QRP to the Field 2018

QRP to the Field is an annual operating event to encourage QRPers and SOTA stations to get out of the house and operate portable from the field or a local summit.  Find a nice operating location for yourself, or combine it with some buddies for a day-long adventure. QRPTTF encourages participation by QRP hams of all skill levels. 

Both CW and SSB is used in this event.  CW speeds are usually in the 13-20 wpm range. 

It takes place Saturday, April 21, 0800 to 1800 EDT.

The event uses the standard QRP frequencies, and the Nebraska, Michigan, and Ontario QSO Parties are being held the same weekend, so there should be lots of traffic to work.

For more details see HERE.

Great News....CQ SOTA!!

Summits on the Air (SOTA) is coming to VE3 land !!!   Starting on the 1st April the VE3 SOTA Association becomes active.

This has been a long time coming.  The process was started 10 years ago by Martin VA3SIE, and finally we've got there.

There will be around 1000 summits available for activation, the majority of them up in North-West and North-East Ontario.  But.... there are over 100 available in Southern and Eastern Ontario.

This is the URL that will hold the VE3 Summit Date:  https://www.sota.org.uk/Association/VE3   It will not be active until 0001 on April 1st.......and that's not an April Fool's Joke !!

The 2018 Western DXpedition...

In a previous posting I mentioned that I would be operating at night from some pretty rare grids during my trip.  This may be of interest to those of you taking part in this years ARRL International Grid Chase.

Hopefully these will be of some interest to those chasing Grids.  Some of these are in the middle of "nowhere", and probably haven't been activated in decades, if ever.  The ham population in some of these grids is zero.

I have checked the ARRL site to see if any of these grids have been activated for the Grid Chase, and most of them are shown as having zero contacts so far.  So this trip will be a good opportunity to get them on the air.

Those Grids will be:

EN96
EN78
DN99
DO50
DO11
DN19
DO42
DN89
EN09
EN49
EN86
CN78

My plan is to operate during the evening from my campsite using wire antennas and my Buddipole system.  I'll also be on battery power, so I will operate as long as the battery lasts.    I'll post a few frequencies here before the departure date in May.

VE3FI and 60m

Just a general statement here:

I do not now, or in the past, have an antenna that will load up on 60m.  Today I received over 20 eQSL's from European stations looking for confirmation of QSO's last February.

If it was just one or two eQSL's I would write it off as honest screwups when entering the call sign in their logs......but 20+....Hmmmm!!

So, if you had a 60m QSO last February with a station using the VE3FI callsign, I can 100% guarantee that you where not talking to the real VE3FI.

Apparently Long John Silver lives !!

ARRL International DX Contest - SSB

Not a bad weekend on the bands, even if the propagation numbers were not the best.  We started off Friday night very slowly, contacts on 40m and 80m could be heard, but they where way down in the mud.  In fact it took about an hour before things got better, but for most of the weekend I had a S7 to S9 background noise.  They recently built two new houses across the road from me, and boy are they RF dirty!!

Saturday morning we awoke to SFI = 66, SN = 11, A Index = 6 and the K Index = 1, no different from the night before at 0000 UTC.

Given the late date in the current solar cycle there was lots of good DX to be had out there.  Both Saturday and Sunday the go-to bands where 15m and 20m.  The majority of my contacts where on 15m....I had a great run there.  Lots of EU and Russian stations in there as well as most of the Caribbean islands.   The EU stations where in there early in the morning and late in the afternoon, the remainder of the day it was the Caribbean and South Americans who kept me busy.  No new countries in the log this weekend though.

As usual, the downside was the usual large crop of "tuner-uppers" doing their business right on top of the DX - I guess these LIDS just don't know enough to move off frequency a couple of Kc and do it there.   On the plus side I didn't hear any band police out and about - how refreshing.

All-in-all a great weekend, over 200 contacts in the log, and now we wait for the last weekend of the month when we have the CQ WW WPX DX SSB Contest, and get to do it all over again.

Spring Plans.....

Well it's time to start planning another radio adventure!!!   In the planning stage is a trip out to the west coast following basically the same route as my last trip out in 2014.  That is, crossing the prairies using the Red Coat Trail.

It's a 1,300-Kiolometre (810 Mile) route that approximates the path taken in 1874 by the North-West Mounted Police across southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, in their quest to bring law and order to the Canadian West.

It's a very scenic and relaxing route that I think is far superior than the Trans-Canada Highway....mainly because of the lack of big trucks and the slow speeds on this route.  No rushing here.

Due to the early time of year I'm planning on travelling, none of the provincial parks or commercial campgrounds are open.  So, I have been having fun trying to find places to Boondock at along the way....not very easy let me tell you !!  Hopefully the RCMP know the difference between "Resting" and "Camping".

I'll be taking my portable HF radio gear with me, both QRO and QRP variants, and I'm looking forward to making some great contacts along the way, as well as some SOTA activations out in BC.....I'm also planning on setting up at a beach campsite, probably Jordon River on Vancouver Island, for a few days and working as much South Asian DX as I can get.   On the actual trip, both ways, I will be operating at night and handing out some very rare grid squares for those taking part in this years ARRL International Grid Chase.

Stay tuned for more details!!

Winter Field Day Wrap Up...

Overall it wasn't a bad weekend....it was just that the propagation Gods never came out to play.   At 1330 UTC on Saturday, the propagation numbers were:   SFI = 69, SN = 0, A Index = 8, and the K Index = 2.

What the numbers didn't tell us about was the very deep QSB and the extreme noise levels on the bands.  I had a constant S8+ on 40m all weekend for example.

It was extremely frustrating hearing the typical morning American "hemorrhoid nets" on 40m coming in at S9 +30db, while most of the stations calling CQ WFD where way below the noise floor, very hard to pull out, and all dealing with massive QSB.

My antenna for the weekend was a 31' vertical with two 31' elevated radials, and two 16' elevated radials, all into a 4:1 Balun.   This was mounted on the back deck of the cottage we where at.  On the Friday evening before the event kicked off I did manage to work an Italian - IK2BCP, and two Belgium stations,  OP2A and OP4U...all of whom had lovely signals.....then it all went to hell  for the Field Day.

Saturday morning started off poorly as I couldn't get the antenna to tune up very well...it was taking ages for the ATU to work and sort out the SWR.   It turned out that the collapsible mast had in fact collapsed overnight in the wind and I was working with a compromised antenna.  It took five minutes to fix that issue and we were back on the air.

It was very interesting to listen to the difference of WFD this year compared to WFD nine years ago. This year a good number of stations had large pileups, nine years ago you where lucky to hear anyone calling CQ WFD.

One thing that did get my blood boiling over was a W9 station calling for relays as he couldn't get the information off of some stations trying to work him.  Relays??  In a contest ?? Really ?? Hmmmm !!!

I heard very few Canadian stations on this weekend, it could have just been the conditions, as the event was well advertised.

So, a good weekend.....lots of good food, friends and a decent bottle of Scotch.  Thanks to Dennis VA3DOY for coming out and paying us a visit, and finding us a supper venue on Friday evening.  Who knew "uptown metropolitan Westport" was so up market ??

Thanks go out to the many stations who struggled to work us, as we struggled to work them.  See you back at it next year!!

VE3 SOTA Update...

There's another update on the VE3 SOTA Association just been posted on their Blog.  It's available to read HERE.

By the look of things it seems we are getting very close to the first VE3 Activation Day which is fantastic news.

Some amateurs in VE3 land have been working for about 10 years to bring SOTA to our province, and it's thanks to the current crop that they were able to persuade the SOTA Management Committee to drop the 150m prominence requirement down to 100m.  If we were restricted to the p150, just about every available summit would have been located in Ontario North, and completely off the beaten track.  In other words it would have taken just about a whole two week vacation to do a simple activation.

