Messing with Antennas...

With the Ottawa - Kingston Bike Tour cancelled last weekend, and having a lot of spare time, I took the time to dig out some of my antenna parts and try an experiment.

The one band I have issues with operating portable is 80m. Most of the spots in and around Kingston are not large enough to string up an 80m dipole.  And those that are large enough are normally far too busy with dog walkers, or kids running around to safely use one.  So what is the answer? Well, I threw some Buddipole parts in the van and headed out to the local park to find out.

I took my Buddipole Versahub and tripod legs, the large Buddipole coil, a 17' MFJ collapsible whip, and two 66' radials.  Using these parts I guessed would allow me to get on both 40m and 80m.  Not that I needed another 40m vertical, but this version does have more metal in the air, so that must be a good thing.

Don, VE3MNE brought out his analyzer and had a look at the 40m variant.  We used two 17' ground radials for this antenna. It looked great right from the start, we but tweaked it a little more and got it closer to a 50 ohm match.  The reactance was sitting at +4 when we finished, so I didn't think we could get any better, so on the air we went.

Bob, VA3RCS, told us it sounded very good on air and to leave it alone, he gave us an S9+ report, so we decided to take his advice and not change things, and then we moved to the 80m version.

The 80m version with two 66' ground radials is not so good.  While the analyzer certainly gave us good numbers, and everything looked really good, our quick QSO with Bob didn't go so well.  After giving us S9+ on 40m, he gave us a S3 on 80m, and told us we were right in his noise floor.  Pretty disappointing, and the bottom line is I'm still searching for a solution to get on 80m in the parks.

Here's a few more pics:

Don VE3MNE in action with the analyzer.

A close up of the large coil and the band clips.

More experiments to come......Stay Safe Out There!

A New Day...

Yesterday the band conditions were not very good, and I struggled to get the POTA site activated.  Today, operating at exactly the same time as yesterday, it was a bit different.

It took 42 minutes to put 23 contacts in my log, nine on 40m, four on 15m, and ten on 20m. I was really surprised when Charles, VA6CHK, answered my CQ on 15m.  It's been a long time since I worked any station from Alberta, that's almost as rare as Europe.  Charles was 2774 Km from me, not bad for 10w and a Hamstick!

Todays propagation numbers were:  SFI=164, SN=148, A Index=4, and the K Index=1.  The very deep QSB was a lot worse than yesterday, and I had a number of reports of my signal completely fading away in the middle of a QSO.

Here's todays contact map:

Hopefully band conditions will start to improve soon.

Stay Safe Out There!

Rotten Band Conditions...

Yet another mediocre day on the bands today.  I started on 40m and managed to get two contacts in 10 minutes before I decided to switch to 15m.  That band wasn't too bad as I could hear many European stations calling CQ, as well as being already in a QSO.  But it was not a good day to be calling, or answering, CQ's with QRP power....no contacts on 15m.

After another 20 minutes I decided to give 20m a try, and in the next 12 minutes managed to put ten contacts in the logbook.  Obviously I should have started on 20m and saved the anxiety I had on 40m and 15m.

Propagation numbers this morning were: SFI=169, SN=146, A Index=5 and the K Index=0. There was also a lot of deep QSB on the bands as well.  

I know it's summer and 40m is always flakey, so I think for the next few weeks I'll stick to 20m, 17m, and 15m, at least they seem to work some days.

Radio, as usual, was my KX3.  Antenna used was my Wolf River Mini on my Buddipole versahub, and a Canadian Army 9'5" collapsible whip.

Here's today's map showing my meager contact count:

Stay Safe Out There!!

Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour...UPDATED

This event is cancelled and has been rescheduled for the end of July.

Next weekend, June 10th & 11th, is the 50th running of the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour, and the 15th year the Frontenac Radio Group has provided communications support for the event.  

We do have the threat of rain on us this weekend.  It's only a 40% chance, but it's not a thing we need or want.  The last time we got hit with cold rain was 11 years ago, that year 60% of the riders went down with hypothermia with the tour being abandoned half way, and riders evacuated by bus back to Ottawa.

There are only 1300 riders registered this year, the numbers being reduced from the more normal 2100 due to covid concerns.

For those hams who regularly use the VE3FRG C4FM repeater here in Kingston, please note it will be out of service next weekend and reserved for the Bike Tour traffic only.  If you need a repeater please use the VE3KBR repeater on 146.940- with a 151.4 tone.

