QRP AFIELD 1999
TEAM K5LN
(Bill,K5LN and Dave,AB5WX)
The QRP AFIELD event is an event sponsored by
the New England QRP Club. It is an event designed to bring together
the QRP operators of the USA in a friendly contest. The goals of
the contest are: to work as many other QRP Afield stations as possible
using low power tranceivers (less than 5 watts). and to get outside ( into
the field ) and completely setup a low power station with antennas, rigs,
paddles, keyers, battery power or other, drinks, food, and lots of FUN!
The contest ran from 0700Z to 2400Z on Saturday 9/18/1999. This years
contest featured a special bonus for overnight campers: a special
four hour session that was worth DOUBLE the points on Sunday morning from
7am to 11am CST time. Bill and I had decided to team up this year
as a multi-op single station.
Our adventure started as it normally does,
at the 7am breakfast on Saturday morning with other members of the Williamson
County Amatuer Radio Club (WCARC). We chowed down, drank plenty of
java, told plenty of lies, and had the usual great time. Right after
breakfast we set out for our camping destination; Cedar Breaks, an Army
Corp. of Enginners Park, located right on scenic Lake Georgetown.
As coincidence would have it, this marvelous park is only about 5 miles
from where we ate breakfast.
We were able to register with the park rangers
without incident and quickly found the perfect campsight for our operation.
It was right out in the open with plenty of space for antennas and even
a few fairly tall 
trees
to hang antennas (TALL in central Texas means about 28 to 35 feet, not
much rain to support really tall trees). As we pulled in the site,
I got to work on the camper setup while Bill started assembling the radio
station and laying out the antennas. As soon as I got the camper
and gear all set. I helped Bill finish the radio setup and antenna
installations. We were completely setup and ready to go by 11:00am.
So it was time to test the radios and antenna combinations out and generally
play around the bands a bit.
Our radio equipment consisted of the following:
- Red Hot Radio for 20 meter band
- Heathkit HW-9 for 10 meter thru 80 meter
band operation
- PK2 keyer
- K9 Keyer
- (2) Norcal iambic paddles
- Homebrew Resonant Speaker
- 20 meter dipole up about 20 to 25 feet
( right over the lake!)
- 20 meter full-wave horizontal loop (up
about 48 feet at its highest point )
- R7 vertical antenna (on short mast about
12 feet high)
- 12V Lawnmower battery
- 350ma Solar Cell
We tested equipment and made pleny of notes
and comparisons about antenna combinations while we waited for the contest
to begin. Finally 0700z arrived and we cranked up our awesome 5 watt
signal to tickle the ether. We quickly found out that there were
ZERO stations to be heard on 10m and we worked only a handful of stations
on 15m. So it was off to 20m where we had ample guns ready for combat!
Like the other bands 20m was hot and cold. We would get huge signals
one moment, and then they would fade away to return again sometimes 10
or 15 minutes later. There were times when the band was completly
quiet for period of varying length.
Our antenna farm was put to great use.
We found great diversity in signal reception between the three different
antennas. Depending upon where the signal was coming from and the
band conditions we were always able to pick an antenna that would maximize
the incoming signal. This was a huge help for some of the weak stations
we worked. To our amazement, the dipole near the lake solidly outperformed
every one of the other antennas. All we can figure is that the location
of the dipole near the water maximized its take off angle and optmized
the terrain. It was a killer antenna especially for all points
to the Northwest of our location.
Bill and I alternated between logging sending.
We make a great team, four ears and eight eyes really are better than the
normal set! We had great fun working the contest and enjoying a spectacular
view of Lake Georgetown. Our weather was great, our campsite had
a constant lake breeze, and it was very pleasant. 
Occassionaly we got up to stretch and adjust
the solar panel for optimum sun angle. A couple of visitors dropped bye
around 2PM CST: Tom, N5TW, and a bit later my XYL, Gail- KB5UOF.
We enjoyedthe company and dazzled them with our ability to work a cw contest
and talk at the same time.
We managed to bag 98 contacts by the time
the Saturday portion of the event ended. Bill's wife Cheryl
was very kind and brought us some dinner right on schedule near
the end of the first day contest. We had worked pretty much straight thru
with few breaks, so we were ready for some R & R! We had some dinner
and some cold drinks and even deserts! We took a break for
a while and also enjoyed a spectacular Texas sunset. 
Now
well fed and smiling again, we started scanning the bands for some more
stations to work. Before long we were working a bunch of DX
stations in Norway and Finland. Lots of fluttery signals coming over
the pole; but still great fun.
By 10:00PM we were out of gas( ever notice
how much later it feels when you are camping out? 10pm feels like midnite)
and decided to call it a night. We covered up the gear and secured
it from any wind that might come up and retired to the camper for the night.
At 6:30AM Bill was up and about and we both jumped in his truck for a quick
run into town for breakfast and coffee (take-out at McDonald....we were
on a tight skd). We shot right back to camp and got everything up
and running just in time for the 7AM start of the special bonus event. 
We worked quite a few stations on 40 meters and then moved directly to
20 meter. If anything the bands were not quite as good as they were
just the day before. But we stayed with it and by the time the event
ended had put another 50 plus calls into our log.
We certainly had a blast working QRP Afield
this year. Many thanks to the NJ QRP club for sponsoring the contest
and to all the stations we worked. You guys had great ears and lots
of class!
Final Results:
-Number of QSOs:
Saturday = 98
Sunday = 52
-Claimed Score:
(98 x 4 x 2) + (52 x 8 x 2) x 78 = 126,048
ie: 98 (sat qso) x 4(portable) x 2(5w pwr))
+52 (sun qso) x 8 (overnite
portable) x 2 (5w pwr) x 78 (spc total)
72 es 73, Dave-AB5WX and Bill-K5LN