The Radio Amateur Society of Australia

Congratulations go out to the newly formed “Radio Amateur Society of Australia” (RASA).   
Their website (Click HERE) states that the organisation is made up of
active radio amateurs who want to see progress in their hobby, and that 
their primary efforts will be focused on improved education and 
awareness in the areas of regulation and administration, as well as
strong evidence based representation with their national
telecommunications regulator.

It’s great to see individuals standing up and making things right after years of abysmal performance by 

the Australian equivalent of RAC, the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA).  From articles available on 

the web it’s clear to see that many clubs feel disenfranchised with the WIA and feel there is a great need 

for change.

Much like here in Canada, many clubs also feel very disenfranchised with RAC.  We have questions too, 

what is RAC actually doing for clubs and club members?  Other than the public liability insurance, what 

value does a club (or its members) receive by being a member of an affiliated club?  Why don’t the 

membership have the pleasure of personally being able to cast a vote the RAC presidents position?

I’m sorry, but I expect a hell of a lot more for my annual membership subscription, especially at its 

current price, than what is on offer.

But, the big issue is the fact that RAC refuses to represent ALL amateurs in Canada.  They insist that if 

you’re not a paid up RAC member they do not represent you at any level.  There needs to be a lot more 

openness, accountability and leadership at the Executive level than what we see these days.

So, perhaps we need to take a leaf out go the RASA play book and form a new national Canadian amateur 

radio society, one that is not an old boys clique, or one filled with cronyism, and one that truly represents 

ALL Canadian amateurs, paid members or not.

WFD 2018 - Getting Ready

I spent quite a bit of the afternoon sorting through portable radio gear getting things sorted out for this years Winter Field Day (WFD).......I didn't realize I have so much "stuff" !!

I have three antennas packed up and ready to go, a 31' vertical with a 4:1 Balun and two 31' radials, a 65' long wire with a 9:1 Balun, and a 17' collapsible whip, tripod mount and three 33' radials.  Those should cover all of my needs for the weekend.  I've used them all before on various outings and they all work very well, and have lots of great DX to their credit.  No need to change what works at this late date.

Two radios will make the trip with me, my FT-817ND and my FT-897D.  I received a BX-8x7 Dynamic Compressor kit V2.0 for Christmas.  This piece of gear works on the 817, 857, and the 897.  So far on the tests I have done this has lived up to its promise of pumping out an extra S Unit on transmit.  So hopefully the extra punch will help on the WFD weekend.

Two portable masts will be going with me, my MFJ 33' collapsible mast, and a 22' painter pole, along with a bag of rope and another one of bungy cords to make sure they stay up.

My shack, at the moment, has piles of gear scattered all over the floor, all waiting to be either stacked ready to go or to be put away, awaiting another suitable adventure.

There are four of us going to a cottage on Burridge Lake, near Westport, Ontario, for the event.  Hopefully the road will have been plowed before we attempt the journey.  I believe we will be using the VE3UCC callsign that belongs to the Upper Canada QRP Club, so give a listen for us.

Burridge Lake, north of Kingston.

Plans for 2018

Here we are in 2018 and wondering what surprises this year will bring.  I'm making my amateur radio plans for this year such as continuing my QRP operating, regardless of our place in the current solar cycle and continuing my portable antenna experimentation.

I'm continuing with the "do my own thing" agenda that I started back in October 2017.  I'm doing what I want to, when I want to do it....on my time and my space.  It's a healthy "no stress" way of living, and I feel a lot better for it.

The Sunday morning QRP group activities will continue as soon as the temperatures come out of the single digits and the snow disappears from the operating location at Lake Ontario Park.  This is an extremely relaxing time, lots of radio talk, lots of building portable antennas and lots of operating.  Just a great way to spend a Sunday....you guys should try it.

I still have a pile of islands that I want to activate and will definitely be taking part in Winter Field Day, the ILLW and the W/VE Island QSO Party.

