QRP to the Field...

This Saturday, April 20th, is the day for the 2024 QRP to the Field Event. 

The Rules for the event can be found HERE.

Last year, 2023, I was the only Canadian station to submit a log, and from the results page, it looks like I was the only SSB station as well.  The event allows both CW & SSB.  CW is 5w, and SSB is 10w.

If you're out doing SOTA or POTA, those contacts can be submitted to QRP to the Field.

Get outside and have some fun.

Stay Safe Out There!!

Getting Ready - D-35...

Just over a month until I depart on a 30 day, 10,000+ km cross Canada trip.  This is the first of a couple of updates before my departure day.  I'm planning on activating over 70 POTA parks, including quite a few that have never been activated yet.  If you chase parks you can follow me on POTA Spots during the trip and catch a few new ones.

Jim VE3ULC, and I spent Monday afternoon analyzing some antenna systems to make sure they were acceptable and usable on the new mounts.  It took a little bit of tweaking but all three of them look really good now.

First up was my 40m Hamstick that I plan on using on the rear antenna mount, at night, for my WSPR station.  I'm not planning on using APRS on the trip, as there are currently huge holes in the Canadian APRS coverage map.  Friends and family can log into the WSPR Page each evening and see where I have made it to.  

The 40m hamstick was ok, but we still ended up trimming about 1" off the whip and it came down to 1.1:1 SWR, which is very acceptable.

I initially tried four 17' radials with the hamstick, but found that when I used just two radials you couldn't see the difference.

We also had a look at my Slidewinder coil, that I have never used before, and set it up as it will be used on

the trip.  I'm using the Buddipole Versahub system along with three 33' radials to support it and get it off the ground.  It tuned up on 20m & 40m with no trouble at all (I didn't look at any other bands), and I'm looking forward to making some contacts with it before the trip.

Lastly, we measured and cut the wire for a new 40m EFHW antenna.  This will be used with my SOTABeams Tactical-Mini Mast.  After trimming it, the EFHW tuned up on all bands, 40m through 10m, with no issues at all.  

Later this week I have to start booking provincial and national park camping sites to make sure I have a place to sleep each night.  Next Monday we will be removing the canopy from my truck and re-sealing it to make it water tight.  At the moment it leaks in heavy rain, and I need to keep my sleeping bag and the rest of my equipment nice and dry.

This trip I will not have access to wifi on a regular basis, unlike the other trips I have done, so I will update the page when I can.  

Stay Safe Out There!!

New Piece of Gear...

I picked up a new piece of equipment last week, an ABR Industries RF Choke.  I'm very happy with the choke, it's built extremely well - like a tank, it's about 18" long and has seven series 31 Current Ferrites. The Ferrites are covered with tough heat shrink, and it does the job as advertised......but I'm NOT happy with the hidden costs to get it here.

When I purchased this item from ABR Industries they charged me an additional $30 for shipping, which was almost two-thirds of the base price.  OK, I need the gear, so I'll swallow the cost and purchase it.

What I did not count on was that they shipped it via UPS, and that company charged me an additional $47.95 to deliver it to my door, after I'd already paid ABR for delivery! Delivery charges have now come very close to being twice the actual cost of the piece of equipment. So this is the last piece of gear I will get from ABR Industries as they seem to only ship via UPS.

As I stated, it's a well built piece of equipment, and does a great job, but it's not worth anywhere near the total price I have had to pay to get it.

Stay Safe Out There!

Sweden....

It was a good day on the bands yesterday....for a change!!  The last few days have been particularly bad after the double CME hit, but things are improving.  Hopefully today I will catch some DX on the CQ WPX Contest.

I had a first today, I was at Lemoine Park doing a POTA activation (as usual), and I was hunted by Thomas, SM3NRY, a Swedish station.  This is the very first time I have worked Sweden doing POTA.   Thomas gave me a 58 report, not too bad for 10w into a 15m Hamstick!

Propagation yesterday was: SFI=175, SN=90, A Index=7, K Index=1.

It was a quick activation, only 18 contacts were made, but it was great to be out in the sunshine and a park for even a short time.  Just enough to relax and enjoy things.

Here's the contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!

More Poor Propagation....

Not a good day on the bands today.  It's not too often you see a K Index of 8....and it's not looking too good for tomorrow either!  Here's the latest numbers:

 

Stay Safe Out There!

Rough Day on the Bands...

