2026 Chillycon.....the Rest of the Story...

This was the 20th year we have held Chillycon, and my 17th time I've attended...and this year's Chillycon is a wrap.  

It was "cool". Thursday and Friday were great, but Saturday and Sunday morning were sitting at around 4 to 5 degrees, but we had a great time. The park was a lot quieter than it had been in the past few years, less screaming kids, and many empty sites which was a good thing for us. AND.....we had no rain at all.

We had 8 sites occupied and 10 hams there for the week. Saturday saw a pile of guys arrive for the day to operate, and we ended up having 18 for Pizza dinner that night. Don VE3MNE won the SSB DX Trophy with a contact into Namibia, and the CW trophy was won with a contact into Turkey by Tom VA2NW. The bands, however, were really not very good, very noisy and full of RF crashes. I did manage a CW contact into France and a SSB contact into Sweden, but that's all the DX I got in 5 days!!

I managed to do 10 POTA activations, only 1 new one, Hog's Back Park in Ottawa....a really nice place to operate from. I had also planned on operating from the Central Experimental Farm, but there was no parking and the place was a total construction site.

I also managed an activation at the Rideau Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Merrickville. What a change there! The location we used to go to, down the road by the picnic tables, is now fenced off and is being made into a huge dog park. If you go there to activate the only parking is now at the Library. I also activated the Block House NHS and found no issues parking there for a change.

Here's some photo's from the weekend....

My new tent, very comfortable and roomy.

The portable shack for the week.

The most important item....the portable bar!!

Stay Safe Out There!!

EFRW QRP antenna...

The EFRW QRP antenna long wire with 4:1 Balun that I received from Tuftein was tested this past weekend at Chillycon.

It was used for SSB and CW on several bands, both for hunting stations as well as calling CQ. No DX was worked with it, but stations in Texas and Georgia were.

The first thing I noticed was that the "Q" of the antenna was very narrow, making it necessary to retune the antenna every few kc. I don't have to do that with my Rybakov, so I'm at a bit of a loss why I have to do it with this EFRW.

The other thing I find very strange about this antenna is the fact it comes with a built in 4:1 unun. EFRW's normally use a 9:1 unun. So from that point of view it's a wee bit strange.

It's very well built, no doubt about that. But it certainly didn't perform for me as I was expecting it to. I believe this antenna should be redesigned and a 9:1 unun used instead of the 4:1, which I think would make it much better.

This antenna will be put away, and I will stick to using my Rybakov in the future.

Stay Safe Out There!!

Chillicon....this weekend!...

This coming weekend is the 20th running of the annual Chillycon event, the annual gathering of Eastern Ontario QRP'ers and POTAaholics.

As usual the event will be held at Rideau River Provincial Park, across the river from Kemptville.

Feel free to drop in on Saturday if you're in the neighborhood. There will be lots of different QRP radios in action as well as lots of antenna experimentation.  

I'm finally going to be able to test out the EFRW QRP antenna long wire with 4:1 Balun from Tuftein. I can't wait to see how it performs in the crappy propagation we have forecast for the weekend. Look for a report on that antenna next week.

Stay Safe Out There!!

Three Lost Events...

It seems every time I turn on the computer lately yet another thing has disappeared from the ham radio world. Last week it was CANParks, only 2 weeks after it had been started, it quietly closed down. CANParks, in those two weeks had gained 500 operators, all sending in logs, and enjoying the idea that anything called a "Park" could be assigned a park number and activated.

Yesterday I discovered that both QRP Afield and QRP to the Field had decided to stop their contests. To show you how quietly these shut down, QRP Afield didn't even post a comment on the fact there would be no further contests until after the 2025 event when hams sent in logs, only to be told there was no contest that year and wouldn't be any in the future. I was told the uploaded logs simply went into the garbage can.

QRP to the Field at least posted after the 2026 contest that this would be the last year the contest would be held. Low participation numbers was one of the excuses mentioned, as well as the proliferation of POTA and State/Provincial QSO Parties which now offered a QRP category.

