ILLW 2003

If you would like more information the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse and it's surrounding area, please see Eagle Harbor Links

Our primary callsign:

K8E

County:

Keweenaw

Grid Square:

EN57

Modes of Operation:

CW, SSB, FM Voice Satellite

Bands of Operation:

80 – 10 Meters, 2 Meters

Antennas:

G5RV for 80 – 10 Meters

Vertical for 20 Meters and various dipoles for HF bands

Arrow antenna for SO-51

Whatever else we can get up in the air.

QSL via the bureau or direct to:

N8MR

14071 Fairway

Livonia, MI 48154-5227

U.S.A.

NOTE:

For all QSL and certificate requests, please send a self-addressed stamped #10 business-sized envelope (or larger). Our QSL cards are 4 1/8 inches x 5 7/8 inches (105mm x 150mm). They are larger than usual, but they're worth it!

Questions or comments: vtarnow@up.net

We want to thank George Hite, Peter Van Pelt, Dave Thomas and the Keweenaw Historical Society for allowing us to operate on the grounds of the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse. We also want to thank Denny, K9GIR for being our lighthouse liaison and Vince KA8FFM and his XYL, and everyone else for allowing us to share this special event weekend with them.

On Thursday August 14, 2003 at approximately 4:00pm, an area stretching from Ann Arbor Michigan to the East Coast of the United States, a power outage stopped the region in its tracks. The lights didn't work, gasoline stations were closed, water systems shut down and when night fell, you could actually see more stars than you thought possible in the big city. Lucky for us, we were somewhat prepared for our annual trek to the lighthouse. Ready or not, we were about to depart the next day with a puppy we had just acquired a week earlier. There were quite a few things we still had to prepare, so we had to do these preparations before night fell. We had been doing the ILLW for the past three years and luckily we had a system in process and knew where all of the essentials for the operation were located in the house. After securing the bird at a relatives house for the weekend, we drove off into the darkness, wondering what we had left back at home.

Driving north on I-75, we listened to the AM broadcast radio (yes, the radio stations had power) describe the closed businesses, the lack of water pressure and the possible times they speculated these systems would be operational. Once we got north of Flint, Michigan on I-75, at around 6:30am, we noticed that there were lights on. This must be where the blackout ends...thankfully. Now we could get breakfast.

Sal, the puppy, and us survived the 12-hour drive up to Eagle Harbor. It was so nice to be back at the lighthouse. The temperature was as warm as it was back in Detroit - around 84 degrees F- however this warm weather brought swarms of biting flies with it. Now we know why the motel rooms come equipped with fly swatters. But just about the time we thought they were going to bug us all weekend, the wind changed direction and started blowing cool air out of the north - straight off Lake Superior. Within fifteen minutes, the vacationers swimming in the Harbor and lying on the beach all ran for cover as the temperature suddenly dropped to about 68 degrees F. The biting flies vanished along with the warm weather.

As the sun set, we met up with Vince, Ange, Jerry and Betty to discuss the next day's work. We were also able to get a decent hot supper while still wondering if the power had come back on at home. After supper, I put together the Arrow Antenna for operating through amateur radio satellites. At that moment, I realized that I had not downloaded new Keplerian elements into the laptop computer, and the elements I had were old (from early May). This meant that the satellite tracking program could only give approximate times for satellite passes. Two of my favorite FM voice satellites - AO-27 and UO-14 - were not operating and the only FM voice satellite I could use was SO-51. I had not ever used that satellite before and this was going to be tricky, as this satellite is the only one that employs a PL Tone on its uplink. Amazingly, I got the HTs to cooperate and I made a few contacts. However, as the FM voice satellites usually go, there were stations on with stronger signals than my own. These stations monopolized the satellite almost entirely throughout its first pass, and completely throughout its second pass. Frustrated, I decided not to pursue any other satellite operating this year. Next year, I am determined to get the lighthouse operation on AO-40 (Phase 3D).

The next morning, I decided to get up early and take pictures of the lighthouse at sunrise. At 6:30am, I went to the lighthouse along with a 128 Meg flash card in my digital camera, determined to get as many photos as I could from as many angles as I could. Being at the lighthouse at sunrise is a fantastic experience one should not miss. The colors of the sky, the sun and the clouds, along with the effects the various shades of light play upon the surroundings is worth getting up early to see. Equally as beautiful are the sunsets, as viewed from the rescue station, across the harbor from the lighthouse.

