The Reston Century 2004

Ride Across Loudoun

Waterford Rest Stop
North Central Loudoun County

       The Waterford Elementary School is the last stop before riders reach Ashburn and last link run to Reston. Both the Century and Half-Century riders make Waterford and it's the second to last rest stop to close. It sets on a high spot above the town and commands a good VHF-view of all of Loudoun.
       This station was established by Loudoun ARES Assistant EC Gary Quinn - NC4S of Lovettsville and Denny Boehler - KF4TJI of Leesburg. Gary brought the LARG mobile self-supporting crank-up tower and the VHF and UHF antennas were mounted on top along with the 40-meter HF dipole. A ICOM 706MkIIG was used on HF and separate dual-bander was on the higher frequencies. The station was powered by 12-volt dc deep cycle batteries.
       VHF Net Control was initially established at the Hamilton Rest Stop with Tom Garasic - NA4MA of Haymarket and Dave Putman - KG4KZZ handling most chores but Tom had to leave at noon and things soon got too busy since Dave was also tracking APRS-equipped stations on his portable APRS digirepeater/node. So, around 1300 hours, Waterford assumed net control and Tom Dawson - WB3AKD, who was out riding routes and checking on comm stations, returned to Waterford to help with the increased traffic as riders in northern Loudoun began having trouble completing their rides.
       Carol Boehler - KF4TJJ of Leesburg had taken up a position just south of Lovettsville to assist riders and watch for the last few; she was able to confirm route clearance. Paul - N4PD and Nancy - KE4RTP Dluehosh of Leesburg were also very busy riding northern routes to ensure all were clear. The action continued until 1630 hours when the last riders left for Ashburn and control was turned over to Ashburn and Reston.

Waterford Rest Stop Crew At 'CS-MO'
L-R:  Tom Dawson - WB3AKD, Gary Quinn - NC4S, Carol Boehler - KF4TJJ,
Kurt Reber - KI4FWB and Denny Boehler - KF4TJI