APE 2009

N2GWK 2009 APE

The 2009 N2GWK APE was located at Lake Cumberland State Park in Columbia Kentucky. Once again N2GWK was accompanied by the XYL who proved her salt by assisting, or should I say managing, the pre-trip logistics. Our road trip was a mere 90 miles from our home QTH but the trip turned out to be a 2.5 hour drive. This was due mainly to two lane country roads and what seemed to be a major highway renovation project from Point A to Point B. All in all though, we saw some gorgeous farmlands and several towns we had heard of, but had never visited.
Upon arrival at Lake Cumberland we checked in and proceeded to Cottage #505. We were less than excited when we saw the pathway down to the cottage. But we still proceeded to unpack the vehicle and lug all the necessities down to the cottage. I was beginning to doubt our cabin assignments because it was significantly lower than the road surface. The backyard of the cottage was extremely steep and putting up the vertical antenna and laying the radials would have been a difficult endeavor. The only alternative was to put the antenna on the only flat spot which was right beside the screen door. I erected the vertical and laid out the radials. We were pretty sure that due to the location, i.e. down in a valley, we’d have less than satisfactory reception. After about 3 hours without a trace on the waterfall we struck out in search of a better operating position.
Directly across from our signal starved cottage #505 was cottage #510. Cottage #510 was on the top of the hill and overlooked all the other 500 series cottages. Using an FT817 and an Outbacker Perth Antenna, we took a quick ‘listen’ to 14.070 MHz and heard the melodious tones of multiple PSK-31 signals on the waterfall. After a short drive to the main lodge, we were transferred from Cottage #505 to Cottage #510. We broke camp and within an hour we were in Cottage #510. Our thanks go out to the more than accommodating staff of Lake Cumberland State Park for allowing us to move.
Our new location was still a bit on the ‘hilly’ side which somewhat limited where we might stand up the vertical on its tri-pod. Since we had no intention of using our cottage’s fire pit, we erected the 31 ft vertical next to it. Compared to our previous antenna location, this location was a dream. We were able to connect all 8, 30 ft radials, and stake the vertical down securely with aluminum tent stakes. The antenna was fed with coax to an LDG 1:1 Balun at the base of the antenna.
Our operating position was inside the cabin. The equipment consisted of a Yeasu FT-857D, LDG Z100 Auto Tuner, and the SignaLink, USB Interface between the Yeasu and a Dell Laptop. Software was Ham Radio Deluxe V4.0, and DM780. The FT857 / tuner and power supply are all prewired and affixed to a wire rack/platform. I shortened the legs of a standard wire kitchen dish rack (from Lowes) that sits nicely inside a laptop roll-aboard case. The laptop rides under the wire rack when packed. Since all the equipment on the rack is pre-wired, one can just pull it out of the laptop case and connect it to the antenna, A/C Power and laptop. All DC Power connections are made with Anderson Power Pole connectors. Replacing the A/C power with a DC Power source is a simple matter of unplugging one and plugging in the other.
The new operating position was great. There were lots of traces on the waterfall, and there were many answers to our CQ’s. The N2GWK APE ran from August 14 @ 2000 UTC to August 17 11:41 UTC. During that time, we made 89 APE QSO’s with some really great DX. 23 of those 89 QSO’s were PODXS070 Members. Again, the toughest part of the trip was ending it. *I wonder where we will be next year.*

N2GWK APE QSO LOG

Date	Time	Station	Band	Mode	Locator	Name	070 #	S/P/C
8/14/2009	20:02	AA5AT	30m	PSK31	EM40kn	Don		LA
8/15/2009	0:07	CO2NO	20m	PSK31	EL92	Gustavo		Cuba
8/15/2009	0:18	VE3NOO	40m	PSK31	FN14he	Michael		ON
8/15/2009	0:22	NO8R	40m	PSK31	EN73hg	Delows	777	MI
8/15/2009	0:27	CO8LY	30m	PSK31	FL02la	Edwardi		Cuba
8/15/2009	0:40	K3ML	30m	PSK31	EL94gq	Mel		FL
8/15/2009	0:54	WD4FNY/0	30m	PSK31	DM78ot	Bill		CO
8/15/2009	1:01	CM3RPN	40m	PSK31	EL82st	Nivaldo		Cuba
8/15/2009	1:10	W1/E74OF	40m	PSK31	FN34ki	Pedja		VT
8/15/2009	1:36	WB3FME	40m	PSK31	FM18lw	Mark		DC
8/15/2009	12:13	JM7OLW	20m	PSK31	QM07fo	Suke		Japan
8/15/2009	13:00	N1KPW	20m	PSK31	FN31xo	Greg		CT
8/15/2009	13:12	XE1XSJ	20m	PSK31	EK09eh			Mexico
8/15/2009	13:19	K3PRN	20m	PSK31	FM18rx	Don	677	MD
8/15/2009	13:31	NY4FL	20m	PSK31	EL96dd	Dick	477	FL
8/15/2009	13:39	W1/E74OF	20m	PSK31	FN34ki	Pedja		VT
8/15/2009	14:31	KK1X	20m	PSK31	FN42en	John	325	MA
8/15/2009	14:39	KX8C	20m	PSK31	EN91bg	Jim	636	OH
8/15/2009	14:50	VA3TPS	20m	PSK31	FN04pm	Steve	526	ON
8/15/2009	15:04	W7PAQ	20m	PSK31	DN36	Frank	354	MT
8/15/2009	15:12	N9UUP	20m	PSK31	EN53sb	Jeffrey		WI
8/15/2009	15:26	YV4DHS	20m	PSK31	FK60af	Homero		Venezuela
8/15/2009	15:33	K5WTA	20m	PSK31	EM90	Jake		FL
8/15/2009	15:49	N2QGV	20m	PSK31	EL98io	Art		FL
8/15/2009	16:02	KU1T	20m	PSK31	FM19fa	Zibi	769	VA
8/15/2009	16:09	AD5ZA	20m	PSK31	EM12	Jim	633	TX
8/15/2009	16:18	KB3FN	20m	PSK31	FM09op	Lynn	223	MD
8/15/2009	16:28	KB3RJH	20m	PSK31	FM19kp	Anthony		MD
8/15/2009	18:14	N1BSA	20m	PSK31	FN31hv	Chris		CT
8/15/2009	18:18	KD0CES	20m	PSK31	DN81dt	Harley		NE
8/15/2009	18:27	KD2WL	20m	PSK31	FN13dg	Bud		NY
8/15/2009	19:15	W2GSB/LH	20m	PSK31	FN 30 jp	Walter		NY
8/15/2009	19:21	K1CGI	20m	PSK31	EL87sf	Victor	993	FL
8/15/2009	19:33	KT4NM	20m	PSK31	EL97tp	John H	298	FL
8/15/2009	19:43	NP2G	20m	PSK31	FN21ga	Eddie		Virgin Is.
8/15/2009	19:52	4A3YLH	20m	PSK31	EL61	El Cuyo		Yucatan Mexico
8/15/2009	20:00	W5KAM	20m	PSK31	DM80ao	Ken	700	TX
8/15/2009	20:13	KD1NA	20m	PSK31	FN42ls	Dave		MA
8/15/2009	20:41	KA1PPV	20m	PSK31	FN31	Joe		CT
8/15/2009	20:50	KP3RE	20m	PSK31	FK78eh			Puerto Rico
