2009 Roan Mountain Event Summary 28 Jul 09 -------------------------------------------------------------------- KC4TVO Arrived abt 11:30, . Setup in the Cloudland parking lot adjacent to the Ranger entrance gate. The Elk 5-element log periodic antennas (2 meters, a gain of 6.6 dBd / 8.9 dBi and front-to-back ratio of 20+ dB) were 25-30 feet above-ground elevation, spaced about 10 feet apart, The two antennas connected with the matching bridle, were aimed at 54 degrees magnetic (NE) towards Comer's Rock and 249 degrees magnetic (WSW) towards Clingman's Dome. Experienced intermittent problems with voice and digi, With the help of KI4HDU, finally traced it down to some bad coax connections in the bridle. Removed it and went direct to 1 antenna and problems disappeared. Was able to work Clingman voice & digital off the back side with no problem. Tried unsuccessfully to reach the Comer's Rock crew on both the 445.925 simplex and the 2 meter repeater they were supposedly monitoring, and after reading the mail I understand why. Best laid plans and all that! No good contact with anyone on the recommended 440 simplex frequency. Most of the rigs operate at reduced power on that band. Was able to talk to Clingman enough to suggest a 2 meter freq. From then on, no problems on simplex. Suggest for future exercises, we use a 2 meter simplex freq. to allow full power on simplex We had good contact on the Mt. Mitchell (145.190) repeater, but talked only to KI4HDU. [editors note: But using 2m coordination blocks critical packets on the event channel, so we will actually work to eliminate any 2m coordination if possible for next year] We were able to digi Clingman's, Springer, Lookout to our South and did send some msgs.. No attempt was made to use Echolink. We secured about 3PM. Amateurs on site were, KC4TVO, KI4ZUI, and KZ5ED. Equipment used was: Elk 5 element Log Perodic 2mtr/440 antennas; d710, d700, and dual band yaesu radios; Don't know if this is feasible, but Winlink VHF Packet could be used for setup coordination and debugging between stations. . At the heights the stations were operating from , almost all could reach an RMS Packet station somewhere. We had no cell service at Roan on either G3 or CDMA systems. We enjoyed the outing, learned at lot, and are looking forward to next years attempt. Bob Rodgers KC4TVO ------------------------------------------------------------------- KZ5ED, Eric reported: I received the following message from Todd with the copies of his UIVIEW Messages texts and the UIVIEW Terminal Log. I found then quite interesting and maybe you will as well I noticed you (and perhaps others) were running the event station on Roan Mtn., TN this afternoon. I was running a passive iGate here in Boone, NC on 144.34 MHz, and I thought you might find the UI-View32 Terminal and Messages output interesting. Copies are attached. Thanks for taking the time to help make the event happen. Perhaps next time the chain of stations will be a little more complete. Todd AL0I