Outrunning the heat with gnome and owl

August 3, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Hi all. We did a spur of the moment activation today. SWMBO wanted to do some videos in Gettysburg so we set out early to beat the heat and the crowds. The park opens at sunrise so we planned on getting there shortly thereafter, which we did. Driving in the early morning hours on a Saturday morning is nice and relaxed. There are few cars on the road and everything seems quiet and surreal. There was a fog which added to the mystic quality. We arrived at the National Military Park at around 0615 and found the areas where my wyfe wanted to video. It was already hot and moist, 25 C (78F for those stuck in a system based on the freezing point of brine) and about 8000% humidity. Gloria did her video project and we found our way to Culp’s Hill. It was nice up there; fog laying thick around the hilltop. As soon as I got out of the car to get set up some big fat rain drops started falling; not many but enough to be slightly annoying. In a few minutes I was on the air. As I was setting up, my wyfe used her app to listen for birds. She logged blue jays, eastern wood peewees, red headed woodpeckers, american robins, house finches and mourning doves. One thing of note: we both were aware of an acrid sulphureous odor which I identified as the smell of black powder from musket or cannon fire. Maybe some re-enactors were up early or maybe we were catching an olfactory echo from the past. Who knows? Anyway, the contacts were coming fast and Glory was having a hard time keeping up logging at times. In less than an hour we made 38 contacts exclusively on 40 meters and worked stations as far away as South Dakota! At one point I had a 4 minute QSO with a ham from NY who was interested to know what my set up was as he plans on starting to get into activating parks. My set up is simple and I prefer to keep it that way. It doesn’t take me long to get on the air and I do nothing that night be construed as damage to the area in which I am operating. We logged 4 park-to-park contacts, which is always nice. When it got too uncomfortable, we departed. Well kidlets I think this is enough for now. Namaste and have fun

Tootsie looking on as my radio is guarded by Lester the gnome.

Attitude and Owls and Heat

July 26, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

First off, I am going to rant. I know that the interwebs and social media (in some cases anti-social media) is not a true cross sectional representation of hams but I have seen a lot of this online to merit some commentary. I have read too many people stating that they can go into a State or National Park or owned lands and do whatever they want without permission from the rangers and the rangers cannot tell them what they can and cannot do. I find this attitude of entitlement to be childish and hurtful to the reputation of all hams. First off, these lands are public property, yes, but that means they are shared by the public. As such, there must be rules for usage so that everyone using these lands can enjoy them. The rangers are there to enforce these rules and make sure that standards of behavior are met. Some inconsiderate person going into a park and throwing trash around or breaking tree limbs or making a lot of unwanted noise should be held accountable for their behavior. It is a matter of courtesy in most cases to let the rangers know what you are doing and answer any concerns they any have. In some cases it is mandatory to contact the rangers. Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland is very close to Camp David. It is required that you check in with the ranger station prior to operating there so that they can make sure you won’t be interfering with the comms at Camp David. I had occasion to stop at a park this summer where they had a sign posted at the gates stating no radios allowed. I found a ranger and asked him and discovered the ban was for “boom box” type radios and he had no problems with me doing an activation. He was glad that I stopped by and asked, though. To those who have the attitude that you can do as you please on public lands, consider this: the state or town owns an easement of at least 3 feet from the edge of the road in front of your house onto “your” property. This is considered public land. What if someone with the “I can do what I want” attitude decided to empty the holding tank on their RV on this public land? Hmmmm …

On to other things. On July 21st, my long suffering wyfe and I set out early to Gettysburg to beat the heat. She wanted to do some photography so we drove around and found the monuments she had listed. We made it up onto Little Roundtop and WOW! they made some improvements in the road and parking areas up there. Anyway, after a bit we drove up to Culp’s Hill and did an activation. She heard only 1 species of bird: the Eastern Blue Jay. We logged 34 contacts over the course of 45 minutes and retreated before the heat got too oppressive. Our next opportunity to activate was yesterday, July 25th. We had a breakfast at the Newville Diner in Newville, PA and drove over to the ATV lot on Piney Mountain Ridge Road in Michaux State Forest. We found a nice shady spot and were soon on the air. There was only 1 bicyclist and 1 dog walker there so the place wasn’t busy at all. SWMBO was able to use her app and hear Red-Eyed Vireos, Tufted Titmouses (titmice?), Eastern Wood Peewees and Carolina Chickadees. The 40 metre band was hopping and in about 45 minutes we worked 37 contacts. Once again we picked up before it got too hot. All in all, a good activation. I looked into camping at the ATV lot and it only costs $10 per night. There is no running water but there is bathroom facilities (primitive but usable). Well enough for now. Namaste, kiddos.

