Fort DuPont - Fort Mott Operations
                  17 March 2012

Operations Order OO-2

Date: Saturday 17 March 2012

Time: 10:30 EST plus or minus

Mission: Establish over water contact between Ft. Mott and Ft. DuPont utilizing BC-611's with backup comm of BC-745 and Navy DAV.

Remarks: Two way contact utilizing BC-611's between Ft. Mott and Ft. DuPont would establish a over water MRCA Member East Coast record between BC-611's, unless KD3ZK has all ready done it some place and not advised anyone. In addition this will test the "low power" path between the two Forts for future reenactment activities.

Personnel: Fort DuPont - Zorro K4CHE,

Fort Mott - Dave, KB3ELD and Mark, KD3ZK

Secondary Mission: K4CHE will attempt check in from Fort DuPont at 12:00 EST to the Moose and Squirrel Cold-War Clandestine and Long-Range-Reconnaissance-Patrol Net on 5.3715 Kcs. This will strike off yet another military installation location check in for K4CHE and the Moose and Squirrel net.

Overall Mission: Take equipment off the shelf that is sitting idle and use it in the field.

Additional Comments: K4CHE will also bring a DAV for possible two way between a BC-611 BC-745 AKA Pogo Stick/ Horsie Talkie.

Backup Comm: K4CHE will establish contact with N3FRQ via SSB radio on 3.885 Kcs, N3FRQ will be "Kingpin" and attempt to keep the frequency 3.885 clear for the record attempt.

ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL PLEASE BRING CAMERA

       
          "THE fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on."  
                      Sandburg
                                                    Short Fog video

     My first choice at a OL was at the South East portion of the Fort where I could have better access to the water but the 0800 gate was still closed at 0920 so I went to Plan B shown above and set up operations in the North West quadrant of the installation(left arrow)right across the small inlet from Delaware City.  This put me several hundred feet inland but was the best I could do as installation rules prevent driving off of the hard surface. The cops came twice to check on me.

  I've always said that : "you know you are having fun when the Cops show up."

           
                    KD3ZK photo
Meanwhile on the Jersey side Dave shows up and mixes it up with the troops, no fog over in Jersey.

       Video audio of BC-611 to BC-611 KD3ZK  

       Video audio of BC-745 "Pogo Stick" to BC-611 KB3ELD  

             
           It was interesting to compare the performance on the Fort DuPont side between the BC-611 and the DAV. The performance was about the same.

     The DAV can be placed on the ground for operation which is an advantage for short range commo but it is hard to use while on foot because of its weight, and all the wires and accessories hanging and the larger antenna. The side mount for the antenna is made of wood and is very fragile, actually the entire case is wood because it has a DF antenna inside. I had intended to try out the DF function but ran out of time as I had to reconfigure my SSB HF antenna and equipment to check into the famous Moose and Squirrel Net(next page)

     Overall I favored the BC-611 for ease of use and its better AVC when in close. In additon since I have the standard hole on the side of the BC-611 case I can insert a screw driver and peak the transmitter using a field strength meter.

            
            I don't like the skull cap so I cheated and installed
a small battery powered external speaker and audio amp.
I replaced the lip mike with a standard telephone button.

          
          Home brew battery box and connector. Same
size as the original vibrator/battery pack. Details to be
posted at a later date.