A Wash-out

The weather forecast was not good, but the rain was supposed to hold off until late in the day.  It was not to be - there was a little rain spitting as I drove to Balloon Fiesta Park.  Once there, the bottom dropped out several times.  It was obvious this was going to be a "no-launch" day.

The club manned the booth for a while as some folks wandered through the Discovery Tent.  In short time, all of the displays in the Discovery Tent started being dismantled and packed up.  So was our radio display.

Long Morning at Balloon Fiesta

Another "O-Dark-30" arrival at Balloon Fiesta Park for my shift in the Discovery Tent.  Calm winds this morning, so dawn patrol and mass ascension took off as scheduled.  I was able to get a couple more photos of the balloons illuminated in the dark, before they took off.

New Mexico sky photos can be very
'uninteresting" - so many of our days are wall-2-wall sunshine.  Saturday, with the remnants of a tropical storm coming in, there were some clouds to add some interest into the sky.

We were busy after the balloon launch, fielding questions about amateur radio.

A Late Balloon Launch

Today was a busy day on the air.  There were 2 local 2M nets that were run from the Amateur Radio booth in the Discovery tent - the Caravan Club SCAT (Senior Citizen & Travelers) and Rusty's Raiders nets. As such.we have 7 ham volunteers this morning.

Surface winds delayed balloon launching.  Dawn Patrol was scrubbed.  It was almost 9 am before a smaller "mass ascension" launched.  I still was able to get some good photos. Got good views of the Van Gogh and fractal balloons.

Thanks to fellow members of High Desert ARC and the Caravan Club for manning the booth and net control stations.

After my shift was over, I was at Toltec Brewing for the Geezerz lunch.  Chile cheeseburger and pint of Altbeir.

High Winds Aloft

After the poor service yesterday morning at IHOP (Unser just South of Southern), I skipped breakfast this morning.  Grabbed a donut and coffee after at the tent.

Morning winds seemed light and there were hopes for balloon launch.  I started to become concerned when they were not launching balloons for Dawn Patrol.  Seemed balloons were being inflated but not launched.  One of our radio clug crew was able to tune into the balloon frequency.  It seems that winds aloft were too high.

We spent most of the shift making contacts using digital JT8, basically filling up 2 log pages.  Paying closer attention, I  noticed that the computer was set up to make contacts as the club's call, not the Special Event call "W5B".  Sent a message this evening wondering why this was.

During the shift, winds started picking up at ground level.   Weather forcast for the next 2 days are not for balloon launch.  As a committee member, I will monitor the next couple days until I again have a shift at the Balloon Fiesta Park on Wednesday morning.  At this time, forecast for Wednesday is clear skies, and, hopefully, light winds.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta - Day 1

Early depart from the house this morning.  Stopped by IHOP in Rio Rancho (Unser just South of Southern).  I thought perhaps they got their shit together over the last year,  WRONG!  Even with apparent new manager, the service sucked.  It took me half and hour to get an senior order of french toast w/ sausage. And, it was delivered with bacon instead of sausage.

After the disappointed breakfast, I headed to Balloon Fiesta Park.  At 4:00, traffic was already backed up turning off the frontage road, and slow going the street into the park.  It was about 4:15 when I got parked. 

When allowed to the Discovery Tent, I settled into doing final adjustments to the club's display. 

It was a beautiful morning for the start of Balloon Fiesta 2018.  Very light winds, clear sky.  I was a little late getting over to the field for Dawn Patrol.  Was there to catch the Air Force (?) fly-over.  The Canon balloon carried the US Flag aloft with the strains of the National Anthem.  

The field was still in the shadows from the Sandia Mountains when the mass ascension commenced.  Eventually, the sun started illuminated the balloons.  Wave after wave of balloons launched from the field. 

As the mass ascension was tapering off, the crowds started entering the Balloon Discovery Tent.  While testing the radios before the mass ascension, we were able to make a few digital contacts.  Then we had some software glitch.  The other station was able to make a couple SSB contacts.

This year we were set up in the same part of the tent where the astronaut and other speakers held their presentations. They had a strong PA system, which caused it difficult for us to hear folks that may want to discuss ham radio.  We did have some conversations.

A sample of the photos (over 80) I took during the mass ascension are on my facebook page and the club's (NM5HD.com) facebook page.

Back tomorrow for the same morning shift.  Hope the weather continues to cooperate.

Balloon Fiests Set-up

After the Thursday coffee/breakfast at Flying Star, nost of the attendees headed over to Balloon Fiesta Park to set up High Desert Amateur Radio Club display for Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta..  In addition to setting up the informational booth shown here, the group erected 3 antennas for HF, VHF, and UHF (high frequency, very-high  frequency, and ultra-high frequency) contacts.

