Hi kidlets. It is a good day as I am off tonight. The temperature is currently 16 C (60 F) and the sky is starting to cloud up to fulfill the promise of rain later tonight and tomorrow. The cats are doing cat things. Kalamazoo is sitting on the counter staring at me. Yes, they have been fed.

I activated State Game Land PA 230 US-8927 today. The part of the game land I was at is on top of the hill at Waggoners Gap where the hawk watch is. There is a nice parking lot they just built/improved. It was quiet up there except for the traffic on the nearby road. I was able to work 15 contacts on 40M and 17M in the course of 1/2 hour. Not the greatest rate but the bands were very “iffy”. There were no signs of critters or birds around (I didn’t even see any buzzards flying) which I attribute to the weather. I am sure on a better or more Spring-like day there will be lots of them around.

Before I left, I put out a couple of calls on 2M simplex. I used the (GASP) sacred frequency of 146.520 MHz. I didn’t receive any replies but I did offer to log anyone as a contact on 2 M. Ok, this will open a can of worms but remember this is my opinion. I use 146.520 (which has been suggested as the “national calling frequency” by a large ham radio association) quite often. I have QSOs on the way to work and I monitor it when I am travelling. There are those who will say that it shouldn’t be used as it is for calling. Well, 1. there is nothing in the FCC regulations which designates it so and 2. If no one uses it then what good does it do to monitor it? I believe it should be used. If someone needs to call a specific station or wants to say something on the frequency they can just break in as you do on a repeater. Consider this: it is pretty much the default simplex frequency on any radio. Most people leave it as such. One time, I was the EC (ARES Emergency Coordinator) for the county I was living it and I held a drill. It took the form of a message relayed from one end of the county and then back again. I took some grief from an OF who said that he refused to use the frequency and I was not just wrong but also mentally deficient for even suggesting it. Yup, I ignored him as hard as I could. My point is that if you are operating in a legal and sound manner, then it is not “off limits”

Ok. Time to descend from the soapbox and drink some coffee. As always, I invite any comments on my posts. Have a nice evening and namaste y’all.