Some time ago, Joe Goudsward - KD7CSI from the National Weather Service
Forecast Office in Great Falls brought to our attention an idea. This idea was the
brain child of Scott Mentzer KB0WPY from the Goodland, KS NWS office. Scott's idea was
nothing less than brilliant! An Amateur Radio special event to celebrate the
contributions of the local Amateur
Radio Skywarn volunteers that work with the Goodland, KS NWS office. As word
spread about his idea, it spawned a life of its own. NWS office after NWS office asked if
they could participate. With this response, Scott took the idea national.
Scott planned the frame work for a presentation to the Federal powers-that-be. With their
approval, the event was a go!
The word went out nationwide to all NWS offices of the upcoming
event. Over 50 NWS offices would be activated by local Radio Amateurs across the country.
The party was on!
Coordination of this event for GFAARC ended up in the hands of Bob
N7CZ, defacto GFAARC Special Event Station Coordinator and Joe KD7CSI, Meteorologist for
the local NWS office. Bob & Joe exchanged several E-mail messages and had a
meeting at the NWS office to plan the station location and antenna placement. It was
decided the station would be located in the conference room which had cable pass through
openings on the west wall. The antenna placement would be near the Frontage road for
maximum PR value. Several announcements were made at GFAARC club meetings and on the
Tuesday night ARES net regarding the operation. Bob N7CZ applied for and received
the 1x1 special event call sign of W7W. Joe KD7CSI sent out press releases to the
local media.
November 26, 1999, 19:00z
Bob N7CZ, Cam N7NBB, Roy W7MBV, Barry KD7GKJ, and Kelly KC7CSB met
at the NWS office to set up the station. The club's tower trailer was deployed with
a Hygain TH3, donated by Roy W7MBV, at the edge of the parking lot. A Hygain HF
vertical, loaned by George KC7OD, was deployed in a field in front of the NWS office.
Weather conditions were reminiscent of Field Day 1998, with fog, snow, and enough
wind to make you take notice. The temperature flirted with the freezing mark the
entire time.
November 26, 1999, 21:00z
With tower & antennas in place, feed line & rotor cable
routed, it was time to set up the operating position. The station complement was an Icom
IC-751 & IBM PS/Value Point computer loaned by Bob N7CZ. A Heathkit SB-201 Amplifier
& tuner loaned by Roy W7MBV. TRlog by Trey N6TR was the logging software used. By
21:30z the station was fully assembled and tested. We were happy to note that there wasn't
any noise generated by the Doppler radar or any of the other gadgets used by the NWS
office in WX prediction. We were elated to find we caused no interference to the NWS
equipment also! GREAT JOB GUYS!
November 27, 1999, 00:00z
W7W roared to life at exactly 00:00z November 27, 1999 with 100
Watts of power on 10M. Contacts were slow to start. A few stations needed an
explanation of the special event, including LU8HIJ. While on 10M we were happy to
work a couple of locals, Fred N7MNY and Steve KC7UED. After changing bands to 20M
and with 500W at 00:28z, the contacts picked up. A pileup on our little special
event station built to DXpedition proportions. We were very disappointed when 20M
died suddenly with our last contact on that band being Bruce W4PUX in South Carolina at
03:00z.
03:25z
After the sudden demise of 20M, we tuned around 40M for a spot to
plant roots and call CQ. 40M was not happening. The noise level was bad.
Foreign broadcast was already loud. The bandwidth left was crowded. We dropped
down to 75M and made our first contact with Herb KA7YYR here in Montana at 03:25z.
While on 75M we were happy to work renowned local ham George KC7OD. Contacts were
slow and painful while on 75M this early in the evening. We bounced back and forth
between 75M & 40M as the evening turned into night. The night turned into
morning. At 07:26z we worked Victor W1WCR in New Hampshire on 75M. Victor
would be our last contact for the night. It was well after midnight local time.
