Field Day 2019

The weekend of June 22/23 was Field Day - a day for Amateur Radio Operators to show their emergency preparedness.  The High Desert ARC set uo at Enchanted Trails RV Park West end of Albuquerque.  The club set up a phone station, CW station, and GOTA (Get On The Air) station. 

I visited the site and operations for several hours, taking photos for the club.  Then when home, posted them on the club's Facebook page.

Presentation to High Desert ARC

At the June meeting of the High Desert ARC, I presented a talk on county hunting.  This was the first time I did a talk since my stroke 14 years ago.  The were a couple rough spots inn  my  speech, but made through.  Got many cudos from the members.

Here's a photo of me with my certificate.

Ham Radio Equipment

This afternoon, I unpacked my ham radio gear.  Guess it was about time as it has been sitting in the garage for the last 3 years!

On the bottom, the lineat power supple and Icom 707 transceiver.  Middle row are two of my antenna tuners.  On the top row were the Ramsey crystal 2 'm transceiver, Kantonics TNC and the antique CW key.

I also have Hustler mast and resonators, a mobile antenna tunor and a keyer.  They had unpacked shortly after I moved to New Mexico.  One of the paddles of the keyer is damaged.  Guess will have to repair of replace it if I want to do some CW.

Jungle Boots

Bought the boots and BDUs some time ago.  For over a year in Vietnam I wore boots like these.  Happy I was able to pick up these boots, in my size, at a local surplus store.  The "Tiger Stripe" camo BDU pants at a good combination.

Moving Day

After breakfast at the ranch, I finished packing bag for moving into town (Tombstone} for two nights.  It has been may years since that I was so sad to leave the location.  The people at the Tombstone Monument Guest Ranch really make you comfortable, like that family.

Heading to retreive the car, stopped on the street and visited with a guest from New Zealand.  He and his wife are visitng the area during a 10 day trip to US.  Found out his heritage is also Danish!  Nice chat.  Gave hime a copy of my calendar.

When I got into town, it was too early to check into my motel.  Went to the noon reenactment of the "Gunfight at the OK Corral".  From there, heaaded down the street to Big Nose Kate's for lunch.  Met ham radio friend Terry Zipes and his wife.  Had a bacon sheeseburger, fries, and a 22 oz mug ot Kilt
Lifter.   Then checked into my motel.  Settled into the room and processed photos.

Thursday Breakfast

Thursday is the Ham Radio club coffee/breakfast at Flying Star.  I prefer the breakfast sandwixh from Panera Bread, so I stop by there on my way to breakfast.  At Panera I buy one of their breakfast sandwiched (sausage, scrambled egg, Vermont cheese, on ciabatta bread. 

Get my coffee and water at Flying Star.

Club Coffee and ARISS

Headed out for Ham Radio coffee/breakfast.  Most of those that attended were there on ther way to Valley High School to participate in the radio contact with the International Space Station.  There was on other member beside me not work the contact, I had nothing to talk with him after his stints working at Balloon Fiesta. 

Settle into my office chair at the computer to watch the YouTube broadcast of the contact.

The contact came off as planned.  I was very proud of the club's ARISS crew.  They and the school produced an awesome show.

NOTE - the QSL card was from the previous ARISS contact in April 2016.  I hope to be able to post the new card once it is received.

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.

Duke City HamFest - Friday

Today was the opening day of the Duke City HamFest.  The function is being held at the Isleta Resort & Casino about 10 miles South of downtown Albuquerque.  It's a big show this year because it is also the Rocky Mountain Division convention of the ARRL.

It was the first time I had ever been to Isleta.  And, being a Friday morning, I planned extra time to make the 30 miles from Rio Rancho (North of ABQ) to the Resort (South of ABQ).  Figured I would kils some time befoire my work shift (registration).

When I got to the resort, I asked at the front desk - where and when I can have breakfast.  The clerk told me at the restaurant close to the convention center entrance.  It was almostt 6am, he said it would open in just a couple minutes.  Alas, he was wrong - it did not open until 7am.  There had a coffee shop, but I was hungry for a full breakfast.  I killed time until the restaurant opened and had my full breakfast.

Food was "OK".  Sausage was a bit bland and the toast was cold (not even melting the butter) but it was much less expensive than Flying Star.

At 8am, I started my 2 hour shift at the registration area.  I heard there were over 400 early registrations. 