Parrott's Bay

While the propagation numbers looked ok this morning, the reality of the situation was the bands were total garbage, this was coupled with extremely deep QSB wiping out signals completely.

Today was the first time, ever, it's taken me over an hour to activating a park. I made contacts on 12m, 15m, 20m, and 40m to make 10 simple contacts, it was just insane.....and no DX stations were worked. 

This mornings propagation numbers were:  SFI=131, SN=86, A Index=6, and the K Index=2.

It wasn't all bad, it was a beautiful day to be in the park, +10C under blue sky.  It was great!

Here's todays contact map:

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!

Testing Out the New POTA Prefix...

Over the last weekend POTA decided in its infinite wisdom to change a number of countries prefixes that lead off the individual park numbers.  Canada originally used "VE", as of Saturday we now use "CA". Yes, lots of confusion and grinding of teeth, and I certainly do not like the fact it was thrust upon us as a total surprise, and that the powers that be did not give anyone a heads up that this was happening, but we will get through it. 

One of the problems we all thought we would have is that our logging programs wouldn't accept the new prefix, but that has been disproved today with the activation of CA-5141 and CA-6003, and the successful uploading of the logs with absolutely no issues.

It was a gloriously sunny day today with the temperature sitting at +10C under blue skies.  I did the whole activation with the windows open in my truck, just like a summers day.....in early March, unheard of.

I took my time today and made 31 contacts in 50 minutes. I put 13 on 40m in the log, and another 18 on 15m.  There were 7 DX contacts into Europe, and 8 park-2-park contacts. It was just a great day, and I enjoyed myself and the slow pace of this activation.

The bands were in decent shape, but the QSB was very deep and signals very quickly disappeared forever. The propagation numbers were: SFI=140, SN=112, A Index=10, and the K Index=1.

As usual it was the KX3 at 10w, and Hamstick's on a mag-mount on the roof of my truck. Here's todays contact map:

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!

A Cold Day...

After a couple of fairly warm days, today was bitterly cold again. The cold, coupled with a strong north wind, was not at all pleasant to be out in. But, and there's always a 'But', it's the 29th February and this day only comes every four years, so I thought that was a good enough reason to go to a park and operate.

I went back to Lemoine Point, VE-5141, as I'm close to completing 100 activations there, and want to get that milestone behind me.

Propagation was good, today's numbers were: SFI=180, SN=109, A Index=6, and the K Index=1.  There was also, I found out, some QSB.

I had a look at the solar-terrestrial data before I set-up and realized that once again 15m was going to be my go-to band, so out came the 15m hamstick and mag-mount.

In 25 minutes I put 28 contacts in the log, including 6 Spanish stations, 2 in England, and 1 each from Germany, Austria, and France.  In other words, a great day on the bands for a QRP SSB station!  It never ceases to surprise me what can be done with 10w and a hamstick antenna.

Here's todays contact map:

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!

Good Day Today...

Today I complete my 68th trip around the sun, and while it sucks getting old, it definitely beats the alternative.  As a way of celebrating I decided to return to Lemoine Point, and do another POTA activation, my 89th at that location.

Propagation numbers looked pretty good today, and I thought I would do well on 15m as I have done the last few times I'm been at the park.  The numbers were: SFI=173, SN=101, A Index=3, and the K Index=1.  The Bz was sitting at -0.3, but I've operated with a lot worse than that.

The bad part of today was the fact it was -17C (1F) out, but felt like -21C (-6F) with the wind chill factored in.  As I operate from my truck I figured I would be fine.

The radio of the day was my KX3 set at 10w, and as usual I used a 15m hamstick. I've learned to leave the truck running with the heat blasting away while I set up my antenna, as the door must be open in order for me to reach the roof properly.  

It turns out 15m was good, but it wasn't great.  I managed a total of 19 QSO's before I had to close down due to a failing battery due to the cold. I did get a 2m simplex contact with Jelle VE3THI, who was activating Parrott's Bay, VE-5142, which is about 6.5 km to the west of Lemoine Point.  The lesson of the day was to make sure you also have 70cm simplex frequencies programmed in the radio as well.

Here's todays contact map:

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!

WSPR...

I’ve been playing around with my WSPR transmitter again. I thought with the bad propagation we had forecasted over the past few days, that it would be a good idea to see how my antennas do under those conditions.

After 24 hrs of beaconing I was very surprised where my Zachtek 200 mW transmitter managed to get a signal to. This test was done using an 80m EFHW antenna. The antenna is vertical for the first 45’ and then is horizontal for the remainder of its length, and it’s orientated North-East to South-West.

