How to Cross Band Repeat - Ham Radio using the Yeasu 8800

 Cross Band Repeater many uses   - Easy 

Here are quick start instructions to set up the Yeasue FT-8800FT or FT8900 use as Cross Band Repeater.

FT 8800R UHF/VHF radio. 

I am using a Yeasue FT-8800R in my operation. Please note there are many Dual Band UHF/VHF radios that are designed to operate in Cross Band Repeater mode.

You may need a little help with your Yeasue - Manuals below if needed for set up for your  specific frequencies. 
Full manual for FT-8800R "CLICK"
                                                        Full manual for FT-8900R "CLICK"

1. Set up your radio to the frequencies needed for your specific installation . In my installation I am using a simplex frequency of 443.00Mhz for the talkie side at the farm.  Set the squelch so the background noise is silenced.

The linking frequency is set our Local Club Repeater Frequency to receive on 147.210Mhz and transmit on 147.810Mhz - that is a positive offset of  0.600Mhz and a tone of 114.8hz. The linking frequencies to the Local Club Repeater are determined by the local Club Repeater requirements - we have no control over these frequencies.

Needed information for Farm simplex radio's.
The simplex frequency I am using on my farm talkies is my choice.  You should check the suggested band use frequencies that are in the band plan for repeater use.  I am using UHF simplex and the band plan for UHF repeaters is 442Mhz to 445Mhz.  I choose to use 443Mhz.

You should keep these things in mind when setting your simplex frequency. 
1. Check to be sure you simplex frequency is not the same as any local repeater input or output frequency.  If you overlap a local repeater frequency you may cause interference to the users of that repeater -  and have some unhappy hams. This would be specially bad if you were interfering with the emergency use of the repeater.

2. Press the (SET) key to enter the set mode.
3. Rotate the "Main" band DIAL knob to select menu #45 on FT-8800R and on the FT-8900R #44 (X-RPT) . See photo to left.

4. Press the "Main" band DIAL knob momentarily, "XSTART" will appear on the display. See photo to left.







5. Press the "Main" band DIAL knob again to active the Cross Band operation.  See photo to left to operate. The microphone will not be active and the radio is now controlled by the channel transmitting. The operation is outside of local radio control however ----
                                                      6.To exit the Cross Band mode, Press the (SET) key.

This may seem a little complex however once you do this you will find it very easy and fast to make operational.




Discussion about Cross Band Repeater operation and my specific application. 


Cross Band Repeaters have many uses to enhance uhf/vhf communications by extending the range of HT's and Mobile radios. I will talk about several of the uses and first  how the individual amateur radio operator can take advantage of this awesome technique.

I will use one of my own applications  to demonstrate how useful and easy it is to implement.
Here is the problem I needed to overcome.

I needed to be able to access the local club repeater from any location on my farm with a handheld talkie. The talkie does fine from the hill tops into the local club  repeater but no connection from some of  valleys or low areas.

The Cross Band Repeater on the farm with full size dual band antenna can easily  work the club Repeater and a talkie on the farm only needs to transmit less then 1/2 mile in simplex mode to the Cross Band - easy for the talkie.  Here is the basic operation - the talkie on UHF communicates with the Cross Band in simplex mode - that is transmitting and receiving on the same UHF frequency.   The Cross Band repeats the talkie simplex frequency audio on the VHF Local Club Repeater frequencies - VHF link to the Club Repeater is about 7 miles.

The need for this application was to help with a bicycle event of several hundred riders starting from the farm and doing a 100 mile ride and ending up back at the farm. The farm is the hub and control location for the entire ride.  Using ham radio to make sure all the bikers make it back and do not end up in the ditch somewhere along the route.  The plan is to have ham radio stations at about 5 locations along the route and making sure all riders passed there check point.  The five ham radio stations at the check points need to communicate with each other and the farm control locations.  Using the Local Club Repeater and Cross Band Repeater at the farm made this possible.  The ham radio stations at the 5 check points are mobile units and running 50 watts or more making it possible for them to reach farm talkies via the Local Club Repeater transmitting to the Cross Band Repeater located on the farm.  If the mobile units have a problem reaching the Club Repeater they can use antennas with more gain.

