Death Valley Radio "Expedition" January 21st, 2011

[teotwaki]

Please join me in another short adventure with the new trailer!

http://suntothenorth.blogspot.com/2011/01/death-valley-radio-expedition-january.html

This time I wanted to check out my HF comms gear as well as make the long drive without stopping at a gas station.

I met nice folks, provided some camp-side assistance and even had a few small mishaps of my own along the way.

I've got lots of other fun adventure stories at my blog for your reading pleasure!

 

[westyss]

great trip report! thanks, that FG rig at the springs is fellow expo member LEHEL.

 

[teotwaki]

great trip report! thanks, that FG rig at the springs is fellow expo member LEHEL.

Thanks for the info! I felt bad that I forgot his name. I found that his portal screen name is Lehel1 and sent him a PM.

 

[adventureduo]

Awesome setup Jim. I remember when we were headed into the Warm springs on new years the whole world seemed to be on ham in that valley. At one point we made a wrong turn and someone called out on the radio which way to go. They had spotted us with binoculars.. it was unreal.

Anyhow, what was the furthest you got out? (maybe i missed it in the blog report)

Looks like a great trip was had!

 

[teotwaki]

Awesome setup Jim. I remember when we were headed into the Warm springs on new years the whole world seemed to be on ham in that valley. At one point we made a wrong turn and someone called out on the radio which way to go. They had spotted us with binoculars.. it was unreal.

Anyhow, what was the furthest you got out? (maybe i missed it in the blog report)

Looks like a great trip was had!

Thanks!

I stayed in camp with the truck hitched up all the time except for when I drove over to give the jumpstart to Wynne and Scot.

 

[kjp1969]

Looks like a fun quick trip. Did you discover the problem with the tailgate?

 

[adventureduo]

Thanks!

I stayed in camp with the truck hitched up all the time except for when I drove over to give the jumpstart to Wynne and Scot.

Whoops, I meant on the radio Jim.. how far did you get out with the monster antennas?:sombrero:

 

[teotwaki]

Looks like a fun quick trip. Did you discover the problem with the tailgate?

Only thing I can tell is that I drove too fast over the washboard and shook thinks loose. On the return trip I ran a cargo strap from the bumper up to the RTT frame so the tailgate would just stay snug.

 

[James86004]

Nice trip!

So, did the young couple with a CRV follow the desert rat advice the second go around?

 

[teotwaki]

Whoops, I meant on the radio Jim.. how far did you get out with the monster antennas?:sombrero:

The scanner was getting a military repeater over on Mount Potosi in Nevada. On the HF setup I had sweet comms with Northern California, Washington, Idaho, and Mississippi. More local (250 miles) comms back to San Pedro, Ca were in smaller windows. The 7 MHz range has a lot of Chinese broadcasters tearing up the ham bands here and they were booming in all too well when I was in SV.

 

[teotwaki]

Nice trip!

So, did the young couple with a CRV follow the desert rat advice the second go around?

I hope so. They were supposed to drive straight to Lone Pine or Olancha and get their own gas.

 

[James86004]

Oh, another question:

I thought I'd see if I could go all the way out on a tank of gas and use my own fuel cans to refuel and drive back.

You don't explicitly mention it, but I assume you were successful on this score?

 

[teotwaki]

Oh, another question:



You don't explicitly mention it, but I assume you were successful on this score?

Yes, even after giving away 2.5 gallons to the 20-somethings I was back at home and not in danger of running out.

From my notes on gas consumption:

At 291.9 miles I added three 5.5 Gallon cans of gas out at the hot springs

At 405.0 miles I added one and a half 5.5 Gallon cans of gas on the way home near Ridgecrest

Total ending mileage was 595 miles and I added 17.2 gallons to fill up again.

So if I am doing it right, my truck's gas tank usage plus the gas I put in came to 41.9 gallons for 14.2 MPG and I would still have 8.6 gallons between the truck's gas tank and the last 2.7 gallon Scepter can. If so then I could drive another 122 miles and then run dry. My total range would be 717 miles. If the trailer was lower in height and if I didn't run the roof rack I could probably improve the MPG.

 

[kjp1969]

If the trailer was lower in height and if I didn't run the roof rack I could probably improve the MPG.

Um, you could also bring less stuff. . .

(This from the guy who never sees the high side of 14mpg in his unladen mid-90's v-8 gas hog! :victory

 

[teotwaki]

Um, you could also bring less stuff. . .

(This from the guy who never sees the high side of 14mpg in his unladen mid-90's v-8 gas hog! :victory

Sir, are you daring to question my "need" for a trailer? :jump:

Seriously, it was a lot of work but the trailer is really meant for either longer trips or trips involving one or more passengers. I'd rather find problems on these short trips by myself than with family when we are far off the pavement in another state.