Alpha And Omega 2024

December 31, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Wow, New Years Eve already. My plans are to sit here quietly and maybe have a beer or two and let other people go out doing the party thing. There are a lot of advantages to staying home on New Years Eve to include I can be naked with no fear of being arrested. No one here to complain except for my wyfe and the cats. We ventured out this morning to breakfast and then did an activation. We chose Big Spring State Park US-4355 because it was the first park we activated this year and now we have come full circle. The weather was nice and the temp was about 1.5 C (35 F) and the sun was shining. We set up just before 1400 UTC (0900 EDT) and got on the air. It was a bit slow at first. We were on 40 M and someone moved onto a frequency just below us. We took a short break, did a bit of hunting and then moved to a more open frequency. We made several more contacts and then we switched over to 12M. We worked several stations on 12 including some European DX. We did work the president of the Perry County Amateur Radio Club, Matt KB3PSN, from about 20 miles away in New Bloomfield PA. He had tried us on 40 but there was too much noise on his end. He had no problems on 12. Everybody seemed to be in the holiday spirit. We didn’t hear any birds today. We worked a total of 55 contacts in 65 minutes. I like Big Spring Park as it a small and park and doesn’t get a whole lot of people there. It is quiet and peaceful and you can sit back and enjoy nature. 🙂 BTW, when I refer to “we” in my blogs it is generally my wyfe (SWMBO) and I unless otherwise noted. It is nice to have her along as she makes good suggestions and also does a great job logging. Back in January she suggested that we streamline our operation and gear things towards working from the car which would make it easier doing portable ops and on vacation, etc. We have our set up down to my radio, a Yaesu FT-891, a LIFEPO battery and a tube of “ham stick” style antennae. I got the idea to keep the antennae in a PVC pipe with end caps from a video on Youtube;that way they are protected and easy to handle and store. I keep them in the back of the car mostly as it is easier than hauling them into and out of the house. One less thing to carry. Since it is New Years Eve, I guess it behooves me to wax in a philosophical manner. As I sit here drinking coffee and enjoying the heat from the pellet stove, I can think back to other years when things were less good. I have come a long way in my life and have earned everything I have. I am lucky to have found a wonderful wyfe who tolerates me and my idiosyncrasies and/or foibles. I have worked my way into a good job which I have had for 20 years. I still have my health for the most part. The best thing I can say that I have is my mental acuity. I have good friends and comrades out there who accept me and my eccentric outlook. So to all out there who may read this blog, Namaste and Happy New Year.

Moxie the gnome and Zarathustra the owl enjoying Big Spring State Park

Operating from Big Spring on Jan 02 24 in my shelter

Na And Nock

December 26, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

SWMBO and I decided to go for a little ride today and activate US-1601 Susquehanna State Park in Maryland. It was overcast and gloomy and the temperature was hovering just above freezing. We got set up and dove right in. In around 45 minutes we worked 28 contacts total on 40M and 12M. We had set up at the same place we did the last time we were here: the boat ramp. As we were working stations we got to watch loons, ducks and a bald eagle swimming and flying around. Our app on the phone heard American Crows, Downy Woodpeckers, Whited Throated Sparrows and Northern Cardinals. We made a Park-to-Park contact with someone working a 2-fer. Overall, it was a fun and successful activation. Then it happened: SWMBO said “how about we go to another park?” We tore down and set out. On the way we went over the dam at the Conowingo Hydro plant. SWMBO wanted to video the crossing so when we got across, we turned around and crossed it again. It is a monumental structure and dates back to 1928. The original town of Conowingo MD had to be moved when they constructed the dam and is now submerged in the reservoir. From there we travelled up river a few miles to Susquehannock State Park US-1425. This was the first time I activated this park but it won’t be the last. We set up in the parking lot for the overlook area and we were the only people . There were some beautiful holly trees in the median. We only heard Northern Cardinals there, though. In 25 minutes we made 19 contacts on 40M and 12M to include a 2-fer Park-to-Park with 2 operators. I was getting good signal reports and am hoping the solar cycle continues this way. Well I am back home, sipping coffee and enjoying the warmth of the stove so I think I will say Namaste. kiddos!