I think the issue here is the fact that neither QRP Afield, or QRP to the Field, had any social media footprint. No Facebook, YouTube Channel, Twitter account, Instagram, or even a Groups.io site. How do you let hams know these niche contests exist if there is no way of getting the word out, other than a couple of very tired looking websites that maybe get updated every third year or so?

I'm equally surprised that no other QRP Club has stepped forward and offered to take over these two contests. With a good, solid, social media presence and a modern website, those two events could be made to be viable again. One only has to look at the way Winter Field Day took off after their modern website was built, and they added a Facebook site as well. 

Any Takers??

Stay Safe Out There!!

A Very Special Activation...

Today was a special activation day, one that has taken since 01 August 2021, to reach. There are now 1000 POTA activations, and 20,193 QSO's in the logbook....and that's all QRP - 10w, a KX3, and Hamsticks.

However, having stated it was a special day, I actually forgot about this until I was back home doing my log.

So thanks to Carl KD3CZE, from Hunt Valley, MD, who was number 10 in the log today and completed the activation. It's interesting that I see some of the same callsigns from my very first activation still appearing in my log today. By the way, the first contact on this journey was with Don, VE3MNE.

And, by shear coincidence, both activations, the first and number 1000, were both done at CA-5142, Parrott's Bay Conservation Area.

The bands today were a lot better than yesterday, the QSB and QRN were both absent this morning...which was excellent news! Propagation was a little bit better, today's numbers were: SFI=111, SN=86, A Index=6, and the K Index=1. 

So here's to another 1000 activations.....if I live that long. This time around they won't all be POTA activations. I'm adding CANParks, MOTA, and PARC's to my list of activations to do. More on those programs later in the week.

Parrott's Bay Creek

Stay Safe Out There!!

Are the bands Returning?...

It was off to the park today for another great morning of radio fun, after a week of absolutely crap weather and propagation. I was beginning to think we were already at the bottom of the cycle, instead of just starting our way to the bottom in a year or three.

Today's surprise contact was Thomas, SM3NRY, in Njurunda, Sweden. It's been awhile since I worked any European DX.

The band conditions were really not that good. Lots of deep QSB, and QRN. Stations just faded away as soon as they gave their callsign. It was not really a good day to be working QRP.

I worked mainly 20m and 40m SSB and CW. I was hoping to get a few contacts on 15m, but it never opened while I was on the air. 

Propagation this morning was: SFI=108, SN=37, A Index=6, and the K Index=1.

Just so people who work me know, as of this month I'm also uploading my logs to PARC and to CANParks, so check those sites for any hunter certificates you may earn working me.

Here's todays contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!!

Noisy Bands...

The weather was so good here today I had to visit three parks before I could find an empty parking spot! I must confess that I'll be very happy after the Labour Day long weekend - when the little people go back to school and spend their weekends playing baseball, or soccer, instead of running wildly around the local parks screaming at the top of their lungs, All this while mom and dad keep their noses buried in their phones.

I ended up at CA-5141, Lemoine Point Conservation Area. It was a mess of screaming little kids. It was actually a relief to finish the activation and get out of there before my headache got any worse. 

It took a little less than 45 minutes to put 18 contacts in the log. There was a great deal of QRM and QSB, and the bands were extremely noisy.

Radio was my KX3 set at 10w, with Hamsticks, and while all my contacts were made on 20m SSB or CW, I did try 40m, 17m, and 15m, with absolutely no luck at all. It was very surprising that 40m was as inactive as it was, normally it's a go to band.

Propagation was SFI=126, SN=77, A Index=8, and the K Index=1.

There will be no radio for the next 24 hours as we are expecting monsoon rains for that period.

Here's todays contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!

US Islands QSO Party...

Coming up on August 29th & 30th is this years' US Island QSO Party. It's always a good time chasing islands, and it's a nice time of year to be near the water.

