Wednesday 7 February 2024
New Milestone...
Friday 2 February 2024
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!
Wednesday 31 January 2024
FYBO - 2024
Monday 29 January 2024
Winter Field Day....the Aftermath...
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. |
Monday 22 January 2024
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!
Thursday 18 January 2024
Winter Field Day...
Saturday 13 January 2024
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!
Saturday 6 January 2024
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!!