Jan 2023 Activities

 

January was a month of variety, with times of peace and quiet, sorting out life issues; finishing up the camper renovation, and finalizing a plans and installations for a proper "portable" station setup. With all of that came a good shakedown of what works, what doesn't work, what's needed, and what's not needed for overlanding and radio operations.

Amateur Radio

The solar power system was completed with the mounting of the two 100 watt solar panels to the roof of the camper. So far, everything is working quite well. Power seems to be abundant for my requirements with the 200 AHr lithium battery, having yet to drop below 13.2 volts after many hours of radio, lights, and refrigerator use. 

The Yaesu FT-710 AESS with the ATAS-120A antenna has been a nice upgrade from the FT-991A, though I sure miss my Barker & Williamson BWD-90 folded dipole. On the next trip, it's coming along! Quite a few years ago I bought a Yaesu FC-40 long-wire tuner but have never put it into service, so I think I'll install it in the camper as yet another arrow in my quiver of HF antennas. 

The FTM-7250 fits the need, though I think I would like to see a FTM-400 in the camper so I can run an APRS digipeater, as I do at home, without the need for yet another radio. 

I haven't been spending a lot of time on the radio - mostly grayline times - but I've been able to make a few QSOs. My QRZ log is up to date, but I didn't bring my Linux computer so the CQRlog software and LoTW logs are behind until later.

The Camper

I was finally able to run a propane line to the Propex heater. The issue was the gas connection on the heater is/was a 7mm female, and the kit only came with a 7mm to 1/4" copper line L-connection. I needed to run a feed line to the heater with a T-connector so I could also run propane to the stove just above the heater.

As I was talking with Roy, a fellow camper and former tool and die guy, he suggested tapping out the 7mm connector to a 1/4-18 NPT, as it is slightly larger than the 7mm, and there is plenty of metal on the female connector to make this change. After a trip to Harbor Freight, and a few minutes of elbow grease, I now have wonderful propane heat in the camper and a permanently connected stove! Thanks Roy!

Overland & Outdoors

This month was filled with many hikes, bike rides, and miles of off-road exploring. For several of them, I recorded video and have published them on my YouTube channel. All but one were day trips, so I wouldn't say I got any real overlanding in. Plenty of off-road though.

Jan 1: Tucson to Globe, AZ

Jan 2 & 3: Ironwood Forest National Monument, BLM land

Jan 6: Cocoraque Archaeological District

Jan 7: Mt. Lemmon, Willow Canyon

Jan 8: Saguaro National Park, hike Wasson Peak

Jan 9: Tucson Mountain Park, bike trails

Jan 10: Ironwood Forest National Monument, climb Ragged Top mountain

Jan 12: Tucson Mountain Park, hike Brown mountain trail

Jan 14: Coronado National Forest, overland Granite Mountain and Cedar Flat via Box Canyon

Jan 19: Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, overland "Square to Nowhere"

Jan 20: Tucson Mountain Park, hike Sarasota and Explorer trails

Jan 22-23: Ironwood Forest National Monument, camp and star gaze

Jan 25: Ajo, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Mexico border, road and off-road trip

Jan 26: Nancy's Birthday, a day of thankful reminiscing of our years of marriage together 

Jan 27: Connecting the Propex heater! 

The one overnight trip was to star gaze and photograph the Arizona night sky, but at that time I didn't have the Propex heater connected, so it was a cold night. I woke early to take photos, but since I was warm in my bed, I fell back asleep and missed the opening time of a cloudless night. Bummer. I did get up just after 2:00 AM and took some photos, but I missed the best opening between 12:00 and 2:00 AM. Note to self: set an alarm and place it far from me. Next time...

Christmas in Tucson

Alder Picnic Area, Mt Lemmon

The Wisconsin is weather making it too cold to work in the storage shed, Tucson seems to be the best place to finish it without freezing my fingers off. All packed up Tuesday morning, I had breakfast with my friend David J, then hit the road at 09:30, avoiding interstate highways as much as possible. 

Wednesday, I had lunch and took a short nap at White Sands National Park in New Mexico, drove south to the Mexico border and Hwy 9 west to the Arizona state line. At 21:00 I arrived in Tucson and boon docked on BLM land. Thursday, I spent the day at one of my favorites, Gilbert Ray campground, then Friday morning, moved to the RV Park site where I'll likely be for the next three months.