A link to the rules and other information can be found HERE.

While only US Islands count, I'm lucky that a local island is also in the Frontenac Biosphere, and that location has activation numbers from at least three different park programs. That way I can chase islands and other parks...may as well make good use of my time outdoors before the snow decides to return.

Stay Safe Out There!

The Bands...

It was a nice day here, 22C (76F) under a nice blue sky. It's amazing that some of the trees are starting to show colour as their leaves start to turn.

I went back out to Parrott's Bay, CA-5142, this morning, and took almost 90 minutes to make 10 contacts. It was brutal. 

Propagation numbers were: SFI=117, SN=83, A Index=6, and the K Index=1. QSB was bad. Seven CW stations made it in the log as did 3 SSB. Both 20m and 40m was used, and 17m and 15m were both tried, but  offered no contacts in either mode.

I'm now sitting at 20,000 POTA QSO's in my log, and 986 parks activated. I'd like to make it to 1000 parks, but given the political BS stunt pulled by the POTA Board in the last few days, I'm going to have to give it a bit of thought about continuing. 

It's a bit of a quandary really. Other than POTA there's VEFF, I did that for a while, but the organization leaves a lot to be desired, especially at the very top....the rest of the volunteers are fantastic and very capable. SOTA is a "no go" as there are no accessible SOTA summits for hundreds of km in any direction. There is a solitary HEMA Summit near by, but I've already activated that this year.

There are no beaches to activate around here. BOTA, "Bunkers on the Air" is a joke, and not worth the effort. This leaves TOTA, "Tiles on the Air", an interesting idea that merits looking at.

My thoughts today go out to Larry, F5PYI, who chose the high road and resigned, after years of hard work putting the French POTA sites on the map. Bonne chance et garde le sourer, mon ami. 

Here's todays pitiful contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!

A Long Day...

Yesterday was a long day, 328 km (204 miles) driven, and 6 parks activated. All this with the temperature hovering around 31C (88F), and no wind to speak of.

First up was CA-1375, Dupont Provincial Park. Not much to do there except play POTA as the park doesn't have any facilities at all.

Then it was off to CA-6514, Battle of Chryslers Farm National Historic Site. This site is right next door to Upper Canada Village, and was completely RF quiet. Great spot to activate, but...there's no shade so it was pretty hot there.

Next on the list of parks to do was CA-0419, the Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary. This is a great spot, I wish I had had more time to explore the place. 

It was now lunch time, so it was off to Morrisburg to get lunch and some liquid in me. While I was there it actually rained quite heavily for about 10 minutes, which did nothing but make the humidity even worse than it has been.

Lunch over, I headed back west and drove to CA-4855, Battle of the Windmill National Historic Site. This is a very small site, and the parking lot is the size of a postage stamp, but lucky for me it there were only 2 other cars there. 

The last site on the list was CA-4868, Fort Wellington National Historic Site. This was the only site I activated that had shade and I could get out of the hot sun. There was a nice breeze blowing as well of the river, just a great spot to operate from.

The 6th park was the Waterfront Trail, CA-6003, that ties all the other sites together.

So, how were the bands? In one word - "Crap". The only band that I could make work was 20m. All of the other bands had a S9+20 noise floor, it was very frustrating to say the least. But being that far from home I had to make it work, so it was a 20m day. Contacts were made using both CW and SSB, but there were long periods between contacts.

Most of the day the bands were filled with static crashes from the incoming thunder storms, making the QRN unbearable. On top of that the QSB was pretty bad as well. Signals disappeared seconds after you established a link with them.

The propagation numbers for the day were: SFI=108, SN=71, A Index=3, and the K Index=0. Radio used was my KX3 set at 10w, and .....as usual a 20m hamstick.

Surprise contacts for the day? Thomas, SM3NRY, popped up and answered my CQ at Fort Wellington, and he was immediately followed by Larry, F5PYI. Those guys made my day.

