| This was my first year to participate in APE and I
really had no idea of what to expect. The first thing I must say is many
thanks to my most excellent and understanding XYL. She not only agreed
to my spending the entire weekend playing radio but, assisted mightily
in the process. She managed activities from the packing of the vehicle
in my absence to running coax, stringing antenna wires and taking the
most excellent pictures. |
| First of all our APE experience began with my flight
from Milwaukee, WI (where I work) to Louisville, KY. There I met up with
my XYL who delivered me to KENLAKE STATE Park in Hardin KY., yet another
200 miles away. |
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She had booked a ‘cabin' in the woods and we fully expected an old
rustic log cabin. We were pleasantly surprised however by a modern
cottage with all the modern conveniences of home. Yep ! we were roughing
it gently with A/C and a Plasma TV Screen. Fine Business!
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| Due to close proximity of power lines behind the
cottage, we had to strike out into the woods. Encountering massive
amounts of POISON IVY, we trekked carefully through the ‘bush' and
deployed a simple G5RV. I made only a few QSO's on the G5RV that evening
and retired early. |
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| The second day, I decided to stand a 30 ft
fiberglass mast and run a vertical wire. The wire was 22 gauge Radio
Shack speaker wire fed with an LDG 1:1 Balun. I tried to sink a ground
rod but the ground was so hard and full of “boulders”, that it was
impossible to get it deeper than about 3 inches. I decided to hitch a
ride and brace the fiberglass mast on a small tree. It offered up a
forked branch that I used as a mast support. The mast was fixed
conveniently to the branch with black tape. Lacking a ground I wound up
running two 30ft counterpoise wires. Ah! the beauties of field
expediency |
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| The rig I used was the Yaesu FT 857D with an LDG Z100
Auto-tuner. Power was limited to about 25 watts. Digital was provided by
a DELL Latitude D505 and Ham Radio Deluxe with its attendant DM780. Rig
interface was a RIGblaster NOMIC Interface. |
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The QSO count was a modest 34 but each one was a blast. Most were
made on the field expedient vertical. The most exciting QSO;s were with
a Light House in Chile, 3G1F and N7C Special Events Station
commemorating Navajo Code Talkers.
The only negative part of our APE was our having to
break it down and head home. I can GUARANTEE you this: I'll participate
in APE again next year. Great activity! 73,
N2GWK
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