Well Hello Ollie

June 8, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Greetings, kidlets. Activated today for the first time in a couple weeks due to bad band conditions and life getting in the way. It happens. SWMBO and I set out this morning to hit a park and then go to some cemeteries in Hagerstown MD. About 15 minutes before we got to Fort Frederick State Park US-1570 it started to rain. Luckily it stopped before we got to our parking space next to the C&O Canal National Historic Park US-0015. The rain had stopped but the mosquitos came out. We were able to work 24 stations in spite of the QRM (interference from mosquitos). After we wandered around the old fort and then decided on our next destination. SWMBO said “Why don’t you activate another park. Are there any more nearby?”. Not being one to argue, I checked the map and found that we were not far from Prathers Neck Wildlife Management Area US-7772. After a thrilling ride down a road that barely deserves to be called a road we found ourselves in a cul-de-sac and parked. Again, there were copious amounts of mosquitos, buzzing around and letting us humans realize our insignificance in the greater scheme of things. We got out the bug spray and braved our way through another activation. This was a new park to me and I was happy to get it in the books. We had several park-to-park contacts, which is always a big plus. Moxie and Missy decided to stay in their hiding spot but Ollie was on the hood watching our 6. Finally, the mosquitos drove us out of there and we took our jaunt down that 2-mile road from hell. We proceeded into Hagerstown and went to the Rose Hill Cemetery where Hiram Percy Maxim, founder of the ARRL, is buried. We found his grave on the plot of his wife’s family. There is a nice plaque there and I am enclosing a picture. While we were there the rain started back up so we decided to call it a day and leave more cemetery traipsing for another day. We stopped off at the Newville Diner in Newville, PA, for lunch then came home and uploaded my logs to the POTA page. We heard the following birds today: Northern Mockingbirds, Tufted Titmouses, Northern House Wrens, American Crows, Brown-headed Cowbirds, House Sparrows, Common Grackles, Carolina Wrens, Eastern Towees, Killdeers, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and Blue Jays. You might have noticed that I mentioned Ollie. He is my newest owl decoy which I acquired from a local discount store. Well enough for now. Namaste and keep your powder dry!

That’s me making a QSO at Fort Frederick SP

Missy, Ollie and Moxie at Fort Frederick

Too Windy For Owls And Some Ruminations On Being A Ham

March 2, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

It is March already and it’s living up to its reputation for being windy. Yesterday it was nice temperature wise but it was windy. We activated the ATV Lot in Michaux State Forest US-5471 and made 36 contacts in spite of the doom and gloomers warning of poor activity on a contest weekend. More on that later. There were a few trucks at the lot, ATVers out for rides, mostly. There was one guy who brought his dogs up for a frolic. They were cute little long haired dachshunds. Some riders came off the trails and loaded up to leave. We got some curious looks but no interaction. We were unable to hear any birds due to the wind. Neither yesterday nor today did we plan ahead, we just did it. Today we ventured to Caledonia State Park US-1337. We parked in one of the parking lots and got set up quickly. There were a few people enjoying the park and walking some of the trails. Again, we got some curious looks but the only person who said anything thought we were fishing when he saw me putting away my 40M hamstick. We made 37 contacts with one from England. All in all a good time in spite of the wind. The guy who asked about the fishing, when I told him it was ham radio, remarked that he has always wanted to be a ham. Then he walked away. I know how that goes. I always wanted my license but things like life and irresponsibility got in the way of my aspirations. Finally in July 1998 I got my license. I started out as a tech and then got tech plus then general and advanced and then I passed the Extra license 1 week before the FCC dropped the Morse Code requirement from 20 WPM to 5 WPM. I still use CW from home and enjoy the rhythm of it. As for contesting, I am not much of a contester. I don’t have the attention span to devote a whole weekend to radio. I try to keep things balanced and do my best to keep SWMBO happy. I like to think of myself as an all-around ham. I participate in the local ARES group and am ready and willing to help out in an emergency. Mostly I just enjoy talking on the radio and getting out into nature. SWMBO enjoys helping me by logging and she also likes to do day trips to get out of the house. As for working POTA on a contest weekend, it is easy. I start out on 40M as it doesn’t really go long during daylight hours. Usually, I can get enough contacts to be legitimate before I move to another band. During contests I like getting on the WARC bands where contesting isn’t allowed. I can always find people on 12 or 17M. Well I guess I am finished for today. Keep smiling, keep on hamming and POTA on! Namaste y’all.