My other job is an official photographer for the convention.  After my registration shift was iver, I grabbed my Canon 60D to shoot some photos of the convention.  It was pretty "dark" in the vendor hall.  Had to jack up the ISO and slow down the shutter.  Of course, that causeed to blurry photos. 

When the show is over, I will process more of the photos, but for now, I posted the photo here of the High Desert ARC display (the club I belong to).

Not feeling so chipper today, so called it a day about noon and headed back home.  The afternoon activities included a outside fleamarket and an evening mixer.

Balloon Fiesta Committee Meeting

High Desert Amaturt Radio Club's Balloon Fiesta committee met this morning.   Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta will be taking place at Balloon Fiesta Park beginning Saturday, October 6, 2018, and running through Sunday, October 14th. Information of available shifts will be posted on the club website (NM5HD.com) under "Field Operations".

The committee established sub-committees for Antenna, Public Relations, Equipment, and Staffing.

Field Day - Haynes Park

June 23-24 was Field Day, a day for amateur radio operators to practice and demonstrate their emergency communication skills.  The High Desert Amateur Radio Club had 2 Field Day locations.  At Haynes Park in Rio Rancho, we used W5YZ, Taylor Ranch Branch Library in Albuquerque the group used the club call NM5HD.  I was the designated photographer for the Haynes Park location.

When I arrived at Haynes Park about 10:30, set-up was well underway.  I looked around the site and started shooting photos for documentation purposes.  Our classification was A2NM One transmitter was powered by batteries and solar arrays.  The other transmitter was powered my a portable generator. 

The CW operator was on 20 Meters and seemed to make a constant stream of contacts.  The operators on 40 Meters and other bands did not make as many contacts. 

About 2 PM, my brain had had enough.  The temperature was climbing, too.  I packed it up and was home about 2:30.  Relaxed, re-hydrated, and took a nap.  Had dinner with  my cousin at Billy's Long Bar.  On the drive from the house to the bar, the thermometer in my car peaked at 104 degrees.

Sunday, I processed my photos and e-mails them to our Field Day Chairman, Webmaster, and President (Newsletter Editor).

HDARC Field trip

Ed (KC2LM), Larry ((NY5L), Larry (NM5LS) and Tom (WA9LKD) headed out to Volcanoes area of Petroglyphs National Monument for field operations after club breakfast.  Opperations were set up under the shelter.

Antenna was a dipole (inverted "V").  Rig was one of the club's traveling set-ups.  Power was from a battery pack (had a second pack to extend operations). Contacts were made using digital mode FT8. I headed home a little after noon (digital noice was about to give me a headache).

I have mountain biked in this area.  With the shelter and vault toilet facilities, it was a good place for field operations   The club is planning to make more of these excursion.

Antenna Connectors

Been accumulating parts to assemble an antenna to get on the air. Have coax, "ham sticks" (40M and 20M) a window feed, and a tripod. The photo here shows the connectors for the "ham stick" to coax.

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. 

HT Programming Software

Back in the summer, I purchased a new  2M/220/440 Handy Talkie.  The dealer (Grapevine Radio) sold me a cable to program the HT.  These new transceivers have too many options for my liking.  But, that's what they sell, and the Wouxun KG-UV8E w=is well in my budget.

The problem was the programming software.  First, the mini disc of software instuctions were in Chinese.  The installation was in Chinese until you have finished the install - then you could change the language to English.

The software was eventually running.  But it would not recognize the radio for reading/writing programming.  After exchanging e-mails with Jason at Grapevine, he suggested it may be the problem with Windows 10.  He suggested trying Windoes 7 (which I do not have anymore).

I do have 2 old Windows XP laptops, so tried using them for programming.  The software installed, but with the same problem - could not communication with the HT.  Jason suggested other remedies, but at this time I was done with it.

A ham in our club suggested programming cable and software from RT Systems.  I bit the bullet and ordered the CD and Cable for about $50.  A far cry from $15 I paid with the HT.  Ordered the system on Sunday evening. On Thursday, it was in my mailbox.  Awesome service.

I installed the software on my desktop, connected the cable to the computer and HT.  Turned on the HT, clicked on the software icon and my HT was recognized and had no problems reading and writing frequencies to/from the HT.  The cable and software from RT Systems is worth the price.