April Sans Showers

April 7, 2026 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Howdy kidlets. Had a nice couple of days off. Got 2 more activations in, did some banking, did some shopping and interacted with the kitties.

The weather the last couple of days was nice-ish with temperatures hitting 9C yesterday (48 F) and 10C today (50F). Yesterday the sun was trying to hide but came peeping out now and then. Today it was just plain sunny which made it nice sitting in my car.

Yesterday I made 30 contacts from Big Spring State Park US-4335 and it brought me closer to 1000. Today I made 21 contacts some on 40M and some on 15M. I worked a station from Italy and one from Spain. Those 2 contacts were higher in signal level than some from the US. I tell people that any signal report I receive is a good one. It all depends on what the bands are doing. I worked from MD to WA in the US. I am not sure what our plans are for the upcoming weekend but there might be an activation.

One thing I can’t stress enough is safety. Keeping antennae away from power lines is one thing but keeping them out of the paths of people is just as important. When you are in a park you have to be aware of other people in the area. When I use my Buddi-pole I place cones around it and on the ground strip to keep folks away. I always look around for situations where people could endanger themselves on my equipment.

I am including a picture of my gear laid out even though I linked a video of it last time.

Well it is suppertime so I will say namaste to you and yours.

The mascots today including Tootsie the owl

Coltsfoot peeking through the leaf-litter

My gear laid out and being inspected by Kalamazoo

One of the fireplaces near the pavilions

Remembrances Of A Cold And Blustery Day

February 24, 2026 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

It has been eventful the past few days. Mostly good and some not so good. On Friday the 20th, we took Scout to the vet to be neutered. The operation went without a hitch and Friday afternoon he was back at home, causing a ruckus.

I had to work this past weekend, Friday thru Sunday night; the usual 12 hour shifts. It was pretty much without incident until Sunday when the storm hit. From Sunday afternoon until Monday mid-morning we got a mixture of rain and snow which left 5 Centimeters (2 inches) on the ground which pretty much melted off last night. This storm has been labelled The Blizzard Of 2026″ as Philly, New York, and Southern New England got hit pretty hard, amounts varying from 45 CM (18 inches) to a bit mor than a Meter (39 inches). Today they are starting to dig out. As I said, we dodged the bullet on this one.

This morning the wind was gusting to about 15 KPH (9 MPH) and the temperature was around -4 C (25 F) so, of course, I went to a state park and activated. I went to Little Buffalo State Park US_1376 as it is close to my home. There were no birds around and the lake was totally devoid of ice fishers.

As usual it did not take long to set up. I chose 40M to start with and once I got on the air the contacts were coming in at a fast rate. I stayed on 40 for about 1/2 hour until things started to abate. I then mounted my 17M “Hamstick” on the car and continued for another 25 minutes. I was able to rack up a total of 52 contacts before I took my station down. I even worked some DX: St Vincent ( the Caribbean island, not the singer) and Italy. I was receiving good reports out to Colorado and down into the south. All in all a good activation.

As I have mentioned previously, I have my operation streamlined. At first, I was dragging out the ham radio equivalent of a full British mountaineering expedition, more bells and whistles that one person would ever need. SWMBO made suggestions over time which work out. Nowadays I use a mag mount on the car roof with one of my various “Hamsticks” on it. It isn’t perfect but it makes for a convenient and non-obtrusive setup. The only thing I do that might attract a bit of attention is to place one of my owl decoys on the hood of the car. I do carry a couple other antennae as back ups but rarely have occasion to use them

The day is now winding down. It is 1630 EST and my weather station is telling me that it is 1 C with a Southwest wind of 12 KPH. The cats have been fed, the stove is full and the coffee is hot so I may get on the air and do some POTA hunting. Namaste for now.

Scout home from the traumatic experience at the vet’s.

My porter boiling a couple weeks ago. It will soon be ready to bottle.

Winter Decided To Show Up And Be Obnoxious

January 31, 2026 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Winter, an acquaintance from long ago, showed up the other day and is now drinking all your beer and couch-surfing. Last weekend we got a storm (Jan 23rd – 25th) that, though wasn’t crippling, caused the roads to be impassable from Saturday night until Monday morning. It has also turned brutally cold. I had to stay at work from Saturday afternoon until Monday morning. SWMBO was very helpful by going out every so often and shoveling away the berm left by the snowplows so that when I got home I could pull into the driveway. After I woke up we got out the shovels and snow thrower and cleared the driveway up. (Face it, Tom, you are getting too old for this shit.)

