Fun Radio Day

Location: Brunswick, GA

I had a great time on the radios this afternoon. A trip down to St. Mary's combined scouting locations to operate from, monitoring some MilCom, and operating some amateur radio HF.

I started out the afternoon doing some Jax area MilCom monitoring in St. Marys. Things weren't very active; I only heard a few P-3s and SH-60s on Jacksonville Approach/Departure frequencies and NAS Jax tower. I left St. Marys and went to scout Crooked River State Park near NAS Kings Bay as an operating location. The park seems like a very nice place to operate from, especially during the non-tourist season. I think it will be worth getting a year's State Parks pass to visit on a regular basis to do some amateur radio HF operating.

After looking around Crooked River State Park, I headed north back to Brunswick. As I began heading north, the MilCom activity began to pick up. F/A-18s from MCAS Beaufort began to work in W-157 and at Townsend Range. F-15s from Jax IAP also began to work in W-157. After the F/A-18s in Townsend Range departed, A-10s from Moody AFB showed up. Its always fun to listen to the A-10s!

On the way home, I detoured to St. Simon's Island and checked out Massengale Park as a place to "play radio." I could, of course, easily hear W-157 activity from the park, which is located on the east side of the island. I could also hear Townsend Range and the Coastal MOA as well as some acivity from Bulldog MOA. While there, I pulled out the FT-897D and the 20 Meter hamstick and operated the portable amateur radio station. I worked 3 stations in the ARRL School Club Roundup: K4PCC in North Carolina, WD5AGO in Oklahoma, and W9HHX in Wisconsin. I was glad I had the chance to work a few of the stations today because I since I upgraded to General I've always tried to work some of the school stations during the roundups. I may try to get on the air Friday and pick up a few more.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

This afternoon I decided to test out a way to get on the air on the HF bands from Brunswick. The idea is to use the FT-897D and Hamstick vertical antennas. I propped the FT-897D up on the dash of the car, powered by my marine deep cycle battery (which I placed behind the passenger seat). I placed a mag-mount on the roof of the car and tried out 40, 20, and 15 Meter hamsticks. The LDG AT-897 tuner tuned everything just fine and I was even able to make a contact with PJ2/K8ND in Curacao while testing 20 Meters! No doubt this will make a usable portable setup for operating HF while I'm at work in Brunswick.

The next phase of the project will be acquiring an 80 Meter and 6 Meter hamstick. I'd like to be able to check in to the ARES, Georgia Traffic, Georgia Traffic, and South CARS nets on 80 Meters and that will require 80 Meter capability. Anyone who follows this blog knows I'll have to have 6 Meter capability, especially when the Summer Es are rolling.

Anyway, keep an ear out for KF4LMT on the HF bands a little more often in the future.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT