WB3AAL out on the AT 22 March

[WB3AAL]

Hello,

 Today NK8Q, Mark and I will be hiking about 1/2 hour on the Appalachian
Trail somewhere north of Allentown, PA. We should both be on the air around
19:00 UTC and will be there until 23:59 UTC.

 There is a RTTY contest going on today so if the usual QRP frequencies are
filled with RTTY, look for us a little lower in the band.

Look for Mark de NK8Q on 40, 30 and 20 meters with his Elecraft KX1 and
possibly his Rockmite 40.

Look for Ron de WB3AAL on 80, 40, 30, 20, 15 and maybe 12m with my Elecraft
K2.

If 20 meters is busy around the QRP freq. with RTTY, look for me around
14.030 or lower.

I have 926 QSO from the AT now with 48 States under my key. Still looking
for HI and MT. I also have 24 countries under the key and last time out I
worked into Europe with no problems.

If you work either Mark or I, please spot us on the DX Cluster and or the
e-mail list. This is the last outing for the 2007/2008 season of the Polar
Bear Moonlight Madness. Hope to see a moon tonight.

Weather now in around freezing with snow coming down. Up in the area we will
be hiking the snow is a littler heavier. The system is to be clearing out
later in the afternoon.

So look for mark de NK8Q PB #4 or Ron de WB3AAL PB #1 from the Appalachian
trail later today.

72 and Thanks,
Ron Polityka
WB3AAL
FISTS #10393
www.wb3aal.com
www.n3epa.org/

K1 - SN 01011
K2 - SN 01392

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[WB3AAL]

Hello,

 Yesterday was a Great day despite having some antenna problems. I meet Mark
de NK8Q in the parking lot for Bake Oven Knob.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Bake+Oven+Knob+in+PA&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=47.569986,81.035156&ie=UTF8&ll=40.751256,-75.736227&spn=0.022367,0.039568&t=h&z=15

The elevation is around 1560' and it is a very rocky area. There are large
boulders the size of a VW Bug. Mark and I started the hike up over the rocky
terrain, 20 minutes for a 1 mile hike. Once we got to the location we picked
out our operating locations. Mark made camp in the middle of the area and I
was north west of him where there was some soil so I can mount the vertical.

I went around and took some pictures of the area, Great views all around. It
was a nice sunny day which proved the weather men wrong again. It was a
little windy up there which I had a problem with the vertical wire becoming
tangled in the trees.

I could not get the vertical mounted the way it was designed. The base of
the Jackite pole was about 2 feet higher than it should have been. I
basically had to use large rocks and a short concrete wall to get the
antenna to stand up. Only problem was there were a lot of short trees that
played havoc with the antenna all day long with the windy conditions. I was
on the NW ridge of the lookout which was very windy and cold. The temp there
said it was around 42'F but with the wind chill it was around 15'F. My
thermos of hot chocolate came in handy during the day.

I got on the air on 40m and called CQ for a little while. I had no luck. So
I decided that I would give mark a quick contact. This is my log for the
March PBMME 2008.

20m    NK8Q                 Mark    PA   PB #4
40m    W2KJ                  Joe        NC
40m    VE3WMB/PM    Mike    Ont    PB #19
40m    AA8MK             Jim        OH
80m    WB3GCM          Vince    PA   About 10 miles east of us.
20m    W3PBC               Ed        PA at Pulpit Rock
20m    N5KIP                Dick      LA
20m    K5XYL               Dee       LA
80m    W3MC                Mike    MD    PB #50

I was using my K2 which will tune anything. But I notice the antenna just
was not working like it should due to being higher up off the ground than it
should be.

This area is a High Traffic Area since it is so accessible. I must have
talked to 20 people while I was up there. Two groups I talked to for at
least 20 minutes each. It did cut down on my on air time but with the
antenna not working it was a nice distraction.

Mark and I packed up around 23:30 UTC and hiked down the mountain. Then we
went for some pizza.

I had a great day being out on the AT with Mark. I enjoyed all the QSO's
with all the Polar Bears and non-Polar Bear. My count from the Appalachian
Trail places me at 935 QSO's to date.

Thanks for all the fun and hope to work many more in the PBMME 2008/2009
season. Please keep an ear out for me during the off polar Bear season for
me being out on the AT.

72 and Thanks,
Ron Polityka
WB3AAL
www.wb3aal.com
www.n3epa.org/

K1 - SN 01011
K2 - SN 01392


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