A Cold Day Operating...

What sort of a nut goes out and activates a park for POTA when it's -3C and blowing snow?  Oh, that would be me 😁

I knew it would be a cold activation, and initially plans were to activate two parks, but after finishing the first park I realized it was just too cold and needed to go and get warm before I got hypothermic.  The wind just drew what little heat you had right out of you.

Thanks goodness I had a package of hand-warmers in the van!  They really helped.

The propagation numbers were great today, not as good as yesterday.  They were: SFI=119, SN=119, A Index=3, and the K Index=1.  There was a fair bit of deep QSB, and the bands were busy with contests, including the RAC Winter Contest.

One thing that did stand out today was the fact that I suffered no deliberate QRM that we POTA activators have been suffering with for the past few months.  Apparently a number of individuals don't like the POTA program and are trying to cause enough trouble to get people to walk away from it.  Their plan isn't working, in fact POTA seems to be growing everyday to new countries.

So using my now usual routine - the KX3 with 10 screaming watts output into a 20m hamstick - I managed to work Mike CU3HY, Manuel CU3BL, and Jerry HI5YJM.   Contacts were also made in IL, CA, TN, GA, AL, LA, MO, and TX.

The wind and snow is supposed to stop late this evening, so tomorrow I can dig out and set off to another park and do it all over again 😊

Today's QSO Map

Not Your Typical Sunday...

Last night, December 11th, we had probably the biggest wind storm hit us in the sixteen years I have lived here.  We had sustained winds of 80 kph, and gusts over a 100 kph.  There were lots of power outages, trees down over the roads, and even a barn roof blew off and landed on the railway tracks halting rail travel between Toronto and Montreal for many hours.

This morning the clean up began as power was slowly restored and roads were re-opened, but parts of the city looked worse for wear.  Luckily, my house didn't lose any power or suffer any damage, and my antennas even managed to stay up in the air.

It was the turn of the Marshlands Conservation Area, VE-5143, to be activated today, and I chose 20m to start with.  Twenty metres was in great shape, and in no time I had I4DRY, and OK1IWS in the log.  Not bad for 10w from the KX3 into a 20m Hamstick.  After a short while it seemed I had worked 20m out, so I QSY'ed to 40m and picked up another 15 contacts before I went QRT.

I put 35 contacts in the log in 30 minutes.  It was nice to work Puerto Rico, CA and WA as well today.  NB and SK also made it into my log.  

Propagation today was: SFI = 77, SN = 0, A Index = 5, and the K Index = 1.  This was my 117 POTA activation of the year, and I'm hoping to get to 120 before the end of the month.......I don't think I'll have a problem doing that 😁

Stay safe out there!

Today's activation map.

ARRL 10m Contest...

Don't forget this weekend is the ARRL 10m contest.    I'm hoping that this year we actually get an opening and are able to work some good DX.  The band has been open, once in a while, lately, but I'm not convinced it will be this weekend though.  Only time will tell.

The rules can be found HERE.

As usual I will be doing some casual operating, handing out points if I manage to hear and work somebody.

Stay safe out there!

Portable Antennas...

I've had several people email me recently asking what antennas, other than my hamsticks, I use for POTA and portable operating. It must be admitted that over the past few months I've got lazy and only used the hamsticks...mainly for the convenience.

There are several different portable wire antennas in my rucksack.  The following are a few of my favourites, but please remember, antennas are like opinions...everyone has one and everyone has their favourite.

A few years ago I was having some trouble getting a Bandspringer Midi antenna I had bought from Sotabeams to tune up with sufficiently low SWR....the SWR I had was over 25:1 over all bands and nothing I did would change that fact.  It just wasn't happening, and the thing was, to me, completely unusable so it was put away in a drawer.  Shortly after this I was watching a video of Steve, WG0AT, operating SOTA from Mount Herman in Colorado, and I noticed he was using a simple wire antenna.

I emailed Steve about it, and he told me it was a 41' radiator and a 17' counterpoise, and with his KX2 he could tune it on all the bands he needed.  No balun required, just a binding post to BNC converter, and you're in business.  That afternoon I took the Sotabeams antenna and spent a few hours doing surgery, and transformed it into what I now call my "WG0AT Antenna". It works like a charm and I have made hundreds of contacts with it on all bands 40m through 6m.

Probably the most used antenna in my collection is a 40m EFHW.  This was built with a LnR Precision transformer that I found hiding in a drawer one day.  This antenna works on 40m through 6m and I have never had any bad SWR issues with it.

Just 63' of wire, no counterpoises, and you're on the air.  I used this antenna at Chillycon this year as my campsite antenna, and made over 200 contacts with it all over Europe and North America. A great antenna.

My 20/40 linked dipole has also seen a lot of use in the past, but not so much lately.  This was built from plans found on Google, and it does match and work very well on 10m/15m/20m/40m. It is a bit of a pain to put up, but it is a solid performer. I plan on re-making this antenna out of lighter gauge wire as at the moment it is far too heavy to carry.

It is well worth the time and effort to make one.

