Packing for IOTA contest on NA-148
I'm packing up the stuff for the Georges Island trip and laying it out on the floor so I can see it all in one place. At this point I'm planning on bringing both Buddipoles and all the stuff I mentioned yesterday. The only thing left to stick in the backpack is the water and my lunch. I plan on getting out of here early in the morning so I can make the first ferry to the island.
This will be a QRP trip since I never heard any follow-up from the rangers on the island. That's OK. This will be fun!
I believe every DXpedition should have a set of goals. Here are mine for this trip:
I've charged up the battery in the lid of the K2 and topped off the 7Ah battery in the Weza. My power strategy goes something like this:
Depending on how quickly the K2 recovers, perhaps I'll not have to charge the Weza much on this trip. But, if I do need to put power back into the system myself, at least I'll have the option. (You do get a healthy respect for how much energy is in one of these batteries when you have to charge it yourself!)
Those are my goals. That's my plan. I'll report back tomorrow as to how it went!
This will be a QRP trip since I never heard any follow-up from the rangers on the island. That's OK. This will be fun!
I believe every DXpedition should have a set of goals. Here are mine for this trip:
- Work the IOTA contest for at least 6 hours -- it would be nice to be able to work a full 12 hours (since the categories are 12 or 24 hours of operation) but I've no alternative currently but to use the ferry service. The first ferry leaves for the island at 9 AM and the last ferry returns to the mainland at 6 PM.
- Make 100 QSOs -- Actually, I hope to make more but even 100 would be a good showing, I think. Space weather conditions (check this out) were spotty today with a coronal hole raising the speed of the solar winds. Hopefully, things wil calm down by morning.
- Work 10 DXCC entities -- Again, I hope to work more than that, but it will depend on conditions.
I've charged up the battery in the lid of the K2 and topped off the 7Ah battery in the Weza. My power strategy goes something like this:
- Run off the K2 battery and solar panel until it starts looking tired.
- Switch to the Weza and let the sun recharge the K2 battery until it is full again.
- Switch back to the K2 battery and charge the Weza with the foot peddle.
- Repeat
Depending on how quickly the K2 recovers, perhaps I'll not have to charge the Weza much on this trip. But, if I do need to put power back into the system myself, at least I'll have the option. (You do get a healthy respect for how much energy is in one of these batteries when you have to charge it yourself!)
Those are my goals. That's my plan. I'll report back tomorrow as to how it went!
posted by NE1RD's Blog at 9:23 PM
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