Chillycon 2024...

Chillycon 2024 was held this year from September 20th through the 22nd. The weather was absolutely superb, no rain and no "Chilly" periods, it was just glorious!!

Propagation wise it could have been a bit better, but we made do and we all made some good DX contacts. This year we introduced a new trophy for SSB DX, to complement the CW DX award we have had for the past 10 years. This new award was generously donated by Eric, VE3DN.

The downside of the event was the very poor attendance.  This year we only had 8 people show up.  A few more did show up on the Saturday and spent a few hours at the camp, but overall it could have been a lot better, especially given the weather we had.

The winner of the Upper Canada QRP Club Award for CW DX was Tom VA2NW, and the new VA3KS Memorial Award for SSB DX was Don, VE3MNE.  

One of the highlights of the weekend was the visit on Friday evening by Jennifer, the widow of Kieran, VA3KS. She came to meet with us and talk about the shenanigans we used to get up to with Kieran. He was very good at leading us astray! As she was leaving she very kindly left on the table an unopened bottle of 12 year old Glenfiddich single malt scotch, with which we toasted our old friend as we sat around the campfire that evening.

Here's some pictures of the event:

Don VE3MNE being presented with his award by Eric VE3DN.

Tom VA2NW being presented with his award by Eric VE3DN.

Jennifer being shown Kieran's memorial award for the first time.

Stay Safe Out There!

Hay Bay...

It's been a long time since I have been out to Hay Bay, to the west of Kingston. Last Thursday a new POTA site was authorized, CA-6350, Hay Bay Church National Historic Site, and I decided to get out there today (Sunday, September 15) and get it activated for the very first time.

The propagation numbers were in the toilet most of the day, and I did not think I would do very well, but it turned out to be a great activation after all! CA-6350 is a nice spot to activate from, the noise floor is S0, totally quiet.  

Today the propagation numbers were: SFI=172, SN=68, A Index=21, and the K Index=3. The BZ was +2.5, but did slip to -6.6 during the activation.

I met the two caretakers of the Church and property, Terry & John, and they told me they have no issue with us being on the property to activate the Church at all. There is parking to the west side of the Church, and there are picnic tables and a couple of large trees for shade as well....they would prefer if we didn't put wires for antennas in the trees though.

I was on the air at 1505 UTC and I had the site activated with 10 contacts by 1511 UTC....a whole 6 minutes. The day ended with 49 contacts in the log, with 40m 15m and 20m being used, and three European DX stations made it in the log as well, two Spanish and one from France, not too bad at all considering the state the bands were in.

Radio used was my KX3 set at 10w and I only used my Hamsticks on my truck roof.

Thanks to all those in Kingston, and surrounding places, who chased me, it was good to get you in the log.

Here are a few more pictures of the old Church....

And here's todays contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!!

Sneaking Out for an Hour...

It's been pretty busy around the homestead over this past week, and time for radio work was at an all time high premium. However, I did manage to sneak away for an hour and get an activation in at Lemoine Point, my closest POTA site.

My past three or four recent activation have been hampered by very bad QSB, today was no different. It took a while to drum up the contacts, but after a few minutes calling CQ, they started to flow in.

As I was short on time I used my KX3, and Hamsticks, for this activation. The hamsticks do very well, and I'm constantly surprised with who I can have a QSO with using them. The propagation today was: SFI=241, SN=134, A Index=7, and the A Index=3. 

Given the poor propagation numbers I was surprised at how well I actually did. The big surprise of the morning though was working Michael, KB9VBR, a well known Ham Radio YouTuber. Anyway, with 19 contacts in the log I had to shut it down and get back home to help the XYL with chores.

Here's today's contact map:

 Stay Safe Out There!!

Xiegu G90

A new rig appeared in my shack a few weeks ago, an Xiegu G90. It's an interesting radio, 20w max output and has a built in ATU, which truthfully could tune a wet piece of string it's so good.

So far I have used it on just one POTA activation, which was not really a hot day, but I was very surprised at how hot the radio got after 10 minutes of use at 20w. Because of this I decided then and there to purchase the cooling fan unit that goes with the radio.

I have not had a chance to use the radio outdoors with the fan yet, but I'm hoping to this weekend. Hopefully it will do the trick and keep the radio cool.

Here's a couple of pictures showing the cooling unit:

Stay Safe Out There!!

A Little Island Activating...

This past weekend was the W/VE Island QSO Party....well it should have been, except for the fact that the US Island guys who run the event decided that VE stations could no longer enter the contest due to our low numbers. Whatever, we'll play on our own islands and have just as much fun.