Here's the days contact map:

Thanks to all the Hunters, many of whom got me in multiple parks during the day. Without these guys POTA would be a waste of time, so a HUGE shout-out to them!!

Stay Safe Out There....and go and play radio!!!

NJQRP Skeeter Hunt...

Just a reminder that the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt is only two weeks away, set to take place on Sunday, August 16th.

While you really don't need a Skeeter number to participate, having one adds to the fun. Just send an email to Larry, w2ljqrp@gmail.com with your name, call, and the state or province you'll be operating from. Skeeter number requests will be honoured until Saturday, August 15th.

This is for both CW & SSB stations, so no excuses, get out and operate!!  

You can find more details and the rules HERE.

Stay Safe Out There!!

Frontenac Biosphere Reserve...

Yesterday, July 31st, I went up into the County and activated CA-0023, the Frontenac Biosphere Reserve. It's a fairly popular place to activate either POTA or VEFF due to its size, 2,700 sq km.

What I like about it is the fact that due to its size there are many, many, options to go to for an activation. You don't need to go to the same spot twice.

I decided to go and find a new spot to park and ended up where the K&P Trail crosses Scanlan Road....just don't block the farmers gate. 

Propagation didn't look too bad, but the reality was it certainly was bad, and the QSB was extreme. The numbers were: SFI=152, SN=123, A Index=5 and the K Index=1. Stations seemed to be quite weak with very few strong stations making it in to the log. SSB was almost a waste of time, and most of my contacts were on CW.

Radio was the KX3, a the antennas was the 20m hamstick.

No DX was worked, but I did get good coverage across the USA, in fact more than I usually do.

Here's the contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!

Parrott's Bay...

What a great day on the bands today, 48 in the log in about 40 minutes. A great way to spend the morning! Of course this comes after a week of bad propagation and lousy weather, so it was really nice to get out the house and get a bit of radio done.

Propagation today was: SFI=148, SN=101, A Index=22, and the K Index=1. No QSB was noticed at all, which was great.

Radio, as usual, was the KX3 set at 10w, and the antenna were the usual hamsticks. I used both 20m and 40m, and made CW and SSB contacts. It was a good job I had a spare battery with me as the one I was using quit after about 30 QSO's.

I'm hoping to get out again on both Saturday and Sunday this weekend, and the propagation looks good for both days. 

Here's today's contact map:

I recently received a EFRW QRP Antenna Long Wire 4:1 from Tufteln, It's a QRP antenna, good for 20w they say. I'm hoping to give it its first outing this Sunday. Stay tuned for that review. 

Here's a few pictures of it:

It has a 30' radiator and a 15' ground radial. I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do.

Stay Safe Out There!

Good Day on the Bands...

It was a good day on the bands today, a distinct improvement over the past few days, in fact better than the past week! I decided to go north of Kingston and head into the Frontenac Biosphere, CA-0023, and have some fun.

Twenty-Nine contacts went into the log in a little over 50 minutes.  This was a combination of SSB and CW contacts. For the past few months I have a new personal rule, when I do an activation I need to use both SSB and CW, otherwise it doesn't count. Of today's 29, 11 were CW contacts.

Bands used today were 15m, 20m and 40m. Radio was the KX3 set at 10w, and as usual...Hamsticks for the antenna.

Today the IARU HF World Championships took place, so the HF bands are pretty busy with DX stations calling. This morning 15m was busy and I made a few contacts there.

Propagation for my activation was: SFI=107, SN=80, A Index=12, and the K Index=1. However, the QSB was pretty bad, signals faded to nothing in milli-seconds.

I'll be keeping my eyes on the propagation for tomorrow as I'd like to get out again, but they are forecasting a K Index of 5 in the morning, and a slow decline back to normal levels in the afternoon.

Here's the days contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!!

On the Shoulders of Giants...

