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 Previous: The Amateur Amateur: Assaulting the Battery II |  Next: Inside Your League: The Lab--Part 1The Technical Information Service and Product Testing |
By H. Ward Silver, N0AX
February 12, 2002
Mobile operation provides hams the opportunity to test their equipment under less than ideal conditions. These two hams logged 804 QSOs and 19 counties on their 1000-mile weekend trip throughout eastern Washington State and have a few recommendations to share.
Planning and Setup
After last year's excursion to a handful of county lines around western Washington in the Salmon Run the mobile bug bit again. I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool HF mobile operator, but this year I wanted a little more adventure--the rare counties of eastern Washington beckoned. Jack Fleming, WA0RJY, mentioned that he also wanted to try operating mobile, so I suggested we join forces. Why not? As it turned out, the buddy system is a great way to have fun and try some new operating techniques. On Friday night before the contest, we mapped a route that covered 20 counties and would not require any four-wheeling. It's nice for someone at home to have an idea of your route ahead of time in case you get stuck or have a breakdown somewhere along the line. We figured that with one operator and one driver, we could cover between 400 and 500 miles each day. That turned out to be exactly right.
 The W7DX mobile setup for backseat operators is comfortable and quiet. |
I mounted my trusty IC-735 and tuner in the back seat so the operator could concentrate on QSOs without distracting the driver (or vice versa). During actual mobile operation we fastened the lap and shoulder belts through the folding bail of the radio and around the front panel of the tuner. We used a Heil headset for hands-free VOX operation while logging QSOs. The headset also prevented road noise from generating QRM on our own signal.
Power connections turned out to be a little more trouble. The cigarette lighter outlet in the car couldn't deliver enough current for reliable operation so we made a temporary connection to the fuse block under the dashboard. For long-term operation it would be best to make a direct connection to the battery. Be sure that no matter how you make the power connection, you fuse the positive and negative leads. A car fire is an expensive way to end a trip.
The car, sporting a large mag-mount and Hamsticks on the roof, had the appearance of an overgrown inverted thumbtack on wheels. I had pre-tuned all the Hamsticks at home and found the appropriate tuner settings. Jack and I fashioned an extremely sophisticated attachment for the 75-meter whip to get its resonance down into the CW portion of the 80-meter band. It consisted of a hunk of wire, an alligator clip, and some string to hold the wire out straight. Heady stuff, this mobiling.
Because we were going to operate with the contest bonus call--W7DX--we planned to operate SSB and CW. A microphone is no problem, but a paddle and keyer can be a problem for the operator bouncing around in the back seat. Some rigs have a built-in keyer but mine does not. However, I'd won a Paddlette KP-4 miniature paddle-keyer earlier in the year and this was the perfect use for it. Its built-in messages and tiny size made CW operations a breeze, even over the roughest roads.
Operating
 This is W7DX at the Columbia-Walla Walla county line. The Hamstick antenna is up and in the clear for a strong signal in all directions. |
We rolled out early the next day, September 15, and stopped to eat a hearty breakfast about 20 minutes from our starting point--the Kittitas-Chelan county line on US 97 at Blewitt Pass. We wondered if there would be much activity so soon after the terrorist attacks on the previous Tuesday. That concern evaporated as our first CQ resulted in a QSO with N2CU in Hamburg, New York. Two more New York stations called in within the first 30 minutes. As it turned out there were many stations on the air working the Salmon Run. Good conditions helped a lot.
We spent almost half an hour at the county line, making a healthy run of contacts on the County Hunters' Net on 14.336 MHz. They were very accommodating. We appeared at five more county lines during the contest, each check-in netting 20 to 40 QSOs. Then it was on down the road to the Columbia River and Douglas and Grant counties on our way to Grand Coulee Dam. We pulled into Grand Coulee about lunchtime and stopped at an interesting fruit stand. What better place for lunch than at Tee-Pee Burgers? Then, like the Columbia, we rolled on.
The next stop was the Colville Indian reservation at the Okanogan-Ferry county line. This had to be the most beautiful stop on our itinerary. The view across the river to the south was spectacular. A cool breeze eased the mid-afternoon heat. We headed back down to Grand Coulee and then made a long run of CW and SSB QSOs while traveling across Lincoln County.