I am using a Yeasu FT-8800R for my application - there are many UHF/VHF radios that can do Cross Band operation.

FT 8800R UHF/VHF radio. 

I will use a Yeasue FT-8800R in my operation. Please note there are many UHF/VHF radios that designed to operate  Cross Band.

1. Set up your radio to the frequencies needed for your specific installation . In my installation I am using a simplex frequency of 443.00Mhz for the talkie side at the farm.

The linking frequency is set the Club Repeater Frequency to receive on 147.210Mhz and transmit on 147.810Mhz - that is a positive offset of  0.600Mhz and a tone of 114.8hz. The linking frequencies to the Club Repeater are determined by the Club Repeater requirements - we have no control over these frequencies.

Needed information for Farm simplex radio's.
The simplex frequency I am using on my farm talkies is my choice.  You should check the suggested band use frequencies that are in the band plan for repeater use.  I am using UHF simplex and the band plan for UHF repeaters is 442Mhz to 445Mhz.  I choose to use 443Mhz.

You should keep these things in mind when setting your simplex frequency. 
1. Check to be sure you simplex frequency is not the same as any local repeater input or output frequency.  If you overlap a local repeater frequency you may cause interference to the users of that repeater -  and have some unhappy hams. This would be specially bad if you were interfering with the emergency use of the repeater.

Crossband radios have many ways to extend communication range.  one we also use is to set up our home station on 146--- Mhz simplex and 44043Mhz simplex then set to crossband and setting up the farm as crossband on the same frequency scheme .

1. At home we use a talky on 440430 communicating with the home crossband - we can operate into the home crossband for several miles and talk to the farm with our home talkie.

2. At the farm we have the crossband set up on the same VHF frequency of 146.00 and UHF frequency of 444000.   Our talkie here at farm is communicating to the farm crossband on the 444000 simplex.

Using this scheme the crossband repeater talks to each other on the VHF frequencie of 146.000. This scheme gives our talkies the range of the base station  at each location and keeping the ability to have the personal mobileity of several miles from the local crossband.






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Geocaching - Outdoor sport you can do alone.

Geocaching

A Sport you do outdoors.

You can be a team of one.

Chantilly Farm Floyd Virginia  - has a Geo-Cache ready for your hunt. 

This is a sport just made for a time  like this when we can not gather in large crowds and need to keep a social distance.  Our Cache is named "Tilly's Trace" after a wild Bob White Quail who became a friend of our venue and for several years would follow our staff outside like a good buddy.

There are about 500,000 locations in the US - one will be near you - some in exotic places.

There are 11  within 10 miles of Chantilly Farm. This is a sport that may be available  in your neighborhood.

What is Geocaching:
Wikipedia: Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific locations marked by coordinates all over the world.^[2]

A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and sometimes a pen or pencil. The geocacher signs the log with their established code name and dates it, in order to prove that they found the cache. After signing the log, the cache must be placed back exactly where the person found it.

How to get started:

1. Go to geocaching.com and sign up by loading the official geocaching app.There you will find all you need to get started and be a GeoCache-hunter.

2. You need a GPS to find your Cache.  Most of you will want to use your smart phone.The geocaching app has a GPS app built in and it should do just fine. I tried groundspeak and it seemed to be easy to use. 

3. To find our Geocahe just search cache location Chantilly Farm Floyd Virginia

A brand new Southwest VA geocaching adventure at Chantilly Farm you can embark on! Find the cache located on the farm and write your name in the log book! We hope you have fun and good luck searching! This cache is in the heart of Southwest VA, surrounded by the stunning nature that makes this region so beautiful. Walk down this beautiful bird-watching trail and enjoy the sights and sounds of the outdoors! This trail is the home of Tilly, a beautiful and rare grouse that can be seen and heard while enjoying this short nature walk. This is a fairly easy cache to find with lots of great views, so have fun and enjoy! Note: This cache IS on private property, but geocachers have permission to be present. Have fun and good luck

                                        Video of the Geocache at Chantilly Farm

                                                             "CLICK"

TIlly's Trace

Even better here is a video  I made of Tilly

our resident Grouse. CLICK 

David Larsen
 Blog Author

"by David Larsen"  Chantilly Farm owner, Computer Historian, and amateur radio operator -KK4WW   & N4USA .  I work out of one of the Tiny Homes at Chantilly Farm. A great place to work if you like the to be out in nature. I am 81 and ready to sell Chantilly Farm - I have a few more  projects I would like to do - if you have an interest to know more give me a call. 540 392 2392

Tiny house - Shipping Container Office and Commerce building

Shipping Container tiny Office Building

Roseau, Dominica the "Nature Island of the Caribbean"
1-27-2020

Click on photo to enlarge

Gaynell Larsen ham radio
operator J79WWW
with good coffee.

During our "Ham Radio Mission" to Dominica we visited a very interesting application of using Shipping Containers to make a small commercial building  in the capital Roseau. The design and construction was really excellent. It looked a little out of place along the old buildings on main street. It has a great little coffee shop in one corner. The coffee was good and the price very reasonable.

The  coffee shop is tucked into about 1/3 of a 20 foot container at ground level. The building is constructed from 3 containers.

The interior of the small coffee
shop in the right side of  lower
side of shipping container

Coffee shop menu

The interior of the shop is small but well equipped.  The shop also is a wine shop so you have lots of choices.

The menu is in Caribbean $.  About  40 cents in US currency. You can get in town delivery for about 80 cents US.

Small office and retail space building
made from 3 Shipping Containers
in Roseau, Dominica.

You can see here a clever idea - the top container extends over the coffee shop and provides the roof area. A small garden and seating area is built in front of the coffee shop.

The other sections of the are small rental office spaces and a small conference room. It looked like about 6  offices were available and all done very nicely with A/C.  You do not need heat on this beautiful Caribbean Island.

Small office and retail space building
made from 3 Shipping Containers
in Roseau, Dominica.

Looking back at the coffee shop where you can see the top container being used as roof for front of the shop.

The railing you see over the container is where a small outdoor seating area was made with a roof overhead to be used by the tenants and their guests.

Small office and retail space building
made from 3 Shipping Containers
in Roseau, Dominica.

The deck and seating area described with the photo above.  It is nice with room for a dozen or so people. This  also provides the access for the 3 offices on this level.

Small office and retail space building
made from 3 Shipping Containers
in Roseau, Dominica.

Looking off the back side of the deck we can see the other offices in level one and two.

Small office and retail space building
made from 3 Shipping Containers
in Roseau, Dominica.

I could not actually get in the offices but took this photo through the window of the door  and you can see it is very attractive.

One of the main streets in
downtown Roseau ,
Dominica - The Container
building is just to the RT of
this photo.

The whole country of Dominica is small 15x30 miles in size with a population of about 65,000.  The capital Roseau has 15,000 people.

Look carefully and you will see a typical Dominica tiny house just over the roof of the while auto. The streets are very narrow and with autos parked on both sides there is barely room for one car to drive down the street. Look closely and you will see the ocean at the end of the street.

The island is still recovering from hurricane Maria in 2017.

We have visited the island 32 times in the past 23 years.  Our purpose has been to help with Disaster preparedness communications.
See Blog "CLICK"


Video of Downtown Roseau "CLICK"

Cobblestone  walkway
in place for  hundreds
of years in Dominica.

The island is a mix of old and new buildings. The island historically over the past 300 or so years was dominated back and forth by the French and  British.  Most recently it was a a British Colony and the dominate language is English.

In this photo you can see some of the cobblestone sidewalk that has been in place for hundreds of years.

Port Roseau in Dominica.

Dominica is the nature island of the Caribbean and has many beautiful water falls, hiking trails, hot sulfur spring bath pools & great Caribbean food - my favorite food!

You can see in the photo a cruse ship in port at Roseau. The ships  make a 9 hour day stop, however, they are an important source of income for the island folks.

David Larsen
 Blog Author

"by David Larsen"  Chantilly Farm owner, Computer Historian, and amateur radio operator -KK4WW   & N4USA .  I work out of one of the Tiny Homes at Chantilly Farm. A great place to work if you like the to be out in nature. I am 81 and ready to sell Chantilly Farm - I have a few more  projects I would like to do - if you have an interest to know more give me a call. 540 392 2392

Amateur Radio SOTA - Frontier-women YO6EVA conquers Summits

Amateur Radio YL Acitivties 

YO6EVA - Eva Kelemen Gajdo 

YL SOTA operations

Summits On The Air

Heather Holland ZS6YE sent me a very interesting a copy of the "yl.beam #81 April 2020" a few days ago.It had a very fascinating  story about a  YL doing SOTA "Summits on the Air" activity.  It was interesting to me because I have had an  interest in SOTA and my wife is an active YL ham  - Gaynell Larsen KK4WWW. This is just a part of the full newletter - Thank you Heather ZS6YE

I think you will agree with me the Story of YO6EVA and her SOTA work is facinating.  DAVID KK4WW - ENJOY THE READ 
If you are not familiar with "Summits on the Air" SOTO you may find a new part of the ham hobby you will want join.







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SEE VIDEO OF THIS OPERATION 

Frontier-women conquers Summits

Women usually go to the hairdresser, go shopping, and usually do "feminine" things when they have time off. Éva Gajdó, a teacher of computer science at Tivadar Puskás Vocational High School, who teaches programming on CNC (computer-controlled) machines, does not like this. She climbs mountains. And up there on the summit, she transmits radio signals. It may seem a strange combination  at first, but it is recognised as a sport.  Established for less than a decade and a half, it is already gaining in popularity and Éva Gajdó has accomplished something very big in this sport in a short time. Her success is the envy of her fellow men, which as she is a Szekler, does not often happen. (The Székelys derive their name from a Hungarian expression meaning "frontier guards".)