A view looking down the ATV lot in Michaux SF

Moxie at the ATV lot guarding the radio.

A Two-fer And A Onesie

February 25, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

A good time was had by all today! We did a couple of activations today. We heard the following birds: American Crow, House Finch, American Robin, Tufted Titmouse (or was that titted tuftmouse?) Canada Goose, Carolina Wren and Northern Mockingbird. Quite a bunch! Last night I asked SWMBO where we should go to activate today. She suggested Maryland. She also talked me into activating multiple parks (like that took a lot of arm twisting lol). Well I was looking at a map and a list of parks and decided to go to Gathland State Park US-1574 in Jefferson Maryland. It is located on South Mountain and was the site of a civil war battle. It is a small quiet park though a few people were there when we arrived. A man came over to the car as I was setting up and introduced himself as KB3EOF, Sandy. He had just finished activating the park. It is nice to have a face-to-face qso. He gave me a call when he got home and I got him in the log as a hunter. After he left I finished setting up and got on the air. With SWMBO logging we worked 43 stations, all on 40M. This park was also a 2-fer as the Appalachian Trail US_4556 runs through it. We then took a walk around the park, read the historical signs and took pictures. We then set out for Harpers Ferry National Historical Park US-0735. Harpers Ferry was only about 15 minutes away so that was convenient. We spoke with the people in the Visitors Center and they were very okay with ham radio activities in the park. One of their volunteers is a ham and he has activated the park himself. Though the AT runs through Harpers Ferry, we were too far away from the trail to count it. We only worked 25 contacts here on both 40M and 17M. We got some contacts from all over the US, a couple from Europe and I was very surprised and pleased to receive a call from A65D in the UAE. This is the first contact I have had with that country and was glad to get it into the log. Now I am sitting at home with a cat taking over my lap. The cat in question is Kalamazoo, one of my pocket panthers. Well I am going to close for today. Namaste kidlets!

The War Correspondents Memorial at Gathland SP

When is the last time you have seen one of these?

Chilly, No Beans

January 14, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Hi kidlets. It has been 10 days so I feel that it is time to inflict you with another blog entry. The weather has been cold. Right now it is -4C with a slight breeze. Our ginger tripod kitty, Foggy, is laying in front of the pellet stove absorbing the heat. The inside temp is 27C as I like to keep it warm for the kittehs. This morning at 13:00 UTC SWMBO and I set off to a park armed with a thermos of coffee and a positive attitude. The temp was -5C and it actually dropped to -7C before we were finished. POTA has proven to be a great thing to keep us active. We made it to Big Spring State Park US-4355 and got on the air by 13:35 UTC. The park hadn’t been plowed so there was about 2.4CM of snow on the roads. I had decided to try 40M which is usually a good band for that time of day and it proved to be so. In around 40 minutes we worked 48 stations from Georgia to New Hampshire to Quebec to Michigan and several points in between. The contacts were coming in at such a pace that I barely hed time to sip my coffee let alone spotting myself on the interwebs. You gotta love those days. We even had a few pile-ups. It helps to have a second set of ears to decyphre the callsigns. All in all, a good day. Our phone app was able to hear winter wrens though no other birds showed up. There were a lot of tracks in the snow, some human but mostly animals such as squirrels, rabbits and those ruminants which I don’t name as they will hear it and run/jump in front of my car. I could paint 3 whole silhouettes and 4 halves on my car if I desired but I don’t want to tempt fate. We even had a squirrel throwing sticks down onto the car from overhead trees. Well I am going to go relax and interact with our kitties. Namaste and keep warm.

Tootsie and Moxie providing moral support.

Coffee In The Cup And 40 In The Log

January 4, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

It was a great way to start the new year. We stopped off at the local Mom-And-Pop for coffee and Lo! and Behold! I had forgotten my wallet. SWMBO did not laugh too much, though and we only had to backtrack about 5 kilometers to get home and retrieve my wallet. We got back on the road and did a little drive through Maryland, scouting some possible future parks to activate. We finally arrived at Cunningham Falls State Park US-1566 and got set up. The wind was blowing a bit, peaking around 18 KPH and the temperature was about 1 C. I had brought my owl Ptolomey with us but when I placed him on the hood in his usual spot he got blown off and I had to chase him across the parking lot. It was a bleak and blustery day. There weren’t any birds around; wildlife seemed to be hunkered down. It took only minutes to get set up and we started calling on 40M. We started logging right away and in a few minutes had 10 contacts which made it a legitimate activation. We logged a total of 15 before swapping bands. The second band we used today was 17M. We quickly got answers from Texas, Louisiana, California, Florida and, from Europe: France and Italy. We made a total of 25 contacts on this band. For spotting I use the POTA.app page, a thread in Facebook Messenger, the FB pages of two groups I belong to and DXSummit.fi all of which seem to spread the word of an activation really well. After all was said and done. it was a good start to the year. Some might think I lead a boring life but it suits me just fine. Simple is much more better and a lot less stressful. Now I am in a nice warm house and enjoying coffee. Enough for today, kidlets. Namaste.

