. The fence separates BLM
range land from the Zia reservation in the background.
See you next year!
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