Please use "Comments" to post info

Once we are at the ghost town of Greenwater we will be without any means of communication except ham radio.  If you are a ham who has worked us and can pass information via comments to this post, that would help us.  The Daves, W6DLF and W6VYC

Our travel plans and preliminary schedule

We will stop in Bakersfield on 2/29 and get into Death Valley late on 3/1.  We will try to operate the low bands (160, 80, and 40 meters) in the early morning (5 to 6 am ) and early evening around (5 to 8 pm.)  Dave F W6DLF) will operate PSK31, etc. primarily on the lower bands and Dave C will mostly work SSB on 20 and up.   Hopefully we can develop more of a schedule once the antennas are in place and people can help us post online.  (Please see next post.)

Now we are two...

Our friend Hiroki, AH6CY, will not be able to join us on our adventure tomorrow.  We will miss Hiro's wonderful company and special low-power operating skills. 

QSL cards and QSOs

Now a word about QSL cards.  These are cards that are exchanged between hams (and sometimes between hams and shortwave listeners).  Here's the QSL card we are using for our expedition.  If you hear us on the air, let us know and we will send you one.

The box at the bottom of the card is filled in to confirm an exchange over the air called a QSO.  Abbreviations like QSL and QSO date back to when Morse code was the main way hams communicated.  Morse code communications often resembles today's texting.  For example, HI HI = LOL

Planning for the expedition

Dave, Hiroki and I planning our trip over lunch.  We met at a restaurant near where we operate our radios by the SF Bay.

- Posted from my iPad

Location:Palo Alto golf course restaurant

(L to R) Alex Wood, VE7EIS; Dave Crocker, W6VYC; Dave Flack, W6DLF; and Hiroki Kato, AH6CY.

Join us on our trip to Death Valley

The name of my blog is W6DLF, the call sign of my amateur radio station.  On February 29, two of my ham (amateur radio) friends and I are off to Death Valley for our annual radio adventure. I created this blog to share our experiences with family and friends--including other hams.

Once we are on the road you can track us on Google maps using something called APRS. At some point we will be in places where we can't be tracked. But we will never be out of range of communication. The fun of ham radio is that it lets us communicate around the earth without the need for cell phones or the internet.

Stay tuned (an old radio term) and I'll introduce you to my friends, Dave (W6VYC) and Hiroki (AH6CY).  I'll also show you some pictures from our trip last year.  Feel free to ask questions.  We want you on this trip too!