Signing Off...

After 17 years of writing this Blog it has come to an end. For some reason it will no longer allow me to upload pictures or maps. In fact it will not let me to upload anything. This has been happening on and off over the past few months, but as of yesterday it just won't work.

Maybe it's a sign that the time has come to walk away, so I'm going to do that.

Perhaps, if this issue gets changed or fixed I'll start on it again.

Thanks to all of the people who have taken the time to read my musings, I have enjoyed doing it.

Cheers & 73,

Bill VE3FI

Rough Conditions...

The bands were not in the best of shape today, very noisy and bad QSB made operating "interesting". Then of course there were the deliberate QRM stations trying to screw things up.

No DX was worked today, but, and this is a first, I ran out of battery power 3/4's of the way through the activation. It's a good job I also carry a 12v 3 amp Bioenno as well, just in case, and today was the day. It allowed me to finish the activation.

Propagation numbers today were: SFI=109, SN=111, A Index=9, and the K Index=2.

Radio was my KX3 at 10w, and the usual hamsticks for antennas.

I wonder if any other POTA activators have had the following issue. Today, I started on 40m at about 7.189, and while working stations I noticed another station had appeared on top of me calling out strings of weird combinations of letters and numbers. It didn't sound like a recording. Anyway, I QSY'ed up the band to 7.288, and soon after the same station was there calling strings of numbers and letters over me again. I QSY'ed once again to 7.180 and within a few minutes the same station was there pulling the same stunt. In the end I QSY'ed to 20m and the issue went away. I guess some people have nothing to do with their lives but to be idiots.

The day ended with 19 in the log, and then it was home for lunch. I'm planning on being back out tomorrow after our club breakfast.

Here's the contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!

Easter Propagation...

The propagation this Easter Weekend is certainly not looking too good. Hopefully it will pick up for next week.

Stay Safe Out There!

Great DX...

I decided, despite the CQ WPX SSB Contest, to try and activate Parrott's Bay, CA-5142. Normally on contest weekends I try and refrain from activating parks as it's too much of a hassle fighting for bandwidth.

Today was a little bit different. Instead of posting my activation on POTA Spots I just chased stations from the park, and it worked very well for me, in fact I think I will try this again during the next big contest.

It was a great day on 15m SSB today. I was very happy at how many pileups I broke with my KX3 at 10 watts, and a Hamstick. Is it just me or are there less people contesting these days? It just didn't seem as busy as I thought it would be.

Propagation was fine, but there was a little QSB. The numbers were: SFI=162, SN=118, A Index=10, and the K Index=2. 

First up today was Miguel TO7O, and he was followed by: TI7W, P45A, TI1K, HI3LT, PT1M, 8P5A, J62K, and V47T.

So don't be scared to try and activate a park during a contest, instead of posting a spot, just go and hunt.

Here's todays contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!!

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, with a certificate, 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 do POTA? 

You need five things to do 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!!