A NOR'EASTER TO REMEMBER:
The Trip to Core Banks, Outer Banks, NC, March 25 to 28, 1999

The only access to Cape Lookout National Seashore is by toll ferry or private boat. Ferry service is available from Harkers Island, Atlantic, Davis, Beaufort, and Ocracoke.

Established in 1976 and 55 miles long, Cape Lookout National Seashore is a series of three undeveloped barrier islands: North Core (Portsmouth Village to Drum Inlet), South Core (From Drum Inlet to Cape Lookout), and Shackleford Banks.

Feared by early sailors because of its numerous treacherous shoals, the cape also offered sheltered anchorages that shielded many vessels from northeasters. During WWII, a German submarine found shelter there to prey on American ships. The Cape Lookout Light area and Shackleford Island has one of the most extensive maritime forests in the National Seashore. Shackleford Banks also has a herd of about 100 wild ponies.

Cape Lookout Lighthouse, completed in 1859, became the model for all lighthouses constructed along the Outer Banks. The first Cape Lookout light, erected in 1812, was 96 feet high and built on a small sand dune so that the light was 104 feet above sea level. During the 1850s, federal officials attempted to renovate the light but eventually decided to replace it with a 150-foot tower. The light stands 156 feet above sea level.

The North Carolina Outdoor Recreation Guide advises that “visitors to the seashore should be aware that weather conditions can change quickly. During the summer, afternoon showers are common. The hurricane season runs from June through November. Winter storms, called nor'easter, occur December through March. Visitors are strongly advised to check conditions before leaving the mainland.” We did not read this until we came back on the ferry, and it came as a small surprise to us.

I have read many stories about trips to distant places, the hardships they have encountered on the way there, at the actual location and even some on the way back. Now I can say I partook of one of these trips with the hardships.

The brochure for the Core Banks State Park says you need to take everything that you will need to survive, including your drinking water to camp over on the island. And believe me, it turned out to be true in more ways than one. <www.nps.gov/calo>

Well, needless to say, there was a lot of planning that went into this particular trip, and a lot of interest shown by all who went. We only had 10 Knightlites go last year, and this year we stirred so much interest that we wound up with 17 people going on this trip. There were originally several more who had expressed an interest in going, who had planned on going, and a few who were actually going right up to the last minute. One in particular made the mistake of answering the telephone and being told by the boss that his vacation was canceled and that he had an assignment. Two others got sick at the last minute and luckily for them they did not go. They would have been even sicker if they had gone, so they were fortunate in that they did not go.

Matt/KD4PBS was sick to start with and did go. He wound up getting even sicker during the weekend stay. He has since overcome the illness and is fine.

Our Crew for the í99 Core Banks Trip consisted of the following:

AA4XX/Paul

AB4PP/JohnPaul

AC4ZO/Jeff

AE4IC/Bob

KD4PBS/Matt

KD4ZVW/Bobbie

KE4JZK/Tom

KE4QOK/Robert

KF4EAG/Josh

KF4JKQ/Thomas

Thomas Jr.

KF4WVI/Anita

KF4YBI/Arlene

W3RDF/Don

Barrie

W4WDN/Lyn

WA4NID/Dave

From its inception this was to be a special event for all concerned.Some of the participants in the trip were new to the hobby and were searching for new ideas and avenues in amateur radio. So they partook of the experience for a goal and wound up learning more than they originally had searched for. They did even learn to survive.We had made plans from the beginning to try to make contact with a station in Europe on 80 meters. We planned to erect a beverage antenna and several verticals for the bands. We would be operating CW and SSB for this operation and would have plenty of operators for the different bands. At least these were the tentative plans from the onset.

We even found out that this year we had to have a US Park Service Permit to operate on the island. We did not last year. We got the permit and we complied with its wishes. We put it in the book and it is recorded for posterity that the WQ4RP did make it there for the "Lil Ole Mullet Blow" of March í99. And another recorded event is put in the US Historical Society logbook that we were there. As usual there was a need for a lot of things that we would be taking and some of these were not readily available, so they had to be found, made, or improvised.Of course the radios and the ordinary antennas would be in ample supply but the trip called for some very good listening antennas. After all we planned to make a KnightSMiTe to KnightSMiTe contact if at all possible.

So from the beginning we had to get some long stretches of wire. We originally planned on a 5,000 foot beverage on the beach aimed at Europe. So long wire and poles to hold it up, the transformer to end it, and the coax to run from the antenna to the tent would be a necessity. Little did we know, that because of the storm, we would have to have a longer run of coax to the main cabin for the prime QSO we had planned for.

Then there would be the need for the ground radials for the verticals, since we wanted to have maximum effectiveness for the low power signal and several of us made use of the ON4UN " Low Band Dxing" Book and learned (or relearned) some ways to make antennas and how to set them up properly. And in addition we had to figure and refigure the formulae for the transformer and make plans for that too. There were going to be some ladies on this trip and that made it different too. We were graced with their companionship for the whole weekend and to say they were just there would be a poor statement. They took part in a lot of the activities and since Anita, Barrie and Bobbie helped with the cooking and preparing the meals it was not so desolate a place after all. When you read about the first night there as I reconstruct the four days you will understand it was a horrific time for some of us.

Paul/AA4XX, Lyn/W4WDN and I had to really spend a lot of time on the phone, the radio and back and forth on the internet. We did a lot of emails to get the ideas, and all our thoughts to gel and set in to figure out just what we were going to do on this trip. Lyn came up with the idea to contact the group in Europe, and when the seed was planted he ran with it and got the DL group together. We made plans for them to try to work us on the KnightSMiTe and we would have one here also. Now the idea of working 4,000 plus miles with 180 mW to 250 mW was not brand new, but we wanted to try it. We wanted to try it with our rig, the KnightSMiTe. (A KnightSMiTe is an 80 meter transceiver designed to work on the crystal frequency of 3.686.4 and had to be modified for this particular operation. It is easily found on the website for the Knightlites. <http://www.vramp.net/~knights/>. And we would provide one for the group on the other side of the pond also. Since the Knightlites had gotten this little rig to work so well and have made so many contacts with it, the idea was not out of the question to try the attempt for a DL/USA contact. With that in motion the rest is all history.

Now coordination was just a matter of everyone pitching in and getting it all done. The wire was found here and there, in junkyards, from friends who had extra laying around in their sheds and whatnot. We got all the wire, and in the process of looking for the wire, we also came up with other obstacles to pass. With a Beverage antenna we were going to need supports for the wire on the beach, and we might have some winds down there to put up with. Little did we know how much wind, but that comes later in the story. So we had to figure out how to put up a long wire on the beach and keep it up. As it turned out, we had the beverage antenna, and all the supports for the antenna to put it up on the beach and stay up. We made the transformer, and got all the supports and guys and stakes and it was all together.

Since provisions for 17 people would be a large amount Anita/KF4WVI got together a menu plan that we followed for the trip. As it turned out, that was an ideal way to eat, and for us to get together on more than one occasion just to see each other. Since some of us were on the radio all the time trying to make contacts, put the antennas back up and just make adjustments to the existing antennas, the get togethers for the meals were an added little help for us. Materials were a responsibility of all, but when we had to do the scavenging I usually got the assigned task. For some strange reason, I usually can find whatever it is we are looking for. I have always been lucky in that respect. We knew that we were going to the beach, and with no high spots and no trees were limited in our considerations for our antennas. We had been there before and pretty much decided that we would set up in the same areas for our operations from the last two years. But, with the phased 80 meter verticals, the 40 meter verticals, the Carolina Beam, some other verticals and possibly another beam array for the HF bands we had to have a lot of guy rope and stakes. I managed to find a considerable amount of it laying on the side of the Interstate highway while I was driving one day. With Paul's help we managed to roll up over two miles of rope that had somehow come unrolled on the interstate in the median. We used a large portion of this lightweight nylon for all the antennas, and it was a great asset in that it was lightweight and took up so little space.

After all was gathered we started on our trip on March 24th, the night before our ride on the ferry. Several of us had taken vacation and decided that an advance team would go down one day early this year.