8/15/2009	20:58	VE6VK	20m	PSK31	DO21xa	Russ		Canada
8/15/2009	21:40	K4WMN	20m	PSK31	EM90ec	Wade		FL
8/15/2009	21:51	N2EOC	20m	PSK31	FN20	Chuck	563	NJ
8/15/2009	22:10	GM0SDV	20m	PSK31	IO75ws	Victor		Scotland
8/15/2009	22:26	AE5ER	20m	PSK31	EM02wt	Cecil		TX
8/15/2009	22:32	ON4AXU	20m	PSK31	JO21qe	Gerard		Belgium
8/15/2009	22:41	W4SPZ	20m	PSK31	EL88pf	Lawrence		FL
8/15/2009	23:10	IW8CGX	20m	PSK31	JN70rx	Valerio		Italy
8/15/2009	23:26	DL2OCE	20m	PSK31	JO41xw	Harald		Fed. Rep. of Germany
8/15/2009	23:48	W8KID	40m	PSK31	EN63uh	Dick		MI
8/15/2009	23:58	AA6NN	20m	PSK31	DM14cc	Johanes		CA
8/16/2009	0:04	HA6ZB	20m	PSK31	KN 07cs	Gyuri		Hungary
8/16/2009	0:09	IS0BOZ	20m	PSK31	JM49le	Manuel		Sardinia
8/16/2009	0:15	TG9AHM	20m	PSK31	EK44ro	Emmanuel		Guatemala
8/16/2009	0:27	HP1AVS	30m	PSK31	FJ08ph	Victor	635	Panama
8/16/2009	0:31	YV1PX	30m	PSK31	FJ49si	Roberto		Venezuela
8/16/2009	0:44	KP4ED	40m	PSK31	FK68wi	Luis	693	Puerto Rico
8/16/2009	0:55	H81L	20m	PSK31	FJ09ea			Panama Canal
8/16/2009	1:09	WG5T	20m	PSK31	EM15	Bill	491	OK
8/16/2009	1:27	K0PSK	40m	PSK31	EM29da	Don	804	KS
8/16/2009	1:43	K4WY	30m	PSK31	FM18	John		VA
8/16/2009	1:51	W5VGR	30m	PSK31	EL29kn	Don	293	TX
8/16/2009	2:01	KD1BD	30m	PSK31	FN31	Dave		CT
8/16/2009	2:12	W1ZI	20m	PSK31	FN32rk	John		MA
8/16/2009	2:19	K6VVK	20m	PSK31	CM87wk	Vincent		CA
8/16/2009	2:29	K0FBV	40m	PSK31	EN41rn	Vic	810	IA
8/16/2009	2:38	K8CKC	40m	PSK31	EN91ej	Mike		OH
8/16/2009	2:47	KB8OIE	40m	PSK31	EN82dr	Paul		MI
8/16/2009	2:59	RA0FLP	20m	PSK31	QN16jp	Leo		Asiatic Russia
8/16/2009	3:08	WA7HDZ	20m	PSK31	DN06if	Larry	404	WA
8/16/2009	3:18	W1/E74OF	30m	PSK31	FN34ki	Pedja		VT
8/16/2009	3:27	N2LZ	40m	PSK31	EL87uv	Dave		FL
8/16/2009	11:31	N4CTC	40m	PSK31	DM79jt	Bob		CO
8/16/2009	11:39	VK4TUX	40m	PSK31	QG62dk	Adrian		Australia
8/16/2009	12:10	KC2MOT	40m	PSK31	FN12fr	Mark		NY
8/16/2009	12:23	WT2W	40m	PSK31	FN12	Jim		NY
8/16/2009	12:37	PI110HL/LH	20m	PSK31	JO21bx			Netherlands
8/16/2009	12:58	4L1QX/MM	20m	PSK31	FM41lh	Emin		Bermuda
8/16/2009	13:08	N1FCC	20m	PSK31	FN42lw	Dave		NH
8/16/2009	13:16	WM6V	20m	PSK31	EM20mr	Florence		TX
8/16/2009	13:28	CO2JD	20m	PSK31	EL92	Juan		Cuba
8/16/2009	13:43	KA1GMN	20m	PSK31	EM12ku	Phil		TX
8/16/2009	14:05	W3MEL	20m	PSK31	FN10xl	Mel	706	PA
8/16/2009	14:18	CO2WL	20m	PSK31	EL82sx	Lazaro		Cuba
8/16/2009	14:21	YV1PX	20m	PSK31	FJ49si	Roberto		Venezuela
8/16/2009	14:30	RX0AE	20m	PSK31	NO66ka	Peter		Asiatic Russia
8/16/2009	14:40	W8L /LH	20m	PSK31	EN66	John		MI
8/16/2009	14:50	K1GMD	20m	PSK31	DM84ij	Phil	411	NM
8/17/2009	11:41	VE1CDD/P	20m	PSK31	FN84ds	John		NS