QuartzFest 2020

Above photo is a Facebook screen capture.

In the pursuit of my goal to check out various groups that were in the Quartzsite, AZ area during the RTR, QuartzFest is one of the larger groups dedicated to ham radio operators.

Above photo is a Facebook screen capture.

I also visited for the first time last year.  Last year I registered but this year I didn’t register as I planned to spend only one night.  Registration gives one a chance to win a couple nice prizes on the last day - Saturday.

I wasn’t going to be around for the last day so I just visited to see what was going on.  This is a good introductory Ham event with skill seminars, license testing and competitions. 

There are just too many groups here for January that there isn’t time to visit any very long.





I went with a couple RTR friends, one a Ham and the other interested.  They captured me with the Ham Man.

As one could expect there are a lot of antennas in the area.  I listened to the daily announcements on my radio when I was with other groups, before getting here.  Each morning on 146.55 they would announce the daily happenings.



Above is a van dressed with over 4000 watts of solar.  He is still working on finishing it.  Today he gave a talk on solar.



In this trailer they ran a 24 hour contest to see how many stations they could make contact with on the lower Ham voice frequencies.



Above was sitting on the roof of a Honda Element that a solo woman was living in from the Pacific Northwest.  She was solar cooking her food.  Although not a great solar day when we were there she was able to help with her cooking I’m using this.



In case you were interested in the make of the solar cooker, here it is.



Darkness was falling over QuartzFest above and I was going in for the evening.  There is a campfire, talks and a movie but the desert cools and I enjoy the warmth of my camper.

I enjoy ham radio in the VHF and U HF bands communicating line of site and sometimes repeaters.  It is relatively easy to get your Ham license to do these bands.  To understand ham radio it is best to join a local club.  Ham Radio is not just one thing.  With various methods to use radios there may be something you like.  I like APRS.  It’s a method to share ones location and send messages.  I will have more on this in the future.

Off to another event.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com