Moxie and Tootsie at Susquehanna State Park in Maryland

Moxie and Tootsie at Susquehannock State Park in PA

Watching Snow Sublimate

December 17, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

It was foggy this morning, very foggy. Visibility was about 75 Meters when I first got up. Between Sunday and Monday we acquired about 75MM of snow and then it started to warm up Monday afternoon it started to turn foggy and remained so for the first part of today. We had breakfast at the Blain Hotel and decided to activate Little Buffalo State Park US-1376. It is nice to have parks and game lands nearby. We arrived around 1410 UTC and got on the air about 1420. We started out on 40M and contacts were coming in at a pretty fast rate. We worked stations as far west as Wisconsin and as far south as Georgia. I had very little time to post spots as the contacts were flying in. I am thankful that SWMBO was logging for me as I would not have been able to keep up. Finally they tapered off a bit and I announced that I was changing bands to 12M. We started logging at 1458 UTC on 12 M and immediately started to get results. It was a mix of states to the west of us and stations from Europe. Propagation was a bit weird as some stations from Europe were very strong and we could barely hear others. We had Spain, Italy, Belgium, France and Poland in the log in short order. We worked out to Colorado and down to Texas. Overall we made 67 contacts in an hour before we decided to call it quits for the day. There was much happiness. Once again I used a strategy that has worked well before: start out on either 40 or 80 M for the eastern states and then swap to 12 or 17 meters to give the Europeans a chance. As I was putting the station and antennae up, Glory, SWMBO, used the app Merlin to check out what birds were around. It logged American Crows, American Blue Jays and Canada Geese (gooses?) so there was bird activity. Well enough for today. I have everyone has a great day. Namaste, kiddos.

Chilly Activation

December 3, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

It was a beautiful day today if you care to ignore the temperature. After breakfast at the Newville Diner, we drove up to the ATV lot in Michaux State Forest US-5471. When we arrived the sky was blue, there was a light breeze and the temperature was 271 K or -2 C or 29 F, whichever you prefer. I like K in the winter because it sounds so much warmer. There were no birds to be heard today and also, luckily, the lot was not filled with the vehicles of hunters taking their rifles for a walk in the forest. There were 3 pickups but it is a big lot so no problems finding parking. We started out on 40 metres and the contacts started coming in fast and furious. I did not have time to spot myself online very often. Within 26 minutes we worked 37 stations from up and down the Eastern 1/3 of the country. Towards the end of that timespan, things started to slow up. I swapped out antennae and went to 12 metres to give the Europeans a chance. We made 21 more QSO’s on 12 and then called last call. Overall 58 contacts in about 1 hour. I know that Costa Rica isn’t Europe, nor is Mexico but I was happy to put them in the logs. We even had a contact from Finland. Overall a great POTA day. Yesterday we brought Calamity to the vet for the first time. She received a clean bill-of-health and will have a follow up in a few weeks for spaying. She is a bit older than I thought she was. The vet said she is around 6 months. That doesn’t make her any less loveable. After we got her home we let her out of the carrier and she was her usual self, apparently forgiving me for subjecting her to the indignities of a vet visit. Right now she is playing fetch with me. Well enough for today. Namaste, kidlets.

Calamity at the vet waiting to be taken home.