For those of you who do not know what WSPR is used for, it was introduced back in 2008 as an application for testing antennas, and testing propagation paths on LF, MF, and HF among other things.

I'm also planning on using my WSPR beacon on my trip out west this spring as a way of letting everyone know where I am each night, instead of using APRS.  This idea worked very well for my good friend Kieran VA3KS (SK) last spring on his trip across the USA. I'll set it up each evening after supper and let it beacon for a few hours before I go to bed.

Here's the map from last night (February 13):

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!

Not Looking Good....

Propagation isn't looking very good for at least the next 3 days.  I expect the bands to be super noisy. This stems from an unexpected coronal mass ejection (CME) that was first detected at 0123 UTC on Sunday, February 11.

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!!

Back to VE-5141

With the bands being in such good shape today I couldn't resist getting out into a park again and doing some operating. It's so much better operating with no noise floor, than the constant S7 at home.

The weather was superb here as well, it got up to +10C, which after the cold we have had, is fantastic.....I think I finally thawed out!

The propagation was: SFI=181, SN=151, A Index=4, and the K Index=2.  I didn't hear any QSB today at all, even with the Bz sitting at -2.5. 

With all the stars aligning I went to Lemoine Point, VE-5141, and set up. It took me 40 minutes to get 25 SSB contacts in the log, using both 10m and 15m.  I put F4ILH, IK2BYY, SO5CAL, G0RQL, 2E0VRX, SP8BJU, DH4PSG, DK1RS, and OE4JHW, which absolutely made my day!  

The fact I'm doing this with my KX3 set at 10w, and only using various hamsticks as my antenna, is just amazing. This weekend, if I can get out, I'm going to try this with my 29' vertical wire, and see what I can do.

Here's todays contact map:

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!

New Milestone...

Finished this off this morning.  I knew I was getting close, and have been trying to complete the 100 activations at Parrott's Bay, VE-5142, for over a week now - but life just gets in the way sometimes.

Propagation was excellent!!  SFI=190, SN=144, A Index=8, and the K Index=1.  There was some light QSB, but I didn't find it too bad.

I started off on 40m and managed to put only 8 contacts in the log before the QSO's just dried up.  As a result I moved to 15m and put another 23 in the log.  15m was in great shape, and I managed to get 6 European DX stations, EA1BUL, F4ILH, G4ELZ, EA4TL, IU1HJF, and DH4PSG.  I also put CO6QK in the log, this was the very first Cuban station I have worked doing POTA. 

Radio of the day was my KX3 at 10w, and the antenna was, as usual, a 15m hamstick on the roof of my truck on a 5" mag-mount.

I'm looking forward to doing this again at Lemoine Point, VE-5141, sometime in the next month or two.  I'm at 84 activations there, so only another 16 to go.

Here's todays contact map:

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!!

Back to the Park...

I had a great time this morning at VE-5142, Parrotts Bay Conservation Area, here in Collins Bay, Ontario.  The weather was great, it was actually +2C, but the wind was still a bit raw - so you still had to wrap up to stay warm.

The propagation was good, although there was some pretty deep QSB.  SFI=137, SN=131, A Index=5, and the K Index=0. These numbers are supposed to stay fairly consistent over this coming weekend. Time will tell!

Once again I spent the whole activation on 15m, with my KX3 pumping out a magnificent 10w into a Hamstick mounted on the roof of my truck.  First up today was Danny ON4ON with a solid S7 signal.  He was followed by Juergen OE4JHW, and Etor F5VMN, both of these two stations were a good S9 to me.  It's always a bonus when you can work some good DX during a POTA activation, especially with QRP power.

Here's todays contact map:

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!

FYBO - 2024

This weekend sees the 2024 edition of the Freeze Your Butt Off QRP event, sponsored by the AzScQRPions. 

Rules can be found HERE.

The event runs from 1400 UTC to 2359 UTC, February 3rd.  I'm planning on going out and setting up for this event in my local park.  The weather forecast is calling for +1C under sunny skies.....should be good for an afternoon of fun and QRP!!

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!

Winter Field Day....the Aftermath...

We had a good time.  The weather wan't too bad, a little light rain, but it stayed up at about +2C all weekend.  Of course that meant melting snow and mud, but we survived that.

