Chillycon 2022 - It's over...

Another successful Chillycon is over, and this one while short on attendees, was pretty good.  It turns out a number the regulars didn't come out for it as they thought it as going to be too cold.  In fact the weather was great, yeah it was a little cool first thing in the morning, but it soon warmed up.  At least we had no rain!!

I spent Thursday and Friday doing road trips to various local parks listed on the POTA app, in fact I ended up having to submit 10 separate POTA logs for the time we where at Rideau River Provincial Park.  Ok, so I went a bit nuts this year, it was my holiday - give me a break.

Saturday on the air was spectacular, I made 99 contacts that day, see the QSO map below:

The lines heading off on the right side of the map were heading to Europe, four contacts were made into Spain and one into Poland.  Not too shabby for 10w and a 40m EFHW antenna.

One of the antenna experiments I did this weekend was trying to get on 80m using various pieces of equipment I have.  I used my Buddipole VersaHub with the large Buddipole low-band coil, and then topped it with the MFJ 17' telescopic whip.  Along with that I used three 17' ground radials, and had it working just fine.  The match at 3.750 was 1.2:1.  This is definitely a keeper.  

Eric, VA3AMX, won the DX Trophy, for what seems the 100th time, with a nice cw QRP contact with a VK6.  I guess it helps if you sit up all night waiting for the right moment 😎

Over the past year I have been looking at various cw keys, trying to find the right one, and the most comfortable one for me.  So thanks to Eric, I'm now the proud owner of a Kent Engineering Standard Morse Key, and what a beauty it is!!!  I remember my Dad using one of these keys, but I don't know where it ended up after he passed away.  Anyway, Thanks Eric, it will be used!!

Stay Safe Out There!!

Saturday on the Bands...

Fort Henry from todays "shack"

What a fantastic morning on the bands it was today!!   It was warm and we had blue skies, quite the change from yesterdays activation were it poured down the whole time I was on the radio.

I had 38 contacts in the log when I finished, including 8 park-2-parks.  Both 40m and 20m, while not looking too good on the forecast, actually performed very well.

The propagation numbers where:  SFI=146, SN=128, A Index=12, and the K Index=3.  

I was under the impression that the Fort was closed for the season, but judging by the full parking lot that isn't the case.  I managed to find a quiet spot near the Fort and set up with no hassle...a few strange looks, but no issues.

POTA activations at the Fort always do very well, regardless of the days propagation it seems.  I'm sure the height of the hill has something to do with it.  

Here's todays contact map:

Another view from todays "shack", looking over the 1000 Islands.

Stay Safe out There!!

Chillycon 2022...

Coming up on September 30th to October 2nd is this years edition of Chillycon.   In normal years this would have been held last weekend, but the park has decided to stay open a few more weeks this year, so we took the option of going later in the year with the hope the campground will have less visitors and be a heck of a lot quieter than last year.

Chillycon is the annual gathering of QRP'ers in Eastern Ontario, and many lively discussion on various radios and antennas will be held around a campfire.  This year there will be a large gathering of Eastern Ontario POTA operators, so it will be interesting to hear about their activation stories and techniques. This year I expect there will be a good number of local POTA activations in the area around the park.

So far the weather looks cold but dry....which is a lot better than cold and wet!  I just hope the propagation is good for the weekend, as we have to beat Eric, VE3AMX, in the DX Trophy Contest that weekend.

I'll be spending this weekend cleaning and packing camping equipment.  My portable radio gear is already to go as it is my normal POTA gear that I use almost daily.

I'll have a full report of the event after I return home.  Until then, Stay Safe!

Hurricane Net - 2022...

Tis the Season....

This info is just in......this years Hurricane Watch Net is up and running. Please keep clear of the following freqs so they can work emergency traffic if needed:

14.325

7.286

In addition the Dominican Republic Amateur Radio Society is currently operating on 7.065 and 3.785 as Hurricane Fiona is working its way towards them.

Let's all hope the Nets are not needed!!

Back at it...

What a great day it was on the bands today.  They seem to be settling down again nicely, the QSB has all but disappeared, and the POTA Hunters are back out in force.

The next couple of days seem to be a good time get out and do some more portable operating in the local parks:

This afternoon I headed over to Lemoine Point Conservation Area and did a quick activation.  It took me 30 minutes to get 19 contacts in my logbook.  Nothing spectacular, and no DX, but it was just nice to get out and operate for the first time in a week.

The propagation numbers this afternoon were:  SFI=127, SN=72, A Index=19, and the K Index=2.

Here's todays QSO map:

I'm planning another operating session in a local park for tomorrow.  More than likely it will be in Marshlands Conservation Area, close to downtown.  The propagation and the weather both look good for a change!

Stay Safe Out There!

Solar Storm...(Updated 0230 UTC, 5th September)

The bands are not looking very good today.....or tomorrow, from the space weather forecast.

Updated - 0230 UTC, September 5:

The Bands Are Hopping...

What a great afternoon chasing POTA stations I had today.  Finally the propagation seemed to be good enough to make good contacts.  I managed to put 31 contacts in my log in 28 minutes.  That including having to switch Hamsticks from 40m to 20m.

The propagation was: SFI=116, SN=50, A Index=7, and the K Index=2.

It took my exactly 6 minutes to get the 10 qualifying contacts for the park I was in, in my log.  Just amazing after so many weeks of bad bands and lousy propagation. 

Here's todays contact map.  You can see the 40m ring of contacts and further out the 20m ring:

Unfortunately it doesn't look like this good patch of propagation will last.  Here's the outlook for the next few days:

It may be a quiet weekend on Ham Radio this weekend, but hopefully things will improve by next week.

Stay Safe Out There!!

Well, It Could Have Been Better!!...

Last Saturday I, and three other members of the Upper Canada QRP Club, set off early to activate 2 separate islands for the W/V Island QSO Party.  It was also convenient that both of the islands fell within the boundaries of VE-0023, and VE-4882, which are local POTA entities.

Don VE3MNE, and I set off for Lower Brewers Mill and Washburn Island.  George VE3SIQ and the Bob VA3QV went to Upper Brewers Mill Island, about 3 km north of us.

This was actually the very first official club activity since we shut things down for Covid.  It was sure nice to get club activities going again.  The weather was somewhat cool, with a stiff wind blowing in the morning, but that soon gave way to blue skies and warm temperatures.

When Don and I arrived at Lower Brewers Mill we found that it was a construction site, with no real parking.  It turns out that the single lane wooden bridge that takes traffic across the canal is being rebuilt, and the parking lot was filled with construction trailers.  

We worked things out and spread out in order to not interfere with each other.  The bands were in terrible shape, with very deep QSB and near constant static crashes.  The propagation numbers were:

SFI=119, SN=90, A Index=7, and the K Index=4.

So in three hours I managed a grand total of 15 contacts, and Don didn't do much better.  The best part of the day was that fellow club member Dave VA3ORP, paddled down the canal from his QTH and joined us for a while.  It was nice to catch up with him.  I even managed a couple of CW contacts with him as he paddled up and down the canal.  

Best contact of the day?  Juan-Jose, EC5CSW, in Valencia, Spain.  Not too bad for 5w SSB !! 

Here's a picture of Dave VA3ORP, as he arrived:

Yes, that's a Hamstick mounted on the Kayak, and a 2.5w tuna can CW rig in his hands.

I wonder what the next adventure will be?

Stay Safe Out There!!