 Éva Gajdó has been roaming the mountains since she was a child. She became a true lover of climbing when one of her teachers took her on an expedition. Then life sank into the ordinary course of events: she got married, the children came and there was little opportunity to conquer the peaks.
 Several years ago however, talking about childhood dreams with a group of friends, Eve recalled that when she was sixteen, she was determined to climb Mont Blanc. But it seemed it would  remain just a dream.  Then, a few days later, a friend told her that the Szeklers were hiring amateur climbers and heading to Mont Blanc.
"I didn't think, I called Tulit Sombor, and  applied," says Eve.
Two months of tough training was unsurpringingly not enough to qualify for the team. She also found her gear was unsuitable. She  hiked in velvet pants and her ancient boots caused problems; the two months were agonizing. But Sombor reassured her that she  had all the skills and with a little training, could climb Mont Blanc.  It became a passion and she has not missed a weekend in five years and  even celebrated New Year's Eve on top of a mountain.
She  applied for another expedition, but unfortunately before her departure she sprained an ankle. She was able to climb this year, but couldn't use the  radio.
In order to understand why Eve should have been broadcasting radio signals from the highest peak in the Alps and what activation means we need to introduce the sport called SOTA.
The acronym comes from 'Summits on the Air', this radio competition was launched in 2002 by radio amateurs who combined there passion with mountaineering.
The competition consists of climbing the designated peaks - at least 150 meters above its surroundings - by hiking, and from the 'summit' the hiker must establish at least four radio links with other radio amateurs around the world (meaning activation).
The peaks  score between 1 and 10 according to their height and can be activated once per year. The map provided by NASA to radio-operators in Romania has about two hundred SOTA peaks, of which 250-300 can be climbed under normal conditions, ie on a more or less well-marked path. A walkie-talkie can achieve the necessary score if it is successfully activated, that is, it has been climbed and  a minimum of four mandatory contacts made. After earning a thousand points, the title 'Mountain Goat'  and trophy will be awarded to the competitor. Achieving a thousand points usually takes several years to complete. Eva did a special job here too.
Eve met a man in Jezer (Bosnia and Herzegovina)  on a hike,  while trying to establish a radio connection at the summit. He was interested in the subject, because there is a radio club at Puskás Tivadar Vocational School, Budapest, and he was wondering how to create something new and interesting for the students.  At that time, he had no plans to start radioing himself, or that hiking would become a competitive climb. He asked a teacher at Transilvania University in Brasov, Csaba-Zoltán Kertész, if he  would come and  introduce SOTA to the children.
Since January last year, Csaba has gone to St. George every Tuesday, trying to infect students with the radio virus. Because amateur-radio amateur is well-suited to the younger generation, SOTA is becoming more and more popular, including foxhunting, but knowing the basics of radio is essential.
Eve had no childhood dream of becoming a radio amateur but her dedication to teaching led her there. Csaba Kertész enthusiastic for  the Tuesday afternoon classes included taking the students on several trips, where they could experience "live" what  walking radio was about.
 Eva thought that if Csaba couldn't come for some reason, it would be a good idea if someone could take care of the children. But to do that she needed a radio license.
- You have to take a very tough exam: electronics, knowledge of frequencies, first aid. You have to learn the phonetic alphabet that is used in radio,  to know what phrases can be heard and what are not, so there are ethical rules as well. She passed and received her radio callsign: YO6EVA.
(YO = Romania ID, 6 represents the area, and EVA unique, individual)
I'll do it in a year
- As I had passed my exam, I went with Csaba to a SOTA marathon. It was staged in the Bihari Mountains, Romania, and was worth exactly one thousand (1000) points for someone who had done it for six or seven years. I told Csaba, as I go to the mountains, I could earn a thousand points in a year.
In the beginning it was really hard because I didn't know anything about radio, I didn't have any equipment, I borrowed a walkie-talkie, which had only 300 meters range I went up the mountain and couldn't activate it.  I persuaded Csaba to come with me to collect points,  but the points accumulated very slowly. Finally, I bought a serious radio, and then the "party" started.
- Has a thousand points been reached in one year?
- Not easily, but it was.  I went to Nagykő (Transylvania, Romania) alone and for the first time spoke on the radio and I was so scared I switched it off. There was bad weather at Nagyhagymás, I went up four times, but never activated it; in minus ten (-10) degrees activating radio was not a lot of fun. Disappointed I told Csaba it wouldn't work for me, but with the support of friends, somehow I hung on and continued. The biggest challenge was to get to the summits that I would not have gone to otherwise, I had to cut through a sign or path like in the jungle. Finally a thousand points were reached, 131 different peaks in a year.
- 131 peaks in a year, one average every three days.
- Most were the four eight-point peaks in a single day, 40 kilometers of walking at 3500 meters.
What's next?
With her unique performance, Eve has earned the envy of many of  the male walkie-talkie operators,  She reached a thousand points in May - since then, the number of activations in Romania has increased, with another SOTA marathon being organized by December 1,  interest in the sport has revived..
Although Eve has achieved what she set herself to do, she does not intend to stop walking but not as intense as before. Also  because all of the closest peaks have been  activated and  new ones are usually a two-day hike away - She would like to climb the highest peaks in Europe, but she would need to take another license before she could broadcast abroad.
Eve talks enthusiastically about everything, but when it comes to the mountains, her eyes shine the most.  What does mountain climbing, mean to her?
- Its an  obsession with me, an addiction. The mountain has given me so much, I try to pass that on to the students. Everything revolves around the mountain, I don't go to the beautician or to the shops, and my daughter says you have seven pairs of hiking pants, but you just don't have anything to go to school. SOTA has exposed a whole new side of climbing and fox hunting.
Author: Péter Váry O.    Publication date: 2018-12-29
Háromszék (Romanian publication in Hungarian)  Saturday, December 29, 2018, Report
Szekler at the summit https://www.3szek.ro/load/cikk/119391/szekely-a-csucson 

                                               * * * * * * * *
The YO SOTA Marathon is a mountain hiking and amateur radio event that takes place every year in the beautiful Carpathian mountains of Romania, being supported by the “Romania’s Radioclub” Association (ARR). The purpose is to operate radio equipment from mountain tops in the Summits On The Air award scheme, and is open to anyone interested in amateur radio. It lasts about a week (during August) and presents the chance to gather a large number of points in the award scheme.
https://qrpblog.com/yo-sota-marathon/

 1st  YL Mountain Goat in Romania.
YO6EVA Eva Kelemen Gajdo reached a thousand points in May 2018 becoming the first YL Mountain Goat in Romania. An admirable achievement, showing great dedication and a nice example to follow. What is truly amazing, that she achieved this goal in just under a year after obtaining her HAM license, learning all about  what it takes to operate a radio while hiking  around the summits of Romania, whatever the conditions or difficulties.  Hail, the rain, bad propagation could not deter her in achieving her target.
https://reflector.sota.org.uk/t/eva-yo6eva-newest-mountain-goat-in-romania/17546      May '18

