N3PRZ.COM - VHFpedition to Mt. Mitchell North Carolina, June 13th, thru June 16th, 2008

9:10am 6/13/08 Update: We are in Wilksboro, NC....taking the scenic route to the mountain. We streamed around 1am this morning, but have been on and off with the sleeping. No available high speed connection for video at the moment. We still have about three hours to get to the mountain.

11:45pm 6/13/08 Update: We have been having a hard time getting a signal in the mountain terrains. Here on the summit it is sketchy at best. But late Friday night Aaron and myself may have found a sweet spot that will make some streaming video possible. We will show some live footage, as well as some video of tonights sunset we shot. Look for more updates in the morning.

1:45am 6/15/08: The rain came, and we left. Unfortunately, because this was not a trip planned far in advance, we did not prepare for all the possible conditions. In addition we had to jam 5 people and all the gear into a Chevy Astro van. The rain was strong, and wind fierce, which meant the minimal protection we gave all the radios was not going to last. Most everything appears to be find, although we use what little cloths we had to try to stay warm and dry. I will give a more complete summary on Monday.

4:00pm 6/15/08: Arrived home, and all equipment is still packed. Sleep has been few and far between so it's time of a nap. More to come later, including pictures and what little video I got, including a time lapse of a sunset Friday Evening.

THE SCHEDULE * Indicates proposed streaming video times
Thursday and Friday
Thurs. Evening*	Meet at Jay's, load van.
12am Friday*	Depart Rockville, MD
4am Friday	Gas, Pit Stop, rest, etc.
12pm Friday	Arrive near Mountain, look for groceries, last minute supplies, eat breakfast
1pm Friday*	Ascend Mt. Mitchell
2pm Friday*	Arrive at Summit, start unloading
3pm Friday*	Set-up Summit Camp
4pm Friday	break, venture around the summit
5pm Friday*	start radio assembly
9pm Friday*	finish assembly for the day (nightfall)
12pm-8am	Sleep
Saturday
8am	Wake-up
9am	eat breakfast
10am*	finish radio assembly
11am*	finish antenna assembly
12pm	eat
2pm*	Contest Starts
2pm-12am*	Continuous Operations (break for food only) [non-continuous streaming video]
1am-8am	Sleep
Sunday
8am	Walke-up
9am	eat breakfast
10am-11pm*	Resume Contest Operations (there will be breaks for food and some exploration around the moutain). [non-continuous streaming video]
11pm*	contest ends. Relax, laugh and enjoy
1am-9am	Sleep
Monday
9am	Wake-up
10am*	Begin Breakdown
1pm*	Depart Summit
2pm*	Arrive at Base of Mountain, depart for Maryland
11pm	Arrive in Maryland, unload
12am	Depart for Home (Individuals)