WGARS Fall Activities
- 24 October 2024
- John Playford
So what’s been going on with WGARS this fall you ask? It can be described in one word – Lots! Activities have included a high altitude balloon launch and chase, two stage fox hunt, POTA (Parks on the Air) operation at Mt. Cheaha and an organized NVIS (Near Vertical Incident Skywave) experiment. Since we have already reported on the balloon launch/chase and NVIS Exercise, this article will serve as a run-down of some of the other activities.
The Fox Hunt – September 28, 2024.
On a rather chilly Saturday morning in September a large group of hams and non-hams gathered at the 1st Christian Church in Carrollton, Georgia. People from Conyers to Heflin and all parts in-between began to assemble the tools they would use to find the hidden transmitters (foxes). These tools included home made tape measure yagi antennas, commercial yagi’s, rubber ducks, attenuators, loops, even a form of a “fox hunt sniffer.”
At 9:30 am the frequency was given out over the W4FWD repeater by team Veal (who hid the fox(es)). The object is to find the first fox. When it is located the hunter gets a note showing if they were number 1, 2, 3, etc to find it along with the frequency of the 2nd fox. With the frequency released, the hunters began their search. It seemed like everyone scattered in different directions after picking up the signal. Not a good sign. While the fox was transmitting with relatively low power (1 watt or less), it could be heard from the gathering point. However, many factors affect where it seems like the signal is coming from (terrain, buildings, tree’s, etc).
By 10:30, most of the hunters had narrowed the first fox location down to somewhere on the greenbelt between the prison and WLBB. There were a lot of people wandering around with antennas and radios with many exercisers wondering if aliens had landed. Team Kitchens (Jason, KV4TE and his family) seemed to have the inside line on the first fox and made short work of the second. The rest of us eventually were successful. One fox was in a tree (which I heard someone say “it’s hidden in plain sight”) and the other was in the root ball of a fallen tree. Great challenge, lots of fun, and hats off to Team Veal (Brian, KM4UPX as ringleader) for a great hunt.
Whenever this group gets together it generally involves food and this was no exception. We all gathered together at Printers Ale in Carrollton for a burger, a brew (or a coke), and lots of stories. Hope you will join us next time.
Link to Photos from KV4TE: Fox Hunt Photos
POTA Weekend on Mt. Cheaha
The weekend of October 19 and 20 was an official “Support Your Parks” weekend. WGARS participated in this in a big way by reserving a picnic pavilion atop Mt. Cheaha near Heflin, Alabama.
Stations were set up for various bands and modes. This included 2 meter fm, 6 meter FT-8, 15 meter FT-8 and Sideband, 20 meter FT-8 and Sideband, and 40 meter Sideband. The bands behaved nicely allowing contacts to be made on all. We now have two new operators who I believe to have drank the POTA kool-aid. Curtis, KJ4SAD and his expert logger Donna signed up on the webside for POTA and activated the park on 20 meters.
Miss Donna taking a break from logging:
Matt, KQ4OSL worked with Marshall KK4OHF to sweep through 40 meters and 20 meters activating the park. Congratulations to all who participated. As with all of our events, there was food present… and oh was there food present. Chili, Soup, Shepherds Pie, Donuts, Cake, Brownies…. Not sure if the operating or the eating was the most enjoyable.
The next official Support Your Parks weekend will be April 19, 20, 2025. Stay tuned for where we will be operating from this time.
No, we're not hunting a real fox! Our fox is a radio transmitter strategically hidden by "Team Veal" somewhere in West Georgia for us to locate. Fox hunting lets us improve our skills at everything from finding downed aircraft to missing persons to malfunctioning transmitters. But in reality, its just fun!
The West Georgia Amateur Radio Society will hold its second annual “Villa Rica Gold Rush” special event September 21st-22nd, 2024 using the W4G Call Sign on 15,20,40, and 80 meters in CW, Phone, and Digital modes. Operation on all modes and bands, including the 10 meter “bonus band”, will occur on September 21<sup>st</sup> from 12:30Z until 19:30Z from the original Pine Mountain Gold Mine Operations Building at the Pine Mountain Gold Museum in Villa Rica, GA. W4G will operate outside those hours using bands and modes chosen by our individual operators.
The West Georgia Amateur Radio Society held a Parks On The Air (POTA) event at Cheaha Mountain in Cheaha State Park, Alabama on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 in conjunction with "Support Your Parks" weekend. Participants experienced unusually cool temperatures for late April, brought on by a cold front and accompanied by some early morning light rain, and fog.
