A Beautiful Day In Gettysburg And Elsewhere

April 17, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

This morning SWMBO and I decided to go out and about. It was around 3C (37F) when we left and we were hoping for the best weatherwise. We decided on Gettysburg PA as a destination and we made our way to Culps Hill. While we were there the temp rose from 6C (43F) to 11C (52F) and there was not a cloud in the sky. The wind was calm, also. On the radio side of things, the A index was 84 and the K index was 7; a true solar storm! I didn’t know this until after I finished with the activation. We were only on the air from 12:47 UTC until 13:17 UTC and worked a total of 30 contacts of which 4 were Park-to-Park contacts. Very nice for a day when the propagation should have prevented us from talking across the street. 🙂 As per usual, I used my app to listen for birds and heard: Tufted Titmouses, White-throated Sparrows, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Brown-headed Cowbirds; a virtual symphony of tweets. After we picked up we decided to head to the Evergreen Cemetery in Gettysburg. As I have mentioned before, we both like to take pictures in cemeteries as some of the carvings on the stones are very beautiful. We go to the cemetery and I again started my app hearing: Chipping Sparrows, Blue Jays, American Goldfinches, Tufted Titmice and Dark-eyed Juncos. The cemetery was also alive with a plethora (butt-load) of squirrels. The day continued to be gorgeous. One grave in particular that we visited was that of Jennie Wade, the only civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg. There is a statue of her there and a flagpole where people leave pennies to signify they visited the grave. In a day or so I will be uploading a video of her grave site to my YouTube channel : www.youtube.com/@gestyrious After we left the cemetery we headed over the mountain to Bunker Hill Farm in Michaux State Forest. Aside from once being a farm it was also a CCC Camp, a camp where the Army interrogated WWII prisoners of war, and a church camp (in that order). There are only foundations left now and the crumbling walls of the old barn. It is a cool place to walk around. Anyway, that sums up how we spent a beautiful morning. That is it for now. As always, Namaste kids.

Moxie and Zarathustra at Culp’s Hill maintaining the accuracy of our logs.

The remains of the barn at Bunker Hill Farm

3 Great Days At The End Of March

March 30, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Well here we are, at the end of March. Spring has sprung and what a spring it has. The Daffodils are blooming across the road, both yellow and white. Friday the 28th was nice temperature-wise and we took a drive down to Boiling Springs, PA, where we used to live long ago. It is a nice quiet little town with a man-made lake in the middle of it. SWMBO wanted to try out her new camera and I took some pictures of the wildlife there along with a video I will link to at the end of this entry. The lake had lots of geese and was just stocked with trout as Saturday the 29th was the first day of trout season here in PA. One cool thing about this lake is that at the lower end where we were it is restricted to youth fishing only. This gives kids a chance to catch some and makes for some nice parent-child time. As we walked around the area I had my app open to hear the birds. We heard Northern Cardinals, American Goldfinches, Song Sparrows, Gloden Crowned Kinglets and Red-Bellied Woodpeckers. A rather nice assortment. We then trolloped home. Yesterday, March 29th, was a very nice day with temps up near 28C. It started clouding up in the afternoon but stayed warm. SWMBO wanted to check out this one cemetery and we went there. After we were done there we went to Mont Alto State Park US-1386. Conditions were a bit rough on the bands but we made 13 contacts with several being Park-to-Park contacts. We then had a nice lunch at Newville Diner and went home. Today has been cloudy but warm. Temperature os 20C and the sky is overcast. We went to another cemetery today after doing our grocery shopping. This cemetery is located in Middletown PA and buried there is Helen Twelvetrees, a famous actress from the early days of silent and talking films. While SWMBO did her filming, I walked around and checked out the gravestones. I also had my app open and heard American Crows, Northern Cardinals, American Robins, House Finches and European Starlings. Well that is how we spent the final weekend of March. Namaste for now, kidlets.

Moxie and Ptolomey at Mont Alto State Park

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.

