UPDATE ON N8LXR'S 5 BAND WAS EFFORT

Regarding Alaska and Hawaii on 80 meters using a mobile antenna from from the East Coast:

2 skeds with HI have proven unsuccessful, although during the 2nd sked, I could clearly hear the HI Station at 579. If I can hear a station that well, my experience indicates that the QSO is very possible. Unfortunately for me, there were BIG thunderstorms in Hawaii at that time, and Hawaii could not hear me due to the QRN.

The station reported hearing me intermittently between the few lulls in the static crashes, but not long enough to establish a QSO. The station in Hawaii felt that had it not been for the QRN from thunderstorms, we would have easily made the QSO.

So far, I have not found a cooperating AK station to sked with on 80 meters.

The station in Hawaii was using QRO power and a dipole at 80 feet, and is located on a beachfront parcel of land,
close to salt water. We plan to resume skedding when the summer static on 80 meters is gone, in the fall or next winter.

I am working on finding a better location (consistent with the 50 Mile WAS Rule) for this effort, and am installing a capacitance hat on my antenna.

For HI and AK on 80 meters mobile to fixed, I have studied low band propagation. While I am no expert, the period just before and after dawn, and just before and after sunset are commonly regarded as good times to attempt a QSO like this, although the near-miss with HI occured at about 3 AM EST.

I also think that any period in darkness when the MUF is lowest with low A and K indices (and no local QRN at either end of the path) is a good time to try.

For AK on 80, absorbtion is a MAJOR factor, and if there is a high Aurora index, the Q will be all but impossible. The farther North an AK station is the harder it will be to QSO with him in all likelihood.

It should be pointed out that for HI and AK on 80 meters,
the station I would QSO with will almost certainly have to have an above average antenna system, the station on the receiving end making up for the NEGATIVE gain on my end to complete the path.

Still, I believe these QSOs ARE possible, but they require nearly perfect conditions...its just a matter of "threading the needle."

Thanks also to the fellow making the comment about my QTH, that its harder still from the East Coast to earn 5 Band WAS either fixed and especially mobile, as AK and HI are much closer to California.

73 and I'll look for all of you on Field Day!

 

I would be happy to try a sked this winter I am in Valdez Alaska and have worked 5BWAS and WAS on the Geritol net(many of the stations were also running 100 w on the east coast). We should be able to make it this winter.Drop me an e mail and we can give it a go. Kent.. KL1V@ALASKA.NET

 

HELLO ALL. THIS IS TO N8LXR (?). I did NOT get my 5B WAS mobile award. I was jerking your chain. I MEANT to get back on here within a few hours to let folks know. Hope I didn't cause you to lose your lunch OM!
That is the first I'd heard of that story and found it pretty amazing that noone has claimed that award since '70?
I've read the rest of the comments on here about this topic. Retired or not, whether or not you have a life, a family, if you're a totally geeked out nerd who spends all his time on hf mobile...none of that matters. I think it's a great accomplishment.
Best of luck to you and I hope you earn many more "geeky radio awards" in your lifetime.
Again, hope I didn't frazzle you TOO much OM!!!
73 from the great state of California where, if you haven't worked Milpitas, you haven't work REAL DX!!!!
Sean
KQ6FU

 

To SEAN,,,KQ6FU:


I certainly did not and would not have been upset ,,,or "lost my lunch" as you put it, IF you had been truthful about earning 5 Band WAS using only mobile equipment.

In fact,,as soon as you posted that you had earned 5 Band WAS as a mobilier, apparently as as joke, I wrote a post congratulating you.

Many hams have earned the formalized version of 5 Band WAS first offered in 1970 from FIXED locations....if ultimately successful, I would only make the claim to have done it using only mobile equipment, i.e., using a station capable of transmitting and receiving in motion.

As for your comment that I am a radio Geek,,,well, that is true I suppose!  LOL.   I have been fascinated with radio communications since I was a kid,,,and guess my status as a Radio Geek is a permanent one!

You seem to imply that I have nothing in my life aside from Ham Radio...Well, that is not true at all.  There is much more to my life than Ham Radio, although I admit that it is, and has been,  a big part of my life, a lifelong passion.


And there is nothing wrong with that......


73

Tim
N8LXR

 

Let me start by congratulating you on a job well done.

I do, however, wish to voice a concern. If I understand your post correctly these contacts were done while mobile -- and by mobile I take it to mean while drving -- and also using CW.

Sending CW while driving is not something I would condone due to safety concerns...the distration is just too great.

This is not to detract from your great achievement at all, merely a safety precaution to take note of. If I am in error in any of the above statements you have my apologies in advance.

Keep up the good work though.

73s and the best,

Chuck
AA1MN

 

To Chuck..AA1MN...

All of the QSOs I am claiming toward 5 Band WAS were made stationary.

However, I was using mobile equipment, i.e., a station
capable of being operated in motion.

I can operate CW in motion with a strap-to-leg paddle, but when I am really concentrating, as in a contest or while chasing an award like 5 Band WAS CW Mobile, I either operate stationary or have someone drive for me.