After breakfast, we got to work setting up for the event. First to go up was Vince's new 20-Meter vertical. We set this antenna up near the water, with some of the radials going right into Lake Superior (about 10 feet away). Vince built the antenna from a collapsible fiberglass pole and other homebrew parts. If that top hat looks familiar, then you're right...it is a metal salad bowl. It goes to show you that dollar stores do provide antenna hardware. This antenna was connected to a Yaesu FT-857, via a Heathkit SB-200 amplifier. The result was a very impressive signal.

The next things to get set up were the dipoles. Again, Vince came through with two homebrew designs; a G5RV variation and a 20-Meter dipole, just to have something to compare the vertical to. Sal, the wonder puppy, helped us pull both of the dipoles up to the railing of the lighthouse.

Once the antennas were up and secured to Sal's specifications, we used yellow "caution" tape to mark all of the coaxial cables running along the ground. We were now ready to hit the air.

Even though ILLW rules state that the antennas do not have to be attached to the lighthouse structure, we still feel it is a nice touch. The Keweenaw Historical Society was especially kind to us - this was our third year up there - in allowing this to happen. The Coast Guard maintenance guy helped us with the logistics of actually placing the ropes around the railing. We had to arrange this ahead of time. During the winter of 2002/2003, the lighthouse beacon stopped working and a new (used) beacon had to be installed in its place, at quite an expense. The Coast Guard and the Keweenaw Historical Society are very protective of their new beacon, rightly so.

Our antenna farm was ready for action. However, the bands were not. Eagle Harbor is at a latitude of 47.5 degrees North - close enough to the Magnetic North Pole to make DXing pretty tricky.

Vince set up his Yaesu FT-100D to the 40-Meter dipole and we had a two-station operation running. Propagation and the annual North American QSO Party, SSB kept us from being more successful at making contacts. Most of the people on Phone wanted contest QSOs and the added noise and interference on the bands made the effort much more of an effort. The pileups were noticeably much more aggressive than usual.

By sunset, we had all had enough of the contest and the poor propagation. We decided to wrap it up earlier than usual, as Vince wanted to return to the setup early, in hopes to catch some of the morning DX.

Sunday gave us the same good weather and the end of the contest, however, propagation was still as poor as it was on Saturday. 20 Meters was great, as we contacted stations on Poland, Iceland and Argentina. A station from Estonia and several Japanese stations called us with signals so good we thought they were just a few states away.

As we made contact after contact on both 20 and 40 Meters, Sal kept the local and vacationing kids entertained.

While the weather was cooperating, we decided to search for the old Eagle Harbor Rear Range Light. It was turned 90 degrees counter-clockwise and moved to a location on the shoreline along M-26, not far from M-41. Some people have told us that it is private property, owned by a doctor, while others say that the doctor rents it out as a cabin over the summer. The two RVs in the driveway seem to give credence to the latter story. We weren't sure, but we will get the story straight by next year.

In the late afternoon, a thick fog appeared out of nowhere. This was not the usual fog, as it seemed to envelop only the northern-most shoreline and the peninsula with the lighthouse. The beachfront around the Harbor was clear, dry and sunny.

With the fog being as thick as it was, with no signs of letting up, our station started getting damp. Not wanting any moisture damage to the equipment, we decided to wrap up our operation early. It was about 5:00pm local time (21:00 UTC) and we thought that we had gotten a good showing for this year. In the end we got a total of 324 contacts. We contacted ten countries outside of the U.S. and Canada, and we talked to many more lighthouses than we had in our previous years.

On our long trip back to Detroit, we assessed this year's operation and started planning next year's operation. As we drove along I-75, heading into Flint, Michigan, we heard on the radio that the power company had restored the electricity to its customers and that they were up to full capacity (meaning everyone could turn on their air conditioners). The Detroit Water Commission concurrently announced that the water situation was resolved and that the "boil only" water ban was being lifted. This year's ILLW allowed us to skirt the power outage and all of the maladies and discomfort that went along with it. Thanks ILLW!