The club will be operating  SSTV (slow-scan TV), voice, digital modes, and "Morse" code.  Two popular Albuquerque area nets will be run fron this station during the fiesta.

At the Balloon Fiesta you will find us in the Balloon Discovery Tent at the North end of the field.  On the air, listen to call-sign W5B.

Getting Photos right

Today was my last shift at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.  Weather was a lot warmer this monring, still chilly in the tent.  There were originally 3 of us on the work schedule - ended up with 5.  Being a Saturday, we were pretty busy talking with folks about ham radio.

I seemed to finally got the right camera settings for shooting the Dawn Patrol.  To get enough light, I set the ISO all the way up to 6400.  Manual focus because there was not enough light for the automatic settings.  Had to run -3 stops compensation with the bright balloons and the black sky.  I could (or should) have set the compensation at -4 or -5,  Processing the image from RAW, I was able to get the light correct.

Very light winds this morning.  Many of the balloons seemed to just stay on the same place.  The first ones launched drifted off to the SE.  No box wind running today. 

Wednesday Shift - Balloon Fiesta

It was a COLD morning at Balloon Fiesta Park. Thermometer was hovering just above 40 degrees.  Had a big crew, mostly because 2 nets were being controlled from the High Desert display at Balloon Fiesta.  I checked into the SCAT (Senior Citizen and Travelers) net.  Was busy talking with folks about Ham Radio during Rusty's Raider's net, so skipped checking into that net.

I did a little more photography.  Still working on setting the camera to shoot the Dawn Patrol.  The shots are tricky because of the low light and the bright glows when the balloon gas jets are firing.

Three days at the Balloon Fiesta, I wore my Georgia Boot Company work boots.  While they were heavy when I first got them on, they were very comfortable for walking at the fiesta grounds.

Body was tired by the time I headed to the car, only finding the gate I entered in was closed.  Had to walk down to the next gate and back to the car.  Crashed into bed when I got home

It's a Wrap

Yesterday was the last morning for the 2015 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.  As usual, I stopped at IHOP for breakfast before driving over to the park.  I arrived early for my "Oh-Dark-Thirty" shift.  Opened the tent and turned on the lights.

Was not too long when Dave (N0LVA arrived.  He told me the combo for the trailer and we started setting up the station.

Bands were terrible.  We did tried by calling "CQ"s.  There were a couple QSOs we could here, but seemed like no one heard us.  Wish we had the laptop with JT65 software.  We were able to hear digital traffic.

Winds were a little "iffy" early.  There was no Dawn Patrol. Eventually, we got the green flag for the last mass ascension of the 2016 Balloon Fiesta.

We were wondering where John was, as he was also supposed to be at the tent.  Eventually he called and we found out he had fallen the previous evening and broke a bone.  That left Dave and I (me nearly 69 and Dave 72 yo) to disassemble to ham radio station and our exhibit, and finally packing everything into the club trailer.

Both of us have knee issues, to had to take many breaks.  It was nearly 11am when we walked back to our vehicles.  I needed to do 2 errands on the way home.   Stopped by a FedEx office to return a kilt I had ordered (size exchange).  Finally, Smiths for some groceries.

Home about noon, I crashed into bed.

Brisk Morning at Balloon Fiesta

Was glad I had a couple days off from volunteering.  Gave me some time to rest, recover, and get some other things accomplished.  This morning, I had another early morning shift at the NM5HD tent.

Stopped by IHOP for breakfast. Arrived Balloon Fiesta Park a little before 4am.  Traffic into the park was heavier than Wednesday morning.  Was able to get about the same parking spot.  Had to wait for the gate opening.  Headed over to the tent and opened it up.

Soon, Frank arrived.  Little bit after was our committee chairman walked in.  Set up the station, prepared to be on the air and meet our public.

Winds were just too high for balloon launch until about 8:45. I spent some time tuning through 7 M and 20 , but no much activity.  Was at hoping at least to find some action on the county Hunter's Net.  No luck.  When the sky lightened up, I noticed another antenna (dipole), looking for perhaps 75/80M.  We checked into a local 2M net.

Thinking it would be a short launch window, we packed up the station to beat the traffic leaving the park. There will be another crew at the fiesta this afternoon.  Tomorrow (Sunday) morning I will be back for the last half day of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta..

Thanks to an "expert" on the blogger help blog, I was able to re-post the Saturday report.  From the help blog, it looks like a lot of people had problems with blogger.

