The Loudoun Amateur Radio Group Of Northern Virginia & Its Radio Station K4LRG

       Although Station 1 took on the same band-mode assignments as during the past several years; we made several nice changes to the equipment and antennas. Gary Quinn - NC4S had everything from the Power Poles and Coax connectors. Norm Styer - AI2C supplied the portable 12 x 24-foot garage shelter, the antennas, support stuff and the battery power. It was very nice to have Gary helping on Station 1 this year. His new Elecraft K3 HF Transceiver really got a nice break-in and it ran nicely with N1MM on Gary's computer. This year, instead of relying on the 80-Meter dipole for 10-Meter operations, Norm mounted a 10-Meter yagi above the 15-Meter yagi on his trailer ladder tower. The 80-Meter dipole antenna was well up in the trees west of the station in an lazy inverted Vee fashion. We could tell it was working with many west coast stations in the log during the early morning hours. Norm was really glad to have Gary take over the radio and computer setup.

Norm's Hand Made Shelter Transport Cases
360-Pounds Distributed Among 7 Crates

The Shelter Goes Together
With A lot Of Help From The Brown Family
Nick, Pat, Marcia and Dodson
Thanks !!!

Shelter Assembly
By The Brown Family and Doug - KJ4BRN with Jay - KI4TXP looking on

     On Friday afternoon, work began on site. Norm had acquired a 12 x 24 foot portable shelter in May for this and other portable operations. The Brown Family and Doug Johnson - KJ4BRN did an outstanding job and everything was up in less than an hour and a half.

     Next we concentrated on the antennas. This all went very nicely and Norm's new rocket launcher did a job on raising the 80-Meter dipole well into the trees. By five most everything was ready.

Well, They're All Up !
Norm - AI2C & Gary - NC4S

Saturday Morning Rig Set-Up
At Station #1

     Saturday morning, Gary brought in his new radio and computer. It went together as planned but at 10:30 hours we discovered that one of the deep-cycle batteries was not so hot; so, Norm went to Purcellville to acquire a replacement.

Gary - NC4S Testing N1MM
Once we got tied into the network it was a cool operation

Thanks To All Who Helped   Station #1 was put together, operated and dismantled by a super crew. Each stayed with it until it was finished. Many thanks to:

Powering Up The Elecraft K3

Gary - NC4S's Very Nice Fully Automatic Station

N1MM On Sunday Morning
You Couldn't Ask For A Smoother Operation

Paul - N4PD with Nancy - N1NCY Showing Old Timer Jim Banks - WØMAZ The Latest & Greatest
Jim put several good QSOs in the log. It was so nice to see Jim again.

Norm - AI2C At The Controls on 80-Meters CW Late Saturday Afternoon

Gary - NC4S Is Attracting Lots Of Attention As He Signs On Charlie Whiskey

The Old Man & His Radio
"The Next Best Place To Be After Beaver Stadium - Go Lions !"

The Rates At Station #1   Station #1 started on 15-Meters CW but it never really opened. We moved to 80-CW early and stayed there all night. There were more western US stations calling in this year but in general, activity was lower. On Sunday 15-Meters never did work well and there were few signals on 10-Meters. Sunday morning was pretty flat. The latter is the difference in this years score: 722 in 2008 and 584 in 2009 with 469 on 80CW, 101 on 15CW, 8 on 15PH, 4 on 10CW and 2 on 10PH. That is 50 QSOs below average. It was almost like pulling teeth and so many fellows - like about 40 - kept calling in to dupe us on 80CW. Guess they were just checking their signals. It felt like we could have used another 6db of power..

   We thank the super operators that stayed with us. Gary - NC4S, Tom - WB9RXJ, Jim - WØMAZ, and Mike - WØYR were greatly appreciated. As you can see, not much happened after the sun came up on Sunday. Carol Boehler - KF4TJI made a special effort to get Jim Banks on site and we really appreciate seeing Jim again.

A 8-Year Performance Perspective of Station #1: 

The Antennas   Station #1 operated with three antennas. The 80-Meter CW operation was on a full-size 132-foot dipole that was arranged in a lazy Inverted-Vee configuration. Norm used his new CSV19 Pneumatic Antenna Launcher to place the center some 60-feet up in a tall tree. No more bow and arrow stuff. A Hy-Gain Model LJ-153BA 3-element yagi was used on 15-Meters as we did last year and was mounted on 28-foot extension ladder that stands up and cranks up with a set of pulleys and cables. About 6-feet above that was a Cushcraft Model TEN3 3-element yagi. A small TV Antenna Rotor was mounted well down on the ladder and a 12-volt dc-ac converter was used to power the remote control. John Westerman - WB5ODJ installed a remote wireless network antenna and transceiver to connect the station into the N1MM network.

Prep Of The Ladder Tower
Doug - KJ4BRN, Norm - AI2C and Marcia - KJ4GYH
Next Year We'll Try For A Three Section Ladder

The 80-Meter CW Dipole Launcher
CSV19 Pneumatic Antenna Launcher
Reaches Heights of 200-Feet

The 15-Meter
&
10-Meter 3-Element Yagi Antennas
Grant - KB3EMT, Marcia - KH4GY, Doug - KJ4BRN, and Norm - AI2C

Marcia - KJ4GYH Assembling Yagi

The 10-Meter 3-Element Yagi Antenna

Almost Ready
Marcia - KJ4GYH, Norm - AI2C, Grant - KB3EMT and Doug - KJ4BRN

Cranking It Up
Equipped with two cranks, this can go up with one hand

An Original From The 492d Fighter Squadron - "Madhatters"
This is to certify that this American Flag was flown for: COL (Ret) Norman Styer, Jr.
over Afghanistan on a combat mission in a F-15E "Strike Eagle"
in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Call Sign: Dude 07      Tail #:   96-0202    Mission #: A4707   Date Flown: 06 April 2009
Signed Capt Christopher "Bluse" Wee, USAF, F-15E Pilot, 492 WFS &
1Lt Brian "Bear" Frivette, USAF, F-15E WSO, 492 EFS
Obtained For Norm Styer by His Son, LTC John Styer, USA, while serving in Afghanistan

There She Flies

One More Antenna & The Wireless Network Transceiver
Installed By John - WB5ODJ of Loudoun Wireless
This tied Station #1 to all other stations in a netted N1MM System Operated By Rick - AI1V

Early Saturday, Station #1 Is Ready To Rock & Roll !!!

          For Station #1, this was the most complete K4LRG operation. It was a standalone capability. It went together much as planned with a lot of assistance from many. And, it CW operators held their own. By 3:30 PM on Sunday the first load out was started and by 6 PM the site was cleared. Many thanks to all who helped and operated. Hope To Ride With You All Again. Best Regards, Norm Styer - AI2C de Canby - Clarkes Gap - Loudoun