It is still cold today, Saturday the 31st. Temperature right now is -9C and has been about the same all day. We had set out this morning to run some errands and when we got back I discovered I had let the pellet stove run out. The temperature in the house had dropped to about 17.5C which is a bit chilly for my taste. I loaded up the stove and started it up, we put our groceries away, and I set off to Little Buffalo State Park US-1376.

Little Buffalo is located about 12 minutes away and is a nice place to activate. I am slowly working on 1000 contacts from there and get closer each time. SWMBO used her discretion and prerogative to stay home in the warmth, so I had to do my own logging. In less than 1/2 hour I worked 24 contacts on 40M and called it a day. It was just too cold out there and being next to a frozen lake did not help. I did interact with some friendly people. One man who was out for a walk asked me about my antenna and ham radio. Another parked next to me and we spoke about ice fishing. I also got to watch ice skaters swirling around.

Well now it is time to drink coffee and cuddle kitties. Namaste for now, kids!

Ollie the owl staring at me and wishing I would bring him in from the cold

Some are there to fish, some are there to skate

The Activation That Wasn’t Then Was Then Wasn’t And Then Was!

January 22, 2026 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Since the weather was good, SWMBO requested a bit of a drive, so we loaded up the car and departed for Hagerstown MD to the Beaver Creek Cemetery. Loading the car consists of putting camera equipment and radio equipment in the car. We headed out and soon after crossing the MD line, I realized that I had left my ham-stick antennae home! I took full advantage of my extensive knowledge of cuss words. We continued to the cemetery and did some photography there. SWMBO then found directions to another cemetery close by.

When we were in the second cemetery, I had an epiphany: I had an option for antennas in the car. I keep a Buddi-Stick in the back along with a tripod and 20 foot strip of copper mesh as a ground system. Well Well Well! Things were looking up! We went to Taylor’s Landing on the C&O Canal. It was a nice drive there and easy to find. We parked and SWMBO went to the creek to take pictures. I started getting my stuff out to set up and then I noticed the gale-force winds. I realized that there was no bloody way that my antenna would not blow over and I didn’t feel like picking it every 5 minutes so I cussed again and packed back up. Meanwhile, SWMBO had returned and reinforced my decision by telling me that she had almost been swept off her feet by the wind. Sigh.

Ok, we went to Walmart and did some shopping before heading over to Super Buffet for lunch.

When we got home I grabbed my antennae and went to Little Buffalo State Park US-1376. It took me about 5 minutes to get set up and get on the air. A bad thing did happen, though. I placed my lap desk on my lap and tried to close the car door. Problem was that I had knocked SWMBO’s sunglasses down and they got crunched in the door. Once again, I dipped into my large sack of swear words and let some loose. I got on the air on 40 meters and first worked a couple guys activating a park in CT. When I was through, I found an empty frequency to use and started calling CQ. The calls started coming and it was pretty steady for a while … then it dried up. I grabbed my 17 meter Ham-Stick and swapped that for the 40 meter one. When I got back on the air it did not take too long to start working stations including a J8 station from St Vincent. The wind was getting stronger at this time and the wind-chill was down in the negative Kelvin area so I packed up and called it a day after 42 contacts.

That is how I spent my day off. Now to sit by the pellet stove and drink coffee. Namaste, kidlets!

November? No Wonder!

November 23, 2025November 23, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Wow, time is fun when you are having flies (my favorite frog quote). A lot has happened since the 4th of November. I worked some extra days due to people taking off for various reasons. A 12 hour day isn’t too bad until you are doing 4 or more in a row. I did have 4 days off in a row but couldn’t go much of anywhere due to both SWMBO and I having massive colds. Mostly we hung around suffering.

Scout is doing good. He is getting bigger every day though he has a skin condition that we are treating. We had to take the clippers to him so his coat is rather ragged and patchy. lol He does like hanging around me, sleeping on my chest and following me whenever I walk about. I refer to him as my “motional sports cat”. He is getting on well with the rest of the tribe for the most part. Our oldest girl, the Dowager Mayhem, does her best to ignore him. Her brother, Foggy, plays with him a bit. Calamity and him seem to be getting on the best though he does play rough. I often find them sleeping next to each other. The pocket panthers, Kalamazoo and Dipper do like to play tag with him, chasing back and forth around the downstairs.