Winter bare trees in Cunningham Falls SP

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

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.

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 Very POTA Weekend

October 13, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Had a couple days of beautiful weather. The type of days that make you forget that bad weather is coming. We took advantage of the good weather by doing some activations. Yesterday, 12 Oct, we went to Little Buffalo State Park (US-1376) and set up at the boat launch area. I used my 17M hamstick and it did not take long to get enough for a full activation. In all, we worked 17 stations from there of which 1 was a park-to-park. We needed to do some errands so I did not get a chance to take pictures. Well, I have posted pictures of the place before. Today, 13 Oct, we started (at the suggestion of SWMBO) out at Three Square Hollow Vista in Tuscarora State Forest US-5479. As soon as I parked a large group of Amish in a wagon pulled by a tractor arrived. They were soon followed by some young teens who pushed their scooters up the mountain. Like I said, it was a beautiful day and they were taking advantage of the weather and having an outing. They walked by my car and I got more than a few curious looks but they went on down to the picnic table and had their gathering. I installed my 17M hamstick in my mag-mount and called CQ POTA. We worked 11 stations from the Southern part of the US and also had a call from Sweden and one from Spain. 17M was in good shape. We wanted to do another spot so we then packed up and headed down the mountain. We drove the meandering roads of Western Cumberland County to State Game Lands PA-169 US_8867 and parked in one of the more secluded parking areas. We used the app to identify Northern Cardinals, Tufted Titmouses (titmice?) and Dark-eyed Juncos. After we setup and got on the air a car containing 3 male teens parked and they set off into the woods. This time I used my 40M hamstick and was able to work PA, ON, NY, WV, KY, GA, OH and MA stations. One of the PA stations to give us a call was KB3PSN who is the president of the local ham club where I live. Not too bad. Since I had more than 10 on 40M, I decided to try 10M. I worked 3 Texas stations and 1 from Mexico. The only drawback today was that it was too windy to put my owl on the hood of my car. Moxie the gnome had to be extra vigilant. I did make a mistake that ended well. I had left my phone on the hood of my car and drove about a mile before I noticed it. I am very lucky that it didn’t fall off! Well I guess I will close for now. Namaste kidlets.

The road and parking area at 3 Square Hollow Vista and Moxie watching our 6.

Moxie watching our 6 at the State Game Lands 169

One Week and Two Activations Later …

August 24, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

I tried to update this yesterday, really I did but somehow I had turned on the “stickykeys” function on my keyboard and it was a bitch to turn it off. Anyway, here I am. On last Sunday, the 18th, we went to Big Spring State Park US-4355. It had been a while since we had activated there and it was a nice change of pace. The only bird we heard was an Eastern Wood Peewee. I did a short recording there to add to my YouTube Channel, @planetgesterious. I have started adding videos there about POTA and radio and anything else that strikes my fancy. Well at Big Spring we made 14 contacts in about 1/2 hour. Surprisingly there were a few carloads of people who showed up though no one bothered us. On Wednesday the 21th, we activated Little Buffalo State Park US-1376. It as a nice way to get out of the house and spend some time by the lake. We heard European Starlings and Tufted Titmouses (Titmice?) amd watched the clouds roll in from the West. We even caught a few drops of rain. Once again, I shot a short video clip for my channel. We made 34 contacts in about 40 minutes and had a nice peaceful time people watching. Overall a couple of good activations. The more we do these activations the more I like the concept of light weight equipment and I am thankful I have gotten away from the full-blown dog-and-pony show that I used when I first started.. I can be set up in a few minutes and it only takes a short time to take down. Well, I am going to bring this to a close as I have to get ready for work and we all know that work is the curse of the drinking class. Namaste for now, y’all.

Big Spring SP

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