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*                  ATGP 2018 Report for COMERS Rock                      75
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Ted (KB8LMR) was station captain and was assisted by Charlie (K4FF) and 
Susan (K4TIG) Smith.  They are members of the New River Valley club and
live in Blacksburg but also have a cabin just 5 miles from Comers Rock. 
They were new to the APRS system but wanted to learn and were very 
interested  in assisting in future events.


7:30 AM Arrived at overlook base with mild rain and dense fog.

8:00 AM Equipment moved to overlook.  Visibility about 200 to 300 feet.  
Very high winds.  I had a hard time setting up rain tarp alone but I managed 
to secure it and provide protection from the rain.  

9:00 AM Tested radio and battery.  I had no issues with the setup.   Setup 
an ammo can solar charger with two 10AH batteries and 50W solar panel and 
mounted Slim Jim J-Pole with PVC tubing.  Despite the poor weather conditions 
the solar panel was able to provide a mild constant charge while radio was 
in receive.  

10:30 AM Weather changed for the better as the winds died down and the sun 
began to poke through the clouds.  Charlie (K4FF) and Susan (K4TIG) Smith 
arrived to my surprise and provided their assistance through the rest of the 
days activities. 

11:00 AM Made voice contact with ROAN and we were able to make a packet exchange

11:00 - 15:00 I was able to exchange packets the rest of the afternoon and 
eventually ended up contacting stations 1 -11.

Special thanks to Charlie and Susan for their help great conversation.  
I enjoyed the event even though I had no Idea what I was doing hi hi..


Ted, de KB8LMR