I think a distinction should be made here....the term MOBILE QSO does not mean that a mobile station MUST  be in motion for a given QSO made therefrom to qualify as a MOBILE QSO.

It means that the equipment used to MAKE the contact is CAPABLE of transmitting and receiving in motion, whether or not the mobile station is in fact moving when the QSO is made.

My mobile rig, with an outboard power system featuring a high capacity battery, is my answer to antenna restrictions, as I live in condo.  The 8D deep cycle battery will run the Yaesu FT100D at 100 Watts, assuming 25% duty cycle, for many hours before needing a recharge.  It was installed with extended stationary operation in mind, but is fully capable to being operated in motion as well, in CW, FM, and SSB.

BUT thanks for your concern!  I am very careful not to become a statistic in the cause of chasing 5 Band WAS CW Mobile!

73

Tim
N8LXR

 

Tim,
No, no, you have my post all wrong. Someone had mentioned being too busy or having family or the "retired" comment. What I was saying was it doesn't matter WHAT you are or how you're classified, it's only a HOBBY and you're apparently having loads of fun with it.
Just keep us posted on your success and post a pic of that award when you finally get it. Shouldn't be too long from now I'm sure.
73
Sean
KQ6FU
P.S. Have you worked Milpitas, California? I hear that's a rare one!

 

Just an update.

Tonight I worked Wyoming on 80 meters (Thanks W7NK&#33
for state #47 on that band....and within 3 contacts of 5 Band WAS CW all Mobile.

The Q was made in heavy QRN with LOUSY band conditions on both 40 and 80 meters. We swapped 339
reports for a good QSO however.

So now , the state/band totals are:

80 meters: 47 states (need NE, HI, AK)
40 meters: WAS
20 meters: WAS
15 meters: WAS
10 meters: WAS

All Qs mobile at 100 Watts, all CW, into a High Sierra HS 1500 Screwdriver, all made not more than 50 air miles apart as per WAS Rules, about 98% QSL.

Are there any AK or HI Stations planning 80 meter CW stations with BIG antennas for Field Day?? HI HI,,,,let me know!

73 to all

Tim
N8LXR

 

Only 3 more states to go. NE should be no problem. I have only heard HI
once from NJ on 80m. It was during sunrise and the station was loud.
Glad I was able to give you NJ on 10/15m. Good luck Tim.

Larry AD3Y

 

Good luck on getting the last 3 States for 5B mobile WAS.

I'm now down to 2 States (AK & HI on 160) for 9B cw WAS. All QSO's were made with a G5RV at 12' and running 200 watts or less. This quest has been 5 years in the making & like N8LXR I sent SASE's to all stations who's cards I needed with about a 90% return rate.

Any Alaska or Hawaii big guns out there who want to give 160 cw a try with me next winter?


                                  Thanks,

   
                                   Tom kcØw

 

Tim:

What a tremendous endeavor!!  Congrats on your accomplishments.  Good luck.

73

Karen - K8ZC

 

Congrats Tim on the great effort.

I myself am running mobile quite a bit. Just had a mobile-to-mobile QSO last night on 17m with a guy in downtown London (with me in Ohio)!! Quite a kick, isn't it?

Mobile allows you to take your favorite hobby to your favorite camp site, or along with you on your commute to work, or to avoid overly-restrictive CC&Rs in your community. I see more and more folks going mobile with rigs like the Yaesu FT1000 gaining popularity. And backpack mobile/pedestrian mobile is becoming a new frontier too. Is there an award for this category yet?

Maybe you can write an article for QST, CQ or 73 and let us know more details (especially the design of the mobile setup, how long it took, etc) when you complete the award?

Bert

 

Here I am recently retired in Sierra Vista, AZ
in a community with antenna covenants (really feeling sorry for my self). My wife really liked this community and Amateur Radio was not really high priority for her.

I just purchased an ICOM 706 and now I am about to join Tim in an aspect of amateur radio I have never operated before (mobile CW). My wife will be driving whenever possible.
I have operated FD for most of the last 26 years with my brother K9SO from a farm in Almond, WI. Not this year though, look for K2OC/m/7 this year. This really sounds like fun to me. Never too old to try something new.
What a fantastic hobby. Choose your poison whether it is mobile cw or anything else.
73, de, K2OC

 

TO WA0QJM:

Before you level criticisms OM, perhaps it would behoove you to ask a few questions first, or at least read the entire content of the article and ensuing comments.

I created NO "near accident misses" because..........

All of the contacts I am claiming toward Five Band WAS CW Mobile were made while STATIONARY, the majority while parked in a safe, out of the way place along the Delaware River in Philadelphia, PA, not moving, not in traffic, not even with the engine on!

If you took the time to read the comments pertaining to this article,  you would have seen that this subject has already been addressed.

After 20 years of Hamming, it still never ceases to amaze me that so many Hams (even some experienced ops who should know better)  shoot from the hip with no knowledge of what they are talking about, on this and so many other subjects, online and on the air!.................Gee!

73,

Tim
N8LXR