Barnston sits in the middle of the Fraser River between Pitt Meadows and Surrey. Accessible only via a short, free, five minute ferry ride, it's a beautiful spot to spend a day. I was there over six hours and never saw another person.
The final destination was Robert Point, a small park area at the western tip of the island. Parking is almost non-existent, in fact I don't think there is supposed to be any parking at all, but I managed to find a small spot that I could squeeze in the van.
The radio of the day was my FT-817ND and I used my 17' collapsible MFJ whip antenna with two elevated counterpoises set for 20m. It worked exactly as I practiced with in Kingston before I left, definitely a keeper.
The ferry stops around 2300 hrs local so I was able to work late into the evening and put over 30 contacts in my log, mainly communist China and Japan with the odd Canadian and US station. Not too shabby for a QRP operation.
Overall it was a very relaxing day and I really enjoyed myself. I'll definitely be back there on my next trip out west.
Great to hear from you again was wondering how the trip was going as I had not seen any posts for some time. Good to read that all is well. Very nice activation and where I am in Toronto I could never imagine what it would be like to take my rig to the outdoors and never see one person. Great updates and keep us up to speed regarding the radio adventure.
ReplyDelete73,
Mike
Unlike the last trip across country Mike, I had very spotty wifi availability. The route I chose to drive had no Tim Horton's between Kenora and Calgary !!! ......I was in coffee withdrawal by the time I got out west. Glad to be home though, and I've decided that my next trip out west will be via train.....but I'll need a folding vertical to get through the tunnels :-)
DeleteCheers & 73,
Bill