Quartzsite QuartzFest

Thps annual RV/Ham gathering at Quartzsite, Arizona is a lot of fun. A week of camping together with a large group (~150) of fellow hams. Daily programs and lots of free time to go to the expansive RV show / Flea Market in the nearby town. The weather in late January at Quartzsite is a lot better than most places in the country, so it is a nice midwinter vacation. Quartzsite is located east of Los Angeles, on Interstate 10 west of Phoenix, not far inside Arizona. The Hams gather about six miles south of town near highway 95 milemarker 99, see the website listed below for details. They have a talk in frequency on 2 meters, and due to the terrain you can hear it a long, long way away.

The first time we went was in 2006. Later we found we had camped about three rigs away from a long-lost ham friend we had not heard from nor seen for many years. It was a great reunion! Hope to see you again Harry W6LAO and Bev!

Time Zone - They have a funny time zone setup there, they use MST all year long, so that means they are one hour later than PDT, or the same as PDST. (GMT-7).

I do a Pneumatic Antenna Launching presentation as part of the program. Due to some special rules about the BLM land we can't sell product, but we can do a presentation and demonstration.

This year (2007) I was asked by Gordon West to do a Balun presentation. It went well and Don N9ZGE provided a number of baluns to take apart and show folks how they are built and discuss performance.

Coordination and Talk-in

• Simplex on 146.55
• Daily announcements at 8:00 am on above simplex
• Simplex goes a long way in the desert. We could hear stations at Quartzfest from inside California, if I remember correctly, or at least much farther than I am accustomed to. Lots of pillars of reflective rock make for natural repeaters.

Schedule

• Overall schedule is the week of the Quartzsite RV show
• Daily social at 4:00 pm
• Daily campfire at 6:30 pm (bring some firewood to contribute)
• Various presenations at 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 1:00 and 2:00...
• See full schedule at official site, link below

Highlights

• Antenna Walkabout
• Antenna Shootouts
• Portable Antennas
• Automatic Antenna Tuners
• VE Testing
• The Ham Yard Sale
• Pneumatic Launcher presenation and demo
• Various presentations by Gordon West
• Ladies Activities
• 4x4 trip
• Hobo Stew (maybe)
• Winklink / Airmail
• APRS
• Antennas, tuners
• Emcomm
• Pet Locator
• Noise Tracking
• Star Gazing
• The LED Guy
• Electric RC Airplanes
• The RV Show
• The Main Flea Market in town

Sun

• Sunrise 7:32
• Sunset 5:45 (one week before)
• Sun 36 degrees above horizon (at 12:38)

Directions

• take Highway 10 to Quartzsite (east from LA, west from Phoenix)
• turn South on Highway 95
• continue past Milemarker 99 to La Paz Valley Road / 53rd Street and turn right
• go 100 yards to Roadrunner 14 day area on Right, turn right there
• continue NNW on dirt road in 0.5 miles to center of the Ham area, campfire on the right

GPS



References

• Official Website∞ Location, schedule, etc
• Current Weather∞
• Glenn WB6W's 2006 photos etc∞
• photos 2005∞
• Less Cobb's Quartzfest page 1999∞
• Pneumatic Antenna Launchers∞
• Phoenix time∞

Related

• RVLA antenna

AlanB, WB6ZQZ

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CategoryHamRadio CategoryRV