W7W for 2008 Lost Dutchman Days
2008 W7W Lost Dutchman Days
W7W Callsign Authorized for Feb 21-25!
February 22-24, 2008 in Apache Junction, AZ
New Museum start time: 1300 UTC, 6 AM Saturday local time
We plan to operate from the Superstition Mountain Museum, February 23, Saturday only. However, we have times available for operation by club members from home during Feb 22, 23 and 24. Please check below for some changes in this page in this regard.
Official Schedule and QSL Info
W7W QSL information for Lost Dutchman Days
Please QSL to the following address with a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Right-click this text box, select all, and copy the address to your Clipboard, from where you can paste it into your text editor or word processor for printing on envelopes or labels. The address appears again at the end of this page.
W7W Operating Schedule
Saturday,Feb 23 at the Museum
Last year on forty, we planned 7240 kHz, only to have a nice fat AM station to contend with, and we wound up on 7250. We also did a lot of roaming last year looking for activity on 10 meters, as calling CQ on one spot wasn't proving very productive.
Therefore, the frequency schedule below contains a plus-or-minus, and we hope to stray not more than 20 kilohertz either side of our publicized frequency on each band. We may also be splitting duties between 15 and 17 meters, depending on conditions at the time.
Here is our band-by-band plan for operation from the Lost Dutchman Museum this year as W7W:
Frequencies of operation:
75 meters: NVIS Antenna with expected coverage from local to 300 miles beginning at 1300 UTC40 meters: 20 meters: 17 meters: 15 meters: 10 meters:
Hours of Operation Feb 23:
We will operate from the grounds of the Lost Dutchman Museum, as the Superstition Mountain Museum is also known, between 6:00 AM and 4:00 PM MST, or 1300-2300 UTC February 23, the last Saturday of the month.
Superstition Mountain Museum
The web site for the museum has a picture similar to the picture on our W7W QSL card. We are about 10 miles north of Apache Junction up State Route 88, heading toward Roosevelt Lake. Being higher ground, it will be chillier there than back home in Mesa, Tempe or Gilbert, if it turns out to be a chilly day. However, typically in late February in Arizona, springtime is already arriving. We can have snow on the Superstitions, or it could be 85 degrees. This year's January has ended on a chilly note, but back a couple of years ago we had 85 degrees Fahrenheit in January!
Map to the museum
Road map to the W7W site
The Lost Dutchman Legend
Apache Junction, Arizona is located against the western face of the Superstition Mountains, about 40 miles east of Phoenix. This western face overlooks the Phoenix area's eastern communities of Apache Junction and Mesa.
Apache Junction celebrates Lost Dutchman Days on an annual basis in the month of February, with a parade down its main street, a 26-mile marathon and some rodeo events.
The Lost Dutchman Marathon originates several miles north of the community of Gold Canyon, home of the LPGA Safeway International Golf Tournament , at Peralta Trailhead , the start of a hiking trail called Peralta Trail , (Maps) , and behind the western face of the Superstitions . It follows Peralta Trail, a dirt road that becomes paved as it approaches U.S.60, and has beautiful scenery. The marathon route follows U.S.60, then detours through Gold Canyon, then follows U.S.60 again past the southern end of the Superstitions, then runs through some back roads in Apache Junction, leaving the highway before it turns to freeway leading to I-10 in Phoenix. The marathon ends at Prospector Park in northeastern Apache Junction.
The Lost Dutchman Legend lives on, even though the area has grown exponentially in population. The Superstition Amateur Radio Club has participated in parade communications and radio support for the marathon. This year's Marathon is on February 17, and club members are urged to sign in to Maricopa County Emergency Group 's web site to register for participation as a radio communications supporter. Point of clarification: All of these activities take place in Pinal County (pronounced Pin-AL). The county line runs between Mesa and Apache Junction from north to south, with Mesa west of the line and Apache Junction east.
Operator Guidelines and logging sheets
We are operating under special rules for 1x1 callsigns. You need to begin your shift by entering your personal callsign into the log with the start time and announcing your callsign "as W7W" on the air. You need to give your personal callsign as "W7W" when ending your operation and sign the log with your callsign and ending time.
Station Identification
Stations are required to sign on with their FCC-assigned callsigns, saying, " This is (callsign) as W7W" at the start of the shift and at least once every hour, and once at the end of the shift. The W7W callsign must be given at least once every ten minutes.
When preparing to leave the station unattended, you must sign off with your callsign as W7W.
Logging requirements
Before firing up the rig as W7W, a control operator must enter his FCC-issued callsign in the log with the start time of his shift. And he must enter his callsign again in the log when leaving the station unattended or when turning it over to another control operator, together with the ending time. Only in this manner will we know who did what and when.
If moving from one station to another, the operator must sign out of one log and sign in to the other. We will have perhaps three stations running at the same time.
Only one W7W on any one band at a time
W7W cannot be simultaneously present in two places on the same frequency band, even if one is running SSB and the other CW. Therefore, if anyone wishes to operate additional stations from home, they must coordinate with the stations at the museum to ensure no two stations as W7W are sharing the same band.
Operations from home as W7W Feb 22, 23, 24
We have had stations operating extra hours or bands from home in the past. Anyone wishing to operate from home must coordinate with the stations at the museum during museum hours of operation, and with Larry, WB7CRK, during museum off times. You may email Larry at w7w@wb7tjd.org to register a request to operate from home, including bands, times and callsign. It would help also if you include your telephone number. You are permitted to operate once given the go-ahead.
Anyone who signs up to operate from home must submit a log, even if no operation took place. In lieu of an empty log, be certain to indicate to the coordinator that you did not operate. Be certain that the coordinator acknowledges receipt of your communication. An email to WB7CRK through w7w@wb7tjd.org may be used to email notice of no operation. Give your call along with times and bands, along with a phone number, so that the communication is complete without reference to other communications.
Log sheet downloads