First Time at Balloon Fiesta

After some false starts, Wednesday, I had my first shift at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.  As I expected, I could not sleep
Tuesday night.  Think it was the anticipation and worrying about over-sleeping. Read and tried to sleep/nap.  Got up, dressed, grabbed my cameras and headed to IHOP for breakfast.

Glad I donned a medium weight jacket.  Was a little chilly (mid-40s) when I headed out.  Stopped to gas up the car and arrived at the Balloon Fiesta Park about 4am.  One of the fiesta officials came by and plugged in our tent.

The Wednesday crew started showing up.  Grabbed the electronics out of the trailer and set up the Special Events Station W5B.  One on our club members told me what to look for.  Soon, it was about the time for balloons of the "Dawn Patrol" to take to the skies.  Their function was to check the winds before the mass ascension for the rest of the balloons.

As the sun started rising over the Sandia Mountains, balloons were lifting off.  There was a constant flow of balloons rising into the sky and heading to the north,  As I watched the ascension, the first balloons to lift off seemed to the those of traditional shape.

Later in the ascension came the larger and special balloons.  I captured photos of some of these unusual balloons.  Here is a cow, just for my friends in Wisconsin.

It was a good thing we had a full compliment of volunteers to man the High Desert ARC tent.  Like a kid in a candy store, I was excited watching all of the balloons.  Most of my time was closer to the launch field to take photos.

Band conditions were the pits like they have been all year.  There also were some problems with tent power - kept tripping the breaker.  Don't think we made any contact in HF.  Two nets were conducted during the morning.  I think they were both on 2M.

It was a perfect morning for flying.  One of the things I learned about the Albuquerque air currents often create a "box".  Winds aloft were to the North.  After flying North, they dropped altitude and the surface winds often brought the balloons back to the Balloon Fiesta Park for landing.

Once the mass ascension had been running for over an hour, people started leaving the park. The club shut down the HF station and one of the nets concluded. Two of us members stayed until the second net was over.  By about 11 am, most of the balloons had landed and it was our time to close up for the day.

While I was tired, I also was hungry.  Stopped by a couple stores near Cottonwood Mall killing time until the clubs Wednesday lunch.

Exhausted, I got home and crashed onto my bed.  Slept for a couple hours. got up and transferred photos from the camera to the hard drive.  Processed some of the better photos and posted some on
Facebook.

Photos:  Dawn Patrol,  Specialty Balloon,  Special Events Station W5B and High Desert ARC tent

W5B SetUp Redux

Core group of High Desert ARC members returned to Balloon Fiesta Park to (again) set up the Amateur Radio Special Events Station W5B. The station should be on the air starting Tuesday morning.

Confusion between the club and the fiesta organizers cause the club tear down and pack up the station last Thursday. I will leave powers-to-bee in the club to iron out all of this confusion and consideration for 2017.

In this photo. club members Merle, Larry, and Dave are checking out the antenna installation.

My first shift (with the new schedule) is Wednesday morning,  I am to be at the park at Oh-Dark-30 (about 4:30 am).  At that time, we pull the electronics out of the trailer and connect cables, plug in the power and hopefully be on the air. 

We will have literature about amateur radio and the High Desert ARC.  Once again, we are near Gate 3 in the NE corner of Balloon Fiesta Park.

Balloon Fiesta SNAFU

When I got to ham radio club Thursday breakfast/coffee, the group was-a twitter, having to go to the Balloon Fiesta grounds to remove (and supposedly re-assemble) the booth.  I  have heard different problems with what we had set up from the tent was not pretty (is soiled), the test was  blocking a large tent door, we were set up where the fiesta wants to park emergency vehicles. 

Anyway, a few of us went out and disassembled the tent and stored in into the club trailer.  The Fiesta folks were supposed to have a replacement tent for us to use all set up for us in a different location.  Alas. there was no tent for us as far as we could see.  Our chairman called the person we coordinated with from the fiesta.  When we were done packing up, she had not gotten back to us as to what we were to do.  So we exited the park with our equipment until and if we get word where we can operator and take part of the fiesta.

Special Event Station W5B

High Desert Amateur Radio Club will be operating Special Events Station W5B during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.  The Fiesta opens on Saturday, October 1st and runs through Sunday, October 9th.

At this time, we are planning to operate 40 M or 20 M SSB band conditions permitting.  I understand the first weekend is also the California QSO Party, so we may have some competition on the bands.

If bands are terrible (as they have been) you may find us on 20 M digital JT65.

I am scheduled to work the station/booth/display mornings on Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday.   If you are at the balloon fiesta, stop by and visit.  You will find us in the NE corner of the grounds near gates 31 and 32.  If you have your license, you may be able to operate the station.  For my friends in Iowa/Nebraska, look for us on the air.

