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Two adjacent Spring Ham Radio trips, described by our e-mail, before, during, and after.
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Two adjacent Spring Ham Radio trips, described by our e-mail, before, during, and after.
| From: Les Cobb
Sent: Sunday, April 07, 2002 12:33 PM Subject: RE: [Mobileer] April Annual Desert Trip There have been some recent changes to the list of Desert Trip participants.
RVs (7) -
Total = 15 people, 14 Hams, all MVRC members. RVs = 3 travel trailers,
2 tent trailers, 1 fifth wheel, and 1 motorhome.
It is not too late if you decide to go. Everyone on this mailing list is
invited, MVRC member or not, RV or not, 4WD or not.
Jim and Marsha are already in Las Vegas and I have been corresponding with
Jim. He reported hearing pieces of the Pahrump 147.03 from I-15, which
bodes well for it being useful to us. John and Susan are at Goffs attending
the Friends of the Mojave Road Spring Encampment. Adrianne and Vicki will
drive up from So. Cal. Friday evening. Everyone else will be caravanning on
Wednesday.
Les, W6TEE
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| From: Jim Collier
Sent: Monday, April 08, 2002 9:04 AM Subject: Re: [Mobileer] April Annual Desert Trip Some additional info for those planning on being in Pahrump: We are currently in Las Vegas (Monday) and will be heading for Pahrump on Wednesday. We came down I-5 and took Hwy 223 through Arvin. As earlier reported, gas was priced better in Arvin than along I-5 ($1.53 9/10 at the Chevron station on the east end of town across from the PacBell office where we installed a microwave radio system to Walker Basin in the early 80's. Remember that Les?). It was a nice ride, by-passing Bakersfield, but I'm not sure I'd use that route regularly. Having been on Lerdo Hwy (which goes through Shafter) many times over the past few years, I'd probably opt for that route as a bit shorter and quicker plus, there's a fair grade between Arvin and Hwy 58 which probably isn't as severe if you take Hwy 58 all the way. Currently gas in Las Vegas is priced at $1.43 9/10 at most stations. The wind is supposed to pick up here on Wednesday with a passing low pressure system but they are not predicting rain here, perhaps a few showers, then winds should die off and the temps in the high 70's and low 80's later in the week. I'm assuming the same will hold for Pahrump. See you soon, Jim and Marsha (WB6ZII and KD6TTS)
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| From: Harry Styron
Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2002 10:42 PM Subject: Re: [Mobileer] April Annual Desert Trip Hi All, Everything came together okay (we were waiting for the trailer to get serviced, and some parts didn't come, but all is well, now). We are planning on leaving Walnut Creek at 8:00 AM, out I-580 to I-5 and south. I am not sure of the coverage on k6mvr/r on 5, but will check it. If that works for coordination then all is well. Otherwise we will plan on meeting up at the first rest stop on I-5 after 580. I am assuming I will get there before you do.
If all else fails, my cell phone is
For identification, I have John's old '84 diesel Ford F-250 in front of a 31'
1980 Airstream. No call letter plates or such. The trailer license is
See you tomorrow.
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| From: Les Cobb
Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 10:25 PM Subject: [Mobileer] Pahrump Everyone arrived. Film at 11. Les, W6TEE
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| From: Les Cobb
Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2002 8:20 PM Subject: RE: [Mobileer] Pahrump We took our first day trip today with all, which includes KE6AFB & KE6AFA, W6TEE, W6MAR, WA6ESA, K6HS & KG6EJL, W6QAC & Susan, WB6ZII & KD6TTS, KD6JDF & KE6FHN, so far. We visited Emigrant Pass, where the Old Spanish Trail crossed in the early 1800s, a trilobite fossil site, picnic in Tecopa, China Ranch date farm, the Grand Canyon of the Tecopa, and the Columbia mine. Tomorrow we plan on visiting Devil's Hole pupfish site, and other places north and south of Shoshone. BBQs going tonight.
Les, W6TEE
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| From: Les Cobb
Sent: Friday, April 12, 2002 7:36 PM Subject: RE: [Mobileer] Pahrump Adrianne WA6CNE and Vicki WB6PHQ just rolled in so everyone is here. Today we went to Devils Hole, that is supposed to have pupfish, and Crystal Springs, where we actually saw pupfish. We also visited Chief Tecopa's Home and Dublin City, both cut into sandstone near Shoshone. Finally, we 4-wheeled(?) to Ibex Springs ghost town. Tomorrow is still undecided. Les, W6TEE
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| From: Les Cobb
Sent: Saturday, April 13, 2002 4:34 PM Subject: RE: [Mobileer] Pahrump Today Lew took Adrianne & Vicki back to see Emigrant Pass, China Ranch, Grand Canyon of the Tecopa, Dublin City, and Chief Tecopa's house. I went to Las Vegas for trailer tires. Then the four of us went to the winery, said to be the only one in NV. Everyone else went to Death Valley N.P. and are not back at this writing. A pasta pot luck is planned for this, the last night of the trip.
Les, W6TEE
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| From: Fred Jensen
Sent: Saturday, April 13, 2002 8:46 PM Subject: Re: [Mobileer] Pahrump Don't know if I can reply to this address, however I do enjoy getting your messages from hither and yon. Very busy now with family affairs so not much time for travel, but it's fun to read the mail. Fred
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| From: Les Cobb
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2002 2:23 PM Subject: RE: [Mobileer] Pahrump This is the final message on the annual Desert Trip. All left Sunday morning except Marc, who had his vehicle in the shop, waiting for brake parts on Monday. Lew & Adrianne went to the Palm Springs area, John & Susan were stopping in Santa Barbara on their way home, Vicki had business in Bishop, Jim & Marsha had to stop in Reno, Jerry & Rosella left with Jim & Marsha, I was headed for another campout, and Ed & Sunny were headed home. Harry & Pam were (?) I didn't tell about radio while caravaning to Pahrump, but we all used 147.555 FM simplex. Marc and I also used the statewide 1.2 GHz. repeaters. We coped with some of our separation with the WIN System 440 repeater on Mt. Frazier. Users included Marc, Harry, Ed, Lew, & me. On the way home, we used the same system, including other linked repeaters, and talked with Mike, WA6RWR, and John, N6SEX, in Sacramento via IRLP. Les, W6TEE
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| From: Les Cobb
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2002 2:22 PM To: Mobileer@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Mobileer] Lake McClure Read the last Pahrump message first. Sunday afternoon, I contacted a group of others that were also going to Lake McClure. They were "camped" at the Visalia Elks lodge and invited me in. There were maybe 10 couples of Sam's Radio Hams. This morning, we all continued to Lake McClure for the monthly SRH campout. Tomorrow is the official arrival day but there are already more than half here. Jim & Marsha will be here Tuesday from our group. More later. Les, W6TEE
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| From: Harry Styron
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2002 4:58 PM Subject: Re: [Mobileer] Pahrump Hi Les, Well, we went home. I still work for a living. Took 12 hours, what with the traffic. Early on, when we first saw the signs on the Baker-Shoshone Highway, advertising a special event, you said that the Baker to Vegas event had taken place the week earlier. See http://www.baker-to-vegas.org Good trip. We had a lot of fun and got to break ourselves in on the "new" antique truck and trailer. Pretty much a positive experience. 73, Harry, K6HS
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| From: Les Cobb
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 8:00 AM Subject: Re: [Mobileer] Pahrump Harry: Yes, I corrected myself a couple of times after I saw those signs going in, but possibly you weren't in range. All I remembered was that I checked the date some time ago and there was no conflict. When Jim reported hearing public service traffic the weekend before, I assumed that was it. I got a direct message from Jim concerning their arrival here at Lake McClure. They had strong winds Sunday going in to Reno. They had their get together with the relatives and stayed over at Boomtown. But the next AM brought snow and accidents on I-80, so they went home in just the SUV. They are coming from Boomtown to here today with the MH. Oh well. Anyone hear from Marc? Les, W6TEE
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| From: Harry Styron
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 8:46 AM To: mobileer@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Mobileer] Pahrump Hi Les, We had horrendous winds from the I-5/I-580 interchange all the way into Livermore. The grass along the highway looked like the surface of the Bay in mid-storm. I see from the newspaper this morning that it got worse, Monday and 3 semis overturned in the pass. I also heard from the AF MARS guys in Las Vegas last night that they had a pretty bad dust storm. I guess we were blessed with the WX we had. Up until we got into the wind I had thought I would not need to get a sway control for the trailer because of the long wheelbase of the truck, but I now realize I was wrong. Have a good time. CUL Harry, K6HS
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| From: Les Cobb
Sent: Wednesday, April 17, 2002 2:42 PM To: Mobileer@mailman.qth.net Subject: RE: [Mobileer] Lake McClure As I said, yesterday was official arrival day. Jim & Marsha got in around 3 PM. There are 30 rigs here now and like the MVRC, most spouses are licensed too. We just got back from a 3 hr houseboat ride on the lake. They split us into two groups of 30 or so and the second group is going out now. Our camp faces Mt Bullion and we are able to work various repeaters there including 1.2. I have chatted with Bob, W6CYX, John, N6SEX, and others on 1.2. Les, W6TEE
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| From: Marc Reitzell
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2002 8:15 AM Subject: [Mobileer] Pahrump Trip I Well, I finally returned to Sacramento from Pahrump after the rest of the crowd left me there to fend for myself with my broken vehicle. I arrived in my driveway at approximately 9:15 pm last night after an interesting drive over Echo Summit (more about that later). For those of you who don't know, on our last full day of stay in southern Nevada and southeastern California, I ventured to Death Valley to see some of the sites there (Dante's View, Artist's Point, etc.) on my own. On the return trip, I decided to go down a gravel road through Greenwater Valley, which is something of a shortcut to the little village of Shoshone at the junction of highways 127 and 178. At the time my Jeep Grand Cherokee was making a sound (like a "chink") as if something was loose on the left front wheel, but I didn't think much about it since that sound was present for the last several months and nothing ever came of it. About 25 miles into a 35-mile journey, I heard a small "thud" from the left front wheel. When I applied the brakes to stop the car to check out the problem, I heard a severe metal-to-metal rubbing sound. When I looked at the wheel I noticed that the cylinder which holds the piston and the caliper on my disk brake was loose and one of the bolts was missing. I thought to myself that this wasn't good, but I didn't have many options at this point so I got back in the car and proceeded down the gravel road *slowly* to highway 178. When I got to the highway, I thought to myself, "Thank God, I'm saved." I still had a problem, though, in that I was still in the middle of nowhere with no other cars in sight and weak cellular phone service. A Jeep Wrangler drove by on his way to Badwater, then no one... So, I limped into Shoshone, which was only about another 7 or so miles away, and called a tow truck with my brand new AAA card. Three hours and $175 tow fee later, I was back in Pahrump with a look of relief. I think I will renew my AAA membership.
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| From: Marc Reitzell
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2002 8:53 AM Subject: [Mobileer] Pahrump Trip II I would have returned home Tuesday, but Monday was a terrible day in southern Nevada. With sustained winds of 50 mph, and gusts to 70 and higher, dust was flying everywhere. The shop which had my car had to close for the day which forced a delay in repairs. Finally, on Wednesday at 11:00 am, I was able to leave for Sacramento. I decided to venture up US 95 towards Tonopah which would put me over the Sierras later that afternoon. I first checked the Caltrans road report at 1-800-427-7623 (ROAD) and found there were no problems over highways 89 and 88, my designated route. So, off I went. The highway from Pahrump to Tonopah is desolate, but beautiful. I decided to turn off US 95 to Nev. 266. For those of you familiar with the area, this is the route to the ghost town of Gold Point (via route 773). Highway 266 takes you through the Fishlake Valley where a lot of alfalfa is grown, into California for a short distance, then into Nevada to US 6. This route is nearly free of any traffic. I may have seen three cars on the entire route to US 6. I followed US 6 to Benton, California, and CA 120. I followed CA 120 over Sagehen Summit where it started to snow (the summit is at 8100'). I pressed on to Lee Vining and US 395, got some Chevron gas at $2.29/gallon, then moved on hoping to catch CA 89 and the Monitor Pass. I arrived at CA 89 and saw that it was closed due to snow. I proceeded to Gardnerville, took a break, then called Caltrans again to check on the condition of highway 88. Caltrans reported that chains were required (not chains or snow tires), so I detoured further to US 50 where there were no requirements, but I'm sure that would change later that night as it snowed from Spooner Summit in Nevada to Pollock Pines. In Placerville there was a lot of rain, but when I arrived home, there was not a drop of water to be found, other than a small area of my driveway where the sprinkler hits. For those of you interested, the brake system repair job was $320 (new brake cylinder, hydraulic line, brake job, plus labor). I also forgot to mention that I had a flat tire on Friday morning, so I bought new tires, too, which actually turned out to be a good purchase. These new tires made a big difference in how the Jeep handled in all types of situations.
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| From: Les Cobb
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2002 2:37 PM Subject: RE: [Mobileer] Lake McClure I'm glad to see Marc finally made it home. I did talk to him on 1.2 last night when he was coming through South Tahoe. Lew & Adrianne made it home yesterday also. We had the SRH meeting this morning, which is a regular feature of the monthly campouts. We just got back from a back road trip over the dam, spillway, etc. where the public can't go. There are some old tunnels at water level from the Merced Riv. RR. Any of you know the history? There are two dams, new and old Exchequer. The old one is immediately behind the new one, and is presently well under water. I think the respective dates are 1920 something and 1964. The Lake McClure name dates from the 1964 dam. I worked Bob on 1.2 with the HT from a high point on the tour through both Bullion & Hamilton. Tonight is a big tri-tip dinner and tomorrow is going home time. Les, W6TEE
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| From: Les Cobb
Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2002 11:49 AM Subject: RE: [Mobileer] Lake McClure I made it home yesterday, as did the last of the others still wandering around after the Pahrump trip. Thanks to W6CYX, N6SEX, and WA6ESA for talking me home on 1.2 and 440. This will all be posted on the web soon with photos. Les, W6TEE
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| From: John Altstatt
Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2002 11:25 AM Subject: [Mobileer] Mobileer: return trip Looks like we were the only ones that didn't have any particular problems returning home. We encountered some not unusual headwinds until we got to Mojave, but since we were headed for Santa Barbara area, encountered nothing of consequence beyond that. Stayed overnite at El Capitan State Beach, and picked up Grandmother, who was with our eldest daughter. Monday AM was met with Gale warnings for the offshore waters, and fairly strong winds which disapeared once we got through Gaviota Pass and were inland. The trip up 101 was uneventful. If the group would like a beach trip sometime, we might consider the State Beaches like El Capitan or El Refugio (these are between Gaviota and Santa Barbara, and have group camps). Susan and I have stayed at both of these more than once. Usual cost is $12, -$2 for seniors. -John W6QAC
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Digital photos and extra text by Les Cobb, W6TEE.
All e-mail addresses above are omitted.
Update: Apr. 30, 2002. First loaded: Apr. 22, 2002.
Les Cobb, 
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