I'm also leaning towards another long road trip home to the West Coast again this year if I can fit it in amongst everything else that needs to be done.

And as usual this year, I look forward to writing about my adventures....or lack thereof !!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone 
and
Stay Safe Out There !!

VE3 SOTA

For those of you looking for up-to-date information on the new VE3 SOTA Association, have a look HERE.   New information was posted there today.

Merry Christmas

It's that time of year again, when people around the world start talking about peace and goodwill.   Perhaps one day they will think about peace and goodwill all year long.

I hope you all have a wondrous Christmas, but please - remember those less fortunate than us.

Winter Field Day - 2018

Coming up quickly is the 2018 Winter Field Day!

Not only during summer field day in June, do the bands come alive with improvised signals proving the ability to respond to emergencies.  Since emergencies and natural disasters don't always happen in the good weather, during Winter Field Day, frigid winds, icy limbs, and bitter cold replace thunderstorms, mosquitoes, and the blistering heat of summer.

Rules for the event can be found HERE.

Remember to give yourself and your team a lot longer to complete the site setup, it can take up to four times longer than in the warm weather.

Make sure you watch out for each other for signs of Frostbite and Hypothermia.  Stay safe out there!!

December QRP in the Park...

VE3ULC operating and dressed for the
weather today.

Great day on the bands today !!!   Jim, VE3ULC, and I went to Lake Ontario Park and operated QRP portable for a few hours, probably for the last time this year as the snow is due to start coming down next week.

The propagation numbers today, at 1730 UTC were:  SFI = 70, SN = 0, A Index = 4, and K Index = 0.    The bands were very quiet and luckily we had an absolute S0 noise floor in the park.  Just about every signal we heard was just booming in to us.

One of our goals was to work Rick, VE3ORY/W4 in Florida, as he's emigrated down there for the winter.  Jim managed to work him on 40m with Olivia 8-500, and again on 20m using PSK-31, and we both worked him again on 20m SSB.

Best contact of the day for me was with GI0AIJ in Northern Ireland who was a solid S9++ to me and he kindly gave me a 56 in return...not too bad for 5w into an MFJ 17' collapsible whip antenna.

I also managed to get KC0ZNI in the log.  Phil is in Paola, Kansas, and was activating one of the state parks today.  Booming signal from him, and I received a 57 from him....again, not too bad for a QRP signal.

All in all a great day outside playing radio.

VE3FI operating today at Lake Ontario Park....dressed for the Ontario Winter.

VE3ORY/W4 operating today in Florida....dressed for the heat wave down there !!!!!

2017 ARRL Sweepstakes

Starting this Saturday afternoon, at 2100 UTC, this years ARRL Sweepstakes starts !!   Since winning the 2013 Canadian Division trophy for QRP I haven’t really tried hard at this contest….but this year I might give it a good push and see what I can do, but I want to have a good look at the upcoming propagation first.

The link to this years Rules are HERE.

Propagation wise we could be in for an interesting time.  One of the sites I frequent has this to say about the next few days:

"No G1 (Minor) or greater geomagnetic storms are expected.  No significant transient or recurrent solar wind features are forecast".

Hopefully everything will go smoothly......but you just never know.....

Good Luck to everyone!

In Remembrance......

In Loving Memory

of the 

Officers, NCO's, and Men

of

2816 Squadron, RAF Regiment

December 1941 - June 1946

Per Ardua

Coming Soon........

Over the past few months a renewed push has been taking place to try to get Summits on the Air (SOTA) finally operating here in VE3 land.   This quest was started over seven years ago by Martin, VA3SIE, but was sidelined due to technicalities.   Martin is now a regional manager in the VE2 SOTA association.

This past September the SOTA management team in the UK was contacted again and they have now decided that VE3 land no longer has the technical difficulties that we had back in 2010.

For those who do not know what SOTA is, it is a ham radio operating award program that was launched in the UK in 2002, and has now grown world-wide.

