The Big Day...

Today was not supposed to be a radio day, it was supposed to be a quiet day at home, and then out lunch with my XYL. The propagation had been forecast to be in the dumps and didn't hold much promise, however, that was not the case. So I snuck in a quick activation of CA-0023 before meeting my lunch date.

I had completely forgotten that this activation would be my 800th Park Activation until I got home and started inputting my log. 

The propagation numbers today were SFI=131, SN=88, A Index=15, and the K Index=2. There was also a great deal of deep QSB as well.....along with the usual tuner uppers, whistlers, and the "get off my frequency" crowd. They were all out today.

First in the log today was Allen, KC1SJS, with a great 59+ signal. No DX made it into the log today, but the 10th contact, the guy who put number 800 activation in the book, was Merrell, AB4MM/qrp, from Columbiana, Alabama.....Thanks Merrell!!!!

Now I start working towards activation number 1000th.

Here's today's contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!

Another Four Park Rove...

Sunday was a great day to get out and play portable radio. The day didn't start off too warm, but by mid-afternoon was pretty hot out.

I had decided earlier in the week to finish off my rove of Northern Northumberland County, and the parks along County Road 9. The fall colours were fantastic, and I really enjoyed the great views along the roads.

Thankfully the west-bound traffic on Highway 401 was pretty light that morning, most people would have still been in bed when I was heading west. I used my KX3 with 10w and my usual collection of Hamsticks. Propagation wasn't too bad, it was SFI=158, SN=109, A Index=20, and the K Index=2. Those numbers didn't change all day.

I was prepared for bad propagation on this trip, I took along my small 40w HF amplifier. Thankfully I never needed it, as once the contacts started they kept coming.

The first park was a 1.5 hour drive east of my home QTH. This was CA-5648, Garden Hill Conservation Area. It's a small site, right off County Road 9. It didn't take me long to get set up, and I quickly decided to start on 40m as it looks fairly busy. First in the log from there was Reed, AB8AS. After putting 13 in the log, all on 40m, the band seemed to dry up...so it was off to the second park.

The next park was CA-5647, Rice Lake Conservation Area. This is truly a gorgeous site, very quiet, and lots of places to get an antenna up in the trees. First station in the log from here was Wayne, VE3UWA, a fellow Frontenac County ARC member. This activation was also completed all on 40m.

CA-5636, Hazel Bird Nature Reserve. Another very quiet location for radio work. The parking lot is pretty small here, probably good for 6 to 8 cars. I moved to 15m at this location and made 11 contacts on the band before moving back to 40m. First in the log here was Darin, KG5HBX, in De Leon, Texas.

After Hazel Bird Nature Reserve I drove for about 25 minutes to Warkworth Conservation Area. First though I stopped for a quick lunch at "K Okay Cafe", one of the many restaurants on the Main Street. I can definitely recommend the ham and brie sandwich there. 

Warkworth Conservation Area is tiny, and has about 3 parking spots which are across the street from the actual conservation area. I was lucky to get one, and hauled my equipment across the street and set up on the one and only picnic table there. The antenna for this site was a 25' Rybakov vertical, with a single 17' ground radial. It was on a SOTABeams tactical mini mast, and it worked well for me that day.

I decided to stick with 15m as it seemed busy, and I guessed that I might get some good DX....I was right. First up was Pedro, PR8ZX, in Brazil, and he was followed by EA1FIC, EA1BUL, F4ILH, EC7DZZ, DF7TR, and SM3NRY. Those contacts made the day!

It was another great day chasing POTA contacts, and I really enjoyed myself. Now it's off to plan the next 4 Park Rove, which should be in a few weeks.

Stay Safe Out There!

My First Four Park Rove...

Weather wise Saturday was going to be the best day of the weekend to get out and do things. It was also going to be, according to the forecast, the best propagation day of the weekend as well. So off I went on a four park rove around Northumberland and Hastings Counties.

The drive down the 401 Highway was fine, the crazy drivers must have decided to sleep in, or just stay home as traffic was light and moved very well.

Radio was my trusty KX3 with 10 screaming watts, and of course I used my various Hamsticks. The propagation for the day, and it never changed, was: SFI=165, SN=127, A Index=7, and the K Index=1.

                                                                                                                                                                       

The first park of the day was CA-5637, Goodrich-Loomis Conservation Area. This park is off the beaten track, but easy to find and is about 1.5 hours from my home. I put 12 in the log at this park, all on 40m. I didn't stick around as I wanted to make sure I had sufficient time to get all four parks completed that day.  First in the log was Mark, KD8MIV, in West Virginia.

