Operating IOTA for 2018 solo again. Once again from the cabins at Cape Lookout, IOTA NA067. Original plan was to use wire yagi from June 2018 QST article. Weather changed plans….
As it turns out, lots of things were different.
Original plan:
The original plan was to operate on batteries at 100w using the K2 as the station. Original antenna plan was to set up wire yagi’s for 40/20/15 using three telescoping fiberglass masts at ~30 feet height. The wire yagis were to be based on design from 2018 June QST article(ref?). An additional mast was going to be set up for 10m/80m, using a 10m dipole that I would base load for 80m with a K2AV style folded counterpoise.
Revised Plan:
The weather took a prolonged turn for the wet and nasty about 10 days before the event, and forecasts for IOTA weekend were maybe even a bit worse. On the drive down to the dock the on Friday I hit light rain a couple of times. Also a short shower as I exited the ferry onto the Island.  No lightning, but radar showed active storms offshore. So the original antenna plan was trimmed to bare minimum – a single mast with multiple dipoles. And a plan for quick disconnects if things got worse.
Time Lapse video, mast deployment–>Â https://youtu.be/hy2bE-N47tI
After setting up the antennas and station, quite a bit of time was burned debugging a couple of mistakes, a mixup with the feedlines and a 40m dipole with a bad connection. Temps were about 30C, with a continuous ocean breeze. So it was a long hot day, but not as uncomfortable as either 2017 of Field Day 2018. But tiring, so not much radio play.
Operating Conditions:
1200Z Saturday morning – Scarf up some breakfast after a restless night of broken sleep. A quick trip outside to tension the dipoles and eyeball local WX conditions. Lots of cloud cover, brisk wind, but no rain or lightning. Nice.  Turning on the radio – “OK – what’s wrong?” Very few signals heard, all very weak. Spent time checking to see if something was broken.  Eventually worked a few, but not having fun. This was a real discouragement, as I had a lot of success with essentially the same set up just a month earlier for ARRL Field Day. Was not counting on not hearing any EU stations in the morning. Was also not counting on having such difficulty working US stations.
Spent some of the down time scouting some of the other cabins as potential sites for future trips, and a good bit of time on the beach.   Tried a couple of times in the mid/late afternoon to get runs with domestic stations, but zero success.   Starting to seem like a S&P affair.  Tuning the bands at around 1630Z it was starting to seem like there was more activity, so finally settled in for a short run on 20m CW. WX was starting to look bad so I decided to take a break for a short siesta. Decided I’d make a decision after getting some rest and food. Another 20m run from 2030-2130Z and only 30 or so Q’s. Bleh. Unable to run on SSB after several attempts over the late afternoon.
2400Z and the WX is OK overhead, but storms over the mainland and radar looking worse. Forecast is calling for major storms overnight and in morning. Here is where a bit of bad planning caught up with reality. The return trip on the ferry was scheduled for 1300z Sunday, which would have been a bit rushed in good weather.
So I decided to pull the mast down and yanked the plug on the operation.  This turned out to be a Very Good Thing. Sunday morning brought a heavy storm with lots of lightning. Better to watch it from inside than try to fool with antennas in that.
What Worked:
The plan for setting up the yagi’s would have been workable in this cabin area. There was enough room for everything needed. Batteries and station equipment, all FB. The ‘basic’ food plan was fine.
What Broke:
The trip reservations – not nailed down far enough in advance. The 40m dipole – must have a break in one of the wire legs. The operator – Poor CW skills, and not sleeping sucks!
_____________CWÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â __ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â PHONE
BAND     QSOs     Point     Mults QSOs     Points     Mults
80Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0
40Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 5Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0
20Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 57Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 415Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 10Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 19Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 155Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 6
15Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 4Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 30Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 2Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 5Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0
10Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 2Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 10Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 5Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0
625Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â XÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 18 =Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 11250
points                    multipliers score
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