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This page highlights past
KnightLites Outings and events.
First hand accounts and photographs by
participating Knights are welcomed and encouraged.
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2006 Holiday Season's Greetings Gang! The 6th Annual KnightLites Christmas/Holiday Party and QRPigOut event of the year with hosts Sir Rhett (KE4HIH) and Lady Joanna (KE4QOZ) is now just over the horizon... Don't miss this QRPigOut opportunity to join your fellow Knights and fair maidens in celebration of another successful KnightLites holiday season. RSVP [1], [2], [3 or More] or [Decline] right away, and mark December 21 on your calendars now. This is the regularly scheduled third Thursday of the month, and serves to be an easy commitment for all of us. Even if your plans are still fuzzy, put this on your radar, and ours. Your RSVP will establish an accurate headcount giving Sir Rhett and Lady Joanna a comfortable margin to plan and prepare for our visit. Let's not wait until the last minute, and create a frenzied flurry of last minute adjustments. RSVP now while fresh in your mind... It will make it much easier on them, and allow time for planning a fun-filled agenda. There's no time like now to make your decision, and begin pondering just how you're going to manage all this extra excitement! http://www.shell.linux.se/tt/radio/FT-817interface.html All are welcome... Family, Friends, and all who ponder what the KnightLites are all about! Bring your own (nonalcoholic) refreshments, and... for those so inspired, a showcase sample of your favorite recipe... (informal and optional as before) Date: Thursday December 21, 2006 Time: 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM. Follow these directions: ************************************************************************************************* HINT: Call - K E 4 H I H - on DFMA's Hillsboro machine 147.225/825 and ask for guidance if you find you're lost or running late. ************************************************************************************************* If you have a GPS, you'll find us loitering around these coordinates: Lat 36 deg 03.066 min N; long 79 deg 02.363 min W. For those who like to Google: Click here for a satellite view and map! If you exploit back seat drivers, trial and error, etc., navigate to the intersection of I-85 and US 70 (I-85 Exit 170), then proceed as follows: Leave I-85 at exit 170 and proceed West toward Hillsborough. Folks traveling North/East on I-85 will join east-bound US 70 for about 150 yards, then make a U-turn from the left lane at the appropriate intersection. Either way, the first traffic light one passes after getting onto US 70 intersects Pleasant Green Road to the right, and Mt. Herman Church Road to the left, sporting also an entrance to Eno Volunteer Fire Department. Proceed west from this intersection just 1.5 miles West on US 70 where, being carefully attentive, one may see house number 3725 on a low sign on the left side of the highway. Turn left here onto a gravel lane which crosses a bridge and splits into three driveways. Climb the one in the middle that looks steepest and meanest. Look for a sign `George' at the bottom and home in toward the Christmas tree up in the woods serving as your beacon. Give me (N3GO) a holler, or call out to Sir Rhett (KE4HIH) or Lady Joanna (KE4QOZ) on 147.225/825 MHz (The DFMA machine at I-85 and I-40). If all else fails, their phone number is 919-732-8492. On the cellular band, call N3GO at 919-522-5460. ************************************************************************************************* Drive safe... in both directions... We will all party hearty and partake of yet another awesome and adventurous KnightLites family holiday get together. 72 Gary, N3GO |
| Ladies and Gentlemen, The special September KnightLites pigout is just a little over a week away. Here's the "official" notice that includes directions on how to find our place in the country. Send Email or give me a call if you have questions. Hope to see you all here! 72 Joe & Liz ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KnightLites September 2006 Pigout:
" Honest to Goodness Pig Pickin' at the White House ! " September 23, 2006
QTH of Sir Joe (WA4GIR) and Lady Liz (KO4CK) 863 Neodak Road Apex, NC 27523 (919) 387-9152 Bring the whole family. Socializing starts around 3:00 with eating planned for 5:30 (give or take, depending on when the pig gets finished cooking). We will provide Pig and related sauces, slaw, beans, banana pudding and drinks. Feel free to bring a side dish or desert, but it is not mandatory. Also, bring a folding chair if it's convenient -- we have a bunch of them but we may not have enough for everyone. RSVP by Sept 20
... so we can get an approximate head count. If you are bringing a dish, let us know that at the time so we can make sure everything is covered. Directions:
Map displayed by Mapquest will get you within spittin' distance of our
mail box. Note that our house is not visible from the road. Use
the "conventional" directions below to direct you from the street up to
our front door.Talk-in on: 146.52 simplex (i.e., you have to be kinda close) Mapquest - Enter the following address:
863 Neodak Road Apex, NC 27523 Google Earth (or GPS) - Enter the following Lat/Lon 35.78325, -78.93696 Google Earth's aerial photo shows the location of our house relative to Neodak Road. (Google Earth application may be downloaded from http://earth.google.com/ ) Conventional: From Cary: * Take High House Road West to NC 55 and continue straight across NC 55. Road becomes Green Level Road. * Go 0.9 miles on Neodak Road to Mailbox with 863 on it. Turn left into drive by mailbox. Continue down driveway about 600 feet. Pass the house on the left. That ain't us. Our house will come into view as the drive way turns to right and turns from gravel to concrete. From I-40 exit 274 -- NC 751: * Turn Southbound on NC 751 (right turn at top of I-40 exit ramp if coming from Chapel Hill, or left turn if coming from Research Triangle Park). Travel on NC 751 approximately 9 miles. From US 64 intersection with NC 751: * Turn northbound on NC 751 (right turn off 64 if coming from Apex/Cary, or left turn if coming from Jordan Lake or Pittsboro).72 Joe & Liz |
