{"id":3696,"date":"2023-07-02T23:31:36","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T03:31:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/?p=3696"},"modified":"2023-07-06T12:13:30","modified_gmt":"2023-07-06T16:13:30","slug":"field-day-2023-w4kaz-1b-nc-from-cape-lookout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/?p=3696","title":{"rendered":"Field Day 2023 – W4KAZ 1B NC, from Cape Lookout (POTA K-0683)"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Crazy weather.\u00c2\u00a0 Check<\/strong>
Unique Location. Check<\/strong>.
Mediocre Antennas.\u00c2\u00a0 CHECK!<\/em><\/strong>
No 10m.\u00c2\u00a0 Check….. \ud83d\ude41<\/strong>
Typical Field Day.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Check.
<\/strong>see the select photos…..W4KAZ 1B NC 2023 FD photo slide show<\/a>
<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Crazy Weather<\/h5>\r\n

The days leading up to field day 2023 were filled with rain and prognostications of more to come.\u00c2\u00a0 While having doubts there would be any chances at having a good chance of operating with the expected lightning, the reservations for the great location had been laid in and paid for.\u00c2\u00a0 Tropical conditions could have made the trip dicey, but that junk kept on its westerly track to western Carrib. \u00c2\u00a0 All of the NC wx junk was spawned by a low pressure system sitting in TN and throwing moisture at us from FL and the gulf coast.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The “bands” of storms flowing through NC peaked midweek, right through travel to the Island.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 bleh.\u00c2\u00a0 Arriving Thursday the wx relented long enough to move vehicle contents indoors.\u00c2\u00a0 Bands of rain, batches of sunshine alternated ad. infinitum.\u00c2\u00a0 Lots of time for relaxation.\u00c2\u00a0 Friday afternoon brought a longer window of almost 3 hours of clear wx for setting up antennas.\u00c2\u00a0 Then more lightning and rain.<\/p>\r\n

Unique Location<\/h5>\r\n

Cape Lookout national park provided a great spot for running a field day operation.\u00c2\u00a0 The park is a barrier island on the NC coast.\u00c2\u00a0 Beautiful in its own deserted island sort of way.\u00c2\u00a0 The wx improved constantly during the four day stay….with the exception of a squall line that that moved slowly through Saturday evening.\u00c2\u00a0 Operation was shut down for that period, but there was only rain.\u00c2\u00a0 Great time to catch up on some sleep though.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Mediocre Antennas<\/h5>\r\n

The antenna plan was hampered a bit by having only four of the five masts intended.\u00c2\u00a0 Something always gets forgotten.\u00c2\u00a0 Two 40m EFHW antennas were deployed.\u00c2\u00a0 Both were configured as inverted L’s.\u00c2\u00a0 The “main” antenna deployed with the horizontal tip pointed North, the second deployed with its tip facing west.\u00c2\u00a0 The “main” antenna was also manually switchable to being used as an 80m vertical with a K2AV style counterpoise.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The only band that felt loud was 80m.\u00c2\u00a0 These efhw’s mounted as inv-l’s are a bit compromised on 40m & 20m, both by the configuration and being relatively close to the ground.<\/p>\r\n

\"W4KAZ<\/a>

W4KAZ 1B NC, Cape Lookout qth for the FD weekend, All set for FD. The antennas: Left most and center mast hold “main” 40m EFHW\/80m base on left and end at center mast. The rightmost mast holds west facing 40m EFHW which slopes toward ground, and is tied off behind cabin.<\/p><\/div>\r\n

No 10m<\/h5>\r\n

10m was yet again a disappointment.\u00c2\u00a0 The recent rise in sunspots must be less effective in light of the pole shift and weakening magnetic fields.\u00c2\u00a0 Radio propagation is probably just a symptom of what might be a much bigger issue.\u00c2\u00a0 Keeping the band map loaded with packet spots from VA and NC skimmers showed very few spots on 10m at any time I was on the air.\u00c2\u00a0 15m was only very slightly better.\u00c2\u00a0 Perhaps Saturday evening was better.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 20m and 40m were the places to be for the most part.\u00c2\u00a0 20m was more interesting, and accounted for the bulk of the Qsos logged.\u00c2\u00a0 The early morning Sunday accounted for the only qsos there, all logged around 0900-1000z.<\/p>\r\n

