WW7LW Eastern WA Expedition Station - 2022 Salmon Run

 Friday, Sept 16, Chuck AC7QN drove from Gig Harbor and Ricky KR7W drove from Ammon, ID and met at the Lyons Ferry KOA campground- the usual Home Base- located on the scenic Snake River just west of Starbuck, WA, just downstream from Little Goose Dam.   I consider this outing a ‘reunion’ because last year I wasn’t available to participate as I was moving to Idaho.

At the picnic table, around the Coleman stove whilst warming up our dinners- Goals were set:   
Have Fun, provide less traveled county QSOs for Salmon Run participants, not have conflicts with land owners over trespassing, and do our damndest to work all 39 WA counties – AKA The Holy Grail of WA Ham Radio Ops:  The Clean Sweep.

We made our first Expedition QTH, the furthest from the Home Base- The GARfield – ASOtin county line about 55 miles east on Highway 12 at a wide and deep pullout, next to the guardrail.  At previous visits to this county line, I noticed that Inslee’s WADOT had placed the big green ‘Welcome to Asotin County’ sign in the wrong place.  This year the errant sign is missing.  Per Google Earth and the Roadside Attraction sign- our Expedition Mobile was sitting in both counties per the Salmon Run Rules.  

Chuck AC7QN at the controls.  Note sign in the background.

70 Seventyfive Meter QSOs were made, 6 CW, at the GAR-ASO county line in 100 minutes.

Next stop- Little Goose Dam Recreation Area- COLumbia County
 Little Goose Landing - Lake Byron - Google Maps
This area, which includes the hydro electric dam, is owned by the US Army Corps of Engineers.  With 75 meters fading out and 40 meters not quite active yet- we stopped at Little Goose, in Columbia County, mostly because we hadn’t been there before.  Turns out it’s a small camping, picnic, fishing, and boating area.  We set up in a parking lot and attached our antenna guy strings to an Abe Lincoln style split rail fence to discover a higher than usual S-3 to S-4 noise level on 75 meters with no noticeable signals- so we switched to S-Zero quiet 40M and made 36 QSOs, 2 were CW in about two hours time.

Last Stop of the Day- The COLumbia- WALla Walla County line. 
This is my favorite operating place with its - Oh beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain- kind of scenery.  We set up in a small chunk of land at the intersection two county roads on the COL-WAL county line- on the public side of the POSTED NO TRESPASSING signs.  On the Air at 1700- 75M where SSB was very active.  Here we made 98 QSOs, 14 CW in 2 ½ hours.   

Above and below- Chuck AC7QN manages the pileup.

Balun Box and Coax connection at center of the Inv Vee.

At about 1800, just before dark, a very impressive lightning storm began to our south.  The strike VS BOOM time indicated the storm was about 10 miles away.  At 1930 it was raining enough to indicate it wasn’t going to let up anytime soon.  Using bright headlamps we took the antenna down, packed up and headed back to home base.  The lightning storm continued well past 11 PM.  Just like in 2020, it rained throughout the night and my tent took on water.

Sunday’s First and Last Stop is FRAnklin County - After a late start, we set up the Expedition Mobile station across the Snake River at Lyons Ferry State Park - On the Air by 1100.  We were in an isolated area away from the main picnic area, but even so- there were many signs that warned us that we needed to have a Discover Pass in order to be there.  Chuck asked, what are we gonna do about that?   I say that we hope Mr Ranger doesn’t stop by and give us a $100 ticket.  A couple of hours later, our luck ran out when Ms Ranger drove up.  “Where’s your pass?”  “I’m glad you stopped by”, I say.  “I am hoping to buy a day pass from you so we can contribute to WA State Parks”.   After a bit of psychic mind reading, it was revealed to me that she thought I was a smartass.  Then, after paying her the $10, Ms Ranger mentioned to us that another ham radio vehicle was here all day Saturday.  Consulting our log- it was determined that Expedition Station N7QT- was the only FRAnklin county ham we made contact with.  Later on, we had a QSO with N7QT who was set up in WAL County.  

By this time… we were one county from achieving the coveted Clean Sweep.  Where’s PEND Oreille?  I had heard a SSB station from PEND in QSO with another ham.  I called and called without success.  Another ham on frequency mentioned that the PEND ham was in the process of moving and would try and get back to his radio.

