County Hunter News June 2018 Volume 14 Issue 6 Welcome to the On-Line County Hunter News, a monthly publication for those interested in ham radio county hunting, with an orientation toward CW operation. Contributions of articles, stories, letters, and pictures to the editor are welcomed, and may be included in future issues at the editor’s discretion. The County Hunter News will provide you with interesting, thought provoking articles, articles of county hunting history, or about county hunters or events, ham radio or electronics history, general ham radio interest, and provide news of upcoming operating events. We hope you will enjoy the County Hunter News. Feel free to forward, or provide links. Permission is given for copying or quoting in part or all provided credit is given to the CHNews and to the author of article. CW County Hunter Nets run on 14.0565, 10.122.5, and 7056.5, with activity occasionally on 3556.5 KHz. Also, there is SSB activity now is on ‘friendly net’ 7188 KHz. The CW folks are now pioneering 17M operation on 18.0915. (21.0565, 24.9155, and 28.0565 when sunspots better). Look around 18136 or for occasional 17M SSB runs usually after the run on 20M SSB. (21.336 and 28.336) You can see live spots of county hunter activity at ch.W6RK.com For information on county hunting, check out the following resources: The USACA award is sponsored by CQ Magazine. Rules and information are here: http://countyhunter.com/cq.htm For general information FAQ on County Hunting, check out: http://countyhunter.com/whatis.htm MARAC sponsors an award program for many other county hunting awards. You can 1 find information on these awards and the rules at: http://marac.org/awards.pdf The CW net procedure is written up at: http://www.wd3p.net/ch/netproc/netproc.htm There is a lot more information at www.countyhunter.com . Please check it out. Back issues of the County Hunter News are available at www.CHNewsonline.com Want county lines on your Garmin GPS? http://pages.suddenlink.net/w4ydy/hamlinks.html#County Download the file to a flash card that fits in your GPS unit, turn it on, and the county lines should appear! De N4CD, Editor (email: [email protected] ) Notes from the Editor N4CD Rumblings Wow! Lots to report on this month! Many QSO Parties with mobiles reporting – trip reports to MI for the MINI in Traverse City and lots of pics from there. Other interesting news showing up! Band conditions – well – not much to write home about. Days of high A index and aurora – then days with no sunspots for long streaks – but folks are working counties 2 and the QSO Parties spur activity. Start up the coffee pot, prepare some iced tea or other beverage of your choice and continue on. Might take a day or two to read it all! On the Road with N4CD I The Michigan Mini in Traverse City, MI was coming up. It was time to hit the road with a week long trip to wander through some state parks and recreation areas. Many other mobiles would be headed there – and WQ7A and K5GE were already on the way with a long trip from WA and TX to MI. Most of the attendees come from a distance of 500 miles or less, but some come from NJ, some from FL, three from TX, two from WA, two from NJ, and some from PA and other states. The last few days before the convention and the day or two after are very busy. AB7RW would drive cross country to get there. Some from PA/NJ would also drive and put out the counties. 40M SSB would be quite busy. I loaded up the 2016 Malibu Ltd for the trip. It has 71,970 miles on it so far in two and a quarter years. So far to good. I packed the cold weather gear – often you need it up in MI at the Mini. It was in the 70s in Dallas before I left and even had one day in the swimming pool before heading out. Shorts and tee-shirt weather at home, but I knew it would be colder up north. The past few years have had 40 degree temps up there and I saw snow coming down there 2 years ago as I ran some counties during the mini. The long term weather forecast was for highs in the low 40s. Spring arrives late there. Earlier in April, there were record snows for the month of April up that way in WI and MI. April 20 - Friday I left Plano TX early in the morning trying to miss rush hour traffic. I beat most of it by using the George W Bush Tollroad Bypass out to I-30 then heading northeast into AR to Little Rock (Pulaski County), across the state on I-40 to Crittenden County then up I-55 northbound. I had to wave at a few parks along the way – just no time and I'd visited 3 them before. By late afternoon I was up in New Madrid County MO and stopped by the first site to run on this trip. Terry, WQ7A was in ND at this time headed east. Later in MN this day. Gene, K5GE was up in NE. AB7NK/K7SEN were in IN putting them out, and Phil, AB7RW was it UT headed east. Turns out a sudden solar storm hit and the A index soared to the mid 40s this weekend. Groan! Well, you take what you can get. Hunter Dawson State Historic Site – KFF 3352 from the state web site: “Hunter-Dawson State Historic Site preserves a now-vanished part of Missouri: the stately Bootheel mansion. Filled with original pieces purchased by the house's first owner and furnished in the style it was in during its heydays of the 1860s-1880s, the ornate mansion provides a history lesson in every corner. In fact, most of the original furnishing purchased by Amanda Hunter, the house's first owner (with her husband William), are still in the house.” Over 80% of the original furnishings are there! He was a very successful merchant who accumulated 15,000 acres of land prior to the civil war. New Madrid and its residents fought for the Confederacy. Later in the war, the mansion and town were occupied by union forces, but fortunately the house and town survived relatively unscathed by the war. There is a visitor center and parking lot across the street – a bit noisy with a power line 4 100 feet away but I still had a nice run from there late in the afternoon. Did not bother with a tour of the house. It typically takes an hour and a half to 'run a park'. If there is cell service, I spot on ch.w6rk.com, on the WWFF-KFF Facebook Page, and on DXsummit.fi for the county/park. About half the people you work are county hunters, the other half park chasers. Late in the day but got to 44+ QSO s so I was happy even with the horrible conditions. Even if YOU don't need the county, work me! I need the contacts to reach the level where I get credit for activation of the park. Folks can work me on every band/mode combination – 40/30/20 CW and 40/20 SSB. Each is a 'contact' toward that magic 44 number. I usually won't hit the road for more counties till I try to get to that 44 number. After the operation there, I headed on to the Super 8 Motel in Sikeston, MO. Deja Vue all over again – I've stayed at this one before. You recognize them after you get there – this is a bit odd shaped. I had reserved ahead of time. Most of the time on this trip, I'd wait till after noon or 2pm to see where I would be, then go on line to reserve a room for the night. This time of year, there aren't too many traveling and during the week it's usually not a problem. Later in the year, or tourist spots, you probably want to plan a bit more ahead. I was flexible. Down the street from the Super 8 is the Lambert Cafe. This is a HUGE place about three times the size of a typical Cracker Barrel, decorated about the same and loaded with original memorabilia from the way back days of the 1940s, 50s, 60s. No reproduction stuff. A wall of old original license plates on one side. All sorts of metal signs and other stuff to inspect. from their website: “People who visit Lambert’s Cafe for the first time are invariably amazed at the generous portions served on each order. These generous servings along with our “THROWED ROLLS” have inspired many questions. We cannot describe our activity in great detail, but we’ve endeavored to point out some of the highlights of our “Throwed Rolls” cafe.” The place was mobbed on a Friday evening but things moved quickly They aren't kidding about 'generous portions' . I had a country ham steak and must have been one pound of meat! Overload. $15. You won't leave hungry! Most folks leave with a 'take out' box with half their meal. That doesn't do much for us motel stay folks and no refrig in the car to keep leftovers cold. I made a lot of miles toward the 1335 miles to Traverse City the first day – that being the short way – but I was going the county hunter way.