Rover But Not Red

June 24, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Hi kidlets. It has been a few days. My long suffering wyfe and I are on a long deserved vacation up in NH, cruising around. Mostly its been fun though there have been a few mishaps and an almost whoops. First, on the way up I was sorta spacing out and a NH State Trooper pulled me over after clocking me doing 57 in a 30 zone. I admitted to him It was my fault and that I was just spacing out. At this time I had been on the road for about 10 hours. I was totally amazed when he let us off with a warning. The ticket would have run $280! I cannot sing his praises long and loudly enough! Since then I have been minding the speed limits exactly. I have not been exceeding them at all which has, I am sure, pissed off some people driving behind me. At least I do exactly the limit and not 5 MPH below. Next, we met up with my brother Ted and his wife Nancy at the Mt Washington Cog Railway. We took a trip up to the summit and had a good time up there except for when my arthritis caused me to take a fall and skin both my knees, bend my arthritic toe backwards spraining it badly and hurting the hell out of my pride. I am getting better. Yesterday we drove around looking for cemeteries and also found some. Today we activated two parks. The first is the Nansen Wayside State Park US-2668 in Milan NH. It had only been activated 3 times (until today). We made 10 contacts in about 1/2 hour and moved on. We proceeded through the 13 mile woods looking for mooses and went to Errol NH to Cote’s store for an obligatory slice of pizza. We then set out for Forest Lake State Park US-2652 in Whitefield NH which had only been activated 6 times (until today). We made 16 contacts spanning from New Mexico to Sweden! The European stations were coming in good today on 17M. SWMBO is getting some good practice in listening to heavy accents and copying callsigns. She was enjoying herself. I am trying to find places that haven’t been activated often to give people a chance to get them in their logs. Well enough for now. Time to say namaste, kidlets.

Mice, Men, Plans … Whatevah!

June 13, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Yesterday, June 12th, we went to Little Buffalo and activated US-1376. We had a good time and enjoyed the nice weather. My long-suffering wyfe logged and her app heard some red-eyed vireos, northern cardinals, american robins, orchard oreoles and house sparrows. In less than 45 minutes we logged 32 contacts with several park-to-parks. We got to enjoy a nice breeze coming off the lake and all was well.

Today we set out early to beat traffic. We wanted to go to Jayne Mansfield’s grave in Penn Argyl, PA. It is in a nice quiet cemetery on the outskirts of town. We took some pics and then we set out to active a park or 2. Simple, right? Well we first went to Beltsville State Park US-1330. The drive there was on mostly back roads and very scenic. When we got to the beach/picnic area of the park, there was a sign with the usual prohibitions but they also forbid “radios and speakers”. I found a ranger and introduced us and informed him of our intentions. He assured us that the forbidden radios only applied to “boombox” type radios as loud music has a tendency to be upsetting to some people. He had no problems with us sitting in our car and playing radio. While I was setting up, my wyfe used her app and heard some american gold finches, blue jays, red-eyed vireos, grey catbirds, tufted titmouses (titmice?), and yellow warblers. I got set up and in about 1/2 hours worked 13 stations with 4 park-to-parks. We packed up and set out for another park and that is where the real adventure began. First off, Lehigh Gorge has no internet access. We did not want to hang around and do a lengthy stay, waiting to get spotted. We will try again and pre-schedule an activation there. The same goes with Locust Lake. Then we left Locust lake seeking Tuscarora State Park. Our GPS lead us on a very merry chase around in circles which brought us back to Locust Lake. I don’t often swear at inanimate objects (yes I do) but this time I let out a torrent that would have made my father proud. At this point we gathered what was left of our dignity and set out for Memorial Lake. We stopped off for lunch at Snitz Creek Brewery and had a great meal. I had the chicken fried steak and Glory had the stuffed meatloaf. We then drove the mile down to the lake and activated. Memorial Lake State Park US-1384 is nice and peaceful. We worked 10 contacts on 40M, 1 on 17 M and 1 on 20M and then called it a day. Well that is all for now, kidlets. Namaste and sweet dreams.

