Fort Tuthill 2011
Flagstaff, AZ
The Arizona ScQRPions club is returning to Ft. Tuthill
We would be pleased to have you join us for the 3rd Annual Fort Tuthill QRP Conference July 28 - July 30, 2011
*** It just gets better! ***
It's that time of year again and the Arizona ScQRPions are happy to announce the 2011 QRP Conference and Campout at the Fort Tuthill campgrounds near Flagstaff Arizona on July 28, 29, and 30!! You obviously don't have to be a QRPer as our programs are of general interest.
Our lineup of presenters is:
Dan Butler (N7XQA) Microchip PIC microcontroller Tutorial
"Dan Butler, N7XQA. BSCS CSU Sacramento '86. 16 years Application Engineer for Microchip Technology specializing in communication USB and other communication protocols."
Dan will take a broad look at Microchip's PICmicro MCU offerings, free tools and take an in depth look at an application example."
Steve Galchutt (wG0AT) Rooster and Peanut and their adventures
Retired from high-tech after 35 years with HP as Marketing Project manager and now enjoying the low-tech life of hiking and camping with my best friends Rooster and Peanut (my 2-packgoats). They both help carry my camping and radio gear to mountain tops and longer hikes.
My adventure into Ham Radio started in the early 50s with a one transistor crystal set I got for my 9th birthday. I roamed the neighborhoods clipping on to fences, down spouts and anything metal to see what I could pull in on that tiny earphone. I was enamored with the magic of radio waves. It's the same magic that happens when out on the trail miles from nowhere and being able to make contact using a simple wire in a tree and a tiny CW rig you've built yourself! The same magic is what really does it for me still today! It's that same thrill I got from having my very 'First QSO' but all over again.
Although QRP has been my main focus over the years, recently I discovered the fun in mini DXpedition adventures with trips to the Caribbean Islands with ham friends. Then producing videos and telling stories about of our adventures with video which turns out and has become my most recent passion. These videos can be seen on YouTube at my 'Goathiker' Channel. http://www.youtube.com/goathiker
Also recently discovered the fun of Summits on the Air (SOTA). and with the help of Guy/N7UN who has been most instrumental in getting almost 1800 Peaks for Zero district (CO, ND & SD) qualified for SOTA. They are just now waiting for activations.
Bob Finch (W9YA) "subject pending"What the Antenna Said"
'Bob 1st became interested in ham radio playing with his neighbor's attic-bound Zenith Shortwave Radio when he was 9 years old. An antenna stretched across the backyard came next, a regen. Allied receiver kit, an analog computer made out of notebook paper and M&M's candies, many rocket projects, and even Antenna courses taken over Shortwave Radio from Stations located in Europe and Africa. Since then Bob's interests and work had been involved with electronics, radio, rockets, and computers. Now a lifetime later Bob's interests have not wavered. He's still going from one hobby adventure to another, sometimes getting paid, and ALWAYS having lots of fun and learning new things. Bob current call is W9YA and he resides in Albuquerque with his XYL Gayle and his two harmonics Layla and Grant.'
Mark Brueggemann (K5LXP) ARRL Techinical Specialist – QRP/P K5LXP style!
K5LXP is currently an engineer in the field of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Past experience includes engineering at Motorola Compenents group, Motorola Land Mobile and a USAF tour as a Ground Radio Technician.
Mark was licensed as KA9LXP at age 16 and has been an active ham his entire adult life. Interests and expertise in ham radio encompass most of what ham radio has to offer, from QRP HF CW to satellites. Ham radio has been a significant lifelong influence in his personal and professional development. It is knowlege and skills gleaned in ham radio pursuits that have contributed to his successes to date.
As a kid with little money early on in his ham career, homebrew and cobbled-together equipment was a way of life. Those skills - turning ideas to reality - formed a strong foundation in repairing, experimenting and constructing just about anything. That, coupled with the "failure is an option" latitude that ham radio provides, is the perfect playground for active homebrewers. This mindset is pervasive in the QRP culture, so it's a natural fit that K5LXP found himself amongst friends in the QRP community.
Fred Maas (KT5X) "SOTA _ Do It With Less" Fred was first licensed in 1958 at age 12. He has been continuously active primarily in HF CW. He is a member of PVRC and FOC. He has been a traffic operator, contester, DX'er, QRP'er, if it's done in CW, he enjoys doing it. He has won his section in major ARRL contests such as the sweepstakes about fifty times. He has worked almost all countries, almost 300 QRP, over 100 countries QRP on 10 through 40 mtrs, and is the first to work all continents QRP on 160 mtrs (acknowledged in the ARRL Low Power manual, page 5-33).
Field Day has been a long time joy for Fred. Recently he has been organizing the W5YA operation in Chama, New Mexico. His team there has won their catagory eight of the last eleven years, always QRP. This year they operated in the 3AB catagory. It will be December before results are published, but they out scored the winner of last year by more than fifty percent. He will present one of the team's antennas, a folding Moxon.
Fred also enjoys trail running. SOTA, Summits On The Air, is a natural activity for a trail runner. This spring Fred built up a station that weighs only two pounds including a mast so he could combine SOTA and his trail running. He will present this station for your perusal.
Early bird camping begins Thursday afternoon July 28th. Stake out your territory at the campgrounds.