Moxie and Tootsie enjoying a sunny December day

500 At Gettysburg

November 28, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Thanksgiving 28 Nov 24. Not a pretty day. The dismal sky was a morose shade of gray; a hue that guarantees feelings of despondency and morbidity. It is only in Autumn that such feelings can be invoked by the clouds. The forests of Southern PA were so dank that even Robert Frost could not describe them in an upbeat or pleasant manner. Light rain was attempting to fall and all the birds were in hiding. Of course, we decided to activate. We went to Gettysburg US-0027. We were surprised by the number of people that were strolling around the battlefield. We thought we would have the place to ourselves with most people being at home doing family things but there were pedestrians all over the place in the vicinity of Spanglers Spring and Culp’s Hill. We got set up and started out on 40 M. I figured that there would be a lot of hams at home waiting on their turkey to cook and sneaking away from the family to play on the radio for a brief time and I was right. We had a legitimate activation within 9 minutes which is pretty good for 40 M during daylight hours. We continued on 40 for another half hour, working stations from NH to TN and north to ON. I then made the command decision to change bands and mounted my 10 M antenna. It does not take long to swap antennae. I take the current one off, put on the one for the next band I want to work, tune the radio to an empty freq and get on the air. One thing I try to do is stay within the privilege areas for General Class Licenses. I posted our location on the POTA spotting page and also announced us on the DXSummit page. It did not take long for stations to find us. There were a lot of European stations, we even worked a park-to-park in Germany. We hung around for another half hour end finished up with 53 contacts which made my total for Gettysburg 500 … half way to my Kilo award. Now I am sitting at home letting the pellet stove remove the damp from the air and enjoying coffee as my cats snooze in the warmth. Enough for today. Namaste kidlets.

Moxie and Ptolomey enjoying a foggy and dreary morning on Culp’s Hill.

The flamingos are restless preparing to continue their northern migration.

Two Days And November Reminds Us That It Is Here

November 24, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

It is November 24th and I am sitting here drinking coffee and wearing reading glasses on top of my regular glasses so that I can see the screen better. The weather has gone from 18.2 C to the current of 8.9 C and is starting to dip down at night to the minus numbers. We even had some snow flurries here at home and more snow in other areas of the state. Yesterday it was nice and sunny in the morning. We tried out a local breakfast buffet run by Mennonites. The food was good and the price was reasonable for an all-you-can-eat. I only had 1 plateful and SWMBO couldn’t finish her plate. after breakfast we trolloped off to Little Buffalo State Park US-1376 and did an activation. The sun was shining, there was a murder of crows hanging around and we watched the waterfowl swimming and even got to see a large fish jump into the air. It had a surprising amount of hang time. We worked 28 US stations on 40M and then I tuned in 10M. We worked 4 US stations one from Spain and then one from Bulgaria which is a new country in my POTA log. I decided to give 12M a try. We worked 11 stations, 4 from Germany, 2 from France, 1 from England and the rest across the US. We packed up and headed home with 45 in the log. At this time the weather was still nice but later on in the morning it clouded up. The temperature reached a high of 5.9C. With the cloud cover in the PM it started to look dismal. This morning we went to breakfast at the Newville Diner where we decided to active Mont Alto State Park US-1386. The weather was again dismal and the temperature slowly rose from 6.8 to 8.3 C. I chose to try 80M and worked a couple stations but the daytime noise level was annoying. I switched to my 40M antenna and we had QSOs with 25 stations, all from the US. We even had contact with a station from the state of Georgia which is surprising for 40 during the day. I then put on my 12M antenna and finished out the activation with 5 more contacts including Sweden, Mexico and France. 12 M has been open to Europe a lot lately. We did not hear any birds though we did have a flamingo sighting. After we picked up SWMBO wanted to go for a bit of a ride. We cruised around on some back roads in Franklin and Adams Counties and got a bit turned around. We found our way and then headed home with a brief stop at the grocery store. Now I am relaxing and about to try some hunting from my station. Namaste for now, kidlets.