One of the very cool monuments at Gettysburg

An Historical Comment, A Demo And An Unexpected Activation Not In Order

July 14, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

I believe there is an ancient curse that goes something like: may you live in interesting times. Yesterday in Butler, PA, while at a campaign rally, President Trump was the target of an assassination attempt. I am only recording this as an historical event and not making a political statement or assigning blame or trying to justify either side of the issue. Unlike the news outlets of our times, I am reporting facts only with no speculation or opinions. A person took some shots at Trump, apparently hitting his ear and killing 1 member of the audience and wounding 2 other members of the audience before being killed by the security forces on site.

Enough of that. On July 10th the club, Perry County Amateur Radio Club, put on a demonstration for a day camp at Little Buffalo State Park (US-1386). I worked the radio station and under bad band conditions was able to activate the park and even got a couple of the kids to say hello on the air. I even had Zarathustra with me to guard the radio. It was hot but we made it through and I hope the kids enjoyed it. On July 11th, at breakfast my long-suffering wyfe said “let’s go to Gettysburg”. We packed up and set out. Her mission was to go to the visitors center and get a map of the monuments as their online map was almost impossible to read when you embiggened it. The visitors center was crowded but I made my way to the desk to inquire about a copy of the map. The nice fellow at the info desk told me that the only map was the one online but at the gift shop I could purchase a book that had details about all the monuments with maps on how to get to them. I bought a copy and my wyfe seemed happy with it. We will be researching it and making a list of the ones we want to photograph along with their locations. We then set off to Culp’s Hill to do an activation before it got too hot. When we pulled in, SWMBO recorded only 1 species of bird: eastern wood peewee. I got set up and in about 45 minutes we worked 24 stations. We left before it got too hot. One nice thing about the location at Culp’s Hill is that it doesn’t get too crowded in the mornings during the week. I hope I didn’t jinx myself there. lol. Well, I have to get ready for work now. Work is the curse of the drinking class, I have been told. Namaste, kidlets.

Of Owls, Altos, and Scorched Crispy Yards

July 7, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Yeah, it has been eons since we have had any real appreciable amount of rain. I haven’t had to attack Satan’s Putting Green in at least 4 weeks. When I step out into the dooryard, each step crunches. I am keeping my apple tree and my tomato plant watered. It could be worse: you don’t have to shovel heat. The temperature has been in the low to mid 30s (doesn’t it sound so much cooler in Celsius?) pretty much for the last few days and not too much lower than the high 20s for the past month. I don’t expect that we will see rain on St Swithin’s Day this year. The past week has been busy. I worked 4 consecutive days which puts a cramp on my home life and hobbies. This week was the 13 Colonies Special Event on the radio where the goal is to work as many of the 13 original states as you can along with 3 bonus stations. You can get a certificate documenting the stations you had contact and you can also send for QSL cards from the individual stations. I was finally able to work the last station last night. I looked at my log and I used CW (morse code) to contact most of them. It is a lot more fun than it sounds. Anyway, We, my wyfe and myself, did two activations this weekend. Yesterday we activated Little Buffalo State Park US-1376 as a test run for a demonstration we will be doing on Wednesday for a day camp. I wanted to check out a good location and find a nice shady spot. When we pulled in, my wyfe, Glory, recorded red-eyed vireos, bluejays, red winged blackbirds, song sparrows, northern cardinals, house finches, american robins, indigo buntings, chipping sparrows, downy woodpeckers, northern flickers and mourning doves. That was quite a bunch! While we were there, one of those orange-brown horse-like critters which we don’t name came out of the tall weeds and crossed the field in front of us. She was pretty good sized. We worked 36 stations including 2 Europeans before it got too hot and we packed it in. This morning (Sunday 7 July) we discussed over breakfast at Grandpa’s Love Shack in Shermansdale, PA where we should activate. We wanted someplace shaded and not busy. The perfect place came to mind: Mt Alto State Park US-1386. It is small, only 24 acres and is very quiet. It has a very cool pavilion and is located on a back road not too far from Chambersburg, PA. While we were setting up Glory recorded red-eyed vireos, eastern wood pewees, northern cardinals, american robins, carolina wrens and acadian flycatchers. It was a nice assortment of birds. Not too many people stopped in the park while we were there. There were no curious onlookers and no one complaining. We worked 21 and once again it got too hot to sit there, even though it was shady and a bit of a breeze was blowing. Well that is my latest update. Enjoy Summer and Namaste, kiddos.

Ptolomey at Mont Alto SP (Note the pavilion in the background)

Zarathustra at Little Buffalo State Park

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.

A Bit of Service, A Chance Meeting and A Couple Activations

June 9, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

It has been an interesting weekend. I am sitting here gathering my thoughts as one of my pocket panthers, Kalamazoo, is wandering across my lap and up and down from my shoulders. Yesterday morning I helped out at a VE session, grading tests for aspiring hams. I have been a VE (volunteer examiner) for several years and do it as a way of paying back the radio service. Basically it involves proctoring the exams and grading them. You have to know the paperwork involved and it helps to be part of a well coordinated team. Anyway, I assisted with a test session yesterday morning and then we, my long suffering wyfe and myself set out for the ATV lot above Pine Grove Furnace in Michaux State Forest. I pulled the car into the lot and saw a mini van sitting near where I usually park with a familiar person sitting behind it. W3AND, Andrew, was there working on rounding out his activation. He was using FT8 and was only needing a couple contacts, He invited me to park next to him and get set up. Since I was working SSB, there would be no interference issues. I got set up and he finished with 13 contacts. We spoke for a couple minutes and he departed. I started calling CQ on 40M and made 10 contacts within 32 minutes. I switched antennae and worked 7 more on 20M for a total of 17 in less than an hour. We called that a success and went on to other things. Today, June 9th, we set out for breakfast at the Newville Diner (notice a re-occurring theme here?) and drove to Buchanan’s Birthplace State Park US-1336. It has been years since I have set foot in this park, decades actually. It is a very beautiful little park. It was my first time activating here and I had good results. In less than an hour we logged 19 stations, mostly on 40M but some on 17M. I am really impressed with the results we are having with the “Hamstick” style antennae. A friendly Park Ranger stopped by and said hello. We also spent a bit of time wandering around and exploring the park. My wyfe uses an app on her phone to identify bird songs and she “heard” American Robins, Red-Eyed Vireos and Acadian Flycatchers. All in all it was a good time. Namaste until next time, kiddos.

Looking straight up from where I was parked

Walking Between Raindrops

May 31, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Yes, I am back. Wednesday we got a bit bored and set out under rainy skies to Big Springs State Park US-4355. In about 1/2 hour we worked 17 stations including 2 park-to-parks. Then we went for a ride on one of our favorite back roads looking for nature. We saw a total of 5 squirrels and 4 bunnies and 1 whistlepig. I guess the rain showers kept most of nature in. Yesterday we set out as planned. We started with breakfast at the Newville Diner; breakfast being the cornerstone of any good activation. After an ongoing argument with my GPS, we arrived on top of Culp’s Hill in Gettysburg, PA. I have found this to be a great location to work from. It is elevated and is off the beaten path of the battlefield. Yes, some bus tours do stop there but aside from some curious looks, they leave you alone. I parked next to the 7th Indiana Infantry monument and set about activating the Gettysburg National Battlefield Park US-0027. We had a good run. We started at 0930 EDT (13:30 UTC) and spent about 15 minutes on 40M and made our 10 contacts. I then changed antennas and went to 17M for 15 minutes before going back to 40M. In between contacts we listened to the birds and enjoyed a nice quiet morning. A few people came up and climbed the tower but they left us alone. Overall we worked 25 stations from MA to NM . We then had to let mundane life take control and did some shopping. After we got home and got settled we decided to go out again. We are lucky to live in an area where we can drive a short distance in just about any direction and hit either a State Park, State Forest or State Game Land. Anyway, we arrived at Little Buffalo State Park US -1376 at around 17:30 EDT (21:30 UTC) and got on the air. This time I did not have time to consider changing bands. 40M was hot. I hunted 1 park-to-park and then found an empty frequency and stayed on it until we left. We worked 45 contacts with 6 park-to-parks and got to watch people fishing and picnicking and dog walking. The mood on the band was very upbeat. Everybody seemed very happy and everything was just humming along. I am very happy myself with the performance of these “hamstick” antennae. They do perform well. I am looking forward to taking them on vacation. If you want to see where we are, keep an eye on the POTA spots as I will update them. Also, I keep my APRS on in the car so when we are on vaca you can track us and make a guess as to where we will be next. ok. Enough for now I have a few things to do as I am working tonight. As the Prophet said: “work is the curse of the drinking class”. Namaste y’all

