On March 31, 2000, a group of radio Amateurs (Ham's) including myself set out for the Mojave Desert in California. Our main goal was to erect and use a ten meter phased dipole array consisting of four half-wavelength radiators and we all had visions of working many European contacts over the next couple days.

Our Tech Bench Elmer's group consisted of Cliff Savage - KD6AUN, John Wendt - WA6BFH and his dog Spud, John De Gennaro - KF6QHN, and Fred Karasek - KF6HQC, (me). I had been looking forward to this weekend campout and semi special event station for well over a month. After careful planning and collection of equipment including donated baluns and coaxial cable, a portable generator, a portable fabric garage, tables, chairs and plenty of food and water, we were ready! All that was left was to wait for Friday to get here so we could leave.

When Friday finally did arrive we packed up all of our gear and away we went. John, WA6BFH, and I rode in my truck and Cliff followed along in his truck as we cruised to our desert destination. A couple of hours later we were there speeding across the dry lake kicking up a ton of dust in the air. The winds were fierce blowing the dust across the desert making our small caravan visible for miles not to mention very dirty!. So on we drove in search of the one spot that all of our planning and waiting and driving were to focus. A thirty-foot tall metal tripod and a large water tank out in the middle of the desert.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky that day but, let me tell you that as we were looking for the tall metal tripod, I saw lightning strike before my eyes. It actually struck twice but, it all occurred in my mind. You see a couple of years earlier John, a few other Hams, and myself went on a weekend mountain top excursion to Santa Rose Peak in Riverside County. John had told us about a cabin that had built at the top of Santa Rosa Peak by a man named "Ragsdale Desert Steve" back in the early 1900's. This cabin had survived for many decades and was still standing the last time John had visited it a few years earlier. We were all anxious to camp in the cabin and to set up our amateur radio station inside the spacious living area away from the wind and the elements. But alas, the cabin had been burned to the ground between John’s last visit and our visit. All that remained was a concrete foundation, a very large fireplace and several hundred large nails that used to hold the dwelling together.

This Desert excursion was not much different in terms of disappointment. Once again, John had told us about a large 30+ foot tall tripod constructed over a water well that supported commercial mining in the Rand District out at the Cuddeback Dry Lake bed area. This heavy 3-inch diameter pipe tripod was to be the main mast of our Broadfire array, an unmovable anchor in a sea of sand.
But alas, The tripod was not visible as we approached the spot. The water tank was there but where was the tripod... And then we saw it, lying over on its side next to the water tank.

Apparently some dim witted individuals thought that the tripod would do the world much more good lying on the ground than standing upright like it had for decades earlier. One of the legs had actually been shot through by what looked like a .50 caliber machine gun and another leg was severed by a cutting torch. The third leg being unable to hold the weight of the other two dismembered legs, fell over bringing up with it the massive concrete block that it was anchored into for all these years. Needless to say our original plans were now dashed and alternate plans were needed. There were two alternate sites at our disposal. After a small debate, the choice was an old mine site a few miles south of us on the slope of Freemont Peak.

I mentioned four names at the beginning of this article but so far only three are present at this time. We were expecting John, KF6QHN to arrive any time now and were waiting to hear from him on the simplex call in frequency but up to this point we hadn't heard from him. As we headed to the alternate site I noticed the volume on my VHF radio was turned down and so I quickly turned it up. What we then heard was pure comedy as we heard John, KF6QHN, expressing his feelings about us and our lack of monitoring on the designated call in frequency. After John had vented, and I mean VENTED, we all got our bearings and met on the Military Road between the old tripod site and the new alternate site. And so the fourth member of our little DXpedition had joined the team and things started happening from there.

After our reunion with John on the main Military road we all proceeded to the alternate site and immediately began unpacking our trucks. After a short time the table was up and the radio and other equipment was unpacked and ready to go. The wind was still blowing moderately strong with occasional gusts from 50 to 60 MPH so setting up our portable 20+ foot mast and guying it off was a chore but we accomplished that in good time. The mast supported a catinary rope that stretched off to the hillside above the opening to one of the mines to the south about 100 feet away or so. Then John, WA6BFH measured off the distances for the dipole spacing and broke out the antennas. The four dipoles were then attached to the catinary. The assembly of the array probably took over an hour to complete but I am certain that it could have been done in less time if the weather would have been more favorable. After the phasing harnesses were attached to the antennas, the catinary rope was raised and we were almost ready to get on the air. We connected my ICOM 756 and a directional wattmeter to the array and then performed few low power checks for SWR and found the antenna to be resonant right in the area of the 10-meter band we wanted to work. Nice job by WA6BFH of calculating and cutting the dipoles and phasing lines before the trip began. And so we were ready to work 10 meters.