The aim of SOTA is to encourage licensed ham radio operators to operate temporarily from the summits of hills and mountains....in other words get out of the shack, operate, and get some good and healthy exercise.

Now Ontario does not have a lot of true mountains, it is true that we have some high summits up in the north, but they are rather scarce in the southern part of the province.  To this end we have been told that we will be allowed to operate as a 100m prominence association, instead of the normal 150m prominence that they ask for.

Ontario will be split into four regions, corresponding to the current RAC Sections.  Thankfully we have already had volunteers step forward to manage the Greater Toronto and Ontario South regions.

More news will be posted as it happens.

CQ WW SSB Contest

The towers at VE9FI

What a great week!!!   Don, VE3MNE, and I left last Wednesday morning for the 2 day trek to Hampton, New Brunswick, where we took part in this years CQ WW SSB Contest using the station of Russ, VE9FI.

The drive down can be summed up in one word....RAIN.  It absolutely poured down for the great majority of the trip, stopping just before we arrived in Hampton on Thursday afternoon.  I have to admit the highways in New Brunswick are fantastically well maintained.  It was a real treat to drive on them.

Thursday afternoon and Friday were spent settling in and learning how to operate the equipment in the shack.   Russ has two 75' towers, one with an 8 element log periodic and the other with a 6 element 20m beam.  We also had a 1/4 wave vertical for 80m and 40m, a full sized folded dipole for 80m and 40m, and a full sized long wire for 160m.

I was using the resident Flex-6700, and Don used his own FT-950, so I had a bit of a learning curve to learn to operate the Flex....never having done so before, and I have to tell you that after spending 36 hours operating one I much prefer my FT-950.....but perhaps if I used it more I might change my mind.

The operating position for the Flex-6700.

The contest itself was a lot of hard work....but fun.  It was very different being on the receiving end of the pileup instead of one of those stations calling in.  Nothing like being hit by a wall of sound...all calling you to cause a bit of "pucker" factor......   We had lots of good comments about our signal, including to places I never work from home in Kingston, most of the time the received report was "booming".

The other thing we quickly realized was that the propagation is different from here at home.  Stations we can not get from Kingston, no matter how many times we call, all answered us on the first call from Hampton.  We also had to take into consideration that the signal bounce was landing in a different location from home and that caused a bit of worry until we realized what was happening.

At the end of the contest we ended up with a total of 997 contacts and a submitted score of 808,707, and now we await the judges comments.......

The trip home had even more rain than the trip down, and this time we also had 50 km winds gusting to 90 km for most of the trip as well....not very comfortable being buffeted around like that.   We managed to make a grand total of two 2m contacts, both on the way home.  Thanks to Ted, WW1TED from Hamlin, Maine, and Stephan, VE9SAP from St. Basile, for their company on the Grand Falls, NB, repeater.

All in all it was a fantastic trip.....I could have done without the 1270 km drive each way, but what the hell, it's a great way to see the country.

Don and I can't thank Russ and Pat enough for their unbelievable hospitality....and Pat's cooking has to be eaten to be believed.....what a cook !!   Thanks guys for everything !!

And now, a few pictures........

The 20m beam down ready for the high winds.

Another shot of the Log Periodic.

The best sea food in NB.....at St. Martins.

Off on an adventure.....

This coming weekend is the CQ World-wide SSB DX Contest and I'm off on a mini-DXpedition to Hampton, NB, to take part in the contest.

VE3FI and VE3MNE will be operating as VE9FI for the contest.  Both Don and myself are really looking forward to operating from the VE9FI station as Russ has put in a lot of work into it since he moved down there.

We reckon it will take 2 days driving to get there, so allowing some time to get to know the systems, we plan on leaving home on Wednesday morning and will spend the first night in Edmunston, NB, before moving on to Hampton on Thursday.

Looking forward to a great contest using some great antennas.   Lots more to report once I get home next week.

The VE9FI towers.....ready to go!!