 N0AX operates the miniature KP-4 keyer for CW QSOs. |
Late in the afternoon we turned north again and crossed into Stevens County--heading for the Pend Oreille-Spokane county line. Propagation really picked up on 20 meters and we spent almost an hour on that band. We were able to confirm several counties for Zoli Pitman, HA1AG. Pend Oreille was a big one for him. As we drove past the mall in Spokane we got some funny looks from people who stared at the car with a big whip antenna on the roof and someone (me) in the back seat wearing a communications headset.
Hams who had been tracking our trip around the state were able to add another county to their logs as we rolled into Whitman County just after sunset. Pretty soon it was time to look for a hotel. As might be expected, the college town of Pullman was open for business--it was Saturday night. We noticed a hotel featuring the Hilltop Café. How could we resist? After dinner I closed out the day by joining the roundtable with other Washington stations on 3925 kHz. I put a number of counties and Oregon and British Columbia in our log and went QRT about 11:30 PM. It had been quite a day--the log showed more than 500 QSOs.
Sunday morning we visited the hotel breakfast buffet for a good-sized refueling and then hit the road again. The rolling wheat fields of the Palouse had just been shorn and the early morning light on the green trees, yellow fields, and black road was a memorable sight. One of the benefits of operating mobile is to go places you've never been and see things you might not otherwise see. We enjoyed lots of both during our trip.
 Changing the antenna at a hamburger stand always attracts interest. |
About 30 minutes before the contest resumed we made the dramatic descent down US 20 into the Snake River canyon at Lewiston, Idaho. As the clock ticked over to 1600 UTC, we were parked at the Asotin-Garfield county line. Later, we rumbled into Columbia County and made a short side trip up the Lyons Ferry Road to the Columbia-Walla Walla county line. By this time in our trip we had activated 15 counties and had a good chance of making our goal of 20. Heading west, we zigzagged up to the Franklin-Adams county line and then back again through coulee canyon country, enjoying some marvelous scenery and a steady stream of callers. Stopping for lunch along US 395 we observed that we were back to traffic and civilization. We covered a lot of miles in a hurry using the four-lane highway, but it didn't have the same ambiance as driving down a winding two-lane state highway and observing dust devils in the wheat fields.
We tried to get to the Benton-Yakima county line, but the roads to the south turned out to be primitive and would have precluded our plan to avoid four-wheeling and get home at a reasonable hour. Back on the Interstate and with a half-hour remaining in the contest, we activated our last county--Kittitas.
In a strange and fitting turn of events our first contact, N2CU, turned out also to be our last, completing the circle and closing out the log at 804 QSOs from 19 counties. We put 1002 miles on the trusty Contour.
Lessons Learned
 The Okanogan/Ferry county line is an example of some of the beautiful scenery one will encounter when operating mobile. [Photos by the author] |
What lessons did we learn? Preparation is the key to success. Have your equipment in good working order and arrange it for convenient operation. Test it and tune it up before hitting the road. Start modestly and work up to the bigger, longer trips. Consider using a two-person team--sharing the driving and operating--you can operate all day long and really build up a following. It also keeps you fresh and alert--a good thing on the air and on the road. Be safe and aware--that big whip makes a car a lot taller than normal. Don't try to drive, operate and log at the same time--a buddy solves that problem completely. You'll forget some little things so keep a list for next time (we didn't have a good light for the back seat operator and we could have used a 12-V muffin fan to cool the rig). For more information, read The Modern Amateur's Mobile Handbook by Dave Ingram, K4TWJ, published by MFJ Enterprises [ARRL also offers books and accessories for mobile operation--Ed.].
This was definitely a successful adventure--we'll do it again. State QSO parties are a terrific way to try your hand at mobile operating--the home stations will be listening for you. Would you like to give it a try? Go for it. We had nothing special in the way of equipment, just enthusiasm and the lure of county-lines. You'll find yourself visiting new areas of your state and making some new on-the-air friends.
ARRL member H. Ward Silver, N0AX, is an engineer, author and teacher.
He lives on Vashon Island, Washington. First licensed in 1972 as WN0GQP, his
primary interests are DXing and contesting. Ward also works to develop local
emergency communications capabilities and Elmers new and would-be hams of all
ages. As a writer, his credits include numerous quizzes, short stories and
feature articles. He's also author of a book of ham radio brain-benders--N0AX's
Radio Puzzler. Ward says that his primary challenge is to
capture the magic of radio for the ham and non-ham audience alike. The author
can be reached at n0ax@ARRL.net.
| Previous: The Amateur Amateur: Assaulting the Battery II | Next: Inside Your League: The Lab--Part 1 The Technical Information Service and Product Testing |