One of the nicest things about setting up an amateur radio station in our area of the Mojave Desert and away from civilization is the fact that the noise floor on all the bands is extremely low and we could hear a lot of weak and distant stations.
We had made several contacts within a few hours of completion of our array and most were European contacts. By using a world map we could see that our array was extremely directional based on the contacts we had made so plans were made to move the array to a more desired direction on Saturday, April 1st.

I believe that our antenna test was not as completely successful as hoped, (or at least I had hoped), because our alternate test site was bordered by Freemont Peak. Due to the height of the mountains around us I think that our test results were tainted by blocked signals both incoming and out going. We did move the angle of the array in hopes of adjusting the launch angle of our signal but, I still believe the mountains were doing us more harm than good. John disagreed with this point but, even he conceded that this would be something to assess and test in the future.

After some time on the radio, I and the rest of the group began to set up camp, get a fire ring ready, do a little exploring in the surrounding area and also fire a few of the firearms we had brought along. For the most part a great time was had by all, that is except for Spud. Good old Spud did not like the reports made by our firearms so Spud spent some time in the tent on a leash or on a walk with John, WA6BFH. We had a terrific dinner that night and we drank a fair amount of adult beverages, (Just ask John, KF6QHN...hahaha), and the fireside chat was great. All of the elements for a good campout and a good time were present and we did just that. I had such a great time that the 50 to 60 MPH gusts weren't getting me down at all anymore. The beer helped too.

On the morning of April 1st, we worked more 10 meter wavelength signals but made mostly stateside contacts and only a few DX contacts. We were all happy to see the wind almost completely die off by 10:00am local time. We experimented with take off angle by changing the angle of the antenna elements and rotated the entire array 20 or 30 degrees at one point but we really didn't hear the European contacts like we had hoped for. One nice thing to report is that we were receiving great 5 by 9 signal reports from 95 percent of our many contacts that weekend. I also wish to note that we did experiment with only 2 elements of our array and were even using one element of the array at times to get an omni-directional pattern to log more contacts for the weekend.

Around mid-afternoon we were surprised to hear Bill Bees, AB6PI, on the call in frequency. He and his girlfriend Emily were just pulling onto the Military road off of Highway 395. John, WA6BFH directed them via the VHF radio and 15 minutes later their BMW was parked under the phased array. We chatted awhile and showed Bill and Emily the station and antenna system, then the two went off to explore the old gold mine. While Bill and Emily were visiting and exploring John, KF6QHN was busy packing up his truck for the ride back home. John couldn't stay another evening due to family obligations and left shortly after Bill and Emily in the late afternoon.

That evening we listened to 10 meters for much of the time but mostly we chatted around the campfire. I had also brought along my small 2-inch refractor telescope and we had fun gazing at the stars and a few of the brighter deep sky objects under a moonless sky.
Later on that evening while chatting around the fire, I noticed a very bright star where there should have been no bright stars. For the next 15 seconds or so I was completely amazed by the star as I watched it fade from a -8 magnitude to nothing at all. I was so speechless I didn’t even tell Cliff or John to look. By the time it was gone I announced my discovery and was promptly told to have another beer.

Anyway after I arrived back home on Sunday, I began a little research project on the Internet in attempt to explain the phenomenon I witnessed in the moonless desert sky. I was clueless as to what it could have been it was so bright! Was it a super nova or an orbital nuclear bomb? A few clicks later my bright flare was identified. It was an Iridium glint or Iridium communication satellite flare!

Iridium is a sister company to Motorola and over the course of a few years has placed over 75 satellites in low earth orbit to create a global cellular telephone system. These satellites are in a non spinning orbit and each has three highly polished reflective Main Mission Antennae (MMA), that are in a fixed position relative to the earth. When the angle is correct and you are in the right place you can see a reflection of the sun off of one of the bedroom door sized MMA's and the reflection can be as bright as magnitude -9. There is a web based prediction program available for you to see these flares for yourself from your own yard. I have used the program at least a dozen times since our camping trip and have seen terrific flares in my own front yard. The web address is... www.heavens-above.com. Use the large database on the main page to find your city, follow the prompts, and enjoy the show.

Well enough of that and back to Freemont Peak... Our last day, Sunday, April 2nd, was spend a little time on the radio and some exploration of the mines, and the rest was camp breakdown and the drive home. I understand that another test of this 10-meter phased array with new modifications is going to be scheduled in the future but will probably be sometime after this summer or after next winter as the scorching summer days in the desert can be brutal. I am looking forward to another trip out to the Mojave Desert to experiment with amateur radio and explore more of the fascinating BLM lands that are ours to use. We all had a terrific time and had absolutely no problems or injuries of any kind. Just the way a camping trip ought to be!

73! de Fred KF6HQC
FSKarasek
auo@odc.net