Activations this weekend

This weekend, 20th & 21st October is shaping up to be a pretty busy one for Island and Lighthouse activations here in Eastern Ontario.  It is the W / VE Island QSO Party weekend and many hams will be heading out to take part.

So far we have the following anouncements....

Dave VE3FOI will be activating Tintern Island - ON 254.

Tim VA3TIC and Derek VE3HRW will be activating Howe Island - ON 023.

Doug VE3GJ will be activating Henley Island - ON 007.

Bill VE3FCT will be activating Wolfe Island - ON 009 and Simcoe Island - ON 022.

Jerry N1Qll will be doing a first time activation of Mistake Island, Maine.

Also, John VE3ISE will be activating both of the Port Dalhousie Lights - CAN 540 and CAN 541.

On top of these activations we also the Jamboree On The Air this weekend.  We have two local stations going on the air for this event.  We have VE3SFD operating from Otter Lake Scout Camp, and VE3SIQ operating from Whispering Pines Scout Camp.

So a busy weekend, let's all hope the SFI Gods are in a good mood and cooperate so we can all have a good time!

Jamboree on the Air 2012

Frontenac Radio Group will be hosting Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts from the Perth and Ottawa area on Saturday, October 20 and Sunday, October 21, at Whispering Pines Scout Camp, starting at about 0900L.

Call sign in use for the weekend will be VE3SIQ. 

Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts all over the world will be participating in the Jamboree on the Air.

Look for the Scouts on SSB (phone)
80 m 3.690 & 3.940 MHz
40 m 7.090 & 7.190 MHz
20 m 14.290 MHz
17 m 18.140 MHz
15 m 21.360 MHz
12 m 24.960 MHz
10 m 28.390 MHz
6 m 50.160 MHz

This is a great opportunity to showcase ham radio to our younger generation, so if you hear a station calling "CQ JOTA" give them a shout!

Sunday at the Lighthouse

On a positive note.....it didn't rain!  It was very cool though, the high was only +8C and there was a pretty good breeze down by the water to make it feel real cold.  Shades of winter days to come!  After the summer we have had it is very hard to start thinking of how to dress for the cooler weather. 

Rig of the day was the IC-703 and the antenna was the "Chilicon Special Mk 2".  Once again this setup did a great job.  We made a good number of contacts, from N6O in Santa Barbara, California, to DL/PS3LPG in Weeze, Germany, and a ton of others in between them.

What is amazing is that I was kind if lazy today and I only put out two 33' radials, not the usual small forest of wire that is usually strewn about the ground, and to be honest I didn't notice any difference in antenna performance. 

Today Larissa-VE3KGC came along with us.  Larissa is a fairly new ham, and today we had her on the air with her "new" Ten-Tec Scout.  It's a really nice little rig and it performed very well today.  This was the first time I have seen this rig in action and I was impressed with it. 

The numbers were not very impressive today, we had: SFI-98; A Index-6; K Index-1; and the SN-39.  We certainly seen a lot better over the past few weeks. 

Oh well, hopefully it will get better for next Sunday when I'm going to give George-VE3SIQ a hand attempting to activate, for the second time, Brewer's Mill Island.  Hopefuly this time we will get the required 26 QSO's.  I'm starting to like this moving houses, it gives me another excuse to get out, decompress and play radio.

Nicholson's Point Light

I'm in the process of taking down all the HF and VHF antennas at my current QTH due to the upcoming move to a new and much bigger QTH.  So postings on the Blog have had to take a back seat for a while....and probably will do for a few more weeks. 

However this coming Sunday I, and several others, will be out at the Nicholson's Point Light for a day of portable operating.  This will be the very first activation for this light, CAN-1425 after we had it approved and the ARLHS assigned it an official number last year.

The light is in a small lakeside park, and because of the popularity of this park we can only activate the light in the cooler weather, in order to stay clear of the crowds that normally swarm the place.

Three HF stations will be on the air operating as VE3FRG. Frequencies will be:

7.250
14.250 - 14.260
28.450

There will also be a 2m SSB and 6m SSB station on the air.  They will operate on 50.125, and 144.200.

We are all praying to the weather God for a sunny, dry, but cool day with excellent prop!   Here's hoping!

Sunday Radio

Something broke the local Internet this morning after our ham breakfast, and with no new books loaded in the Kobo I was forced to play radio to fight off the boredom. 

Up to the shack I went, turned on the FT-950, and was nearly blown out of my seat by the signals coming in on 10m, 12m and 15m.  I spent a great couple of hours cruising the bands and managed eight solid QRP SSB contacts.....

10m HA0NAR - Hungary

10m 9A208DX - Croatia

10m 9A4WY - Croatia

10m GW4BLE - Wales

10m IT9PQJ - Italy

10m TU5KG - Ivory Coast

15m EG5INT - Spain

12m SV3AQR - Greece

SFI was at 126; A Index at 4;  K Index at 1; and the SN at 46.  Not the best numbers we have seen but they did the job today.

So, whoever the kind soul was who ran into the telephone pole and cut the internet connection.......thank you for a most enjoyable morning!