Today I used my antenna case for the first time. I got a fishing rod case and put my ham-sticks in it along with my mag mount. It is a lot easier to tote around and the antennae don’t bang around as much as they did in the PVC pipe.

So we went out today and activated the ATV lot in Michaux State Forest US-5471. It is a good spot to activate and the elevation really helps. It sits on the ridge above Pine Grove Furnace State Park though it is not part of the park. We were getting good reports for the most part. We did have to change frequency once as a net moved in above us but there is plenty of room on the bands for everybody. Mostly the folks running the nets are cordial and let you know that they are starting up. It was a bit chilly when we started with a temp of 3C but we were only there for about 40 minutes. In that time we were able to work 40 stations.

After we finished with the activation SWMBO wanted to go for a ride. We got on the back roads in Adams County and drove around for about an hour.

Well enough for now. As always, namaste kiddos.

My antennae case loaded up with antennae and mag mount

Moxie, Missie and Tootsie at the ATV lot

A Warm October Day And Some 10M DX

October 21, 2025October 21, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

SWMBO and I were at breakfast this morning at the Blain Hotel. We were discussing how we were going to spend the day and she suggested that we do an activation at the ATV lot in Michaux State Forest US-5471. I asked her to twist my arm harder. We ran an errand for my MIL and then we loaded up and set out for the ATV lot.

We arrived at the lot and got set up and on the air by 1530 UTC. As usual I was using ham-sticks on a mag-mount on the roof of my car. We started out on 40M after consulting the net directory to make sure we were not near any nets. As usual, I transmitted my call and a request if the freq was in use several times. Hearing none I posted my freq on the POTA.APP page. I started getting immediate responses to my calls. SWMBO had a bit of fun logging. It only took us 9 minutes to get 10 in the log. After 18 contacts I decided to change bands.

After checking the spots I found 10M to be open. It takes me only a few minutes to change bands. I get the ham-stick for the band I want to work out of the PVC case I keep my antennas in. I then unscrew the antenna I wanted to swap out from the mag-mount and screw in the new antenna. I place the mount back on the roof of the car and swap bands on the radio. I hunt for an empty freq and ask if it is in use. There were a lot of transmissions on 10M which was a bit surprising for a weekday but I was happy. Once I chose a freq I posted it on the POTA.APP page and then I self-spotted on DXSUMMIT.FI as this is a spotting group that is seen and used around the US and Europe.

I started working stations from the US such as Texas, California and Florida … and then the DX started coming in. For those not familiar, DX is ham-speak for distant stations (usually out of the country). Mixed in with stations from California, Louisiana, and Kansas, I was getting calls from Germany, Spain, France and the Netherlands. The reports were good, mostly 55 or better. I was truly amazed at how well 10M was running.

Alas, all good things must eventually end and this includes activations. I posted a last call and after a few minutes vacated the frequency, giving others the opportunity to work 10M. It doesn’t take us long to tear down. SWMBO coils up the power cord from the radio as I am putting away the antennas. Then we pack the radio into its backpack and box and put the battery back into the bag I carry it in. We put the gnomes away and put the owl in the back seat. Today, we walked around the lot for a few minutes taking pictures of nicely colored trees.

Well, kidlets, that is it for this episode. You all have a very enjoyable day and, as always, namaste!

Missie, Moxie and Ollie watching my 6 as I play radio

Some cool leaves. This is on an Amur Honeysuckle.

A Long Week And A Quick Activation

October 16, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Due to one of my fellow workers taking some time off, I worked 7 days straight from the 8th to the 14th of October. This was buffered a bit by me being off the previous 7 days but it is still a strain. My shift is 12 hours at night and it does wear on a person. I have been doing this for about 21 years so I guess I should be used to it but the older I get, the more trying it gets.