Field Day 2006 KnightLites Style The honorable Sir Chris KD4PBJ FD for us almost always involves rain! This year was no different. JP and Derek went up early on Friday but I'll let them tell their stories of fishing attempts and the trip to the summit at Max Patch.... I'll pick up the story at about 6 pm on Friday. I had been in contact with them on the 145.190 repeater on Clingman's Peak (a.k.a. the Mt Mitchell repeater, althought it isn't acutally on Mt Mitchell) and we had decided to have me meet them for the trip to the backup site. I had arranged with my mom on Thursday afternoon to use my deceased grandfather's house and property as a backup site in case of rain, as it is in the same county as Max Patch, although about 45 minutes away over some winding roads. I got to my mom's house in Asheville, picked up the key to the backup site and headed north on I-26 to meet JP and Derek in Weaverville. We drove to the site near Mars Hill, and had an hour or two to look over the property before dark. The antenna locations were decided on, and a 2 meter/440 beam was raised on a mast so we could have a link to the 145.190 repeater. I had hoped that this stay would be only temporary and we could go to Max Patch on Saturday morning, but the weather channel (we had cable there) showed a 90 percent chance of rain on Saturday so we opted to stay since we had a covered porch to operate from. JP and Derek decided to fish a little in an adjoining pond but as soon as their flies hit the water it started raining! On Saturday morning we had breakfast a a local spot in Mars Hill. Even there JP found someone he knew- a fellow trooper. We contaced the guys coming up from SC (Randy, Gene and Randy's son) who were just leaving Columbia and told them to be sure to take NC exit #9 off I-26 and we would see them in about 3 hours. We went back to the house and started shooting lines in the trees to pull up weed eater line supports for the antennas. We managed to make 2 80 meter dipoles and orient them at 90 degree angles then put up a small 40 meter dipole in the front yard for SSB. JP erected his 15 meter wire beam in the front yard too. Five hours later we still hadn't heard from the Charleston crew and later found out that they were 65 miles away looking for exit 9 on I-40 near Max Patch. Once we got in contact with them Randy managed to arrive in about an hour (although he was heard commenting on the repeater that the mile markers were passing him every 30 seconds) and get setup with a 6 meter loop. We managed to get on the air with 20 CW, 40 CW, 20 SSB, 6 meter SSB and 2 meter SSB and operated 5B. "Operating" 20 meters SSB might be a stretch as no contacts were made at all. We could hear the stations calling and the signal strength was great on our K2's but we were in a deep valley and couldn't get a signal out and CW was a little better but not what we were used to on previous FD's. Randy, his son and Gene decided to get a 500 foot longwire up and got it up at about 50-65 feet at the highest point. Now it was around 6 pm and we were able to work most every 80 meter SSB station that we could hear thanks to the autotuner in Randy's K2. Derek and JP did get a few dozen CW contacts on 20/40 and after dark Randy managed to contact fellow Knightlite Paul AA4XX who was operating from home. We got two 6 meter contacts, one with the Marion club and one with the Asheville club so they were both only 1 county away. We heard a station in North Texas and one in the upper midwest but they couldn't hear us. Steak and potato dinners were enjoyed by the group and then we sat around and talked while we causally operated. Around midnight we decided to start packing up. It rained a lot but we were under the covered porch so the equipment and ourselves stayed dry. On the way back from dropping the key at my mom's house this morning I saw a parking lot with tents at a community college where it happened that the Asheville club (W4MOE) was set up for FD. I was tempted to stop by and say hi but my wife and son were sick so I decided against it. If I missed anything please chime in. I hope that you all had a nice time at FD this year! Chris KD4PBJ |
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KnightLites Outer Banks QRP Expedition WQ4RP IOTA (Islands On The Air) NA-067 March 26-28, 2004 Sirs John (N3DRK), John (WB4OFT), and Paul (AA4XX), packed up their QRP adventure gear, and headed to Cape Lookout National Seashore on the North Carolina Outer Banks during the weekend of March 26-28, 2004, camping on the West End of Shackleford Banks, and positioned themselves on the receiving end of a DX pileup. QRP operating expeditions are a common and frequent pursuit of KnightLite members Worldwide, but the outer banks of North Carolina are a special favorite to many of our Knights in the North and South Carolina region. Equipment and personal effects are frequently transported by Kayak, camping is primitive, and the islands offer little protection against the whims of nature. While nature can, and often does leash it's wrath across this narrow strand of barren islands, the Outer Banks also offer serenity and tranquility unmatched by any other place on earth. Neither mortal man, nor noble Knight can fend off the lure of this magical place. Picture Gallery Here are a few photo highlights that reveal the tranquil side of Cape Lookout and Shackleford Banks. North Carolina's Outer Banks
This photo of Cape
Lookout
Lighthouse was taken during a QRP operation in 1994.
Lighthouse view from
the Atlantic
side
View of Lookout 3 miles
away from
one of the many small islands near Shackleford Banks
Looking west from
Lookout toward
Shackleford Banks at sunset
Sir Paul (AA4XX)
returned to Cape
Lookout in 2002 with a pair of phased 20M verticals
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