POTA...

Somedays you come across things that make you scratch your head, today was one of those days.

Five years and 876 POTA activations ago I went on line, found the nearest POTA park...and there were not too many in those days...drove there, set up my radio, battery, and antenna and got on the air calling CQ POTA. That was September 18th, 2020. POTA was one of the few activities we could do here because of the Covid epidemic shutdown then happening.

It took a while back then to get the ten required contacts for a successful activation, some days it took over an hour as it wasn't as popular as it has become. In fact you had to explain what POTA was to many of the contacts you made, they had only responded to your call so they could find out what "POTA" was. They all knew what SOTA was, what IOTA was, but POTA, not so much.

We had an excellent guide, the POTA website. It told us all we needed to do, the rules were few and easy to follow...just as they are today. 

So you can imagine my surprise when a friend sent me a link today to a website that is offering a formal course in "How to POTA". It costs US$99. Who are these people who would pay that price rather than simply read the POTA website? My head explodes every time I think about it. 

Has POTA changed? Have the rules changed? Do operators not understand how easy it is to get out and POTA? 

You need five things to POTA, an approved park, a radio, a battery, an antenna, and a way of logging. That's it, there's no course required, and no $99 taken from your wallet, put that money towards a better antenna. It's easy, and you don't need to have a Phd to do POTA. 

Stay Safe Out There....and keep your hands on your wallet!

Propagation...

The latest propagation reports don't look very good.  Here's the forecast for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Let's hope it gets better for next week.

Stay Safe Out There!

First in Over a Year...

It was a warm day here today, for a change. A remarkable +14C (57F) under clear, blue, skies. Definitely portable radio weather! Most of the snow has now melted and the parking sites are drying up.

I discovered yesterday that Marshlands Conservation Area, CA-5143, had not been activated in over a year...18 months in fact, so I decided to get out there today and get it back on the air.

The propagation was SFI=128, SN=67, A Index=7, and the K Index=3. There was a bit of QSB about as well.

Radio was the KX3 at 10w and the antenna were various Hamsticks. First up today on 15m was Jose, EA1BUL, followed by F5PYI, DL1AX, DL4DBM, F5MQU, and HI8D. All together I worked 27 SSB and CW stations using 40m, 17m, and 15m.

The rest of the week here is looking decidedly wintery, lots of heavy rain and snow just about every day. 

Here's todays contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!!

Saturday was good...

Finally after weeks of below zero temperatures we had a day with positive numbers! It was actually 7C (44.6F) outside during my activation at Parrot's Bay....felt like a heat wave!

Propagation was: SFI=139, SN=41, A Index=10, and the K Index=2. There was quite a bit of QSB around as well that made a few hunters not copyable for me.

I managed to do the whole activation on 15m, complete with a few mini-pileups. Not bad for a SSB QRP station.

As you can see from the contact map below, a good number of QSO's were made into Europe, including a fantastic one with Nasos, SV3SFJ in Greece. That's 730 km per watt, not too shabby!

My activations will start to slow down now for a couple of weeks, as the snow and ice start to melt the park parking lots become fields of mud and are very difficult to get in and out of.  I'll be back at it once everything has melted and firmed up ready for the spring.

Here's the contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!!

Thank God For Hamsticks...

My wife bought me a new portable antenna for Christmas this year, and I took it out for today for the first time. It's produced by a couple who have a Youtube channel, called the "Ham Radio Duo". The antenna is called a "Just OK Mini" and it's a single band antenna made for only 20m.

This antenna is made to be used with a camera tripod, and I set it up as such. It has a 13' counterpoise, a small coil, and a 5' telescopic whip....and that's it. I tried for over an hour today to make a contact with it, and failed, miserably. 

The propagation today was SFI=130, SN=38, A Index=18, and the K Index=2. Both the solar wind and the BZ numbers were in the green.

Luckily, I had my set of Hamsticks in my truck and was able to make contacts on 20m using them, where the "Just OK Mini" failed. This was not a controlled experiment by any means, but it was good enough for me to make up my mind about which is the better antenna. Here's a hint, it's not the Christmas present!

First up using the 15m Hamstick was Oscar EA5IIG, followed by SP5XTY, IW4DV, and EA1FXZ. Other contacts were made on 20m, and 40m. 

I'll be back out tomorrow, and I'll give the "Just OK Mini" another try, just to be fair. Watch out for the blog entry on that attempt.

Be Safe Out There!!

Better Weather...

Finally the weather has warmed up enough to get out and do another activation. We have had two weeks of bitterly cold weather, with the occasional heavy snow storm. This isn't unusual for Eastern Canada, but this year we have had a colder and much snowier than usual winter.