Today, SWMBO and I went to King’s Gap Environmental State Park US-4361. This was the 20th time we activated this park and, as always, it was enjoyable. It was a nice day though a bit chilly. The temperature was 12.8 C when we arrived though it was nice and warm in the car. It doesn’t take long to set up my gear and with all the practice I have had it goes pretty smoothly, usually. First I got my mag-mount and antenna out of the trunk. (I keep my hamstick antennae in a 7.62 CM inside diameter PVC pipe with caps on both ends. This hangs conveniently on bunji cords wrapped around the rear seat headrests. ) Then I got my 40M hamstick out of the case and attached it to my roof. I ran the coax down the windshield and into the driver side window. Next I got my rig out of the storage box I keep it in along with my gnomes and my basic tool kit. I attached the coax to the radio and placed it up on the dashboard. I put my 20AH LiFePo battery on the armrest and attached the power cord from the radio to it. I consulted my list of known net frequencies (so that I could avoid them) and found an empty frequency. I asked if it was in use and gave my callsign, waited for a response or any indication of activity, and repeated the process. (As a side note, I keep my power level at 75 Watts) When I had determined that the freq was clear I posted a spot on the POTA app and started calling CQ POTA. That is my usual routine.

Today we started at 1225 UTC and worked a park-to-park station in NJ. From there it was pretty much solid activity until 1258 when I went hunting. Of course by we I mean SWMBO and myself. After hunting for a few minutes we decided to call it a day. In 39 minutes, we worked a total of 45 stations; not too bad if I say so myself.

So that is pretty much what I do and how I do it. In another blog I will address how we select where to activate. Enough for now. Namaste, kidlets!

The recent planetary alignment showing Venus, Jupiter and Mercury in the early morning sky.

Full Corn Moon And 3 Activations

September 9, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

The last full moon of summer came a bit early this year. Typically, the Full Corn Moon happens after the Autumnal Equinox but this year it came on September 7th, 2 days ago. I saw it on the way home from work and it was huge, hanging in the sky like a bright que ball. It is called the Corn Moon as it usually happens around the time corn is harvested. The next moon is the Harvest Moon which will occur on October 6th. Okay, enough mooning around.

Today was a beautiful day. We had planned on activating 2 parks and then doing some other stuff but we ended up activating 3. We arrived at Catoctin Mountain Park US-0666 just before 12:00 UTC (0800 EDT) and got on the air by 5 after. In 18 minutes, we made 18 contacts and since we seemed to be on a roll with weather and band conditions, we decided to go to another nearby park.

Our second park was Cunningham Falls State Park US-1566. We arrived around 0845 EDT and got on the air soon after. We can get set up relatively quickly as we keep things simple, using a “Hamstick” on the car and an FT891 with a lifepo battery. Anyway, it took us 19 minutes to make 29 contacts. Again, conditions were good. The main thing that caused us to move to another park was the 3 busloads of kids which invaded the park. I have nothing against kids but they can get a bit distracting in large numbers and we were parked near a restroom so there would have been a lot of foot traffic.

So, we moved back North of the Mason Dixon Line into Pennsylvania and stopped at Gettysburg National Battlefield US-0027. Per usual, we parked on Culp’s Hill where we worked 12 contacts. The 40 meter band changed on us and the contacts sorta dried up. We figured it was time to pack up and do some other stuff like looking at Halloween things in a couple stores, get some vittles at the Newville Diner and do our grocery shopping. It was definitely a full day.

Now a word. I am not using the “royal” we, nor am I speaking in the second person plural as a single person. SWMBO was with me as she usually is. She does my logging and keeps me sane. I did make a mistake at Cunningham Falls: I had asked a ham to stand by and worked 2 other stations which had called me at the same time. By the time I got back to him he had gone. SWMBO had logged his callsign and when I uploaded my logs I gave him credit for working us. I have had similar things happen to me so I didn’t want to leave him hanging. SWMBO saved the day, again. 🙂

Ok kids, I am gonna close this now. Feel free, as always to leave comments. I love feedback. Namaste

