Had another great Bee of a time. The WX cooperated. It was hot, but not too bad.
I tried a new QTH this year. I was up on Mt. Herman in Monument, CO, elevation 9054 feet. FB views both east and west. And at the top, there's quite a steep drop in both directions, with a beautiful view of Pikes Peak to the west (14,116 feet). When I first arrived at the top, there were 2 hangliders floating...one above me and one below me. Very cool.
A view to the east from Mt. Herman elevation 9054 feet. The town below is Monument, CO
elevation ~7500 feet.
I made 78 QSOs, 38 of them with fellow Bees in 26 states and Canadian provinces. I'm always amazed at how well 4 watts does in so many directions. And this is the bottom of the sunspot cycle!
The rig was an Elecraft KX-1 running from a 12V 2A gel cell battery. The antenna was my usual homebrew 12 foot center loaded vertical with 6 twelve foot radials on the ground. It collapses down to one foot for easy packing and the entire antenna system, including coax weighs 1.5 lbs.
Two new things this year are a 12V 5W rollable solar panel made by Powerfilm Solar that I picked up at the Dayton Hamvention fleamarket this year. It's 3x the power and 1/3 the weight of my last solar panel. Great, great addition. I also found that I could (and did) overcharge a battery with this new solar panel so I got an A&A Engineering Smart Battery Charger. I got the board assembly alone and mounted it in a small tin (somewhat bigger than an Altoids tin). It manages the charging so I don't fry any more batteries. It weighs 4 oz and connects between the solar panel (input) and the battery (output). With this setup, I safely maintained the battery voltage at nearly 13 volts for the entire 4 hours! I also bring a Watt's Up digital power meter for curiousity's sake. It tells me the instantaneous voltage and charging current. Not really necessary, but it's very lightweight and satisfies my need to know.
The smart charger is in the tin with the rubber band. The 12V 2A battery is in the plastic case. The Watt's Up
meter between the charger and the battery tells me charging current & battery voltage.
You can see the Powerfilm flexible 5W solar panel in this pic.
Some of the Bees and others running QRP were amazingly loud for most of the 4 hours. I was able to work just about everyone I could hear.
Some of my CW sending left a little to be desired from time-to-time and I apologize for that. I was trying to send and swat flies at the same time. I found that I can't do that. My CW suffers, the flies do not.
The FB view to the east the antenna saw. The 2 piece telescoping antenna collapses down to one foot, which
makes it very easy to carry in a backpack.
That's Pikes Peak to the west (elevation 14,116 ft). Clouds are starting to roll in.
I had company while I was operating, but alas, he/she was not a Bee.
Thanks to all for the QSOs. I already look forward to next year.
72, Shel KF0UR BB#86
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