Photo:  Ed (KC2LM), looks on as Club President Jerry (K6LIE) and Dave (N0LVA) check out the antenna.

Hamfest Part 2

I was exhausted last night.  Slept off and on from about 6 pm until 8 am.  Headed back to the convention hotel a little after 11 am.  After noon, members if HDARC were holding a soldering class to some of the school students.  (photo here).

Most of the rest of the afternoon, I manned (kept and eye on) the club's display tables.  Took a break to do a little shopping and get instructions for programming my new HT.  Bought a couple USB cables, some clip jumper leads, and the cable to programming my new HT.

Then it was time to attend the Digital Modes Forum.  I am now excited to find my Icom 707 and power supply so I can start assembling a digital mode station.

For dinner, I picked up one of the leftover box lunches for giving a donation.  Checked e-mail back here at the house and then early to bed.

Duke City Ham Fest

Early start today.  At the convention center about 7 am.  Registered for the convention.  Next it was waiting for other club members to finish setting up the club's display.

High Desert ARC has an active program with the Albuquerque schools.  This Spring, they worked with NASA and had a conversation (QSO in ham lingo) with the ISS (International Space Center).  It was a big real with the schools and the club.   Much of the HDARC display was centering around that contact.

Band connections were terrible.  Antenna is only set up for 20 meters.  So, a little change of plans and the station was reconfigured for digital.  I and some others got a little primer on digital communications.  Ed (HDARC member) was running the station.  He has a forum Saturday in the afternoon covering digital modes.  I am very interested in this since it is one way I could run my radios without my speech problems.

A couple times during the day, I wandered through the venor/flea market area.  Was looking for a couple things (bench power supply, specially).  Having problems with the little Yaesu HT - think it was dropped too many times.  Ended up a Chinese HT that covers 2m, 220, and 440 for $120.

By this time, I was exhausted,  It was time to call it a day.  Stopped by Five Guys for a burger.  WOW, while the portions are large, so are the prices!

Early crash into bed.  Got up for a while during the night to do some computer work.  Soon back to bed.

Ham Fest Prep

I have been slowly getting unpacked and settled into the new house.  This weekend (August 12-14) I made a break from the routine to attend and help at the Duke City Ham Fest.

Duke City Ham Fest this year also hosts the New Mexico ARRL Section conference.

Went to the normal High Desert ARC Thursday Coffee.  Back home for a little (change cloths and break),  The afternoon was spent the the "Pyramid" hotel and convention center and hotel. Afternoon activity was preparation for the ham fest. 

The club has done this before, so most of my time was spending observing and leaning,  We were setting up 2 tables in the convention center hall, a large display board.  In on of the meeting rooms, we set up the convention special events station.  In this photo, Terry, Bill (and others) are assembling the display board.

Skipping the Festivals

I decided it was better to settle into the new house rather than running out to Santa Fe for the Bike & Brew fest.  I also skipped the Celtic Festival at the Balloon Festival Park.  I had a big burger and a pint of Amber Ale at a local establishment "The Local Brewhouse".

Spent the weekend settling into the new house and picking up a few more supplies (lamps), new TV for the living room, vacuum, et al.

Arranging the bedroom, I saw that I really wanted a second night stand.  Called the salesman at the furniture store.  Ended up picking it up and setting in the bedroom.

Bought a desk and file cabinet for the living room.  This would mostly used with the laptop and All-in-One printer.

Bike & Brew Festival AND Big Mountain Enduro

The weekend of May 19022 will be a big one for bicycle enthusiasts.  There will be the 3rd annual Outside Santa Fe Bike & Brew Festival.  Add in the season opening of the Big Mountain Enduro race series. 

I have been able to attend part of both of the first 3 festivals.  In 2014, I tried riding a couple of the group rides, but the 10 miles and the altitude, were just too much for me.  Had a nice time at the opener with the brew and hand-made bike show.

Last year, it was cold and rainy.  Braved the rain to attend the brew tasting & bike show, but skipped most of the other events - played "tourist" instead. 

I have been debating if I should attend this year's festival or go to the Celtic Festival in Albuquerque.  If any of my Omaha friends are racing in Santa Fe, I would probable opt to the bike & brew festival.

Mortgage Approved

Got the word yesterday that my mortgage for the new house in Rio Rancho has been approved.  Now, if I could just get the energy to finish packing the Iowa belongings.  Lots of space yet in the POD.

Will be bringing 2 of my bikes with me on the trip to closing (road bike & hard tail).  Internet & phone are ready to be installed on the 19th.

Buying some furniture (bedroom set, sofa, etc) while down there.  Over the weekend there is either Bike & Brew festival in Santa Fe or Celtic festival in Albuquerque to attend.