Winter Field Day...the aftermath

This weekend was a tough one for operating at QRP levels! The bands were alive with the sound of signals...all weekend...and all right next to each other. While I stuck to 20m and 40m, contacts were heard being made on every band, 10m through 160m. Both WFD and POTA operators were out in force.

Propagation numbers were:

Saturday: SFI=125, SN=77, A Index= 19, K Index=1

Sunday: SFI=125, SN=74, A Index=17, K Index=2

Conditions are now starting to deteriorate in front of the expected G2 Solar Storm that is supposed to hit us on Tuesday, 1st February.

It was bitterly cold here the whole weekend, with temperatures down around -25C. The wind chill made it feel a lot worse than that. I found I could last about 40 to 50 minutes before I was just too cold and had to go and warm up. Because of this I split my operating into two parts, the first Saturday afternoon and the second on Sunday morning. This made the cold a bit more tolerable.

This year I operated in the "1 Outdoors" category, which I may have to reconsider next year. What amazed me the most over the weekend was the amount of stations operating as "1 Home", nearly all from the deep south where they don't have the cold we have here in the north. I have never figured out why people take part in a "Field Day" (Summer or Winter) and do so from home without ever going out to the field.

Once again I was using 10w from my KX3, and a 20m or 40m mag-mounted Hamstick. It saves so much time setting up in the deep cold not having to throw up a wire antenna.

Sunday morning brought some good DX on 20m, first up was CU3HY, quickly followed by CU3BL, both from the Azores. Then it was the turn of EA1FIC from Spain, and the biggest surprise was YV1GIY from Venezuela. I'm really pleased with those contacts.

Here's the map of the weekends 40 contacts:

Stay safe and warm out there!

Good Day Activating...

It was a very cold day here yesterday, so the new PackTenna linked dipole didn't make it out of the container.  Once again I used the 20m hamstick with a mag-mount on the roof of the van to save time out in the cold.  It was -20C without the wind, and the wind was absolutely howling.

Equipment, as usual, was my KX3 pumping out 10 screaming watts into the 20m Hamstick.

Propagation was good when I started.  SFI=102, SN=71, A Index=10, K Index=2.  Shortly after I went QRT the bands died within minutes.

As you can see from the map, 20m started long and as I logged contacts it started to shorten up, and eventually disappeared.

My Bioenno battery certainly doesn't like the cold, and I have noticed that it will remain good for about 40 minutes in deep cold.  

Yesterday I shut things down after 20 minutes with 27 contacts in the log.  The battery was still fine, but it's probably time to re-charge it.

I will have both batteries charged up ready for Winter Field Day this weekend.  I'm planning on doing dual POTA and WFD activations...hopefully that will drum up more business for the log book. 😋

Stay warm and safe out there!

Winter Field Day...

Coming up this weekend, January 29th - 30th, is Winter Field Day.....you know that weekend we get to go play radio and freeze our butts off......oh...and have fun doing it!!!

The Rules can be found HERE.   There are a few changes this year, so have a read of them and make sure you understand them....especially the point about submitting logs.

Both Saturday and Sunday are forecasted to have a high of -11C, but on the plus side, there's no snow on the horizon.

I have just received today, from PackTenna, a new 20m/40m linked dipole. Winter Field Day should be a great opportunity to use it for the first time....if a location can be found where I can put it up.  

20m/40m linked dipole

Stay warm and safe out there!

A Cold Activation...

This weekend the Winter Support Your Parks event is taking place, and it coincided with probably the coldest weekend we have had yet this year.  It was -37C with the wind chill when I left for Lemoine Point, VE-5141.  Absolutely bone chilling.

The propagation, as I reported earlier in another post, was not forecasted to be very good, but it did improve enough for me to think I could squeeze in an activation.   The propagation numbers were:  SFI=83, SN=39, A Index=9, and the K Index=2.

Before I left home I checked both 20m and 40m which were very busy, with very little room between the big signals.  By the time I got to my site, 20 minutes later, the signals on 17m and 15m had totally gone, and those on 40m were quickly disappearing. So I set up on 20m and hoped for the best.

Once again it was my KX3 being used with a 20m Hamstick.  I used the Hamstick today for the simple reason it was the fastest option to get on the air, and get me out of the cold.

Now activating using QRP levels does have a disadvantage, and I knew that going in to this, but the killer today was not the power level, but the extremely deep QSB.  One minute a signal was S9 and the next it had disappeared completely never to be heard again.  

I must admit that when I set out this morning I thought, given the amount of POTA traffic on the bands that it wouldn't take too long to do this, but in the end it took me 30 minutes to make 21 contacts. That's pretty slow for me, even operating QRP.

Todays activation map is below.

Stay warm and safe out there!

Weekend Propagation...

