Re: [IRCA] Mini DXpedition
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Re: [IRCA] Mini DXpedition

Not sure where Mark lives but we could meet in Sioux Falls and take my car or van up depending on how many people are interested.
This is where we stayed. Black's Pheasant Fields <http://blackspheasantfields.com/index.html> and a Satellite Map <http://mapq.st/IMSjWk>. The tentative opening date for Pheasant Season this year is Oct. 20th depending on the Spring bird census and since we had such a mild winter it may get moved back to the 13th this year. Between now and then the place is pretty much empty but forget it once pheasant season starts. The cabins all have refrigerators, stovetops and microwaves and the commercial kitchen is available for use as long as you clean up after yourself.
I really should have taken the DX-302 since we had 40+MPH winds and near freezing temps so running a wire out a window was out of the question. Wound up with ~20' of wire hanging from the light fixtures and no ground. My DX-440 barefoot would have been better but the primary purpose of the trip was relaxation and I did get a good idea of the RF environment there.
I discovered that the R71-A is excellent from 160M and up, if my code was better I'd have been logging Hams on 80 and 40 as fast as I could write. From 500KHz down to WWVB it also does quite well though the preamp doesn't function below 1800KHz, Caught Fargo-AA and Orange City, IA-ORC and Marshall, MN-GB as well as the familiar FS. For MW with a minimal antenna it sucks. Stock radio/antenna in my '97 Lincoln did better with the ignition off. The only station of note was WOI just before they switched to night pattern, S5, at 8PM Saturday. KBRK and KJAM were at S8, KJJQ at S7, WNAX at S5 and KSOO at S6. I'm going to spare the group any detailed logs since nothing Earthshaking is in them other than general reception conditions. Lightning crashes most of the weekend didn't help matters any.
I think the R71-A must have a crippled MW band like many communications receivers that I didn't notice here because of the high RF environment. I'll have to get the schematic and maybe do some surgery. The "Wide" filter is still too narrow for MW listening but not for picking up IDs and such. The homebrew receiver and loops will probably get their first field test there later this spring/early summer. (Hermit weekend)
Overall it's a VERY quiet RF environment. Other than the lightning crashes the only noticeable noise was from the high efficiency furnace, even most of the light bulbs are still incandescent. The owner is a full time Farmer and there was an hour or so when he had to do some welding to get his equipment going again to get his crops in when it was pretty noisy (S2). I can drive a ground rod as long as it's left and close enough to a building that the mower won't hit it and temporary poles for longwires are OK as long as they don't tear up the turf. A Beverage or BOG aimed at Mexico, SA or Oz would be simple from the southern cabins or aiming for AK and Russia from the northern ones would be fairly easy. Beverage to W,NW,SW would be easy from any of the cabins but with our weather I'd suggest bringing a loop/active. That area has been known to have ice storms in late September and sunny with highs in the 80s in mid October.
I'll make it tentative for the weekend of Oct. 6th since my Lady's job duties are going to prevent our fall West Coast trip this year. :(
For anyone looking for a real TA/TP challenge there's a Lodge near Martin, SD that's only 8 Miles from the North American Pole of Inaccessibility. ;-) The "Pole" itself is on Tribal land and considered sacred by some (Heart of the World) so a DXpedition there would be difficult if not impossible to get permission for. 

Tim Hills
Sioux Falls, SD

R71-A unmodified except for a PIEXX memory module (as far as I know)
DX-302 front end and IF mods
DX-440 front end mod
2 DX-160s, one with radical mods one unmodded
DX-399 no Mods.
Homebrew DC-30MHz under final testing
1997 Lincoln stock radio/antenna
Frankentenna, bundled active Ferrite MW/LW remote tuned and rotating antenna ~10' above ground 
30" dual spiral active
85' longwire with 16:1 to 1:1 variable BALUN.
Homebrew active LW->SW antenna.
Homebrew preselector/phasor under construction
And a bunch of junk I'm putting on Craigslist.


On 4/27/2012 23:39, Rick Dau wrote:
Tim, I assume by "early fall", you're looking at late September/early October? I would be all for that, as well. :) 73, 
Rick Dau
reporting from on the road in Eagle River, Wisconsin (headed to Hancock, Michigan tomorrow with Frank Merrill) 

________________________________
From: Mark Durenberger<Mark4@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America<irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2012 11:14 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] Mini DXpedition

Tim: Count on me if your dates work!

Regards,

Mark Durenberger

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Tim Hills"<thills@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2012 10:55 PM
To:<IRCA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [IRCA] Mini DXpedition


This weekend I'll be treating my Lady to a long weekend in a rather isolated lodge and taking my newly acquired and repaired (unmodified) R71A. It was a very rough tax season for both of us and we both need to be away from people for a while.

KBRK and KJJQ  are the nearest MW stations and neither should be overpowering at that site. Antenna will be a simple longwire, length and direction to be determined once we get there. None of my loops or actives so I can get a baseline idea of reception compared to other reports for the same time period. I'll do day/night lsr/lss band scans as time and the XYL permit. (Don't bet on any lsr reports)

The location is about halfway between Volga and Estelline, SD. Not taking the laptop so the report will have to wait until I get back early next week.

We'll have the place to ourselves but I'm told the 4 cabins and lodge can accommodate up to 30 people so I'm scouting it for a possible early fall group DXpedition and for $250/night the whole place can be had off hunting season or $60/night for a 4 person cabin. T

Good DXing this weekend.

Tim Hills
Sioux Falls, SD



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