We would set up the tents for the operating positions, the antennas and get most of the gear ready so that when the remaining group came down on Friday (the next day) we would be ready to roll. Well, Thursday morning came, we started our convoy of vehicles and equipment. Well, almost all of us did. A funny point here is that we all spent so much time and energy in getting ready that we did not forget anything this trip. We actually took too much with us. Can you imagine that. Well, as it turned out, we all got on the radio on 2 meters and planned to meet for a quick breakfast on the way. Lyn/W4WDN and his wife Anita/KF4WVI however, fell back to sleep. Bless their souls, they had done so much in packing and staying up late like the rest of us. So they got a little later start than the rest of us. The good side of this, though, is that they got a little more sleep than the rest of us, and still made it down there a short while after we did. And we all rode over on the ferry together.

So all in all, they got a much deserved rest. After a 4 hour journey (that was a total experience) we arrived at the ferry. I rode down to the coast with Matt/KD4PBS. Since he is a computer guru he had his laptop, connected to the GPS. We ran a Delorme program that he had entered, and we had the computer talking to us the whole way down. When we eventually arrived at the ferry it told us we were 17 feet from the ferry (or some like amount). It was totally awesome to watch and hear the computer talk to us as we went. It even told us when to make turns and which way to go. Amazingly, the program data was up to date enough that we missed one turn and it told us. We had to turn around and find the road, and sure enough it was there. Someone had removed the sign we were looking for and it was mentioned to us. It is something many of you can benefit from. More on that later. Matt got on the air and introduced all of us to some new forms of communication and put the Core Banks on the Air with the APRs while we were there too, using the GPS and the Radio in conjunction with the laptop.

On our trip down to the coast we had fairly good weather, even though the weather service was predicting a "little storm" for the evening. When we arrived at the ferry we unloaded and got on for the excursion that would take us on the IOTA-NA067 outing. We would put the Core Banks on the air once again in a large way, or so we thought. On the way over on the ferry we noticed that there were white caps on the waves, and recorded it on both video and with pictures. It should have been an omen we noticed and heeded; however, we did not. We got to the island and were taken to our respective points of debarkation. You have to picture in your minds that we are on a long lonely stretch of beach and started our long tedious process of setting up the tents and getting all the antennas in the air. I had gotten together several of the "hot sticks" from the power companies for erections of the wire antennas. (Hot Sticks are the telescopic fiberglass rods, 5 foot in length when collapsed and some where between 30 and 40 feet long when extended fully) I took all four of mine with us for the trip. I took several different antennas for the trip. I was definitely going to use the Carolina Beam for all bands. We had planned to attach the Carolina Beam to the water tower on the island, or to the hotsticks. Then use the water tower for some of the other antennas. I had one I used for years that was destroyed by a storm two weeks prior to our trip. With good fortune I contacted Jim/W4THU, (Radio Works) at home and he agreed to let me come up to Virginia Beach and get a new Carolina Beam the day before we left on our trip to replace the broken one. I did and it went on the trip. Thank goodness too.

Hot sticks are those fiberglass extension poles the power companies use to replace the fuses that blow out on the power lines and to hook up wire etc. I was lucky enough to get four of those in the last couple of years and took them to use for two different wire antennas. In my collection of antennas I had a 160 meter dipole, two G5RVs, and the Carolina Beam. I also put together a brand new Walking stick vertical for 40 meters (QST Dec 94) and put together 36 radials for that too. When I got the tent set up, the winds had just started to pick up to about 25 mph gusts or so. It took hours to get the tent up, which usually takes only 10 or 15 minutes. I knew we were in for a treat. The skies started to darken fast, the winds were getting a lot stronger.

Then, when I started to put up the vertical finally the winds were picking up even more, and we were having a real time with the guy ropes. Last time I set up the vertical at home in the yard it was only 30 minutes for the set up of the vertical by myself. It took three of us two hours to get it up this time. And we did finally get all the 36 radials on the ground, checked it with the analyzer and it was perfect, just like in the book. Wow, I was ready to get on the air. I had the tent set up, had the antenna in the air, and the equipment all ready to go. We decided to set up Matt's brand new Dodge Ram Pickup truck there next to the beach with the 40 foot military aluminum mast and the 2 meter 11 element beam on the special hitch he had made up for the operation. That did not make it up. We struggled and it collapsed in the winds and we had to remove one damaged section. We wound up setting it up only 25 feet in the air. The winds were blowing so hard by that time we could not get it any higher.

He was going to try to get the APRs and 2 meter repeaters on the air. At this point our world starts to fall apart. I walked up the beach to the cabin that we were using for our site to eat. Matt had elected to stay in his truck and did not want to leave it. Matt decided prior to going on the trip that he would cook his own meals. I was going to join the others for our meal and then return to my tent down the beach. When we got there the rain, lightning and the hail and the high winds started. I was away from my tent, and all my rain gear, all my sleeping equipment, lanterns, coats and all were in his truck up the beach about 1 miles walk away. I had also left behind my flashlights and lanterns too. Unfortunately we had guyed up the mast at two points and his truck was pretty much there until we took the mast down. The horrible night to remember was just starting for us all. The winds picked up to a point that they were blowing about 50 to 60 mph in gusts and sustained winds were clocked on the buoy off the coast at 47mph on one reading. We gathered this data later from the weather service. We estimated the winds from the cabin we were stuck in that night outside the cabin at least 50 mph. We estimated the winds inside the cabin at least 10 to 15 mph with higher gusts. It was the beginning of a long night. The following archive was downloaded and we found out that the winds at the buoy at the south end of the island were actually recording the winds when we were there. I had located these sites prior to our trip but never figured we would have to see them to find the actual figures for this event.

Subject: wind

   MM DD     hh mm  SPD  GSP   MPH GUST MPH
25-Mar       12  0   2.5     4.1     5.58    9.14
25-Mar       13  0   1.4     3.4     3.12    7.58
25-Mar       14  0   1.3     2.6     2.90    5.80
25-Mar       15  0   6.9     8.5     15.39   18.96
25-Mar       16  0   9.1     10.5    20.29   23.42
25-Mar       17  0   8.5     11      18.96   24.53
25-Mar       18  0   9       11.4    20.07   25.42
25-Mar       19  0   9.5     10.9    21.19   24.31
25-Mar       20  0   9.8     11.8    21.85   26.31
25-Mar       21  0   9.1     11.8    20.29   26.31
25-Mar       21 50   11.2    99      24.98
25-Mar       22  0   10.1    13.1    22.52   29.21
25-Mar       22 50   11.8    99      26.31
25-Mar       23  0   11.2    14.2    24.98   31.67
25-Mar       23 50   13.3    99      29.66
26-Mar       0  0    12.9    16.3    28.77   36.35
26-Mar       0 10    12.7    99      28.32
26-Mar       0 30    13.4    99      29.88
26-Mar       1  0    13.1    16.8    29.21   37.46
26-Mar       2  0    10.6    16.7    23.64   37.24
26-Mar       3  0    11.3    15.8    25.20   35.23
26-Mar       3 20    13      99      28.99
26-Mar       4  0    13.7    17.8    30.55   39.69
26-Mar       4 40    14.3    99      31.89
26-Mar       5  0    11.1    18.1    24.75   40.36
26-Mar       6  0    15.5    20.1    34.57   44.82
26-Mar       7  0    14.8    19.6    33.00   43.71
26-Mar       8  0    16.3    20.8    36.35   46.38
26-Mar       9  0    12.4    19.3    27.65   43.04
26-Mar       10  0   13.4    17.8    29.88   39.69
26 Mar       10 10   14.1    99      31.44
26-Mar       10 20   15.2    99      33.90
26-Mar       11  0   14.3    19      31.89   42.37

We had estimated the gusts to be higher than this from our location. But we had no way to measure the speed of the winds. Prior to this Paul/AA4XX and Lyn/W4WDN had Bob/AE4IC had erected the 80 meter phased verticals and run the coax to the tent at the base of that erection site. However, we were soon to learn that their tent and mine were both now down. The sustained winds had blown both of them down. Matt, who was parked a short way from my tent, could barely see it from his truck where he spent the remainder of the night. The blowing winds with the sand squalls made it hard to see when outside. Matt would not leave his truck for fear of not finding us up the beach. And he felt he was secure in his truck and could see the waves the whole time. In later conversations he admitted that if the winds and sea had kicked up to a point he was worried he was going to cut the antenna loose from the back of the truck and move. Matt stayed in constant contact with us through the night on 2 meters on a simplex frequency and said it was bad parked atop the beach with the waves crashing near where he was parked. However, he did stay and worked a few stations on the radio while there on the dunes. We were not able to get to our antennas and put a coax on that one to the cabin. So for the remainder of the night we huddled up on our bunks and slept in what small gear we could muster up to stay warm. Most of our sleeping equipment (sleeping bags, sheets, jackets and the like) were in another cabin or in Matt's truck. The other cabin we were going to use was up the beach from where we were in the main cabin. It was just too treacherous in the dark to go find that one.

For the remainder of that night we used a gas lantern and the gas stove to gather what little heat we could in that cabin to stay warm. The wind was blowing the rain so hard on the tin roof that it sounded like rocks hitting it for the next 10 to 12 hours. In that period of time we also had lightning, and thunder and an occasional spurt of hail. Since we thought that the rain was hail, when the hail finally came, we were totally amazed at what nature had wrought for us. The wind blew so hard the rain came in from the holes in the floor, from the cracks in the ceiling (if you could call it that,) and from all around the windows. The main cabin was also so old that the cracks in the walls let in the winds and the blown rain too. (We did get this fixed the next day.

We got the keepers who stayed on the island to come down and put some tarps over the walls and that helped greatly. When we were coming over on the ferry, one of the mates on the boat had informed us that we might get a "lil ole mullet blow", or what they call a little storm that night. Little did we know what nature had in store for us. I can truly say that it was one of the few times in my life that I was going to lay down and try to sleep in the noise of the howling winds, and the constant thunder and lightning that I prayed I would see daylight.

All night I pictured my tent under water, gear strewn all over the sand dunes and my brand new 40 meter vertical, with the special aluminum sections I had cut and put together for the expedition, totally destroyed. Daylight came and we all started rousting out, and I ventured down the beach and found Matt's truck. It was there. And low and behold so was my tent. It had blown down and was lying flat; however, the water did not get that high during the night and all the equipment was still in the plastic boxes and they were dry. My ìMercuryî paddle was sitting on the table I had set up and the 30 meter TenTec was still there. Hooked up to the antenna and ready to operate. The guy ropes we used to set up the vertical were still in place, and we had used orange surveyor tape to mark the guy ropes in fear of the four wheelers on the island running into them and knocking down the antennas. (You can not imagine how hard the wind blew, except that the surveyor tape we used had splintered and disintegrated so badly that it was stuck in the sand dunes all around the area where the guy ropes and the antenna were situated.) Little did we know the four wheelers would be few and far between this particular weekend. They were a lot smarter than we were.

The Core Banks is used in that particular part of the year as a haven for fishermen. It is a place to go to where the fish are very plentiful. That is when the weather cooperates. The few fishermen we met on the beach that weekend spent most of their time in the cabins and campers they occupied. The winds were so strong, the rain so bad, and the weather so cold that they could not fish. They could not even get a fishing line in the surf, and those who did try said the sinkers would come right back up the sand to the beach.

Friday morning we got in our winter clothes and moved my campsite to a cabin and reset the vertical antenna and put up the Carolina Beam. With this change of locations came a fewer number of operating positions too. We would now be limited in our number of radios on the air. The antennas were not to be as plentiful as planned. When we did set up the Hotsticks this time at the cabin we took over 2 hours to get them in the air with the high winds. It took 8 of us to get them up. It usually only takes two or three people. But the winds were blowing and changing direction so fiercely that we could not stand up, let alone get the wire up.

We had the fortune of having this reenactment of the Mt. Suribachi event, as we later called it, on video for future generations to see and hear it. We have pictures too. Luckily for us, Matt works for one of the local TV stations in Raleigh, and is the head engineer for that station. His expertise came in handy for some of the picture taking, videos and also for the VHF operations too. We also had Thomas/KF4JKQ who is a photographer by trade there and he was constantly shooting pictures of everyone as we went. You can only imagine how he was there at the right moments to record the events for posterity. He would barely roll down the window in his Explorer and take a couple of snaps and then roll up the windows and watch us. Friday's weather was the same as Thursday night and the remainder of the crew arrived on the next couple of ferries. It was amazing that they could run the ferries in that weather, but they did. The sound side of the island did not have the high waves that the ocean did. They were stormy though and made for some rough travel.

By Friday afternoon most of the Core Banks crew were on the island for the duration. The few remaining members would come down on Saturday. They would not get to enjoy the first day or two with us. Hot meals and warm hospitality made the event bearable and kept our sense of humor alive for the remainder of the operation. Matt finally decided to eat with us on one or two occasions also. We did get the rigs on the air, and we started making contacts finally on Friday and kept them going until we closed down the station on Sunday. We just had to take turns at the operating positions and keep plugging away on the bands. Earlier in the story I mentioned that we had to carry our own drinking water. Well, we did, and without exaggerating we had taken close to 60 gallons or fresh drinking water. This however did not stop us from making a mistake during the preparation of coffee. Someone in the 2nd cabin came in and brewed up a fresh batch of coffee. However, they used the tap water from the sink. I am sure (as others are) that this caused a lot of us to get a case of dysentery. We were overcome with it for three days. We did have plenty of coffee though, and we kept working the stations on the radios. Conditions were good for us on the bands. We had used all the available data we could gather for the trip and the operating was pleasant in warmer cabins and kept us all going.

We had foreseen cold weather and taken along some heaters, but not enough. Matt had taken a large generator and it came in handy for us to have lights in one of the cabins that we named Core Banks 2 when communicating from cabin to cabin. When Thomas got to the island he brought with him two generators on the back of his 4 wheel drive Explorer. He drove onto the island. He had a special rig made up for the back of his vehicle that carried them on the trailer hitch. We used them for the electric heaters he bought and brought along for the weekend. They came in very handy for us all to warm up. We called him on the assigned repeater and he answered on the way down. We got him to stop and get some emergency items before he came over on the ferry. The heaters were some of these items. The main cabin that we ate in was called Core Banks 1 and we had to have the crew come down and put up plastic sheeting on the outside to keep the winds gusts down (as mentioned earlier) and eventually we did have some sort of heat in that cabin. Unfortunately that cabin had no insulation, no ceiling, and really no walls to speak of.

The rain came in all night and day through the walls, around the door frames, and anywhere along the roof there was a crack or a hole. So needless to say, it was cold in there, until I got the gas catalytic heater going in there. Lyn had purchased a brand new hose for that use with a coupling to the 40 pound propane bottles we carried over there, but Murphy intervened. The new hose did not work. We had to use the small bottles of gas for the heater. Luckily we had about two dozen of those small gas bottles. In the beginning of the story I said we took too much. But never again will I ever say anything about taking too much with me on a trip. Even for a Field day event, I will plan again like I did for this trip. I will never forget it. Eventually we got another hose connector and that one worked fine and they had heat the remainder of the weekend. Cabin 2 (cabin # 14 on the map) was lucky in that it was insulated, had a ceiling, and panel boards on the walls. It leaked too, and had drafts of 5 to 10 miles an hour also (and those were inside the cabin).

But we used three large rolls of paper towels, several rolls of toilet paper, and an assortment of paper bags and newspaper, along with two rolls of duct tape to seal those up and kept the heat in that cabin. We did have a four burner gas stove in each cabin. Luckily they were hooked up to 8 pound propane bottles outside, so we had plenty of heat from the stoves too. Enough to make it warm enough to take our jackets off in the cabin.

Thomas had rented a cabin at the North end of the beach (actual number 1 on the map) and had set up quite a nice place to stay for the weekend. He had come down a day later than the rest of us, than goodness. He was contacted on 2 meters on the way down and he brought some of the necessities we would cherish for the remainder of the weekend. Had he not done that we would surely have not had all the warmth in some of the cabins, and we would surely been in the dark. He brought along two generators which we kept running the whole time. He was a real hero to us when it came to that part. He kept them running and when they started to quit he went out and braved the weather to get them running as they should. They were constantly needing fuel and he kept that part up too. All in all, we used the generators for the heat and for the lights and that was a provision we had only barely talked about. In the end the use of the generators was a big asset.

On one of my jaunts up the beach, we visited Thomas' cabin. That boy knew how to plan for the trip. A good boy scout he had the hottest cabin, and when we arrived to check on him there was a large pot of spaghetti and another one full of spaghetti sauce going on the stove. As it turned out Thomas Jr. would not eat anything but spaghetti while there so it was a necessary staple for them. Friday turned out to be a day to reset our stations and get our priorities realigned. We would not be able to sit in the tents and enjoy the weather we had on the three prior trips. This was to be a trip that would require a lot of different conditions. We would be huddled, more or less, to keep warm and to maintain contact with one another too. There was little venturing out on your own in the weather. At night it was rough walking in the winds and it was an extreme hardship to fight the winds and the sand blowing in your face. As it was though, we did get the antennas moved and we got on the air. WQ4RP was putting out a nice signal finally. And the log books started filling up. Friday night, as the time came closer, we all managed to go to the main cabin.