Aconcagua (LUM/PH-001)

Summits on the Air (SOTA) Background Information:
It is a fun and challenging activity for Radio Amateurs and shortwave listeners that encourages portable operation in mountainous areas. SOTA has been designed to make participation possible for everyone – you don’t have to be a mountaineer! There are awards for activators (those who hike to the summits) and chasers (those who operate from home, a local hilltop, or another summit). There are no fees and you can participate on your own schedule.  More info:  https://www.sota.org.uk 

Romanian yl  Éva YO6EVA active on Argentina Mountain

yl from Romania - YO6EVA Éva Gajdo and Csaba YO6PIB with colleagues from Sota Mendoza, Argentina, activated SOTA (LUM/PC-004) Jan. 2020

Éva Gajdó  YO6EVA and  Csaba-Zoltán Kertész YO6PIB  came to climb and activate Aconcagua during the first two weeks of January 2020.  Aconcagua (LUM/PH-001) is the highest summit in the SOTA programme, altitude.6960m.  However they could not reach the summit due to very high winds. They began  their descent as per schedule feeling very disappointed, especially regarding the Mendoza radioclub friends who had supported the expedition, prepared to 'chase' (on air) and even to make 'summit-to-summit' contacts. They made 2 attemps and spent 3 nights at over 6000m.

On their arrival back in Mendoza,  Eva and Csabone had one day left before catching their plane home to Romania. Tthe  Argentina SOTA group was also disappointed and it was decided to activate another summit where they could communicate in VHF and HF as originally planned.

Éva Gajdó  YO6EVA

and

LU1MAW Alejandro Ciro Weber

 The route was chosen so that  Eva and Csaba could enjoy seeing animals from the local Villavicencio reserve, mostly guanacos.Tthe group was also lucky enough to see several condors flying over the activated peak in the Paramillos area.

The group were surprised by the number of active  stations that made contact. Many operators were keen to communicate their enthusiasm at contacting the visitors and to wish them a safe journey back to Romania. Unfortunately propagation conditions for HF were not good, although some contacts were achieved.

The Argentinas were happy that Eva and Csaba had managed to activate an Argentine summit and although it was not Aconcagua, that they had enjoyed the local hositality of Mendoza.

  LUM/PC-004, Paramillos  3356m This peak  is not well known and does not have a name,  near Termas Villavicencio, Mendoza (Argentina)      Value 8 SOTA  points,YouTube by LU1MAW Alejandro Ciro Weber

See Éva Gajdó Facebook: Album Acongaua 6700 méteren

David Larsen
 Blog Author

"by David Larsen"  Chantilly Farm owner, Computer Historian, and amateur radio operator -KK4WW   & N4USA .  I work out of one of the Tiny Homes at Chantilly Farm. A great place to work if you like the to be out in nature. I am 81 and ready to sell Chantilly Farm - I have a few more  projects I would like to do - if you have an interest to know more give me a call. 540 392 2392

Tiny House Campground Bunk House rental

Tiny House \ Bunkhouse

Chantilly Event & Camping Venue

We have two primitive small tiny house's at Chantilly Farm campground used as bunk house rental units. They are surprisingly popular rentals and super simple & functional.

Enjoy hiking and bike trails that start next to the Bunkhouses.

Tiny House (bunkhouse)A with  Fire Pit. 

The bunkhouses are located in a nice setting with a fire pit for outdoor pleasure and cooking.   Each Bunk house generated about $3000 for the 2019 year. This is a good return as these units have been set up and used on three other farms during the past 10 years. First as a  hunters cabins then moved and used on two other farms as weekend camping cabins for the family.

A good example of reuse of a product.

Video of Bunk Houses - Click

Bunk house A is named
"Cheery Chipmunk"

Camper like the clever way we have named the Tiny Homes after local animals and events. Bunk House A  named "Cheery Chipmunk".  Bunkhouse B is "Rising Rainbow".

WiFi is available at each bunk house from one of the five WiFi towers on the farm. 

Bunk House A interior 

The inside is finished with 2x4  studs shown as part of the interior   wall.  The furnishings include one led light blub - four bunks - one table and 4 chairs. The AC power is minimal and only useful to charge your cell phone or computer.  