This morning, Christmas Eve day, was a bit slow and emotional. As I watched the "clouds" go by, I set up the FT-710 and FTM-7250D radios in the camper and made my first QSO with N0A, the Christmas Train special event station operating out of Fort Worth, TX on 14.258 MHz. Nice, because I love trains, Christmas, and amateur radio!

Late this afternoon, I spoke with my oldest son on the phone. He and son number 3 are together making fireball meatballs and our family's traditional Christmas sticky roles. Since I am not there with them, I was given an assignment: build a snowman tomorrow, Christmas day, and post it on my photo album. I accept the challenge. I'll head over east of Tucson to Mt. Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains. I'm sure they will have some snow. I will build an awesome snowman for the kids up there! And so I did!

Not snow, it's white sand. A perfect 68 degree weather at White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

Site C6 at one of my favorite campgrounds, Gilbert Ray, in Tucson Mountain Park

Trail setup of the HF and dual band radios in the newly renovated Intech Flyer Chase camper

Marshall Gulch, Mt Lemmon

Redington Pass overlooking Tucson

Camper Remodel

Almost finished with the remodel, soon it will be time to stuff the mattress in and head to the southwest!

2022 was filled with many new adventures while camping, hiking, biking, kayaking, making new friends and visiting old friends. Travelling with the truck and camper all around Wisconsin, western Michigan, eastern Minnesota, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah provided plenty of time and experience to discover some flaws with the camper setup and find remedies to some of those issues. In late summer, in between trips, the planning and remodel began. Once complete, a final shake-down will be done before hitting the roads and trails again!

The Cabin

The first remodel of the front cabinets has been removed. The twin mattress was moved forward and placed up on a 1.5 inch raised deck to force tempered air under the bed and prevent issues during cold weather camping. A full rear divider wall was installed to establish a rear-access kitchen and separated location for the new Propex furnace and battery/charging unit. A small shelf table is positioned under the passenger side window between the rear wall and the side door.

Propex thermostat, 120v outlet with USB charger, Renogy battery monitor and remote 2000 watt inverter switch are on the back wall. 

A new electrical system was installed consisting of a 200Ah LiFePO4 lithium battery, 40 amp LiFePO4 smart-charger, a 12 fuse 12 volt panel, 2000 watt inverter, 30 amp 120 volt breaker panel, and 300 watt roof-mounted solar panels with expansion for 300 watts of remote panels. The battery and charger are now in the rear of the trailer because the tongue box where they were located conflicts with the truck's bumper mounted spare tire during truck/trailer articulation. New interior lights, exterior LED rock lights, and a 4" axle lift for the camper are under way.

For amateur radio items, I'm unsure exactly how and where the Yeasu FT-710 and connected computer will be mounted, but the monitor, keyboard and mouse will most likely be at the side table. The FT-710 can be remote-operated using the CQRlog software, however, the Yaesu FTM-7250 dual band will need to be within reach for use.

A cold air return routes air under the bed panel to prevent cold weather camping issues under the mattress.
On the wall are three switches for interior and exterior lighting, and a 120v outlet.

With the large tongue box removed, there may be room to mount two Scepter water cans flat against the front, and my fat bike above them!

The Kitchen

Though not yet completed in this photo, this is the general layout of the kitchen.
The battery, inverter, and solar charge controller are mounted to the left of the refrigerator.

The trailer's rear double doors now open to a dedicated kitchen area that includes a cook stove and a split refrigerator/freezer, both on locking slides so they are very accessible. The Propex heater is mounted on the floor to the right of the refrigerator. Above the heater is a removable shelf for added kitchen storage. To the left of the refrigerator is a 200Ah battery, 40A charging unit, a 2000 watt inverter, the solar charge controller, the main battery shut-off and fuse block. Above the refrigerator is a full width shelf that holds the cook stove and storage areas on both sides.

Yeah, I think this will work just fine for what I want to do!

Update

With most of the work done, the camper is now my home for the next several months. It's small, but it's very comfortable, but it suits my needs for a go-anywhere camper and radio shack. I'll mostly be in an RV park, but am planning several trips to do some POTA and SOTA stations, and do some remote boondocks camping.