Took a Late Spring Break

July 1, 2023 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Well I am back. Took a bit of a break inclding a vacation which included driving over 2400 miles and eating lots of food that I shouldn’t have eaten, but isn’t that what you are supposed to do on vacation? In the near future I will be posting some more on here. I have some picture and comments and observations. First off, though, I would like to point out that I would like to say that I am the type of person that it would be good to have on a ghost hunt. I am a sceptic and look for explanations rather than jump to conclusions. Having said that, my wyfe and I were in a cemetery where she was doing some recording trying to catch EVP (electronic voice phenomenon). I was staying away from where she was and was wandering around taking pictures of cool stones and textures. I caught motion out of the corner of my eye and the impression that someone was walking next to me. There was no one there. I took out my phone and activated a “spirit box” app. Now these things are, in my opinion, apt to pick up random words and phrases from broadcast and CB radio. Just for fun I asked “Is there anyone there?” I heard a reply: “Hello” I asked do you have anything to say? All I heard was static. I asked again: “Do you have anything to say?” I heard a very distinctive “I’m freezing”. I have no explaination for this. Since this was late June and the current temp was in the high 70’s, I doubt such a comment would come up in normal conversation. Who knows. Well, namaste for now kidlets.

March 23, 2022 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

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Death and other fun topics

October 20, 2021 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

This entry I am going to talk a bit about cemeteries. Cemeteries are our legacy. They chronicle the passage of time and can give a feeling of loneliness and/or insignificance. They could also give a feeling of peace and tranquility. Back around 100 years ago or more, people viewed cemeteries as parks. holding picnics or taking leisurely Sunday strolls down tended paths. They did not fear the dead, they respected the grounds and treated it with an awe filled reverence. Lovers would sit under the trees or lean on the stones dreaming of things to come. Poets would be inspired by the atmosphere of serenity.

There is a true equality in death and it doesn’t matter the size of your stone. Below you will find some pictures I took today in one of the cemeteries in Carlisle PA

There is a lot of symbolism on the older stones. I have even found one on which the finger is pointing downwards. That one is in a cemetery in NH

Here is a monument to Molly Pitcher, a Revolutionary War Hero.

The texture of a broken and aged stone can remind us of the fleeting significance of all we do.

Next time you pass a cemetery give it a look. You never know what you might find … even if the only thing to find is peace of mind. 🙂

A Mini Vacation

September 18, 2021 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

We went on a mini trip down to West Virginia and Ohio. It is very peaceful driving at 3 in the morning. You seem to be in a tunnel, with the trees arching overhead. The main thing is to watch out for the animals that spring into the road in front of you. After a bit, we got on to the turnpike and then it just becomes sort of tedious. Mile after mile of dodging trucks and drinking bad coffee. Well the coffee was not the worst that I have ever had but it came damn close. I called several times on 146.520 MHz but got no replies. Then we got to our first destination: Chester West Virginia, home of the World’s Larges Teapot!

Our next stop was in New Cumberland West Virginia where there is a house with some interesting yard art:

The next stop was at Hill Billy Hotdogs. We were really disappointed with the place. There was a lot of hype but there was nothing special about the dogs. The Hamilton in Carlisle PA makes much better dogs. I am not saying they were not good, they just did not live up to the hype.

We did visit the Mothman and take a pic with him:

And we happened to find the grave of Bob Evans, founder of the restaurant chain that bears his name.

Overall, we had a great time. I was unable to get anyone to answer me on 146.520 MHz but that can happen. Not everybody monitors that frequency. The motel we stayed at reeked of cigarette smoke in the hallways and we found a lizard in the bathroom. I took the poor critter outside and let him go. 🙂

Some IR video from a local old cemetery

August 22, 2021August 22, 2021 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Pioneer Cemetery Laurel Run Road Blain PA

My wyfe and I enjoy exploring old cemeteries and taking pictures and video. About 20 minutes from where we live is this one cemetery located out along a gravel road up on the local mountain. The area was known as Pandemonium and the Pioneer cemetery once served the settlement. Back in the day this area had a water mill, a tannery and a lumber industry. A short drive up Laurel Run Road takes you to the area and the cemetery is located up a short driveway off of the main road. It is secluded and peaceful. While we were there, last night, there was some animal out a bit in the woods watching us. I could hear it moving about now and then. Probably a bear or a deer. There are a lot of cabins along the road where people stay when they are hunting or just want some welcome solitude.

Nature, Radio, and Me

A POTA Explorer's Diary

cemeteries