Chantilly Farm is very close to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Bunk beds in Bunk House A.

These are unheated however it is surprising how many times we rent these out in rather cold  weather.  Motorcycle campers really like these bunk houses in place of setting up a small tent.  It is a no brainier  when it is raining to rent a bunkhouse instead of setting up a small tent. Simple bunk beds work just fine and Campers furnish there own bedding. 

Event Area with the large stage
at Chantilly Farm.

A beautiful view of our festival event area from the Bunk House's.

VIDEO   Beautiful view of Chantilly Farm from a drone. 

David's tiny house blog postings

David's Tiny House Video Channel

Play area at Chantilly Farm with
Deer grazing.

Book your Bunk House now -
Chantilly Farm Camping

Children's play area with local deer grazing near camping area.

• Primitive Bunkhouse with 4 twin sleeping bunks (NO MATTRESS - YOU BRING ALL BEDDING!)
• Plenty of room for an extra air mattress or two
• One low-amperage outlet for charging a cell phone or laptop (Not suitable for space heaters)
• Located steps from Bath House A and includes premium views of our meadows and forest
• Perfect view of the Chantilly Stage
• Fire pit onsite
• Wifi
• 2pm Check-In / 11am Check-Out
• Open grassy meadows, thick forests with hiking & mountain biking trails, a babbling brook, a bark park for our furry friends, playsets for the kids, clean bath houses, frisbee golf, and more--all just steps away

David Larsen Blog Author

"by David Larsen"  Chantilly Farm owner, Computer Historian, and amateur radio operator -KK4WW   & N4USA . Now that my large historical collection of  microcomputers has been moved to the "Computer Museum of America"  I work out of one of the Tiny Homes at Chantilly Farm. A great place to work if you like the to be out in nature. I am 81 and ready to sell Chantilly Farm - I have a few more  projects I would like to do - if you have an interest to know more give me a call. 540 392 2392

Ham Radio Operator Peter UX5DH - life long dream of DXCC

1. 2020 Ham Radio Christmas Story.

By Victor Goncharsky US5WE/K1WE, FAIRS director for European operations.

New Ham radio technology knocks on our doors. Both youngsters and old timers are involved in the process of learning and using these technological achievements.

The person I’m going to tell this story, Peter Choporov UX5DH, is the ham since early 60s.

Peter is the FAIRS member who was involved in many FAIRS VHF repeater and packet radio projects in Ukraine.

Recently Peter has bought and installed two digital DMR repeaters in Lvov UR0WUB and on Trostian mountain in Carpathians UR0WUC. FAIRS Ukraine has provided the licensing support for this project.

APRS Packet radio nodes UR0WUB-1 and UX5DH-3 in Lvov using the equipment from the “Eurasia Foundation” grant No. 95-0031 “Ukrainian Digital Amateur Radio Network” is being used for this project. These APRS nodes are also being maintained by Peter UX5DH.

In late December 2018 I introduced Peter to a new digital mode FT8 and proposed him to try it by using the equipment he had: ICOM IC7000 transceiver and FD4 multiband dipole. Several weeks were spent to cure RF feedback and bad SWR issues but finally the first FT8 QSO was made on 30m. It did not take long for Peter to become a FT8 addict.

For less then a year almost 7000 QSOs were made on all bands 160 to 6 meters, DXCC awards (Mixed and Digital) were received. As Peter told me, he was dreaming to put DXCC on the wall from his first steps in ham radio when he saw them in Ham Dad Vlad’s U5WF (UB5WF) shack and finally after almost 60 years Peter’s dream came true!

To improve his DXCC Challenge totals on low bands Peter made a full sized horizontal delta loop for 160 meters. This antenna was found to be much better then FD4 both for receive and transmit on 160-40 meters. The table below shows Peter’s DXCC Challenge totals achieved in less then a year with a simple barefoot setup and wire antennas.

So the opinion that DX-ing is easy with FT8 seems to be overestimated but it is wonderful to see Peter’s call UX5DH on the screen and realize that it is possible to come back on the HF bands after many decades of absence and still have a great fun. Welcome aboard, Peter!