The Packtenna Mini is the only store bought wire antenna in my possession.  It works very well.

This is a 9:1 transformer and 66' of wire.  The instructions state that you don't need a radial....but....I find that I must use ground radials with it as well as an RF isolator to get the SWR down to were I want it.  I have made a set of three radials on a large alligator clip that I use with it.

To be very honest, while this antenna works extremely well, it doesn't work any better than any of my home-brewed antennas, and it wasn't cheap to buy either. 

So there you have it, my wire antenna collection - and my thoughts on them.  I very rarely use them for POTA activations these days as they all need a portable mast or a tree, and in the crowded conditions of some parks, it's just far easier, and safer, to use the hamsticks.

Stay safe out there!

Did I Hear The Bands Turn Off?...

It was a great morning up on Fort Henry Hill.  It's a very quiet RF site now that the dozens of plasma TV's they had installed in the information centre have all broke and been removed.  The down side was the temperature which sat at -7C, not including the wind chill factor.

Todays propagation, not spectacular by any means, was:  SFI=92, SN=20, A Index=4, and the K Index=1.

I managed to work 17 stations on 20m, including CU3HY in the Azores, and KN6KI in California.  There were a number of repeat offenders who seem to find me every time I activate, and I'm very grateful for them.  

About 1500 UTC the bands instantly went quiet, the signals just disappeared.  There had been a great deal of very deep QSB on 20m, but at least you could hear something.  I spun the VFO several times across 20m, 40m, and 17m, and heard nothing, just static.  The bands, it seemed, had turned off.

I'm hoping that they turn back on in time for another couple of POTA activations tomorrow.  My original plan was to stop activating this year when I reached 100 activations...now I plan to keep going until the weather makes it uncomfortable to activate.  So I'll probably get about 10 more.

Stay warm out there!

Todays Contact Map.  10w from the KX3 into a 20m Hamstick.

A Milestone has passed...

A year ago this month I decided to get involved with the Parks On The Air (POTA) program, and I have absolutely had a blast doing it.

Yesterday, November 26, I achieved my 100th park activation this year, and have managed to put 2856 contacts in my log carrying out activations or hunting parks.  On top of this I have actually started to get my money's worth out of my KX3!!

Also this week my new powered speaker from West Mountain Radio arrived.  What a difference that has made to operating the KX3.  I can actually hear things properly now.  The signals I am hearing are now crystal clear, and there is no more of the famous KX3 distortion.

This speaker is a game changer for people, like myself, who have hearing issues.....and I have way too much time flying very noisy Chinook Helicopters.  And of course, as we get older our hearing gets worse.  

I've a few more activations to go before the snow starts to fall (which it did today for a short time).  It's definitely getting colder, and sitting in the back of the van doing an activation isn't the most comfortable of places these days.

The KX3 and new speaker set up in the van.

Stay warm out there!!

Great Morning on the Bands...

It was a cold morning here, just -1C when I left to activate the Frontenac Biosphere, VE-0023.  I didn't expect to have much of an activation, I know I'd get the ten required contacts, but I assumed it would be just the normal chasers.

How wrong I was.   The propagation this morning was SFI=78, SN=22, A Index=5, and the K Index=1.  The radio in use was my KX3, and I had a 20m hamstick on a mag-mount on the roof of my van.  This has been my normal setup for a few months now, and it never ceases to amaze me just how well the Hamsticks perform.  Today was no exception.

So with 10 screaming watts into the hamstick I worked Mike, CU3HY in the Azores, Jean, F4ILH in France, Rodolfo, I4RHP in Italy, and Bryan, KP4M in Puerto Rico.  I was just amazed as the DX stations called me, I never thought I would be doing cross-Atlantic contacts today.  It was just amazing.

Here's the contact map from today:

Looking forward to more of this!!

Good Results On The Bands...

The last two days I have taken the time to do a couple of POTA activations.....now there's a surprise.  But, I really felt the need yesterday, November 11th, to get out and operate as I really felt my Dad's presence.  He was a Signaller and a WW2 Veteran, and although he died 28 years ago, very rarely does a day go by when I don't think of him.  

Propagation wasn't too bad, SFI=87, SN=37, A Index=8, and the K Index=2.

I packed up the KX3 and Hamsticks and made a few successful calls using his, and now my call, VE7CVQ, and then spotted myself on the POTA app using my VE3FI call.  The results on 20m were an amazing 24 contacts in 19 minutes.  Here's the contact map below:

Today, Friday, I decided to go and operate after my morning walk.  I ended up at Lemoine Point and put 32 contacts in the log in 24 minutes, all on 40m with the KX3 and Hamsticks.

Propagation today was: SFI=84, SN=39, A Index=4, and the K Index=1.  Here's todays contact map:

Today was my 92nd POTA Activation this year (I'm shooting for 100) and I've put 2,632 POTA contacts in my log since January 1st.  Every time I do an activation I am constantly amazed just how well the KX3 and Hamsticks work together.  

It was a good couple of days, and I'm glad I got out to operate.