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!
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:
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:
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!!
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!
Operators 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!
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| The campsite |
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| Eric VE3DN chasing contacts. |
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| Don VE3MNE, Supervising the SSB station. |
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| Eric taking a break on Saturday evening. |
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| 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!
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:
The propagation this Easter Weekend is certainly not looking too good. Hopefully it will pick up for next week.
Stay Safe Out There!
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:
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!!
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:
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:
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| The Old Mill in Delta |
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:
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| The QCX Mini. |
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| Eric's contact map. |
Stay Safe And Warm Out There!!!