This weekend, January 15th & 16th is the annual POTA Winter Support Your Parks event, and my clubs QRP HF Sprint on Saturday evening.

Well......I think from the forecasted propagation we can just about forget those events....and here is that forecast:

Tomorrow may be a quiet radio day.  Weather wise it's going down to -32C (-25F) tonight and Monday we're expecting over 35 cm of snow (that's over 12" for my American friends).  

This weekend is shaping up to be a golden opportunity to work on some maintenance to my portable wire antennas and get the gear ready for my spring activations.  I need to go over what I have and see if I have to order any new or replacement items.

Stay warm and safe out there!

NOTE:  Updated Saturday Morning, January 15th.

2022 Plans....

Being ever the optimist, I have started making some radio plans for this year.  Although I'm sure the Covid Wizards may have other plans.  To be quite honest, my main plan this year is to simply survive the year without catching anything!

Things have actually been pretty quiet around this QTH apart from activating parks for POTA, yesterday was -38C with the wind, so not much got done around here.  Today it's +4C, you just never know, day to day, what you're going to get weather wise.

Plans are currently being made for some POTA "micro-DXpeditions".  There are a couple of areas of the province that I would like to get on the air this year.  The first one I have planned is down to Chatham in South-West Ontario, and return home along the lakes, activating the many POTA locations as I pass them.  That one will be a 5 day trip with each night at a different park.

Anther will be up to Penetanguishene and around the Georgian Bay POTA parks.  A lovely part of the province and only a days drive from Kingston.  That one will be a 4 day trip, and once again each night will be at a different park.

My trans-Canada trip is planned, and has been approved by the XYL, but I can't see that trip happening this year.  My gut feeling is that there is still far too many covid risks to do that trip yet.  Maybe next year.

The "pre-pre-planning" for both Field Days, winter & summer, has already started.  I'm not sure if the club is planning anything, I doubt it given the covid situation here in Ontario.  So I have decided to push ahead and make my own plans and go from there.

This year Winter Field Day is being held on January 29/30.  I'll post more about that closer to the date.   Their website can be found HERE.

Stay safe out there!!

Good Days on the Bands...

I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Years.....and is staying safe from the latest round of Covid.

The last two days I have managed to pull off successful activations of local parks for POTA.   Both days I activated on 40m, and had no issue with making contacts.  

For comparison, the propagation for the two days was:

Thursday: SFI=84, SN=24, A Index=3, K Index=0

Friday: SFI=102, SN=35, A Index=2, K Index=0

Both maps look pretty much the same, which is what you would expect given the similar propagation numbers we had.

The weather here has been cold and we have had some blowing snow, so I have not been straying too far from home, so these have been local activations.  I don't see this changing until much later in the season.  We are lucky that the parks are still open around here, given the government covid regulations we now live under....and I can't see those changing until late spring at the earliest.

Thursday's QSO 40m Plot

Friday's QSO 40m Plot

Year End Wrap Up....

Well, it's been a bit of a roller coaster at times, but yet another year of the Covid Plague is coming to a close....is this year two or year three?  I've lost count.  

My family and I have been very lucky, none of us have been sick, and all of us have been able to get our shots and boosters on time with no issues.  Most of my friends have also been lucky and escaped the plague.  Let's hope that luck holds for all of us through next year as well.

On the amateur radio front it has been an exceptional year for me.  Since January 1st of this year I have made at least one QRP contact every day, not a day has been missed.  In fact I have put 3464 QRP contacts in my log this year, yet I still hear that "QRP doesn't work"........yeah, and I have a unicorn for sale to the highest bidder.  All my POTA activations have been done with my KX3, and I have to say that I just love that radio.  I wish I had bought it years ago.

I have activated 130 parks in the POTA program, which, if the truth be told, has managed to keep me sane during these trying times....my wife may argue that fact though.   

Best piece of gear bought this year?  My set of Workman Hamsticks......they win hands down.  You can't beat them for ease of set-up and being so easy to use.  Every day I'm amazed at where I can talk to with them.

At the start of the year I was determined to get on the air using CW.  My Dad, VE7CVQ (SK) was a CW fanatic.  He didn't own a mic, but many keys.  I knew he would be very disappointed with me not knowing and operating CW.  So.....I'm pretty pleased to tell you that this year I have made and completed 394 CW QSO's.  I'm over the moon with that.

Plans for next year are up in the air of course, as they will depend on what the government has to say about inter-provincial travel.  I have several POTA mini-DXpeditions planned to different parts of the province, as well as a trip out west to see family.  I have my doubt the western trip will happen in 2022, the trips within Ontario I'm hoping will happen, but they depend on whether or not the parks open.

I hope everyone has a very Happy New Year, and that you all stay safe.

Here's the QSO map from today, my last POTA activation of the year, Number 130:

December 30th, 2021........17m and 40m.