The Oak Ridge ARC, Oak Ridge, TN, operated from our usual spot at the American Red Cross building (in grid EM76) using the club call sign, K4PJ and exchange, 2F TN. Charlie, K4LF, and son Ross, KR4USA, set up and operated the VHF station. Other club members set up and operated the HF CW and Phone stations. In most years we operated only 6m, but this year we decided to also add 2m to our VHF capability.

The station consisted of about 80 watts transmit capability on each band. The homebrew antennas consisted of a 6m dipole at 17 feet and a 4-element 2m beam at 12 feet on a homebrew pushup mast that was Armstrong rotatable. See pics attached.

The results this year could be summarized in two words. IT STUNK! To calculate our contacts total, you must use your kindergarten math. Okay boys and girls follow along carefully; watch me. Hold up both hands and count the number of fingers on each hand. Then take away one little pinky finger. Wait a minute; I don’t think we had subtraction in kindergarten. Anyway, count how many fingers you have showing. That’s right boys and girls—nine! We made a total of nine contacts!

We made seven contacts on the 6m band and two contacts on the 2m band. Among the 6m results were two solid Sporadic-E contacts. At 23:55Z, I worked NF1Y in Connecticut (grid FN31) and then at 23:59Z the log shows K1RK in Eastern Massachusetts (FN41). I recorded K1RK’s signal at 59+20dB.  Ahh, I said to myself, let the fun begin. But the 6m band grew quiet, not raucous like I had hoped.

When I looked again at the clock, I reflected, “Could we have fallen into the Cinderella story.” We were now just a few ticks past midnight (UTC) and our coach had just turned back into a pumpkin. Did I just imagine that we got a glass slipper?

When I said quiet, that’s a relative term: I didn’t mention the line noise. The 6m line-noise this year varied from S7 to a peak of S9+, depending on the bearing of the antenna. This was not unexpected, as the pesky noise has been with us in many years past.

On Sunday morning, as we observed the VHF antenna stack, poised against the cobalt-blue sky, (see pix #3) we dreamed of our ether waves, going somewhere, anywhere. You just knew the air was being ionized to maximize our listening and transmitting enjoyment. Well, in a word: Not!

Also, attached are pictures of my radio side-kick, KR4USA, and Hope, his “radio princess,” our granddaughter.  

73, Charlie, K4LF