Going on an exotic DXpedition doesn't necessarily mean that you have to go far from home. A visit to a rare grid square for a VHF operation in Michigan's Upper Peninsula led to quite a number of contacts as well as some lessons learned.

If you are looking for a rewarding and relatively low-cost way to be on the receiving end of a major pileup, try a VHF expedition to a rare grid square. That's just what Al Waller, K3TKJ, and I did in August 2003 while visiting Mike Imrick, AA9ZT, in Baraga, Michigan. Mike's hometown sits tantalizingly close to EN67, a grid seldom activated on 6 meters or any other VHF band, so Al and I set out to gather the gear necessary to assemble a respectable, but portable, 6 meter station with which to activate it.

The antenna and mast assembly from the rear of Al's truck. The 5-element beam could be safely raised to 28 feet above the ground with this setup, which included a small TV antenna rotator. [David Craig, N3DB, photo]

Building the Beast

Always the resourceful engineer, within a few days Al had all the makings of a great portable 6 meter station centered around his pickup truck. To hold my DXpedition-dedicated 5 element M2 6M5X, Al utilized a "flat roof mount" satellite antenna fixture. Commercially available in various dimensions, the one we chose was a 4-foot high tripod antenna test stand attached to a flat steel-framed base measuring approximately 4 x 4 feet. The base has sides approximately 2 inches tall with which to accommodate two rows of four cinder blocks each, one row for each side, providing approximately 200 pounds of ballast and lateral stability to the stand, which fit nicely in the forward portion of the bed of Al's pickup.

For mobile operation on the drive, Al utilized a 6-foot mast made of galvanized electrical conduit to which was attached an M² 6 meter loop. For stationary operation from EN67, we modified a 36-foot RadioShack telescoping mast by removing the lower 2-inch diameter section. After a bit of minor grinding on the very tips of the inner-portion of the tripod legs where they join the top-most mast clamp, the (now 28 foot) mast fit very nicely into the test-stand base on the back of the truck.

After affixing a TV antenna rotator and the 6-foot section of conduit to the push-up mast, the 5-element beam could be safely raised 28 feet above ground level from the bed of the pickup (counting truck-bed height above ground). Although greater height was achievable, we found that by extending only the larger section of telescoping mast we substantially increased the stability of the tubing. This, along with four guy ropes we attached to the mast below the rotator and secured to tie-points on the pickup bed and front frame, was to later prove a wise decision. We also brought along a stepladder to help us manhandle the assembled 15-foot push-up mast/rotor/antenna combination into place.

The Swan amplifier worked great, when the duo got to use it. A heavy evening rainstorm Saturday evening shut down their high-power operating. [David Craig, N3DB, photo]

Packing a Punch

For a rig, Al outfitted his Yaesu FT-847 for mobile use, and I brought along my ICOM IC-756PRO to serve as a backup. Al's expertise ensured that we had minimal vehicle noise to contend with while mobile and that for barefoot operation all necessary power was safely available to the radio. Experience has taught us that 100 W, particularly under marginal conditions, is really insufficient for what we intended to do, so an amplifier was considered an absolute necessity for the trip. After considering our options, we eventually decided on Al's "spare" Swan 6B. Equipped with a pair of 3-500Zs, it is capable of 1 kW output on 50 MHz. The Swan, along with a Bird wattmeter, was packed in a padded, watertight case for the trip.

Gene, N3NO, generously provided us with a 3 kW 120/240 V generator for our use in Michigan. Al assembled a number of long power cords to allow us to move the somewhat noisy generator away from our station, and prepared extra feed lines...just in case. To pinpoint our location, we utilized a GPS; navigational maps are often inaccurate, particularly at higher latitudes.

Because we were not familiar with the area, upon entering Maidenhead grid square EN67 we stopped at a local ranger station to ask for suggestions and inform them of what we intended to do. After requesting information as to the highest spot in the area with the best view of the horizon, we got a definitive answer: "Oh, you mean Brockway Mountain Road." When asked about operating from there, we were told to go right ahead and that we wouldn't bother anybody, so off we went in search of it.

The author makes a contact on 6 meters using meteor scatter propagation. [Al Waller, K3TKJ, photo]

Al Waller, K3TKJ, was still going strong after a long night of operating. [David Craig, N3DB, photo]

We found it in short order, and in a word, the ranger was right--rising to 1300 feet, Brockway Mountain has a clear peak with a 270-degree view of Lake Superior. It's popular with visitors and assembling the station took a bit longer than expected, due to unexpected frequent interruptions by tourists curious as to our purpose. As the day wore on, we discovered that along with grid DXpeditioning, we were also holding a de facto symposium on ham radio. No fewer than 75 curious onlookers came over to discover what we were up to and we gave many impromptu lessons on solar weather, aurora and ham radio.

Taking Stock of the Experience

Despite not enjoying a single sporadic E opening, throughout the weekend we managed to work over 120 stations via aurora, tropospheric ducting and meteor scatter. Although we had hoped to work many more stations, we consider the trip a success and learned a lot from our mistakes, as well as what we did right.

From the mistake department, there are a few things worth mentioning. While locating the amplifier in the truck bed helped keep it very cool throughout the operation, it also served to further lessen our chances at making contacts when I had to take it offline before a heavy rain hit Saturday night. To keep it online regardless of weather, a portable shelter must be fabricated, or it must be located somewhere within the cab of the truck. Also, we used cotton cord as our guy lines for the telescoping mast, a blunder of the first order as cotton stretches enormously when wet. Finally, our borrowed generator had little more than a flash suppressor for a muffler, and with an operating speed of around 3500 rpm it created excessive noise throughout the operation. A generator with a lower operating speed and better muffler system would have been preferable.

The view looking out over Lake Superior made a scenic backdrop as Craig and Waller handed out contacts from EN67. [David Craig, N3DB, photo]

Instead of one-man, all-night operations, in the future we will assign 4-hour shifts so each operator can get sufficient rest. Perhaps our biggest mistake was not taking along a 2 meter Yagi for use with the FT-847, as conditions on 144 MHz were likely exceptional from Brockway Mountain. Although we worked into Thunder Bay, Canada, on 2 meter FM simplex from the truck, we received APRS packets on 144.390 MHz from as far south as Texas over the weekend. On future trips, 2 meters will be an equal part of our setup.

Happily, our successes outnumbered our mistakes by far. Al's GPS unit was extremely helpful, and the amplifier was indispensable--it's certainly the only reason we were able to attract as much attention and work as many stations as we did under marginal conditions. Sans the problem with the guy lines and our unfortunate run-in with the mountaintop gale, Al's mast assembly worked perfectly. All we may do in the future is to add pins to the mast to eliminate twisting of the mast-clamps in severe weather. Having two vehicles eliminated the need to take down the station each evening, a scheme we will use for future trips. Conversations with local hams on the ride to EN67 kept us abreast of the latest conditions and gave us invaluable insight into the peculiarities and patterns of propagation from the area. And, while our trip was made later in the season than we intended, it was fun nonetheless. We worked many friends and some were missed, but we owe a debt of thanks to all--it was great!

David H. Craig, N3DB, enjoys DXing and grid chasing and contesting on the VHF bands, where he primarily operates CW. Licensed since 2000, he holds both DXCC and Worked all Zones for 6 meters. A Maryland attorney in private practice, Craig also enjoys homebrewing and continues his quest to confirm 1000 grids on 6 meters. His has a 6 meter Web page and can be reached via e-mail at n3db@qsl.net.

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