Calamity the radio cat and me relaxing at home

A Short Road Trip and More Activations

November 14, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Let me start out by saying how much I enjoy long distance drives in the late night/early morning hours. The traffic is at a low volume and it seems, especially on back roads, that you are alone in your own little bubble. While the world is tucked away in their beds you cruise along blissfully. The only concern is watching out for any animal which may decide to walk or run in front of you. You don’t even need to worry too much about other cars because there are so few. We did this on Monday, 11 November. We set out in the darkness and made our way to West Virginia. Our first stop was in Morgantown, WV, to view the statue of Don Knotts. It sits in front of the theatre where he got his start. The statue is very easy to find. After we took some pictures and acted like typical tourists we resumed our trip. We had planned to stop in Pomeroy, OH, to video river barges but when we got there, a Veterans Day ceremony was going on at the pullout and there was no available parking spaces. We found a place for lunch and then continued to Point Pleasent, WV, home of the Mothman. We took some pics around the town and then it was still to early to check in to our motel so we drove to Tu-Endie-Wei State Park US-1823. It is a nice little park. Its name means “Between Two Waters” and that describes it well. It sits where the Kanawha river joins the Ohio. Propagation was good on 17 Meters so that is what we worked. We made a total of 23 contacts and then had fun videoing the barges and just enjoying a beautiful day. When check in time rolled around we crossed the river to Gallipolis, OH to our motel. We had no desire to just sit around so after we got our stuff settled in, we took a drive on some back roads. We found ourselves at the Old Holcomb Cemetery and took fotos there. It was getting dark so we made our way back to the motel, had supper and settled in. On Tuesday, Nov 12, drove back up to Pomeroy and took some footage of a barge heading up the river. Our next stop was at Forked Run State Park US-1951 where we made 32 contacts on 40 and 10 Meters. There were a lot of European stations on 10 which is an indication of how open the band was. The park itself was peaceful. We parked in an empty lot above the lake where there was an access path to the beach. After the activation we headed home. Since this was during the day the traffic was a lot heavier and more obnoxious. Today, 14 Nov, we went to Culp’s Hill in Gettysburg National Military Park US-0027. The bands were humming and in about 45 minutes we worked 56 stations between 10 and 40 Meters. We were even able to work a new Canadien Province: Manitoba. There were, again, a lot of European stations on 10 along with 1 contact from Mexico. We heard a red-bellied woodpecker as we sat there. As I started to drive away I realized I had left my phone on top of the car. I retrieved it before it could fall. The weather today had changed. It was overcast and chilly so we sat in the car with our doors closed. One memorable contact was with an op from England who was running a similar set up as I have: 80 watts to a hamstick. Myself, I use 75 watts but we both gave a 5-5 report. Well I guess it is time to close this. Namaste kidlets and happy trails.

A Really Nice Day

November 5, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Not sure what is happening with the weather but I am not complaining. It is 5 Nov and the temp got to about 23C. The sun was shining and it was just downright beautiful. SWMBO and I went to the ATV lot above Pine Grove Furnace SP in Michaux State Forest US-5471 and made another successful activation. As a raven flew around overhead, we began on 40M. It was about 15:50 UTC when we began so I did not have high hopes for 40. My first contact was a ham in NC who was activating a park. He was on the freq I had last had my radio on so I turned it on and there he was. It was an easy park-to-park contact and a good start. We worked a couple more on 40 and then spun the dial to 10M. The band was pretty active and we worked around 25 stations, mostly European. We started getting QRM’d (inadvertantly I am sure) by a station in central Europe. I went to the 12M band where we worked another station before we went to 17M and finished out the activation with another 7 contacts. All in all we made 38 contacts ranging from California to Poland. In the upcoming week we plan on getting a few more parks under the belt. Hopefully the weather will hold. Today I brought Ptolomey the owl with us and next time it is Tootsie’s turn. I do like to switch owls. All too soon it will start doing the “s” word and I will have to bring flamingos with us as they are my winter birds. Moxie as always sat on the dashboard and kept us company. A nice thing about today was when the contacts were coming in so fast that I didn’t have time to spot ourselves on the web. Also on a positive nots, both SWMBO and I are getting more adept at understanding callsigns of people with heavy accents. 🙂 Well I am going to finish here and relax for the rest of the evening. Namaste, kids.

