Saturday March 1st was a great day for rockets and radios in Samson, Alabama. John (W8JER) and Micky came to watch. The huge V2 rocket belongs to John Hansel. He had excellent launch on a blue Loki M motor.
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| Micky and John Raifsnider next to John Hansel's V2 |
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| John Hansel's V2 launches on a M motor. |
I launched my five inch diameter payload rocket. The payload this time was a 2 meter fox transmitter. The hang time was just over a minute. My HF beacon payload was scratched for this launch. Jason N4JTC and his wife Tammy came just in time to see the launch. Jason is working on a cell phone based payload.
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| Greg N4KGL and the payload rocket |
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| Jason and Tammy Charles |
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| Payload Rocket launch on a J315 motor |
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| Payload rocket recovery |
Jason brought his RaDAR kit based on an X1M to show.
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| Jason N4JTC's X1M RaDAR Kit |
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| Jason N4JTC's X1M RaDAR Kit |
I setup my portable ham station with the Elecraft KX3. The antennas were the 10/20/40 LNR Trail Friendly End Fed and the Alexloop. I enjoyed contacting fellow RaDAR operator Pat N0YCA in Missouri on 15 meters CW.
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| N4KGL's setup for RaDAR Meetup |
I went to Dothan to visit my parents after the launch. On Sunday I did some quick antenna work there. Since the ice storm destroyed the balun on the off center fed dipole at my parents house, I decided to insert an insulator and run 300 ohm line to near the ground. At that point I connected to my SGC 237 tuner. I can run coax to the workshop from there. Just as a quick test I setup the KX3 near the tuner. I had two QSOs with good reports on 20 CW. It is possible the feedline currents are unbalanced. But I don't mind some vertical radiation at all. The weather in Dothan Alabama was excellent for being in the yard.
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| Installing insulator from the roof |
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| The OCF dipole is really high in the pines |
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| SGC 237 tuner at ground level |
This was quite a challenge packing and combining all these activities. I guess it is good for my aging brain. The next launch could be March 15th if the farm in Samson is not planted at that time.