Steve (wG0AT), Rooster, Peanut, and Fred (KT5X) plan an early Friday morning SOTA assault on Mt. Elden on the edge of Flagstaff. Get an early start to avoid the heat and T-Storms and hike with the boys or, for those of us less fit, drive up, meet them at the summit and do some operating! Steve and Fred will cover 20m, but could use more ops on VHF/UHF and other HF frequencies. Ops in Phoenix and other surrounding cities should have no trouble working them. Be sure to also listen for them on the trip down on Thursday from other SOTA sites in NM and AZ.
Friday July 29th is the day where YOU become the activities!! Your chance to show off what you like to do in your corner of Ham Radio! Remember seeing Duffy’s VHF/UHF contest rover vehicle with all the stations and antennas a couple of years ago? Extremely interesting! Did you see Ken’s beautiful loop antenna at one of our meetings? BRING A DEMO. SHOW US WHAT YOU DO AND HOW IT WORKS! Do satellites? What do you use for tracking software. Work a few birds from the campground. Brag a little. Brag a lot! Built an interesting new gadget? Bring it. Have an interesting piece of equipment? Bring it and tell us about it. Are you a weak signal guy? Operate 6m Meteor Scatter and WSPR? Love to see a demo of that one especially after hearing Ned Stearns (AA7A) talk on how do Meteor Scatter! Now I want to SEE a demo of it in action and what it sounds like! Do just WSPR? JT65? Bring that and show yourself on the Reverse Beacon Network running 2 mW output. Built a microcontroller project? Bring it and show us how you designed and programmed it. Got a new Ham Radio oriented software package? Bring your laptop/netbook/Droid/iPbone. Show us what it does! Remote control your radio? How does THAT work? Anyway, you get the idea!!
Of course you can always visit with old friends and make new ones. Bring some trading material for an informal swapmeet on Friday. Whatcha got in the box mister? Some will set up stations and antennas to operate. There could be other semi-spontaneous activities, but only time will tell. This is your day. And at the end of the day Friday, enjoy a group dinner at Jackson's Grill just outside the park entrance South toward Sedona or perhaps with a smaller group and get a little something from the Beaver Street Brewery...
Saturday, July 30th is the day for all the forums. You can see from the list of presenters above, this will be an interesting day! Top it all off with the Saturday night picnic and campfires. No rainouts allowed as we have reserved a covered ramada for 250 happy hams just in case.
Due to unforseen circumstances, internet access may NOT be available.
Hopefully one way or another you can join in the fun! Looking forward to seeing and meeting you all at 7500' in the cool Ponderosa pines of Northern Arizona!
We will provide security for the times that the campground site is unoccupied.
Saturday night finds us back at the campground for a cookout. We provide everything with the exception of your "entree". Portable tables and chairs would be wise choices of things to bring with you. Water is available, but there is NO electricity other than your batteries or generator. There are some permanent picnic tables and plenty of places to contain your cooking fire. There will be a few 10'x10' canopies, but if you have one, please consider bringing it and ANCHORS (wind). Afternoon thundershowers are pretty routine in the mountains (7500'+) and you'll be looking for a place to stay sorta dry if one literally blows through. The desert is blazing hot (110F today), but the temperatures at the campground will range from the upper 70's to the mid-80's during the day.
Prizes will be awarded throughout the weekend for the winners of our events, between forum sessions, and at the cookout. There is no admission charge and no prize tickets to buy. As in the past, we have several terrific sponsors that are very generous and there are even more this year. They help provide our prizes and other assistance to put these programs on. Thanks to the Four States QRP group, Hendricks Kits, Pacific Antenna, Uncle Cy the LED Guy, and NorCal. They are top notch! If you are looking to make an amateur radio purchase, please consider these guys FIRST.
Everyone is welcome whether or not you operate QRP. The forums are usually of general interest, but oriented many times toward outdoor operating, construction projects, new techniques, small portable stations, antennas, and accessories. Don't tell, but we even have some closet QRO operators in the group!
There are many accommodations near the Veteran of Foreign Wars where we will have the forums and the campgrounds if you are motel camping. Here are two links to Google Maps showing about 11 major brand hotels and motels in each area. Take me to the Lucky Lane Motel Map or take me to the South Milton Road Motel Map (extension of I-17 North). The Econo Lodge at Lucky Lane was an especially good value for a nice room in 2009 - 2010. Here is a map showing the all of the locations mentioned in this announcement GPS coordinates for all sites are available on this map.
All these hotels are way less than 10 minutes from the campgrounds at Fort Tuthill. Exit 195, East or West, from I-40 to I-17 South will take you to the campgrounds. Exit 337, North or South, off I-17 will take you to the campgrounds on the West side of I-17. This is also the exit to the Flagstaff airport. Turn West at the Stop Sign (North or South) after exiting the I-17 freeway. This road leads you directly into Ft. Tuthill just as you cross highway 89A that would take you on the scenic route to Sedona. (A wonderfully beautiful 25 mile drive if you haven't done it! Watch out for the elk) Shut up already and just show me the campground! Click here to download an official copy of the Coconino County fairgrounds map (Ft. Tuthill). Our area on this map is on the far left side of the map just below the center where it says "Group camping area." Or something like that. The group campground is adjacent to the small military museum in the back of the fairgrounds.
Let's try the Mt. Elden 2m repeater frequency 146.98 (-) 162.2 PL if you need assistance finding us. Maybe we'll answer. Probably not, but someone just might help you out since this is a well known location. Sometimes we're having so much fun we forget to listen or just don't hear you over the racket. You will not be intentionally ignored.