Missie, Moxie and Zarathustra at Catoctim Mountain Park

Missie and Moxie at Cunningham Falls SP. Zarathustra is hidden by the sunshine

Missie Moxie and Zarathustra at Culp’s Hill in Gettysburg

In Before It Got Too Hot

August 12, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

SWMBO wasn’t satisfied with a couple of her videos as they came out too dark. She did a factory reset on her camera and suggested we go and retake the videos. She also suggested that we activate Sweet Run in VA SP US-9936 as it was close to where she wanted to go. Not a problem. We drove down to Sweet Run first. It is a small and quiet park located just a few miles from Harpers Ferry WV. We had a nice drive down there and got set up quickly. My typical routine is to decide which band to operate then put the appropriate antenna on the roof in a mag mount. Next I place my radio, an FT891 by Yaesu, on the dashboard and connect it up to my battery. I use a 20ah LiFePo battery which gives me adequate operating time. I then find an empty frequency. Sometimes I find a place and part way through my activation I get informed that a net is going to start soon. I then find another spot. Most times the person is polite when they ask. I am a net manager for a local club net and have no issues giving precedence to a net. Anyway, once I pick a frequency, I start calling using my voice recorder on my radio. It saves my voice. SWMBO does the logging and we have found that 2 sets of ears are better than one at picking out weak signals. I am constantly adjusting my AF volume to accommodate signals that are hard to hear and to keep my “interference” to other park users to a minimum. One thing I make sure to do is to acknowlege the 10th contact and thank the hunter for making my activation bonafide. Back to today. We got set up and then on the air. In about 1/2 hour we made 34 contacts (35 really but one was a duplicate). By then it was getting too hot to be comfortable. The humidity was also high. I thought we would get some rain but the ridge to the East of us seems to have blocked it. Once we tore down we walked around the park. I took a video in the pollinator garden which I will link to below. We left the park and scooted over to Gathland SP. It was too hot to do an activation. SWMBO did her video thing and we went down the hill to Burkittsville, MD where she did another video. We stopped at Lincoln Diner in Gettysburg, PA for a great lunch and went home. Now I am sitting here drinking coffee and having face time with my cats. I will be participating in one net (Black Swamp Amateur Radio Club) via Echolink and then running our local one later on. Well, namaste for now, kidlets.

Ready to operate at Sweet Run State Park

Jupiter, Venus and Mercury aligned on 10 August 2025 just before dawn

One of the flower beds at Sweet Run State Park

Who Turned The Heat Up?

July 24, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

This is typical. We decided to go camping ( I admit it was my idea) and it turned out to be bloody hot! It is like a sauna out there. No matter, SWMBO and I still had a good time. We left home yesterday (only had to turn back about 5 minutes into the journey due to me forgetting my meds; after all what adventure starts off without a mishap?) and drove down to Caledonia State Park US-1337 where we quickly set up camp. We made a quick trip to the store and then semi-settled in. I got on the air with SWMBO logging and we worked 30 contacts in about 30 minutes. We had a visitor to the campsite which I will post a link to the video I made. We then took a ride to cool off in the AC and to recharge our fones. During our drive we saw 5 ruminants and several bunnies along with a whistle pig who appeared to be praying. By the time we got back and got the fire lit, it was after 20:00 local which made it the 24th for logging purposes. I got back on the air and worked 29 more stations before I shut down to honor the park’s noise policy. We spent some quiet time reading and relaxing and watching the fire burn. This morning, we got up and were on the road before 7 AM. We drove down to Mont Alto State Park US-1386 and worked 12 contacts. Mont Alto can be difficult to work from as it is down in a low spot and the whole area is infested with iron ore, diminishing all radio signals. We made it and headed on. The heat index was predicted to be upwards of the rectal temperature of Satan. Actually they were calling for a heat index of 103 to 105 F but close enough. We travelled down to Fort Frederick MD US-1570 which borders on US -0015 C&O Canal National Historic Park, making this activation a 2 fer. We made 11 contacts and once again set out in the AC coolness to our last park for the day. I stopped in at the Visitors center at Antietam National Battlefield Park and obtained a life-time National Park Pass which entitles myself and 3 others access to all National Parks, Historic Sites, National Forests and other National sites. At Antietam we worked 13 contacts. I know these numbers seem low but consider we were only working 40 M and the band conditions were not that conducive to portable operating. Anyway, we had a good adventure and topped it off with a great lunch at Lincoln Diner in Gettysburg PA. Did I mention that it was very hot out there? We then tore down our campsite and came home, tired, hot and happy with our POTA success. Before I got home the P2P contacts had all uploaded their logs so when I uploaded mine I got the P2P credit. I even got another Warthog Rover certificate: my 3rd. For birds, last night we were serenaded for a few hours by a Yellow-Throated Vireo. Today we heard a lot of birds in all our locations: Red-eyed Vireos, Eastern Wood Pewees, Chipping Sparrows, Great Blue Herons, Common Mergansers, American Robins, American Goldfinches. Eastern Meadowlarks, American Crows and Eastern Phoebes. Quite a bunch. This was a good couple of days and we had a lot of fun. Well, namaste for now, kidlets.