As of yesterday, June 6th we are under an air quality watch due to forest fires in Ontario and Quebec.  We, here in Kingston, are in the worst of the smoke and as a result our air quality is the worst.  I'm actually hoping they cancel the tour as I don't think it's safe....but the decision to go / no go, will be made tomorrow.

Here's the air quality map:

Stay Safe Out There !!

POTA Sunday...

It was a fast activation this morning after spending all day yesterday playing radio or doing radio "things".  The bands had changed since yesterday afternoon, and 40m was not much good at all.

Todays propagation was: SFI=165, SN=96, A Index=5, and the K Index=2.

I activated Parrotts Bay, VE-5142.  Unfortunately the place was full with about 50 people having large family gathering and picnic, and the place was overrun with small screaming children running all over the place with no adult supervision.  Not a good place for ground radials!

The radio for a change was my FT-817ND with my hamstick antennas. I started on 40m and it was very short, and I managed to put four of my usual customers in the log and then the band got very noisy and just disappeared.  I looked at the other bands, 20m was very busy and I couldn't find a free frequency to start calling on.  So I decided to move to 15m, and was lucky enough to get another eleven in the log before that band died as well.  By this time I was tired of the constant screaming of the children and decided to pack up and go home. To be honest I found it strange that 15m was that busy, normally it's dead.

Here's today's contact map:

All in all it was a great weekend.

Stay Safe Out There!!

Smiths Falls...

I had a very good day yesterday.  After three years the Smiths Falls Ham Radio Flea Market was back in business.   No dealers this year, it was mainly piles of over-priced ancient junk that nobody in their right mind would pay any money for.  The good side was seeing, and talking to, so many fellow hams I haven't seen in the last three years.  

So what made it so good?  Well, meeting with friends from Ottawa and Smiths Falls, a good social lunch, and an afternoon of POTA beside the Rideau Canal National Historical Site made up for the disappointment of the flea market.

Eric VE3DN, Ranson VE3RCD, Don VE3MNE, and I went to Matti O'Shea's Irish Pub for lunch.  It was the first time we had been there, other than Ranson who recommended the place.  The food was great and the locally brewed beer was excellent.  I'm sure we'll be back next year.

After lunch we all headed back to Lower Reach Park, which is along the Rideau Canal, VE-4882, and active it for a few hours.  The weather was superb, we couldn't have asked for better.  I managed to activate the park on 40m with 15 contacts, including 9 P2P's.  Don spent his time hunting and made several good contacts.  Ranson activated with his digital station, and Eric chased European DX unsuccessfully.

Saturday's Contact Map

The propagation was pretty decent, other than some deep QSB.  SFI=162, SN=109, A Index=5, and the K Index=0.

Here's some pictures of the afternoon:

Eric VE3DN figuring out Ranson's IC-705

The VE3FI and VE3MNE mobiles at the Canal.

It was a great day with good friends!

Stay Safe Out There!!

One Canadian ????...

In late April this year I took part in this years QRP to the Field Contest, and really enjoyed myself doing it.  The weather was decent - for the time of year - and for once the propagation gods aligned and the bands behaved.

I was astonished earlier today to see the results posted, with myself in seventh place, and surprised to find I was the only Canadian to submit a score sheet, and even more shocked to see I was the only QRP SSB entry.  It is surprising that there is not more interest in this beauty of a contest north of the border.

Here's this years scores:

I'm already looking forward to doing this contest again next year!

Stay Safe Out There!!

This Week on the Radio...

Over the past 4 days I've managed to pull off seven POTA activations thanks to the improvement in the propagation.  Hopefully it's only going to get better.   It's been really nice being able to get out to the parks and bask in the nice weather we have been having, it's actually started to warm up here in Eastern Canada, and it's becoming much more comfortable to be outside again.  

Yesterday, down at Lemoine Point -VE-5141, I managed to make contact with several European stations including Rodolfo I4RHP, in Bologna, Italy.  Not too bad for 10w into a hamstick.

Today at Parrott's Bay - VE-5142, although the propagation numbers have improved overnight, my contact number was down, and no DX....but it is a work day, and yesterday was a holiday in the USA so there were more operators on the air.

Todays propagation was SFI=154, SN=179, A Index=4, K Index=1.  There was also some very deep QSB on the bands.  I managed to put 18 contacts in the log, but had to use 40m, 15m, and 20m to get those.  

It looks like the next few days will be good propagation wise.

Here's todays contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!!