We were all anxious for the QSO we had planned for so long. All the equipment was set up and we all huddled around in the area of the SmiTe and listened as the turns were taken to transmit and receive back and forth. It had been pre-arranged that we would transmit for a short period of time and then listen. In that way we could start out at maximum power (5watts) and then slowly work down to the lower power ranges. Friday night was a success in a certain degree and we heard DF2OK and he heard us. But we never did get down to the SmiTe and the level we needed to satisfy our needs. (An actual account of the events was recorded by DF2OK/Mike in Germany. His log was very accurate to say the least.) Prior to the trip we had carefully planned the times so that the DL group would be able to hear us and the gray line would be at an opportune time for them. A lot of time was spent on checking the propagation charts and many an email was sent to confirm the times we would use. So when the trip was finalized and we attempted the qso we had done all we could to make sure we would make contact.

At 3:00 UTC the listening began. We were all sitting around waiting anxiously for the speaker to start crackling. Don, Lyn, Paul, Robert, Thomas, Jeff, Josh, Matt, Dave and I were very anxious. We had done so much in the way of preparations. Now for the final test of all the work we had put together. At 3:57 UTC a contact was confirmed using 500 mW with a KnightSMiTe from the Core Banks. In the confusion the wrong frequencies were used in the following attempts and eventually we got back on track. However, we did not make a SmiTe to SmiTe contact that night. It did not occur. At 5:25 UTC the attempts were called off for the night. We had to wait again until Saturday night.

Saturday was another day like the first two as far as the weather. The winds had died down to about 20 to 30 mph for the most part with higher gusts, but not as strong as Friday night and Saturday morning. Getting around on the island was easier and not quite as cruel. A four wheel drive vehicle was a must. Even Thomas can attest to the fact that when you are told not to go to certain places in the sand, you do not venture there. We did have to push him out of one spot when he tried to turn around. That was a moment to remember that I will never forget. And needless to say I will not let him forget it either. It was in an area where a lot of other vehicles were left behind.

You need to picture the beach as a graveyard for four wheel drive vehicles too. As the storm was passing and the surf was pounding it had uncovered quite a few vehicles that were buried in the sands along the beach area. We saw many of them there. The metal all rotted away from the rusting. The tires, however, were still intact for the most part and looked almost new sitting there on the rusty masses. It made a frightful scene on the beach. During the day we also kept the bands hopping attempting to make qsoís on the bands. We had 10 meters on the air on SSB from Thomas' cabin and Josh/KF4EAG kept the band hot for a long time. He was running 5 watts to a kite supported wire antenna up 250 feet in the air for the most part and had a good signal from the reports he got back. It was his first real trip anywhere. He was enjoying making contacts all over the world and kept asking on the 2 meter frequency we used where the countries were. Now, Josh is a new ham and he is going over to the Philippines in July í99 for a long missionary trip. So he needed the experience to learn how to use the radios, how to set up antennas, and now more importantly, he will be able to remember what a "lil ole mullet blow" was like. They have huge typhoons over there, and hopefully he will never see one. Being new to the hobby he was amazed how many places he talked to. It renewed the feeling you have as a new ham. I saw and heard him talk with jubilation and exhilaration at the conquests on the bands. Of course he was operating in the SSB portions of the bands and they were having a contest there. So when he advised that he was QRP and on IOTA-NA-067 he stirred up some activity of his own.

Back in the CW shacks we were making the contacts as they came along. The bands were in and out for us. Several of us had long qsoís on 40 and 20 meters. I particularly had more fun making the longer QSOs and inviting the QRO operators to lower their power and get it down to qrp standards. Almost all of them did and I feel we recruited several new QRP ops as an end result. Of course telling the story of our surroundings and the weather added to the flavor of the chase too. Several ops got a real kick out of hearing how bad the conditions were on the island and the hardships we were going through to keep the stations on the air. I particularly told a lot of you on the air that I could not wait to find a dry pair of socks and underwear when I got home. That would also follow a long awaited shower

or bath. The longer the weekend lingered the more that seemed like a heaven sent item.

