BATTLE OF THE BACK YARD:
QRPTTF 2004 at K6ESE
Special to The ARS Sojourner
I doubt any serious battles have been waged in my back yard, except fighting over who cuts the grass and so forth, but I didn't have any plans this year for the event, and this seemed like the next best thing.
A couple of days earlier, I had been thinking of just operating the K2 out of the shack to hand out a few points, but a wind storm took down one leg of my Zepp. Well that settled that, and I ended up putting up a 22' mast in the back yard, cut 3 sections of wire about 25' in length, used one for a radiator and 2 for ground radials.
I figured that this might be a good time to see how well – or not so well – an antenna like this would work with the K1. It would make a nice backpacking antenna if made out of very small gauge wire.
I'm sure that I wasn't a very commanding signal on the bands, but I did work 28 stations and 19 SPCs (21 for the contest – Oklahoma and Texas on 15 and 20 Meters) in just under 4 hours of on and off operating, so I guess the antenna works OK.
Best DX was Alaska (Jim, AL7FS) and Maine (Seab, AA1MY). I heard someone replying to AL0HA, but couldn't hear the Hawaii gang. I guess the band was too long. Oh, well. That's the way it goes sometimes. At other times Hawaii is a clear shot.
Stations that I heard in there and recognized but missed were: Randy K7TQ, Doc W5TB, and Mert WØUFO. The loudest signals on the band were Doc KØEVZ and Bruce AA5B. They were both pounding into Los Angeles.
Here's a copy of my log:
K6ESE QRPTTF Log - April 24th, 2004
Los Angeles, CA
Rig: K1 (4 Band, Internal ATU, Noise Blanker) @ 5W
Antenna: 25' Vertical wire with 2x25' ground radials
28 QSO'S 21 SPC'S (TX and OK on 2 BANDS) Note: * - Not In Contest
|
QSO#
|
TIME (UTC)
|
CALL
|
RST (REC)
|
QTH
|
BAND
|
|
1
|
19:45
|
KD4ORO |
447
|
AL
|
15M
|
|
2
|
19:51
|
K0EVZ |
569
|
NM
|
20M
|
|
3
|
19:58
|
AA5B |
559
|
NM
|
20M
|
|
4
|
20:02
|
WA8ZBT |
559
|
TX
|
15M
|
|
5
|
20:05
|
AA5TB |
529
|
TX
|
15M
|
|
6
|
20:14
|
W0CH |
559
|
OK
|
15M
|
|
7
|
20:17
|
AA1MY |
559
|
ME
|
15M
|
|
8
|
20:37
|
AA5CK |
559
|
OK
|
15M
|
|
9
|
20:44
|
W5KDJ |
559
|
TX
|
15M
|
|
10
|
20:46
|
KA3WMJ |
559
|
PA
|
15M
|
|
11
|
21:18
|
W5GIX |
559
|
LA
|
20M
|
|
12
|
21:24
|
KI0II |
559
|
CO
|
20M
|
|
13*
|
21:40
|
WA1GEP |
559
|
MA
|
15M
|
|
14
|
21:48
|
N0IT |
559
|
MO
|
15M
|
|
15
|
21:53
|
N7OU |
559
|
OR
|
20M
|
|
16
|
21:58
|
NA5N |
559
|
NM
|
20M
|
|
17
|
22:03
|
AA5TA |
559
|
TX
|
20M
|
|
18
|
22:16
|
N6ZI |
559
|
CA
|
40M
|
|
19
|
22:23
|
AL7FS |
449
|
AK
|
20M
|
|
20
|
22:27
|
W0EB |
559
|
KS
|
20M
|
|
21
|
22:28
|
K5KW |
559
|
OK
|
15M
|
|
22*
|
22:39
|
NN4X |
599
|
FL
|
15M
|
|
23
|
22:59
|
WA5TCZ |
559
|
LA
|
20M
|
|
24
|
23:07
|
K5KW |
449
|
OK
|
20M
|
|
25
|
23:12
|
KL7FDQ |
559
|
MT
|
20M
|
|
26
|
23:27
|
K8CV |
559
|
MI
|
20M
|
|
27*
|
23:39
|
N4GN |
599
|
KY
|
20M
|
|
28
|
23:41
|
WD7Y |
559
|
NV
|
40M
|
Here's a shot of the 22' mast gaff taped to a lighting stand. The wire coming down is some of the 10 lbs., roll of No. 22 Teflon insulated silver tinned stranded copper that I got surplus a while back at Apex Surplus in the valley.
Here's K6ESE at the rig trying to pounce on other TTF ops. Got pretty warm out there in the sun for four hours but was fun.
Trevor Jacobs, K6ESE, is an avid QRPer and expert outdoor operator living in Los Angeles.