Bob N7CZ, Cam N7NBB and Todd KE6NVV agreed to call it a night. With 141
contacts in the log we secured the station. We ventured home in the heavy fog
praying to the propagation gods for better conditions tomorrow.
14:00z
Bob N7CZ arrived back at the NWS office. Bob N7CZ was happy to
field some questions regarding the station & Amateur Radio by the NWS staff on duty
that morning. "With each new day, comes new hope." We made a quick
sweep of 20M only to find the band crowded and noisy. (like this was a surprise for
20M..HI) We dialed across 15M to find the band open with little noise.
We planted roots on 21.400MHz and called CQ with 500 Watts of power. At 14:59z we
worked our first contact of the day, Paul KC4YCK in Alabama. It was like magic, and
the propagation gods did smile upon us. The pileup grew exponentially with every
contact made. AL, TX, NC, FL, MA, MD, GA, TN, & KS. Then, a voice form a distant
land pierced the multitudes, "TANGO FOX THREE; TANGO FOX THREE PLEASE."
Any doubt the propagation gods had not been smiling upon us were gone. A rare DX
station was calling us! Hal TF3GC from Iceland was logged at 15:24z while NWS staff
listened in! They were impressed. The contacts were brisk.
As the day progressed we noted some interesting short propagation.
At 16:14z we worked Don KJ7IZ in Kalispell, MT. Most would suggest that he was
worked on back scatter propagation, however, there was no multi-path on his signal. A
normal trait of back scatter propagation. At 17:12z we worked Mary AA7RT in Spokane,
WA. As with KJ7IZ, no multi-path on her signal either. The strange short skip
was long lasting as we worked Mark N7EIJ in Idaho at 23:38z. To punctuate the strange
conditions, nine minutes later Pete VP8CMT from the Falkland Islands was logged. Could we
have been working Washington and Idaho long path? (that is another discussion for
the DX'ers) We were pleased to have reporters from KRTV, KFBB, and even a reporter from
the Great Falls Tribune covering the event. Our last contact was with Rick KD8CP in
Michigan at 23:59z. Due to poor weather conditions it was agreed to wait until Sunday
afternoon to tear down the station.
Wrapping it up
W7W logged 554 contacts with over 40 states and 13 NWS offices
contacted in the 24 hour period. If the NWS was looking for proof of the viability
of the Amateur Radio Service to act as a backup communications system, they got it!
I am pleased with the performance of everyone involved. I was pleased
to see the involvement of several Technician Class licensees. This event seems to
have spawned new interest in HF operations and license upgrades among many that
participated.
It appears that GFAARC started a new tradition with our first
special event station of recent times in July of 1998 with the W7A Lewis & Clark
operation. Then this past July with the W7G operation at the 65th Glacier Hamfest.
Now, we add the NWS operation to our list with W7W. As we were tearing down
the station, I overheard a simple question, "This special event thing was a blast!
When can we do it again?" When indeed!
The enthusiasm of everyone involved was overwhelming and filled my
heart with joy. My warmest regards and thanks to the W7W crew: Joe WB7TNH (extra),
Roy W7MBV (advanced), George KC7OD (advanced), Cam N7NBB (tech+), Todd KE6NVV (tech+),
Coleen K7LRF (tech+), Kelly KC7CSB (tech+), Joe KD7CSI (technician), Barry KD7GKJ
(technician), Dawn KD7FMT (technician), Don KD7CWY (technician), Oscia KC7WBI
(technician), and to my kids Mya and R.J. Thanks to Howie KD7CGL, Mark WB9GNC (&
family), Don W7MRI from Helena, and Darrell N7KOR, Montana ARRL Section Manager for
dropping by to visit. A special thanks to my XYL Coleen K7LRF and my children Mya
& R. J. for putting up with the disruption of our normal routine.
To everyone that participated in any way, be proud, WE DONE
GOOD! HI
73 until the next special event operation!
DE
Bob Avritt N7CZ - W7W Trustee
BACK TO W7ECA HOME PAGE
PHOTOS of the W7W Operation
Described Above