New Milestone...

Finished this off this morning.  I knew I was getting close, and have been trying to complete the 100 activations at Parrott's Bay, VE-5142, for over a week now - but life just gets in the way sometimes.

Propagation was excellent!!  SFI=190, SN=144, A Index=8, and the K Index=1.  There was some light QSB, but I didn't find it too bad.

I started off on 40m and managed to put only 8 contacts in the log before the QSO's just dried up.  As a result I moved to 15m and put another 23 in the log.  15m was in great shape, and I managed to get 6 European DX stations, EA1BUL, F4ILH, G4ELZ, EA4TL, IU1HJF, and DH4PSG.  I also put CO6QK in the log, this was the very first Cuban station I have worked doing POTA. 

Radio of the day was my KX3 at 10w, and the antenna was, as usual, a 15m hamstick on the roof of my truck on a 5" mag-mount.

I'm looking forward to doing this again at Lemoine Point, VE-5141, sometime in the next month or two.  I'm at 84 activations there, so only another 16 to go.

Here's todays contact map:

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!!

Back to the Park...

I had a great time this morning at VE-5142, Parrotts Bay Conservation Area, here in Collins Bay, Ontario.  The weather was great, it was actually +2C, but the wind was still a bit raw - so you still had to wrap up to stay warm.

The propagation was good, although there was some pretty deep QSB.  SFI=137, SN=131, A Index=5, and the K Index=0. These numbers are supposed to stay fairly consistent over this coming weekend. Time will tell!

Once again I spent the whole activation on 15m, with my KX3 pumping out a magnificent 10w into a Hamstick mounted on the roof of my truck.  First up today was Danny ON4ON with a solid S7 signal.  He was followed by Juergen OE4JHW, and Etor F5VMN, both of these two stations were a good S9 to me.  It's always a bonus when you can work some good DX during a POTA activation, especially with QRP power.

Here's todays contact map:

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!

FYBO - 2024

This weekend sees the 2024 edition of the Freeze Your Butt Off QRP event, sponsored by the AzScQRPions. 

Rules can be found HERE.

The event runs from 1400 UTC to 2359 UTC, February 3rd.  I'm planning on going out and setting up for this event in my local park.  The weather forecast is calling for +1C under sunny skies.....should be good for an afternoon of fun and QRP!!

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!

Winter Field Day....the Aftermath...

We had a good time.  The weather wan't too bad, a little light rain, but it stayed up at about +2C all weekend.  Of course that meant melting snow and mud, but we survived that.

The propagation could have been much better, but it was what it was.  On Saturday it was: SFI=157, SN=52, A Index=6, and the K Index=0. On Sunday it was SFI=148, SN=48, A Index=5, and the K Index=2. Our dear Sun had obviously decided not to be too cooperative for the event.  We had lots of bad QSB as well, one minute a signal was S9+, and the next second they were gone, just disappeared as if they had never been there.

I used my 17' collapsible whip with my mag-mount on the roof of the truck as my main antenna for the weekend, and it worked great on Saturday......not so much on Sunday morning though for some reason.  On Sunday morning Don VE3MNE, kept breaking through and over loading the front end of my KX3, he was on 15m and I was still working 20m, I guess we're going to have to buy some band filters and sort all that out.

We only made about 100 contacts between us, but we had a good time.  We worked SSB and CW....except instead of using the club call, VE3UCC, I stupidly forgot and used my own call when I switched over to CW, so I have to try and sort out that mess.  We live and learn I guess.

The main reason I wanted to do WFD this year was to see if the gear I'm taking on my road trip this year worked as advertised, and I think it's ready, there may be a few more little tweaks, but nothing major as it is really good to go now.

Here's a few pictures of the event:

Jim, VE3ULC, chasing WFD stations.

Getting ready to shoot some antenna lines in the trees.

Don, VE3MNE, chasing Hawaii on 15m.

Our home for the weekend.

Here we go Again...

Propagation is not looking good for the next few days.  Here's the latest forecast:

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!

Winter Field Day...

Coming up next weekend is Winter Field Day. This version of Field Day is somewhat different from its warm weather brother in June. This is a chance to practice our Emcomm and deployment skills under cold weather conditions, instead of the bugs and oppressive high heat of June. As the association states: "Not all emergencies happen in the good weather".

Rules can be found HERE.

The event starts at 1900 UTC on Saturday, January 27, and ends at 1859 UTC on Sunday, January 28.

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!

Friday in the Park...

It was a nice day yesterday....for January, and around this part of Canada.  It was a balmy -5C under cloudy grey skies, but it wasn't snowing or raining!

The days propagation was the best I've seen in a long time, and that's what gave me the kick to get out and play radio.  The propagation was: SFI=193, SN=180, A Index=6, and the K Index=0. There was a bit of QSB out there, but it wasn't too bad.

First up was Manuel EA2DT, and he was quickly followed by Jose EA1BUL.  These two operators always seem to find me when I'm out in a park.  I did have one interesting thing happen, I was working KI5MM, Lee in Texas, and I became aware of a very faint station under him also talking on the frequency. Up to now I had had no interference so I was a bit surprised.  Then it hit me, I had called for the Texas station by asking for the "Mike" station, and back came Lee.  However, David M0YDB must have thought I was calling him. Anyway I finished with Texas and called for any UK stations, and back came David again to make sure he was in my log.

Radio was my usual KX3 set at 10w, and the antenna was a 15m Hamstick on the roof of my truck. I put 37 contacts in the logbook in 30 minutes, so I was very pleased with that. My plan was to go out again today, but an overnight snow storm put an end to those plans.  We also have another large snow storm coming in overnight tonight, so it looks like there will be no radio in the park on Sunday either.

Here's the contact map for the day:

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!

Back on the Air...

It's been a long 3 weeks but I'm finally testing negative for covid.  I've had a headache and have been coughing for weeks, and while the headache has gone, the coughing remains...just as bad as it has been all this time.  However, it's nice to be able to taste food again and my sense of smell has also returned.  I guess I'll have a few more weeks from what I have read of the lingering effects....but I sure don't want to go through covid again.

Today I had had enough of sitting around the house, so I decided to go and do a POTA activation at Parrotts Bay, which is about 15 minutes from my home.  It has been a very cloudy day with temperatures hovering around -5C, in fact it's just started to snow.

This was my first activation in a month, and I must tell you all that with the covid brain fog that comes with having covid, it was a struggle to remember how to do things at times.....I managed to get through it.

Propagation today was: SFI=153, SN=128, A Index=5, and the K Index=0.  Radio was my KX3 set at 10w, antenna was a 15m hamstick on the roof of my truck.  I put 20 contacts in the log, all on 15m, and I'm happy with that.  By contact number 20 I was ready to go home and have a hot mug of tea, I find I still get tired very fast.

Hopefully I will be able to get out and do more POTA activations over the next week as my health slowly improves, it's good for my soul it seems.

Here's todays contact map:

Stay Safe and Well Out There!!