So two things happened today, the weather Gods got their act together, and the propagation Gods decided to smile upon us...and the two of them allowed a good morning of radio work.

Propagation was: SFI=122, SN=43, A Index=11, and the K Index=2.

I decided to use 15m SSB today and had great luck on that band. When it went quiet I moved to 17m and made a few more. The 17m contacts were made using the 15m hamstick, it works no problem with the KX3 tuner.

First up today was Luca IU8CNE, followed by SQ9MDF, DH4PSG, EA7DZZ, EA1FXZ, EA2CPG, and DG5LAC. 

I'm hoping to get out again tomorrow as well, before the weather changes back to the incoming snow storm this weekend.

Here's todays contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!!

Good Conditions...

Tuesday morning saw me head off to Parrott's Bay, CA-5142, hoping the parking lot had finally been plowed out after our last big storm....it had!! I had the parking lot to myself, no joggers or dog people out at all.

Looking at the propagation numbers before I left home I had a feeling that I should start on 15m, so I did, and certainly didn't regret that. In fact I did the whole activation on 15m SSB. 

The propagation numbers were: SFI=174, SN=127, A Index=6, and the K Index=1. And no QSB for a change.

First in the log at 1530 UTC was Adrian M7EFA, and he was followed by EA2CCG, G4TDX, DH4PSG, and OZ4MU. A hamstick and 10w, and my report from these guys was S5 across the board. Very happy with that...but I do read in places that life is too short for QRP......😎

Local daytime temperatures are expected to rise over the next two weeks before they are expected to plunge back into the deep negative numbers. I plan on doing a few more activations to satisfy my POTA addiction before it gets too cold again.

Here's the contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!

A First...

The Old Mill in Delta

Yesterday, January 31st, I believe the first Mills On The Air (MOTA) activation took place in North America with the activation of X03429, the Old Stone Mill in Delta, Ontario. Eric, VE3DN, and I also activated POTA CA-0023, the Frontenac Biosphere. 

Delta is about one hour north of Kingston, and is a small village with the population of a couple of hundred people.

I had planned my activation to take place starting at 1400 UTC and had posted notice of the activation on the GMA Alert pages to see if it would drum up any more business for me, especially from Europe......it didn't.

Propagation was "interesting". There was lots of QSB to start, but that disappeared quite quickly. Stations I worked were not very loud, and there seemed to be no power behind their signals. The numbers for the day were: SFI=128, SN=79, A Index=10, and the K Index=0. Weather wise it was -28C (-18F) but it did warm up to a much more enjoyable -22C after lunch.

The only DX of the day came from Dariusz, SP5XTY, in Poland. The other 22 contacts were all in North America, but I did snag a star...I managed to work "Salty Walt", K4OGO. It was great to finally work him.

Radio was my trusty KX3, and the usual hamsticks for antennas. Contacts were made on 15m, 20m, and 40m SSB.

Eric arrived from Kanata in time to go to the Bastard Coffee House for lunch. Bastard being the name of the old Township before it was amalgamated with others to form Rideau Lakes Municipality. The cafe is also the home of the Bastard Amateur Radio Federation who meet there once a month on a weekday afternoon.

After lunch Eric decided to activate CA-0023 with his QCX Mini using a 20m hamstick, and managed to put 21 CW QSO's in the log. The QCX was putting out about 2w maximum. It's an interesting little radio.

I left for home around 1900 UTC, and left Eric to close up his station before he too headed for home.

All-in-all, a very enjoyable day, one I hope to duplicate again soon.

Here's my contact map:

Here's a couple of pictures provided by Eric:

The QCX Mini.

Eric's contact map.

Stay Safe And Warm Out There!!!

Mills on the Air...

It's been a week, or more, since I did a POTA activation. The weather has been a never ending tale of heavy snow falls and brutal cold. Last Saturday it was -41C (-41.8F) and just too cold to sit either outside or in my truck to do an activation.

During this time I've been looking at different portable activation schemes, looking for something other than POTA. You have to stop getting bored, or burnt out, doing the same thing all the time.

There is an annual, non-competitive amateur radio event held globally during the second weekend of May, where operators set up stations at historic windmills or watermills to promote their heritage, but other activations occur on a regular basis throughout the year as well.

I also discovered that there are over 64 mills here in Eastern Ontario, so I have my pick of places to go and spend the day activating. Many of them are also POTA locations, so they're good for dual activations if I wish to do so.

In case you're interested, here's a link to the MOTA map: https://www.cqgma.org/gmamap/

Stay Safe Out There!

Propagation...

It's not looking very good propagation wise for tomorrow, January 20th. A good day for repairing antennas and cleaning radios I think.

Stay Safe Out There!