The propagation could have been much better, but it was what it was.  On Saturday it was: SFI=157, SN=52, A Index=6, and the K Index=0. On Sunday it was SFI=148, SN=48, A Index=5, and the K Index=2. Our dear Sun had obviously decided not to be too cooperative for the event.  We had lots of bad QSB as well, one minute a signal was S9+, and the next second they were gone, just disappeared as if they had never been there.

I used my 17' collapsible whip with my mag-mount on the roof of the truck as my main antenna for the weekend, and it worked great on Saturday......not so much on Sunday morning though for some reason.  On Sunday morning Don VE3MNE, kept breaking through and over loading the front end of my KX3, he was on 15m and I was still working 20m, I guess we're going to have to buy some band filters and sort all that out.

We only made about 100 contacts between us, but we had a good time.  We worked SSB and CW....except instead of using the club call, VE3UCC, I stupidly forgot and used my own call when I switched over to CW, so I have to try and sort out that mess.  We live and learn I guess.

The main reason I wanted to do WFD this year was to see if the gear I'm taking on my road trip this year worked as advertised, and I think it's ready, there may be a few more little tweaks, but nothing major as it is really good to go now.

Here's a few pictures of the event:

Jim, VE3ULC, chasing WFD stations.

Getting ready to shoot some antenna lines in the trees.

Don, VE3MNE, chasing Hawaii on 15m.

Our home for the weekend.

Here we go Again...

Propagation is not looking good for the next few days.  Here's the latest forecast:

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!

Winter Field Day...

Coming up next weekend is Winter Field Day. This version of Field Day is somewhat different from its warm weather brother in June. This is a chance to practice our Emcomm and deployment skills under cold weather conditions, instead of the bugs and oppressive high heat of June. As the association states: "Not all emergencies happen in the good weather".

Rules can be found HERE.

The event starts at 1900 UTC on Saturday, January 27, and ends at 1859 UTC on Sunday, January 28.

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!

Friday in the Park...

It was a nice day yesterday....for January, and around this part of Canada.  It was a balmy -5C under cloudy grey skies, but it wasn't snowing or raining!

The days propagation was the best I've seen in a long time, and that's what gave me the kick to get out and play radio.  The propagation was: SFI=193, SN=180, A Index=6, and the K Index=0. There was a bit of QSB out there, but it wasn't too bad.

First up was Manuel EA2DT, and he was quickly followed by Jose EA1BUL.  These two operators always seem to find me when I'm out in a park.  I did have one interesting thing happen, I was working KI5MM, Lee in Texas, and I became aware of a very faint station under him also talking on the frequency. Up to now I had had no interference so I was a bit surprised.  Then it hit me, I had called for the Texas station by asking for the "Mike" station, and back came Lee.  However, David M0YDB must have thought I was calling him. Anyway I finished with Texas and called for any UK stations, and back came David again to make sure he was in my log.

Radio was my usual KX3 set at 10w, and the antenna was a 15m Hamstick on the roof of my truck. I put 37 contacts in the logbook in 30 minutes, so I was very pleased with that. My plan was to go out again today, but an overnight snow storm put an end to those plans.  We also have another large snow storm coming in overnight tonight, so it looks like there will be no radio in the park on Sunday either.

Here's the contact map for the day:

Be Well, and Stay Safe Out There!

Back on the Air...

It's been a long 3 weeks but I'm finally testing negative for covid.  I've had a headache and have been coughing for weeks, and while the headache has gone, the coughing remains...just as bad as it has been all this time.  However, it's nice to be able to taste food again and my sense of smell has also returned.  I guess I'll have a few more weeks from what I have read of the lingering effects....but I sure don't want to go through covid again.

Today I had had enough of sitting around the house, so I decided to go and do a POTA activation at Parrotts Bay, which is about 15 minutes from my home.  It has been a very cloudy day with temperatures hovering around -5C, in fact it's just started to snow.

This was my first activation in a month, and I must tell you all that with the covid brain fog that comes with having covid, it was a struggle to remember how to do things at times.....I managed to get through it.

Propagation today was: SFI=153, SN=128, A Index=5, and the K Index=0.  Radio was my KX3 set at 10w, antenna was a 15m hamstick on the roof of my truck.  I put 20 contacts in the log, all on 15m, and I'm happy with that.  By contact number 20 I was ready to go home and have a hot mug of tea, I find I still get tired very fast.

Hopefully I will be able to get out and do more POTA activations over the next week as my health slowly improves, it's good for my soul it seems.

Here's todays contact map:

Stay Safe and Well Out There!!