Fifteen minutes north is CA-5086, Seymour Conservation Area, this site is right off of County Road 30. It was quite busy with hikers and families out for a stroll. The large parking lot allowed me to hide away in a corner out of everyone's way.

This park saw 13 contacts added to the log, and all contacts were made on 20m. First up here was Sherwin, KF0SVO, in Rock Valley, Iowa. 

The next park, CA-5088, King's Mill Conservation Area was about 23 minutes away to the west, and is easy to fine. There is a nice gravel parking area to park in on Wellmans Road, and a million or so ducks in the large pond all noisily awaiting their trip south for the winter.

Another 12 contacts went into the log at this site, all done on 15m. First up was Thomas, SM3NRY, in Nyravagen, Sweden. He was followed by Alex XE1UYS, and Fernando EA8DQP. 

The last park of the day, CA-5089 Sagar Conservation Area was 15 minutes south on Golf Course Road. This spot was the only site that actually had a washroom to use on it.  The other three did not. It does have a large gravel parking lot, and for most of my time there I was the only person there.

I ate a late lunch here and admired the view. It was nice and peaceful. At this park I used 15m, 17m, and 40m and put 16 contacts in the log. First up was Pat, W1WX, in Littleton, Massachusetts. He was followed by a good number of DX stations, all of whom had excellent signals into my location.

It was a great day, and I really enjoyed myself. There are several other parks in this general area that I still need to get to and activate before the snow flies, so hopefully I will get them done in the next few weeks.

Here's the contact map from the last activation of the day:

Not too bad at all for 10w and a Hamstick!

Stay Safe Out There!

The Bands Are Back...

From everything I've seen over the last few days it looks like the bands are back in business as Fall rapidly approaches!

After several months of garbage to mediocre band conditions, the past day or two has shown us that they're back in action.

On Wednesday I activated Lemoine Point CA-5141, and had great success with it. I made 20 contacts in about 30 minutes on 40m, 15m, 17m, and 10m. Four of the contacts were from across the pond, Harald DL1AX, Matt ON6MAT, Mal GW6OVD, and Chris MW0JKU.

The propagation was: SFI=171, SN=157, A Index=14, and the K Index=2.

Today, Friday, September 26th, I activated a new park to me, CA-1673 Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area. The only issue at the location is that it is very low ground, almost a bowl, and hard to get a signal out of it.

That being said, it only took me 41 minutes to get 36 contacts there, including seven DX Stations. First up was Jose EA1BUL, followed by IK4IDF, DL1AX, EA1GIB, DO5IE, EA2BD, and OK2TS.

The propagation today was: SFI=170, SN=124, A Index=8, and the K Index=2.

There was still some QSB around, as well as the usual idiotic "Tuner Uppers" on the frequency. I ended up having to move twice due to some deliberate QRM, I don't say anything...I just 'disappear' and find a new clear frequency. Some people's attitude towards "their" frequency is quite interesting. 

Here's todays contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!

Chillycon, the Aftermath...

Chillycon, the annual gathering of Eastern Ontario QRPers lived up to its name this year as Friday and Saturday nights went down to +1C (33F). Luckily we survived as we took along enough warm clothes.

I managed to complete all the goals I had set out this year, six new parks went into my logbook. As well as Rideau River Provincial Park - CA-0365, where we camp, was activated everyday.

Parks that are new to me and activated were:

Pine Grove Conservation Area, CA-1579

McCarthy Woods Natural Area, CA-1506

Mer Bleue Conservation Reserve, CA-1516

Mer Bleue Bog Conservation Reserve, CA-1515

Mississippi Lake Migratory Bird Sanctuary, CA-0307

Mississippi Lake National Wildlife Area, CA-0057

There were a number of other parks I had on my list to do if I had time, but the bad road traffic in Ottawa made timings hard to do.  Perhaps next year!

Throughout the weekend the bands were really not too bad. There was a bit of QSB, but it was workable. It's very obvious that the bands are starting to settle down and get back to normal. Hopefully they will be fine for the CQ World Wide DX SSB HF Contest at the end of October, and the Fall Support Your Park Weekend held in mid-October.

For the weekend I only used my KX3 set at 10w, and for the antenna I just used my normal hamsticks on a mag-mount. I decided not to put up a wire antenna as I would be spending a considerable time away from the campsite activating outside parks. In the end I managed to put 11 DX countries in the log:

Brazil, Venezuela, Belgium, France, Italy, Poland, England, Austria, Dominican Republic, Germany, and Spain. Puerto Rico and Alaska also made it into my log. I haven't had that much DX success in many months!

We had about 20 hams there over the weekend. Some camped and others just dropped in for a few hours and visited. Most stayed for the traditional pizza supper on Saturday evening where the prizes are given out.

Overall it was a great weekend, lots of radio and chatting about antennas, as well as POTA and SOTA.

Already looking forward to next year's gathering.

Here's a few pics:

Matt VA3UMM receiving the plaque for the best SSB DX Contact
from Don, VE3MNE.

My contact map for Saturday.

Mississippi Lake, just a gorgeous spot to operate from!

Chillycon - 2025...

Next week (Wednesday) I'm off to the annual Chillycon gathering of QRPers at Rideau River Provincial Park. This will be the 15th time I have attended the event, and I look forward to it every year. So far the weather forecast is looking good, with no rain expected during the week we are there.

The numbers of attendees at the gathering has dropped some since covid hit us, but hopefully it will start to recover. We are expecting a large crowd to be camping for the weekend, and several others coming out to visit on the Saturday.              

I have several new (to me) POTA parks that I wish to activate, and I'm planning on doing that on Thursday and Friday. Saturday will be spent visiting other attendees and talking radios and antennas. Sunday we do a brunch at a local restaurant and then head home, fired up and ready for next year.

The parks I'm planning on operating from are:

Pine Grove Forest Conservation Area - CA-1579

McCarthy Woods Natural Area - CA-1506

Central Experimental Farm - CA-5095

Hogs Back Conservation Reserve - CA-1596

If I get the time I might also try to activate:

Mer Bleue Conservation Reserve - CA-1516

Mer Bleue Bog Conservation Reserve - CA-1515

These parks are also VEFF Parks and I will submit my logs to them as well.

This weekend will be spent getting my camping equipment sorted out and ready to go. That shouldn't take too long as I just used it for Field Day.

Look for my writeup and pictures after I get home.

Stay Safe Out There!!

The Weekend, and incoming Solar Storm...

The weekend was quite the roller coaster of band behaviour. On Saturday the propagation numbers made us believe that it would be a great day to play portable radio.......we were wrong. While the numbers looked really good, the truth of the matter was they they were not that good and the very deep QSB certainly didn't help matters at all. 

On Saturday it took me 2.5 hours to make 20 contacts. These were split between 40m and 20m, and the last six contacts of the day were on 40m CW. No Canadian or DX contacts were made, but 13 US states made it into the log.

Instead of my usual hamsticks I put up my 29 foot EFRW with a 9:1 Unun, and two 17 foot ground radials. There was no difference in the contact pattern on my contact map, from when I use a simple hamstick. 

Sunday was a different matter.  The SFI had climbed up to 317, the highest point of the cycle I believe, and the bands just rocked, and had all the previous night.

In a little over 40 minutes I managed to get 24 SSB contacts in my log, including two from the UK – G7SQW and G7PNF, one from Belgium – OS8D, and the other from the Netherlands – PA4PA. Not too bad for 10w and a hamstick.

It’s interesting that this morning (Sunday) a US ham published a YouTube video about how QRP operators are killing off POTA. Somehow I don’t think he grasps the concept of either POTA or QRP operating.

All-in-all it was a great weekend on the bands. 

Sunday's Contact Map:

There’s a G2 & G3 Solar Storm warning issued for Monday and Tuesday, we’ll be lucky to have decent stable bands back by Friday.

Stay Safe Out There!!

Saturday in the Park...

Saturday was a brilliant day around here, no humidity and the daytime high was only 23C (73F). There was not a cloud in the sky. It was also the day before my wife came home from her trip out West, so I had to make the most of it. It was the perfect day for playing radio in the park......but which park?

It turned out that Foley Mountain Conservation Area was having an open day, and all entry fees were waived for the day. It also turns out that I had never activated the conservation area for either POTA or VEFF. So it was off to CA-5542.

It's a pleasant drive up to Westport where the park is, and it takes about 55 minutes at the most from my home.

On top of this, propagation was pretty good as well. The numbers were: SFI=123, SN=145, A Index=7, and the K Index=2. Radio was my FT-891 set at 40w, and the antennas in use were my usual hamsticks.  At this activation I made contacts on 40m, 17m, and 15m.

As I got there fairly early in the morning I scored the perfect parking spot, back in the trees with 100% shade...doesn't get better than that. First up was Bob W2FN, in Williamsville, NY. On 17m I put two Austrian Stations in the log, George OE4JHW, and Mike OE4MXB, and on 15m Jose EA1BUL from Spain made a solid contact with me. 

The only downside to the day was the very deep fading on many of the signals which made some contacts pretty difficult. 

It started to get very busy at the park, especially as it was free entry, so I managed to get 25 contacts and then packed up and headed home.  This allowed other people to park and enjoy their day as well.

Here's the days contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!

My Second Three Park Rove...

Tuesday dawned bright and early as they say, and I had plans. My wife was away visiting her family and that left me with some spare time to disappear and play radio.

Propagation was not the best, and I was determined to get all three parks I had chosen to activate done in one day. The answer of course was to up my game and take my FT-891, and set it at 40w, instead of the usual KX3 at 10w, which is exactly what I did. The FT-891 was matched with my various hamsticks.

The first park, CA-1045, Puzzle Lake Provincial Park, took just under an hour to get to, it's north-west of my home QTH in a very rural area. I put 12 contacts in the log in about 18 minutes, all of them on 40m. The band wasn't bad, but it was noisy and the QSB pretty bad.  I was sure glad to get the extra 30w behind my signal.

First in the log for the day was Martin AC1LL, in Bremen, Maine.

It was off to my second park, CA-1514, Mellon Lake Conservation Reserve, about 30 minutes from my first stop. This one is difficult to get into, and the first thing I saw in the parking lot was a shot up canoe sign.....never a good thing!

This park saw me on both 40m and 20m. First in the log for this park was Dave W4DMH, in Paw Paw, West Virginia. The noise had settled down and the QSB was not as bad in this park. The surprise of the day was getting Larry F5PYI in the log from Maclas, France. In this park I put 19 contacts in the log in 30 minutes.

Then it was off to the small town of Tweed, in Hastings County, for lunch and a coffee before I attempted the third and final park of the day.

The third park as CA-0404, Stoco Fen Provincial Park, about 10 minutes east of Tweed. There are no facilities here at all, just 20 million mosquitoes...all heading for you! You must park on the side of a pretty narrow gravel road, and hope nobody comes past you.

This park I only used 20m, as it was pretty busy with POTA activations and I knew it wouldn't take long to get activated on that band. First in the log here was Ted N0TTZ, in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He was followed quickly by Jose EA1BUL in Asturias, Spain, and Larry F5PYI again for a second park. I had 17 contacts at this park, and it took 24 minutes to activate.

Propagation for the first 2 parks was: SFI=146, SN=146, A Index=17, and the K Index=2.

Propagation for the third park was: SFI=146, SN=152, A Index=17, and the K Index=3.

The temperature was 35C (95F) by noon and very high humidity. I was glad to get the engine running after each activation to get the air conditioner turned on so I could cool down. I also went through 3 litres of water during the day.

It was an excellent day, and I have another three (maybe 4) park rove planned for late next week....if the propagation holds good!

Below is the contact map for the third activation of the day at Stoco Fen.

Stay Safe Out There!

A Beautiful Day...

It was a beautiful day here last Wednesday, blue sky, and not a cloud to be seen. It was far too nice to spend it indoors in the shack chasing DX. Instead I decided to head to the Frontenac Biosphere, CA-0023, and activate it.

The Frontenac Biosphere is a huge area covering most of southern Frontenac Country and Leeds-Grenville County. There are an unlimited numbers of spots to pick to operate from, although I tend to favour a site near the old K&P Rail trail. That ensures there's parking nearby.

Propagation was pretty good for a change that day: SFI=152, SN=128, A Index=8, and the K Index=1. Radio used was my KX3 with 40m and 20m Hamsticks.

You can see from the picture on the left that the temperature was extremely uncomfortable. At 1510 UTC it was 37C (98.6F), way too hot to operate for too long.

The answer of course is lots of water, and being able to turn on the trucks air conditioner every once in a while to cool things down.

As it turned out after 12 contacts the bands turned off and the signals simply disappeared, giving me an excuse to go QRT and get home to a cool house.

I don't think I'll be going out again in those kind of temperatures.

Stay Cool Out There!!