So, today I drove up to Washburn Island, ON-289, with Don VE3MNE, and had an excellent time. The island is also a POTA "2fer", with CA-4882 and CA-0023...so an even better time was had.

Propagation wasn't too bad, compared to what we had at the beginning of the week, but it's still got a ways to go before it's really good. The numbers today were: SFI=232, SN=188, A Index=10, and the K Index=1.

I changed things up a bit today, instead of my usual Hamsticks on the roof of my truck, I chose to erect a 29' Rybakov antenna with two 17' ground radials and use it with my KX3. It's a good antenna, worked as advertised by several YouTubers, and I was very pleased with it. You will see this antenna built with either 25' or 29' of wire. Furthest DX was Thomas SM3NRY, in Sweden, closely followed by Chris K2MMT, in California.

Shown on the right is my 4:1 Unun, Rybakov and four 17' radials, although I only used 2 today. I think this antenna is going to get a lot more use, as I really enjoyed being able to switch bands without unscrewing various whips in order to do so.

I ended the day with 27 contacts in the log on 40m, 20m and 15m. I did try 12m but had no luck there at all.

Here's todays contact map:

And here's how I hold the DX Commander up in the air:

Stay Safe Out There!!

Lucky Activation...

I was up and out the door pretty early (for me) today, as I wanted to get back home before lunch to help my wife....and I accomplished that mission with no problem.

The propagation, as I started my activation, was: SFI=225, SN=171, A Index=8, and the K Index=1. The QSB was hellish, stations were S9 one minute and completely gone in an instant. It was a 2fer I was after today, Lemoine Point and the Waterfront Trail together, and I managed to get 16 contacts in the log in a little over 40 minutes, which was slow for me, but given the state of the bands I was happy with it.

As usual I was using my KX3 set at 10w, into a hamstick on the roof of my truck. SSB only today, CW will have to wait until tomorrow.

Starting on 40m as I usually do, it didn't take too long to get 8 contacts in the log.  Then the band dried up, I called and called with no response, so I moved to 15m.  This band switch got me another 8 contacts, including a solid S8 contact with F4ILH in Ecuras, France....which made my day.

Sixteen was all I could pull out of the hat today, the band seemed to be getting worse, even though it was supposed to be improving.  Well, it turns out we had a surprise G3 solar storm that hit about 15 minutes before I switched everything off.....no wonder I couldn't get contacts.

Here's todays contact map:

You can clearly see the ring of 40m contacts vice the 15m contacts on this map.

Stay Safe Out There!!

A Good Day...

Today was one of those rare days that I get almost totally to myself.  It was sunny, hot, and pretty humid out...so a good day to find a new park to activate!

Recently a new yellow dot has popped up on the POTA map showing a new park in Gananoque, about 35 kms (22 miles) east of my home.  The POTA website showed it had been activated 3 times before, but only with digital modes, never SSB or CW.  

This park, CA-6346, Agnes Maule Macher National Historical Park, is not very big...in fact it's quite small. There is a small gravel parking lot that can hold maybe 8 or 9 cars if they all park correctly. As you can see in the photo on the left, the park is full of tall, mature, trees, all ready for a good wire antenna. I found a solitary picnic table there, and it's located right under a big shade tree. On the downside, there are no toilets there.....at all.

For the few days before this activation the propagation numbers have been almost off the charts, and I did not think I would be able to get this activation done. But the numbers "kind of" settled down overnight and I thought it would be ok to go ahead and get it done while I had the free day.

Today's propagation numbers were: SFI=260, SN=177, A Index=17, and the K Index=1. Definitely not the best, but certainly a lot better than the previous few days. There was also a lot of very deep QSB on all the bands.

No DX was worked, although I could faintly hear a EA2 station trying to call me on 20m, but he was so far below my noise floor I couldn't make out the call. 

I ended up with 26 contacts in the log, 23 SSB and 3 CW. I'm very pleased with this, given todays conditions. Hopefully the conditions will continue to get better and I can get back there and get more contacts another day.

Here's todays contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!!

Coming Up Next Weekend...

It's shaping up for a busy few days next weekend, we have the following big events:

1.  The International Lightship & Lighthouse Weekend.  That runs from 0001 UTC Saturday, August 17 to 2359 UTC Sunday, August 18.

2.  The North American QSO Party SSB.  That runs from 1800 UTC Saturday, August 17 to 0600 UTC Sunday, August 18.

3.  The New Jersey QRP Skeeter Hunt.  From 1700 - 2100 UTC, Sunday, August 18.

Click on the above event names to take you to the relevant rules and information pages.

Let's hope the propagation greatly improves for next weekend so we can get out and really enjoy ourselves on the bands!!

Stay Safe Out There!!