Randy, K7TQ, an avid CW mobile Salmon Run operator- published a schedule of which Eastern WA counties he would be mobile-ing through and at what times.  We had made contact with him 8 other times.  His schedule stated that he would be on 80M CW for 5 minutes at the top of the hour, otherwise he’d be on 20 or 40 Meters.   His schedule also stated that he would be operating in PEND at 1630- Not at the top of the hour. 

At 1630 I found K7TQ on 40M and called and called.  I could not tell if he returned our call because of the loud big gun stations rudely pouncing over and over again out of order- nearly to the point of LID-ness.  Some hams were sending the CW ‘WAIT’ prosign- but it seemed like the unaware hams didn’t hear or understand dit dah dit dit dit.  Chuck sat on the edge of his chair in anticipation- then K7TQ was done.  Gone.  SK.  I apologized to Chuck who was forgiving. 

But then, I blurted out to Chuck, “dit dah dit dit dit!!”.  On a whim, changed bands to 3535 KHz, Mr K7TQ’s 80 meter “Top of the Hour” frequency…. There he was calling CQ SR CQ SR.  No one is responding, so with a push of the laptop’s Pounce Function Key… then K7TQ responds, “WW7LW 599 PEND 73”- With 13 minutes left in the game we score the final touchdown.   We were Snake River Dam excited.  Finally, after 15 years participating in the Salmon Run as Expedition-Rovers in Eastern WA.  It’s Clean Sweep Time – Frosting on the cupcake.  We shudda went back to the 3930 KHz watering hole and asked for KING, PIE, SNO stations and then gloated… but nope, twas time to pack up.  To be consistent – 65 QSOs, 17 CW were made in FRA county. 

Epilogue

THANK YOU… to Randy K7TQ for his mobile-ing around Eastern WA to give away CW QSOs to Salmon Run hams in search of the less traveled counties. 
 
Also, Big Thanks to Brian, W7BJN of GRAnt County for being the “Net Control” or “Dispatcher” of the 3930 Meet Up – Watering Hole- frequency.  Without Brian’s big signal presence, patience, and organizational skills- many hams would be missing out on counties.

A few Fun On Air Encounters:  Many hams CQs we pounced on replied, “You are a DUPE”.  We’d reply, “Which county were we in?”  Then we’d say, “Now we are in Walla Walla and Columbia counties”.  The ham would reply something like, “We’ll that’s different.  Thanks for the needed counties”.    After operating in different counties- hams would ask us, “Where are you at now?” or “Where are you going next?”  One ham wanted an email address so he could “buy us a beer.” Lastly,  After logging a contact, I called “QRZ this is WW7LW The Wireless Giant of Eastern WA”.  I heard one ham reply, “Boy, What a bunch of BS”.  Good natured fun on the airwaves.

Hams who are unfamiliar with WW7LW’s Expedition-Rover Salmon Run attempts might be curious about the Radio equipment and antenna used.  Details follow.

In the DIY Go Box resides a 10 year old Elecraft KX3 and its companion KX3PA 100 Watt Linear Amplifier with built in Antenna Tuner.  Above that is a MFJ 25 AMP “Mighty Lite” power supply modified for 14.8 Volts out.   Also is the Multi-Function Acme Box- that performs these duties:  Multiple headset and speaker audio distribution; PTT interface between PC and Radio; Audio File interface between PC and Radio as well as Mic to Radio.   The Loudspeaker is a super clear sounding GE MASTR II mobile speaker. 

The Antenna is a 20-40-80 Meter Fan Inverted Vee Dipole with the elements closely spaced using Wide Glide Electrical Tape.  A Mix 77 Choke Balun at the Feed Point.  Fed with 50 ft of RG58 Coax.    The Center Mast is an 11 ft section of Chain Link Fence Rail pipe that a 23 ft Fiberglass Windsock pole slides down onto. Total height with no bending is 33 ft.   The mast is held vertical with a home built ‘drive over’ mast receiver made from ¼” steel plate and ¼” 2” diameter steel pipe.

I had a mental list of “What will we do differently or better at our next Salmon Run Outing”.  I know that there were 2 or 3 items, but I cant seem to remember any of that… after writing about and reliving making the last touchdown to win the game with 13 minutes left on the clock. 

As usual, thanks for reading this far.  Best Regards,  Ricky KR7W.