Kalamazoo relaxing with his newest friend, Calamity

There’s A Tower On Tower Road. Whoda Thunk It?

October 31, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

It has been 9 days since my last entry but I had to work for 7 days straight and then last night I was too knackered to do much of anything. Well here I am. We started out the day at the Newville Diner and tried to decide where to activate. We considered Michaux State Forest and changed our minds. We set out for Cowens Gap State Park US-1346 but when we got there we again changed our minds and headed up to Hogback Mountain in Buchanan State Forest US-5463. When we started down Tower Road we saw a ham set up at the first turnoff. It was Chuck, NA1CN, who I had only had online contact with before. We chatted for a few minutes and I made sure that I wasn’t going to interfere with his operation. We drove on, to the end of Tower Road where, LO! AND BEHOLD!, there was a tower. We got set up and started working hunters. 40 meters was in pretty good shape and it did not long for us to be a legit activation. After working 27 contacts . SWMBO suggested that we try another park as long as we were out and about. Buchanan’s Birthplace State Park US-1336 was not very far away so we toodled down there. I decided to start out on 10 meters and we made 9 contacts, a good number of them from Europe. I swapped antennae and gave 40 meters a chance. We only made 1 contact, though it was a park-to-park. I put on the 17 meter hamstick and worked 6 more stations before changing to 12 meters for the final 3. This finished out our activations for the day. The weather was beautiful though there was a bit of a breeze on Hogback Mtn, but it was nuce and warm and sunny. Zarathustra kept blowing off the hood of the car. We didn’t have that problem at Buchanan’s Birthplace and we had parked in the shade of a huge oak tree. The temperature got into the high 20’s Celsius so it was rather comfortable. A lot of the leaves were dropping but there are still plenty on the trees. Oh yeah, our newest kat, Calamity is a radio cat. She likes to sit on my lap or in my arms and watch me playing on the radio here at home. Well my fingers are finged from all this typing and my coffee cup is empty so I am going to close for now. All the best to whomever may read this. Namaste, kidlets.

Moxie and Zarathustra on Hogback Mountain

Moxie and Zarathustra at Buchanan’s Birthplace

A 2fer and A Convenient Nearby One.

October 22, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Here I am, sitting down and enjoying a cup of coffee. It was a good day today. SWMBO requested that we do an activation in Maryland and, of course, her wish is my command. 🙂 We had breakfast at the Newville Diner and I considered our options. I decided to do a 2fer … a location that counts as 2 parks. We went down to South Mountain State Battlefield SP and Washington Monument SP (US-6390 and US-1604 respectively) and got set up. As per usual, I had my FT891 and was using “hamstick” style antennas on a mag-mount.We worked 37 contacts in a very short time; it took less than hour. Mostly I had the rig set on 40M but then I gave 10M a try. Europe and GB were coming in nicely. SWMBO suggested that we activate Greenbriar SP US-1575 as it was only a couple miles away. I opted to work 10M since I had good results. The first 2 parks are on a mountain and Greenbriar is down below in a hollow. In a short while we had worked 19 stations including France, Austria, Poland, Wales, Scotland and England. We worked as far west in the US as Colorado. 10M was booming. I even had a local ham come back to me. He was only a few miles away and surprised to work anyone this close on 10M.We didn’t have any encounters with people though we got a lot of curious stares at both locations. The sun was shining and it was nice and warm. We didn’t hear any birds today but maybe next time. I have been perusing maps and there are a lot of State Parks in Maryland to explore though I am nowhere done with PA. It is just good to go out of the state now and then. I have a long stretch at work coming up but afterwards we might take a little road trip. Who knows. 🙂 Well enough for now. Time to relax and drink coffee. Namaste, kidlets.