Matt/KD4PBS got the APRS station on the air and managed to stir up quite a bit of activity on the 2 meter bands from his new station on the Core Banks. He even used a little island symbol with a Palm Tree to show our location. This was the first time this had been done and with him being sick and trying I think he really put forth an effort with his activities. While I was operating the 40 meter bands, Bob/AE4IC kept 20 meters hot. He was working as many stations as he could find. On our prior expeditions we had worried about a lot of different things than we did on this trip. Earlier events I had worried about the raccoons breaking into my tent and fighting me for my groceries. This time they had spent the weekend at a different location. We did have a visit on the first night from the raccoons. They were out in the worst of the weather. Their footprints were all around the cabin in the mornings. There were no mosquitos or gnats on this trip though. They were blown to the far ends of the earth. As Saturday night drew nearer we prepared for the DL/US qso again. For this attempt I stayed at the 2nd cabin and listened on the Sierra on the Carolina Beam and on the TAC-1 on the 40 meter vertical. I switched back and forth on the two receivers to listen for the DL group. I did hear them on the QRP/p transmission on the Carolina Beam/Sierra and it was passed along to the group in the main cabin. They also heard them on the phased verticals.

It was a long night again and it made it very fruitful in the end. Listening and hearing the ghost signals we waited for reminded me of the many watches during the "Silent Period" at the 15 to 18 and 45 to 48 minute marks on the 500 Khz watches for years. It brought back memories of listening for the SOS you did not want to hear. After several attempts the QSO was made and at 5:16 UTC the QSO was made and confirmed by the exchange of the signal reports. The DL group signed and then our group made several more contacts and exchanged reports. The 6,798km/4225mi QRP/p QSO at 250 Mw both ways just goes to show that it can be done. After the long awaited QSO was completed most of us went to bed. I made several more contacts on 40 meters and then got a long awaited sleep. When we woke on Sunday morning it was back to the bands and more hot coffee. It was still cold and the weather had finally changed to where we could see the sun. Walks on the beach to find missing items were in store for some of us. I found some of the items that had been buried in the sand where I put up my tent. A hand ax and some stakes and a few other items. So all in all it was not a complete loss for the weekend. Also we rode up and down the beach where we could and saw the damage from the Nor'easter. It was there to be seen. There was a lot of wash out and sand missing from what was there last year. Speaking of last year, we sat on the beach last year in shorts and tee shirts and braved the hot sun in tents and kept cool in the shade. This

year was a real difference in more than one way. We did not log the amount of QSOs this year we did last year. We answered all the calls we got and filled the log sheets. However, there was not a wild frenzy like last year. So I feel we have pretty much worn out that island.

As the afternoon came we packed up all the antennas and the gear and made ready for the trip home. The long awaited trip home for some. It was a horrific weekend and some were grumbling all the way through, but here on Sunday, they had changed and were now talking about the next trip.

We had successfully made our QSO with the DL group. It was in the history books. It was not a record as far as I know. We had done it though, and we were there for the event. I still have yet to research the real record. The trip back for several of us came early. There were a few who left on the early ferry and went back. The rest of us left in a group and split in our separate ways to head home. All in all we had a wonderful time. Even with the elements and the harsh weather we had all faired well. We had come to the Core Banks to make the DL/US qso on the KnightSMiTeís and we had completed that task. There are a lot of fond memories from the harshness of the elements, and it will be a definite recollection for all of us. We can well remember the trying times you can have on a small island just off the coast. Thank goodness we had not gone off a long way for this trip, as we might have had to wait to return later. We had used the following equipment on this trip for the QSOs:

KnightSMiTe transceiver

2 K-2s

Wilderness Sierra

2 TAC-1s (80 and 40)

TenTec Meters

Icom-IC-706MKIII

Yaesu FT 757

Assorted Handhelds

IBM ThinkPad

Several Homebrew keyers

LDG tuner

Kite supported verticals/dipoles

Walking Stick 40 meter Vertical

Carolina Beam (80-10)

Homebrewed 80 meter phased verticals

Norcal paddles

Mercury paddles

Homebrew paddles.

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JohnPaul Keon, AB4PP, is a QRPer and outdoorsman living in Raleigh, NC. jpkeon@bellsouth.net