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!

Flu Season...

It was the first time in 10 days that I have been on the HF bands today. While I'm still not over the flu, I'm actually feeling a lot better with the exception of the cough which I just can't get rid of. I must apologize to those operators to whom I had a coughing fit while trying to answer their calls.

We have had quite a bit of snow in the past week, and many of the local POTA spots are unaccessible due to fact they haven't been plowed out yet. Knowing how things operate around here, it may be some days before the clean up is done. The only place I could get to was CA-5141, Lemoine Point, they had actually plowed out the access road and parking lot. 

The daily propagation didn't look very good, but I thought it was worth a try. The numbers were: SFI=159, SN=126, A Index=27, and the K Index=2. There was also lots of very deep QSB on all the bands. It was also -10C (14F) with several snow squalls coming through the area while I was there. 

I decided to start the activation on 10m SSB as it looked promising and eventually moved to 15m. First up was Pedro, PR8ZX, in Brazil and 6254 km away. Pedro was followed by DL1AX, IZ4DYQ, and F5NZO. I ended the day with 15 contacts in the log.

It was nice to be able to get out of the house for a change of scenery, made even better by being about to do a POTA activation, especially for the SYP Winter Event. Radio was my trusty KX3 set at 10 screaming watts and ham sticks. 

Here's todays contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!

Better than I Expected...

I have to admit the bands were in far better shape than what I had been led to believe by yesterday's propagation numbers. 15m was the money band.

I've actually been sick the last few days with the flu, and a very bad cough, so I really wasn't planning on going out to do a POTA activation.....but there we were, rocking it!

The propagation numbers were: SFI=135, SN=82, A Index=4 and the K Index=2. The QSB was bad and S9 signals completely disappeared in seconds leading to a pile of missed contacts.

First in the log was Etienne OS8D in Belgium, followed by SP8DJY, SQ2HEN, F5NZO, and OE4JHW. Not too bad for mid-morning on 15m.

I finished the activation with 5 CW contacts, all on 20m. It was a good morning and I'm glad I decided to go.

It'll be a few days before I'm ready to go out again though, I want the weather and temperatures to improve first, and my throat needs to heal.

Here's the contact map:

Stay Safe Out There.

Plans for 2026...

Here we are in 2026 and wondering what surprises this year will bring - and given the current state of the world, who knows what will happen.

I've been spending a few days making my amateur radio plans for this year, such as continuing my QRP operating, regardless of our place in the solar cycle and continuing my portable operations.

I'm still doing my "do my own thing" agenda that I started in 2017. I'm doing what I want to, when I want to do it....on my time and my space. It's a healthy "no stress" way of living, and I feel a lot better for it...and of course the older you get the better that approach is for you.

I want to restart my weekend morning QRP activities, and hopefully I can get them restarted as soon as the temperatures come out of single digits and the snow/ice disappears from the local POTA operating locations. These activities will be open to other local hams who want to join me. This is an extremely relaxing time for me, just a great way to spend a quiet morning...you guys should try it.

Plans are still being made to take part in Winter & Summer Field Days, the ILLW, and the US Island QSO Party. These have become staples in my yearly operating calendar, as have the four annual Support Your Park events for POTA.

This year I'm also planning another long road trip back home to the West Coast....I'm calling it the "Ultimate Odyssey Tour 2026" - 31 days, 10,500 km, and 52 POTA Parks, including 11 ATNO's. This will in all probability be my last solo trip home....The "Boss" has spoken.

The truck is still ready to go as I didn't remove the bed or storage racks from the last trip of last year. I've just got to clean the camping equipment, and the back of the truck, and I should be ready to roll. Hopefully I will have better weather than I had in 2024.

And as usual I look forward to writing about my adventures...or the lack thereof!

Stay Safe Out There!