US-NC-ST NC State Fair Startup Problems…

The HamRadioExhibit.org event started on schedule, yesterday (10/15). The weather was great, and we got most things sorted and rolling along. Our FOTA operation of US-NC-ST was not without issues….typical for portable / remote operations around lots of other electrical equipment. We discovered LOTS of QRM from PWM controllers, LED lighting, and a zillion other things at the NC State Fairgrounds. Anything below 15 meters (20, 40, & 75) was loaded with noise of S9 + 20 or so!! 15 meters was down to about S5, and 10 meters was fairly quiet. By the time we figured that out, 10 meters had closed for the day. We did make some VHF contacts on local repeaters, so that was a good start.

Saturday 10/17 is predicted to be wet, with rain most of the day. So, we’re using this time to prepare for Sunday 10/18. We plan to be working 10 meters around 28.400, looking for any openings on that radio (Travis’s Icom IC-700 in a go-box with a cool vertical and auto-tuner).

I’m bringing a G90 with a short wire to toss over the top of the canopy (the Fairgrounds won’t allow for wire antennas and such to be attached to things, due to safety). I’m hoping a short wire over the canopy and connected to the frame will change polarity enough to attenuate the QRM. I’m also bringing a JPC ANC-4 active filter to try and cancel some of the noise coming in via the feedline.

There were also some equipment problems…. the IC-7000 in the communications truck seemed to be putting out very low power, possibly because of a problem with the roof mounted screwdriver HF antenna and tuner. We worked through that and got the antenna raising and lowering manually. The plan of attack for Sunday morning startup on that is to use an antenna analyzer to manually tune the antenna for 20 or 40 meters, then connect the antenna directly to the rig. The internal tuner in the radio should be able to “touch up” the antenna match from there. Fingers crossed, but I think that’s a workable plan. I’ll update more on Sunday, and hopefully we’ll start knocking on some contacts with the FOTA world!

More photos in “Community” -> “Forums” -> “Photos and Stories”

Dave WB4IUY