The Owl Sleeps Tonight

May 11, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

So … everyone who has gone out to activate a park in the rain during a radio blackout caused by a solar CME, raise your hands. Yeah. I swear, I had checked the solar data before we left yesterday, May 10th, and the storm hadn’t hit. I figured that we could get set up and work a quick 10 before the blackout and then be done. Nope, not a chance. We got to Little Buffalo State Park US-1376 and got set up and started out with a few quick contacts. Hearing the signal reports I was getting, I realized that the storm had hit and I checked the solar data and sure enough we were in severe storm status. The A index was in the 130s and K was 9. Yup. It took us about an hour to make 10 contacts and the signal reports were dismal. My wyfe was a real trooper, though. I could tell she was getting discouraged but she never said anything negative, she was encouraging and helpful. I am very thankful to the hams that were out there on the radio in spite of the blackout and solar storm. This can be contrasted with May 6th. I was sitting here in the late afternoon around 1830 and decided that I was bored. I loaded the car and got the wyfe and we set out for Big Springs State Park US-4355. Within an half hour we logged 26 contacts including 2 park-to-parks. It was a good way to spend an early evening. After we were through we took a ride down some back roads and looked for critters. It is nice to live in an area where there are parks close by so that we can go do activations when an impulse takes us. Well kidlets don’t let reports of bad conditions keep you off the radio, you just might be surprised. Have fun and practice safe radio. Namaste

And the Days Go Bye

February 8, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Wow, what a day! We didn’t set out to do it, really we didn’t. We started out having breakfast at the Newville Diner in Newville PA. Our intent was to have a breakfast and, while eating, decide on a destination in Cumberland County to activate. Easy enough, we did. We set out after breakfast for Kings Gap Environmental Education Center, K-4361. This is a very pleasant hilltop with a stone mansion and a lot of areas to operate from. I like the place as it is nice and peaceful. While we were there we were approached by a man with a pair of binoculars. He was a bird-watcher heading to the mansion and was curious. He understood ham radio but was wondering about the owl on the hood of my car lol. I chatted with him for a few before going back to hamming. Between 40 and 12 meters I worked 29 contacts including Italy and Sweden on 12 meters. A good day indeed. But wait! There’s more! My long suffering wyfe said, and I quote : “Hey! Let’s go to the ATV lot!”. Well, there was nothing to do but to comply, after all, I call her SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) for a reason! We quickly packed up and trolloped (yes I use Trollop as a verb meaning to travel or move) off to the Michaux State Forest ATV lot (K-5471) on Piney Mountain. It did not take long to settle in there and get set up with some coffee. The ATV lot is located on Bendersville Road at the top of Piney Mountain above Pine Grove Furnace State Park. Between 17, 20 and 40 meters we worked 38 contacts and had a great time. Today we worked a total of 4 Park-to-Park contacts of which 1 was a double so 5 really. With the temperature around 11C it was a very comfortable day for February. We even had to open the car door as it was getting too warm in there. Well I am going to close for now. Have fun and stay radio active, kidlets. Namaste!

calling CQ and getting an answer

Because it’s there

January 25, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

It was a dismal and drizzly day so my long-suffering wyfe and I went to the ATV parking lot where Piney Mountain Ridge Road intersects with Bendersville Road in Michaux State Forest and activated K-5471, Michaux State Forest. The weather was gloomy but the rain stayed away. The temperature was around 12 C which made it comfortable outside and actually too warm in the car at times. I had to open the door. I set up the Buddistick and was on the air pretty quickly. I made 37 contacts in about an hour. I tried 15 and 17 meters with no luck but did very well on 40 meters. The parking lot is pretty large and was empty which was a good thing. There was minimal traffic on Bendersville Road and few distractions. This is the second time we have set out without a lot of gear; just the bare bones seems to be all we really need most times. It wasn’t cold enough to require the pod (my ice fishing shelter) and I didn’t need my big tool box. I had my radio, tuner, antenna, tripod, logbook, battery, thermos of coffee and my owl Zarathustra. Each time I go out I learn something new. This time I learned that less can be more. I seem to be going back to my minimalist roots. I am looking forward to warmer weather and camping season. POTA has really provided an opportunity to be more active in the outdoors.

Well that is it for now. Namaste, kidlets.

Nature, Radio, and Me

A POTA Explorer's Diary

General Radio History