The Battle of Britain...

Today is Battle of Britain day. 

Remember the sacrifices made by this bravest of generations. 

Forever indebted.

Chillycon...part 2

We're all packed and loaded.....except for the radio...and ready to roll out of here.  Of course this afternoon I had to take the van into the shop due to a strange noise when I turned left.....and only left.   Turns out I had a bent rotor guard, and no idea how it got bent....but it's fixed 😁

I'm hoping the propagation improves before the weekend, so far this week the numbers are in the toilet!!  There is a good amount of planned activity on the bands this weekend.  There are five State QSO Parties, IA, NJ, WI, NH, and WA, as well as QRP Afield.  On top of those, this Saturday night we will be holding our bi-monthly club QRP Sprint.  

As of 1800 UTC today, the propagation numbers are:  SFI=68; SN=0; A Index=6; and K Index=3.   Not too good.

So far they are not calling for any rain over the weekend, but it is going to be very cool at night, down to 1C.  During the day it won't be so bad as they are calling for 15C to 17C.  

Stay tuned for pictures of the event....if we survive 😉

Chillycon Preparations...

It's starting to cool down here during the day, so that means that once again it's time for this years Chillycon.  Coming up September 18-20, and held at Rideau River Provincial Park.  While it's going ahead, there are lots of social distancing event rules in place with regard to the Chinese Flu.

Chillycon has now become the largest annual gathering in Eastern Ontario for QRP'ers, and is an excellent place to learn about portable antenna's and QRP DXing.

The highlight of the weekend is, of course, the annual DX Contest, were a trophy is awarded for the contact at the furthest distance.  This has become so popular that the guys in Kingston have built their very own "Skunk Works" for portable antenna design in order to win.  The Kingston Skunk Works has more security than the Manhattan Project did........😎

Now, for the past three Sundays the guys in Kingston have been at Lake Ontario Park, playing with new antenna designs and home-brewed baluns looking for that perfect combination.....and it looks like we have one.  BUT.....no comment on it until after Chillycon, we don't want the competition to get wind of it, and he reads this Blog.

Here's a few photographs of the Skunk Works in action.....

VE3ULC at the controls while VE3JPW supervises.

VE3WTN and VE3MNE.

VE3WTN and VE3JPW.

W / VE Island QSO Party

Next weekend, August 29 - 30 is this years Island QSO Party.  This year it runs from 1200 UTC 29 August to 0300 UTC 30 August.....15 hours of Island Fun.

Rules for the event can be found HERE.

Due to the restrictions due to the Wuhan Flu, I'm not sure where I am going to operate from......more than likely it will be as a QRP Expedition, on an island in the Rideau Canal system, which will also allow me to play POTA at the same time.

So far the long range wx forecast shows warm and sunny for the event, let's hope it stays that way.

See you on the bands, and stay safe!

Hurricane Net

The US Hurricane Center has has issued a statement requesting that during the day, 14.325, and during the night, 7.268, be kept clear for Hurricane traffic.....it's that time of year again.

There are two hurricanes converging on New Orleans and Houston this week...a double hit and it may get nasty down there.

If you have time please consider monitoring these frequencies for a period.  Sometimes net control requires a relay, and you maybe in the right place to help out.

The Hurricane Center is reporting that they expect this year to be a busy one for Hurricanes.

Great Day at the Park

Todays operating location.

It was a beautiful day here in Kingston, a high of 23C with a light wind to keep the bugs away.  So, with nothing else to do it was off to the park after my morning walk to chase some POTA with VE3MNE and VE3ULC.

At 1700 UTC the propagation numbers were:  SFI=71, SN=12, A Index=6, and the K Index=1.   I had my KX3 with me and my new home-brewed 20m/40m linked dipole.   As my new Bioenno battery hasn't arrived yet I had my old 12v 7 amp SLA with me.

I finally managed to get the linked dipole on the analyzer and was very happy to see that I did not have to make any adjustments to it.  It looks good to go on 15m, 20m, and 40m.  I did not get it up very high in the trees, in fact the apex was only at about 20 feet, and the ends were about 3.5 feet off the ground.

I had a look at the POTA app on my phone and saw that Ed, W5LST, was active on 20m, so I gave him a call.  He came right back, and gave a me a lowly 22 - he was S9+10 at my end.  None the less I was happy as even at that low height I still managed a contact into Arkansas.

I have discovered that there are 7 POTA locations in or near Kingston, so it looks like I will be doing some activations in the very near future.

The finished linked dipole.

Lighthouses!!

I'm looking forward to this coming weekend, it's the annual International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend.  Timings are 0001 UTC August 22 to 2400 UTC August 23.

There are no rules, but the event guidelines are available HERE.

I think this will be a good event to do given the local Wuhan Flu restrictions we have here in Kingston.

My plan as of today, is to activate the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour Light on the Saturday.  I'll be using my KX3 and a 20m-40m home-brewed linked dipole.   Unfortunately my new Bioenno battery has not yet arrived, so it looks like I will have to charge up my small SLA's.

Hopefully the weather and propagation will cooperate.

NA QSO Party

The Fall edition of the NA QSO Party is being held on the weekend of August 15 & 16.   This contest is for any ham, regardless of QTH.  The object is to work as many North American stations as possible.

Rules for this year can be found HERE.

This seems to be a contest I normally don't take part in, this is because most years the International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend takes place the same dates, and that's an event I like to do.   However, this year the ILLW has been pushed back a week due to the celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the end of the Pacific war.

I'm not sure I will enter as a QRP station, I don't think the bands are going to be good enough, so I think this will be a QRO weekend.

Any weekend on the air is better than doing yard work 😊

Stay safe out there!!