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.
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!!
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| Fort Henry from todays "shack" |
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:
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| Another view from todays "shack", looking over the 1000 Islands. |
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.
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:
The bands are not looking very good today.....or tomorrow, from the space weather forecast.
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:
