Merry Christmas....

I'm still ill with Covid, but I would just like to take this opportunity to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas and a very safe and Happy New Year.

There's lots more adventures planned for next year.  Several first time POTA activations, and other POTA locations will be on the air that haven't been activated for a couple of years, are all on the cards, as well as a few surprises.

 

Have a safe holiday everyone!

Really??

Well, the bands may be getting better, and the propagation improving, but it'll be a while before I get out to play radio again.  I tested positive for Covid today....so I'm not a happy camper.  I thought I had escaped the plague by now, but apparently not.

See you all in a few days.

It's Getting Better...

After a pretty rough week for propagation, things are finally starting to get better.  

I set my WSPR transmitter (on the left) up to transmit on 80m, 40, and 30m overnight, using 200mW.  The antenna in use was a 80m EFHW, up at 45' in the maple trees, and using a 49:1 transformer.

Unusually for me, I did not record the propagation numbers for the evening.  Oh well, there's always next time.

I was pleased to see stations reporting my signal from as far a way as Antartica...another first for me.  80m was not that good last night, in fact very few stations reported my signal.  40m was also so-so, but 30m was the big winner, all the DX reporting hearing me was for my 30m signal.  

The next time the propagation goes in the toilet I'm planning on getting the WSPR beach on the air and see who can hear me in very poor conditions, I think that will be an interesting experiment.

Here's last night's WSPR reporting map:

Stay Well and Safe Out There!!

Propagation...

Looks like another interesting three days propagation wise is coming up, there are some G2 Solar Storms coming in.....

 

Stay Well and Stay Safe!

Saying Goodbye...

Friday morning I left Kingston around 1000 local and heading towards Ottawa.  

I had to be in Ottawa for the funeral of Kieran, VA3KS.  My plan was to meet up with Eric VE3DN at his QTH, and he would drive us to the funeral home for the service as I don't know downtown Ottawa...it's been 37 years since I last lived there.

I made good time on the roads as they, for the most part, were clean and dry, but we had had a significant snow fall over the previous few days.

There was a quick stop for a coffee in Smiths Falls and then it was on to Eric's place.

The funeral was held at Hules, Playfair & McGarry funeral chapel in downtown Ottawa.  Both Eric and I were shocked when we arrived.  It was so full of people that they were standing up at the back as they ran out of seats, a quick count showed about 260 people were there to remember Kieran.   Listening to the stories of how he had affected other peoples lives in such positive ways, certainly helped ease the pain of losing my old friend.

After a night in a local hotel, Saturday morning saw me heading for Smith's Falls to meet up with another friend, Ranson VE3RCD, for lunch and then to activate in Kieran's memory, a new park, VE-6199 - the Smith's Falls Bascule Bridge National Historical Site. The band conditions were excellent, although I had an S7 noise floor on 40m the whole time I was activating.

The propagation numbers today were:  SFI=133, SN=122, A Index=4, and the K Index=0.  Radio was the KX3 at 10w and, as usual, the antenna was a 40m hamstick. I called it day after 34 contacts as I still had an hours drive home and it was already starting to get dark out.

During the activation I mentioned several times why we were activating today, and I was surprised at the number of VE3 stations that worked us who had worked Kieran in the past.  It was nice to talk to them about him.  

Kieran was known locally as the "POTA King", and I like to think he would have appreciated our activation in his honour today.

Good bye old friend, I miss you.

Today's contact map.

WSPR...

I haven't dabbled with WSPR for a few years now, but on the advice of Kieran VA3KS (SK) I decided to buy a Zachtek WSPR Desktop Transmitter. It's a nice piece of gear, and it took no time at all to get it on the air.

My plan is to use WSPR instead of APRS on my Western Canada trip next spring. I find APRS set up to be a real pain in the behind with the FTM-500, but I can set up the WSPR each evening from my camp and the guys back home can see where I am that day.

Here's tonights initial operating of the transmitter:

40m at 0230 UTC, Wednesday, December 6.

80m at 0245 UTC, Wednesday, December 6.

Stay Safe Out There!

G3 Solar Storm...

We have a G3 solar storm heading our way for Friday, December 1st, and a K7 level is expected.  Needless to say this will have a negative impact on any portable operating this coming weekend I had planned.

Stay Safe Out There!

Devastating News Yesterday...

I'm very lucky in my life to have some of the best friends ever.  They're scattered all over Canada, and I know if anything bad was to happen I could count on them 100%.

Kieran Shepherd, VA3KS, was one of those friends.  We share an interest, POTA, that we both enjoy very much.  We both like doing portable operating in quiet places away from the intense RF noisy areas we live in, and we both enjoy camping and hiking.  

Kieran and I have done many shared activations over the past 3 years, travelling to meet up at remote spots, so we could spend a few hours together "playing radio".  Portland Bay Conservation Area was one of our favourite spots, a few hours activating the conservation area, Fish and Chips and a Pint for lunch at the Portland Restaurant, a few more hours on the radio, and then we each head for home.  A perfect radio day.

Next spring I'm planning a 30 day road trip to activate some of the remote, and not so remote POTA parks in Western Canada. At the same time Kieran was planning a trip to Nevada to visit his son and grandkids, we were trying to figure out how to meet up in Alberta and drive the return trip in convoy, activating more parks as we travelled.

These plans, and future plans came to a screeching halt early yesterday morning when I received an email from Jennifer, Kierans wife, letting me know he had passed away suddenly, and totally unexpected, during Thursday night.  He was 64 years old.

Kieran was a great friend to me, and I learned a great deal from him about portable operating and POTA. I valued his advice. He was a prolific POTA activator with 563 activations completed. His last activation was on the morning of Thursday, November 23rd, the day we lost him.

His passing serves to teach us that any one of us could go at any time, we have no control over that. So don't wait to start doing your bucket list, time is valuable, and short.

Goodbye old friend.

Kieran Shepherd

VA3KS

January 30, 1959 – November 24, 2023