FD as IOTA Prep<\/h5>\r\n

FD antenna choices were made as a test for the upcoming IOTA.\u00c2\u00a0 The alternate choice was to mount the “main” N\/S efhw as described before, but to use a 50m\/20m trap dipole as the secondary antenna.\u00c2\u00a0 This second pair will probably be better for an IOTA situation, with the dipole being a better choice for DX.\u00c2\u00a0 Alternates\/backup antennas are a linked dipole that could be used on any of the individual bands and a set of wire verticals.\u00c2\u00a0 Also a 15m\/10m trap dipole…..just in case.<\/p>\r\n

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly<\/h5>\r\n

Start with the ugly…..a slow band of squall lines moved in Saturday evening.\u00c2\u00a0 Fearing more lightning I dropped all the antennas.\u00c2\u00a0 Being exhausted, I hit the sack to the pitter-patter of another batch of rain, which turned out to be the last of the trip.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The bad…..missed out on the evening which probably cost a lot of qsos.\u00c2\u00a0 But without the much needed sleep, Sunday would have been a tough slog.\u00c2\u00a0 10m and 15m were disappointing. Missed packing one of the bags with some of the kitchen odds-n-ends, so had to improvise.\u00c2\u00a0 The good…..Morning coffee….two magnificent sunsets on Friday and Sunday.\u00c2\u00a0 Cigars and whiskey.\u00c2\u00a0 Moderate temperatures and a nice breeze.\u00c2\u00a0 Moderate bug levels.<\/p>\r\n

Details\u00c2\u00a0 Details\u00c2\u00a0 Details<\/h5>\r\n
\"w4kaz<\/a>

W4KAZ 1B NC 2023 FD breakdown by hour.<\/p><\/div>\r\n

Saturday afternoon was S&P combined with wishful thinking about 10m and 15m.\u00c2\u00a0 Didn’t feel loud enough to run on SSB.\u00c2\u00a0 Then clouds stacking to the west and a check on the wx radar convinced me to lower antennas prematurely.\u00c2\u00a0 The squall line was slow, and arrived with more rain.\u00c2\u00a0 Was exhausted anyway so ditched for the evening.\u00c2\u00a0 Up at 0800Z and started on 80m to try to capture the available qsos.\u00c2\u00a0 Took a breakfast break at the not so spectacular sunrise, then alternated between 20m\/40m\/15m for the rest of the morning.\u00c2\u00a0 Finished up on 20m with the best single hour.\u00c2\u00a0 Then a couple of hours of breakdown and packing.\u00c2\u00a0 Bada bing bada boom.\u00c2\u00a0 Another FD bites the dust.\u00c2\u00a0 320-ish qsos, about<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n

Crazy weather.\u00c2 CheckUnique Location. Check.Mediocre Antennas.\u00c2 CHECK!No 10m.\u00c2 Check….. \ud83d\ude41Typical Field Day.\u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 Check.see the select photos…..W4KAZ 1B NC 2023 FD photo slide show<\/p>\n

Crazy Weather <\/p>\n

The days leading up to field day 2023 were filled with rain and prognostications of more to come.\u00c2 While having doubts there would be any chances at having a good chance of operating with the expected lightning, the reservations for the great location had been laid in and paid for.\u00c2 Tropical conditions could have made the trip dicey, but that junk kept on its westerly track to western Carrib. \u00c2 All of the NC wx junk was spawned by a low pressure system sitting in TN and throwing moisture at us from FL and the gulf coast.\u00c2 \u00c2 The “bands” of storms flowing through NC peaked midweek, right through travel to the Island.\u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 bleh.\u00c2 Arriving Thursday the wx relented long enough to move vehicle contents indoors.\u00c2 Bands of rain, batches of sunshine alternated ad. infinitum.\u00c2 Lots of time for relaxation.\u00c2 Friday afternoon brought a longer window of almost 3 hours of clear wx for setting up antennas.\u00c2 Then more lightning and rain.<\/p>\n

Unique Location <\/p>\n

Cape Lookout national park provided a great spot for running a field day operation.\u00c2 The park is a barrier island on the NC coast.\u00c2 Beautiful in its own deserted island sort of way.\u00c2 The wx improved constantly during the four day stay….with the exception of a squall line that that moved slowly through Saturday evening.\u00c2 Operation […]<\/p>\n

Continue reading Field Day 2023 – W4KAZ 1B NC, from Cape Lookout (POTA K-0683)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3696"}],"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=3696"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3727,"href":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3696\/revisions\/3727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w4kaz.com\/qth\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}