{"id":2722,"date":"2016-10-27T09:21:59","date_gmt":"2016-10-27T13:21:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/?p=2722"},"modified":"2016-11-02T19:51:57","modified_gmt":"2016-11-02T23:51:57","slug":"2015-iota-recap-w4o-better-late-than-never","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/?p=2722","title":{"rendered":"2015 IOTA Recap W4O – Better Late Than Never"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>

Most of the 2015 W4O IOTA station from Okracoke Island.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Tri<\/a>

Tri band yagi at 18 feet.<\/p><\/div>\n

After a lot of foot dragging and interruptions, all of the components required for a 100w battery operation had been acquired at casa W4KAZ in late spring 2015. \u00c2\u00a0The first test run was a 1E Field day operation at home. \u00c2\u00a0But better to put it to use afield.<\/p>\n

So N4YDU was game for the field test on Okracoke island for 2015 IOTA. \u00c2\u00a0N4YDU and I operated as W4O from Okracoke Island on the NC outer banks, just south of Hatteras. \u00c2\u00a0 Access to Okracoke is by boat, so we booked slots on the ferry out of Swan Quarter for Thursday afternoon. \u00c2\u00a0This worked well, allowing for set up and test operating well before the Saturday start. \u00c2\u00a0Also a nice break for a meal for lunch Friday down in Okracoke village. \u00c2\u00a0QTH of the operation was the NPS campground on Okracoke.<\/p>\n

WX Conditions on Thursday were cool with an all day drizzle. \u00c2\u00a0Ugly, but no thunder and lightening, so not terrible. \u00c2\u00a0Set up of camp was delayed until early evening. \u00c2\u00a0Thursday night was warm, damp and still. \u00c2\u00a0Friday morning brought clear skies and an nice cooling breeze out of the north. \u00c2\u00a0The WX was much improved for the rest of the weekend. \u00c2\u00a0Thursdays rain was the harbinger of a very welcome unseasonable cool front, and WX for the bulk of the weekend were very comfortable with much lower than normal temperature and humidity – perfect for field operations.<\/p>\n

Radio propagation did not live up to the WX, so there were periods of slow conditions.\u00c2\u00a0 A nice breakfast is always good.<\/p>\n

\"Breakfast.\"<\/a>

Breakfast.<\/p><\/div>\n

Solar Power<\/h5>\n

The solar set up included two 30w solar cells sending power to the charge controller and two deep cycle batteries. \u00c2\u00a0Our solar cells were augmented by the temporary loan of an 85w solar panel by WB8YJF, Jon. \u00c2\u00a0WB8YJF vacations at Okracoke every year at this time, and with his help we had a strong 8A charge current throughout the day Saturday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Solar<\/a>

Solar cells out catching a tan on the island. My own small cells in the foreground and WB8YJF’s loaners in the rear.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Batteries<\/a>

Batteries and charge station<\/p><\/div>\n

Having the battery fully charged going into the evening hours was nice. \u00c2\u00a0Rates slowed fairly early, so two days of beachside life had us leaving a few possible qso’s on the table. \u00c2\u00a0Sleep was the better option.<\/p>\n

Station<\/h5>\n

The station consisted of the batteries, feeding power to the Elecraft K2. \u00c2\u00a0Antenna supports consisted of several fiberglass masts. \u00c2\u00a0All of the masts have been modified by drilling holes at the base of each mast section for pins. \u00c2\u00a0Hitch pins are used for the smallest sections, and 2 inch cotter pins are used in the larger sections. \u00c2\u00a0This was faster and more secure than using hose clamps, but it may ultimately weaken the masts over the long term. \u00c2\u00a0That trade-off seems worthwhile for the time saved on deployment and take down.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The W4O station, an Elecraft K2, a couple of tuners and logging laptop<\/p><\/div>\n

The 33 foot fiberglass pole from TheMastCo was used as the center support for a lightweight fan dipole for constructed from 300 ohm twin lead and surplus field wire, covering 40m\/20m. \u00c2\u00a0A 22foot fiberglass flag pole combined with most of a 20 ft. Shakespeare wonder pole was used to support an inverted-L for 80m. \u00c2\u00a0Thirteen foot crappie poles were used to get the ends of the dipoles and vertical as high as possible in the limited space offered by two spaces in the campground. \u00c2\u00a0We also deployed a 2 element triband yagi on five sections of surplus military camo mast, at a height of about 18 feet.<\/p>\n

Radio conditions were poor, but the WX was unusually good for the NC coast at the end of July.\u00c2\u00a0 Great trip and another successful field test of something different.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most of the 2015 W4O IOTA station from Okracoke Island.<\/p>\n

Tri band yagi at 18 feet.<\/p>\n

After a lot of foot dragging and interruptions, all of the components required for a 100w battery operation had been acquired at casa W4KAZ in late spring 2015. \u00c2 The first test run was a 1E Field day operation at home. \u00c2 But better to put it to use afield.<\/p>\n

So N4YDU was game for the field test on Okracoke island for 2015 IOTA. \u00c2 N4YDU and I operated as W4O from Okracoke Island on the NC outer banks, just south of Hatteras. \u00c2 Access to Okracoke is by boat, so we booked slots on the ferry out of Swan Quarter for Thursday afternoon. \u00c2 This worked well, allowing for set up and test operating well before the Saturday start. \u00c2 Also a nice break for a meal for lunch Friday down in Okracoke village. \u00c2 QTH of the operation was the NPS campground on Okracoke.<\/p>\n

WX Conditions on Thursday were cool with an all day drizzle. \u00c2 Ugly, but no thunder and lightening, so not terrible. \u00c2 Set up of camp was delayed until early evening. \u00c2 Thursday night was warm, damp and still. \u00c2 Friday morning brought clear skies and an nice cooling breeze out of the north. \u00c2 The WX was much improved for the rest of the weekend. \u00c2 Thursdays rain was the harbinger of a very welcome unseasonable cool front, and WX for the bulk […]<\/p>\n

Continue reading 2015 IOTA Recap W4O – Better Late Than Never<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2722"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2722"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2722\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2795,"href":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2722\/revisions\/2795"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}