Recently, I have been spending some time reading blogs, and watching YouTube videos on portable operating.  Some of them are very good, others are pretty much garbage and are going to get somebody hurt one day, and I thought “How did we get here today, how did this portable operating craze start, and where did it come from?”.

Operators today have forgotten the first generation of portable QRP’ers in North America, those who scaled Colorado Mountains, or hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, or the Appalachian Trail, who took part in the Polar Bear Club monthly events, the Flyin’ Pigs events, the Freeze Your Butt Off events, QRP to the Field and QRP Afield annual events.  This was all we had for QRP events back then, the ARRL didn’t have any QRP endorsements for WAS or DXCC, RAC had nothing for QRP either.  Nearly every other contest had no QRP category during this period.  

It was the events, mentioned above, that really planted, and nurtured, the seeds for portable QRP operating.  WWFF, SOTA, NPOTA, and POTA simply expanded the original horizons of committed QRP operators.

Keep in mind that during the very early days, dedicated QRP rigs were a rarity, nearly all gear was home brewed. The first real commercial QRP rig that came out was the Ten-Tec Powermite-1 in 1969, this was followed by the Ten-Tec Argonaut in 1972, and the Heathkit HW-7 in 1973.

But in 2001 we were drooling over the FT-817, at a cost of US$670. This was the rig that opened the flood gates for QRP.  It was it’s small size and weight that was the big draw to it.  Small enough and light enough to throw in the bottom of a rucksack and get up those mountains and operate, the first real “QRP shack in a box”.

Around 19 years ago the first YouTube video’s of what was known, in those days, as “Adventure Radio” came out.  In no particular order these were Budd W3FF, who later went on to invent the Buddipole antenna system.  Steve WG0AT, and his two pack goats, Rooster and Peanut. Guy N7UN, a prolific QRP blogger, and the lone Canadian, Jean-Pierre VA2SG (now VE2ZQ).

These four operators probably did more for portable operating than everyone else combined.  Their videos, which were really just personal blogs, showed us how it was done.  They talked us through building lightweight antennas, and then went out and used them, showing how they worked, or tweaking them if the didn’t.  They showed us what to take with us, what battery was the best and lightest.  They discussed their radios in detail, allowing us to make our own decisions on what was best for our bank accounts. And best of all, they showed us what was possible and they allowed us to dream of having similar adventures.

We have a lot to thank these four gentlemen for, they truly were the catalyst for what we have today in portable operating.

Stay Safe Out There!

Is the Blog Working Again?...

The campsite

It looks like I can once again post articles and pictures to my Blog. Let's see how long this lasts for.

Field Day 2026 is over....and a fun time was had by one and all.

The weather cooperated, we didn't get the rain we were expecting, but we did get a little bit over Friday night but it cleared up and Saturday was very nice. The propagation was OK, lots of QSB, but really not that bad.

Contacts were made on all bands, 80 through 10, using SSB and CW. We operated as a 3A station - two SSB stations and a CW station. Antennas in use were two 40m EFHW's and a 20m vertical, these did a good job and brought us in 204 contacts over the event. Not too bad for a QRP set-up.

We had visitors from Perth drop in for a few hours on Saturday, Tyler VA3DGN and his better half Margaret VA3VXN. Those of you who volunteer for the RLCT will know those two characters.

Unfortunately, Rideau River Provincial Park was packed, and perhaps not the best spot to conduct a Field Day due to the constant screaming of unsupervised small children running amok around the sites. The incessant barking of dogs was also a pain in the rear.......and I won't mention the toilets, other than to say there was a never ending line for their use.

Here are some other pictures thanks to Eric, VE3DN:

Eric VE3DN chasing contacts.

Don VE3MNE, Supervising the SSB station.

Eric taking a break on Saturday evening.

Bill VE3FI's antenna set-up for the weekend,
a 17' whip and two 16.5' radials.

If the Blog continues to behave, I will start to post again here.

Stay Safe Out There! 

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!!