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

Out on a whim

May 2, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

So yesterday, the 1th of May, we , my wyfe and I, activated 2 parks on a whim. We are getting some practice in setting up with “Hamstick” antennas and keeping a low profile. We started out at the ATV lot above Pine Grove Furnace in Michaux State Forest US-5471. In a short spell we worked 12 stations and moved on to Kings Gap US-4361. I had an online Elmer of mine, WV1W , remind me that I was on 7.175 and that this was excluding General class ops. As an Extra, I sort of forgot about that border. I thanked him and moved up a bit. After a few more minutes of making contacts, another op worked me and then asked me for a favor. He politely asked me to move as an established net was soon going to start about 1K above where I was parked. He was very gracious about it. I gladly QSY’d. Overall it was a positive experience and we made a total of 22 contacts at Kings Gap. For both park activations we totaled 14 park-to-park contacts.

Today, 2st May, we did another activation on a whim. On the way to supper we stopped off at State Game Land 230 on top of Waggoners Gap US-8927. This was a new entity for me. It was also practice in a hit-and-run type of activation. Propagation was in the dumps but it took about 35 minutes to work 10 stations including 4 park-to-parks. We have no pictures from here as it was windy and Zarathustra kept blowing off my car. All in all a good time was had by all. We are getting better at the quick set up and take downs and by the time we are on vacation I feel we will have it mastered. Of course it isn’t all about the radio. You can expect more and more pictures of nature and our surroundings. well, namaste for now, kidlets.

The mansion garden at Kings Gap … a magical place!

Horses First/The Great Impaled Pig Experiment

April 28, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

This afternoon I beat Satan’s Putting Green back into submission. I admit that I like the pungent aroma of fresh cut garlic mustard filling the air. My neighbor has yet to cut his this year and it is getting long but that is not my issue. He has a riding mower so he really doesn’t have an excuse. There is no contest, just a bit of a contrast. In any event, my cats don’t care. They still get to gaze out the windows and watch life go by. Now for the horses: there is an old troubleshooting credo: when you hear hoofbeats think horses, not zebras. I really need to take my own advice. I found the troublem with my radio and it was so simple that I am slapping my forehead still. It was a menu setting that was causing it to not transmit when I was using the playback on the voice recorder. Well at least the company gave it a clean bill of health. I am thinking of getting a sign made for my shack saying “HORSES FIRST” . Now about the impaled pigs. My wonderful and long suffering wyfe has great ideas. Her latest is to keep as low a profile as possible for activations when we are out of state and in high populated areas such as Gettysburg. I agree and today we were testing out the idea of operating with a “HAMSTICK” antenna on a 4″ magmount. it would be fast to deploy and would be rather circumspect and would not involve anything like putting a wire in a tree or anything such as that. Well, it worked and worked well. This morning we went to Little Buffalo State Park (US-1376) and worked 21 contacts in less than an hour on 40M. This was between 0830 and 0915 EDT and the sun had yet to burn off the cloud cover. After we packed up and left, we went to Big Springs State Park. By the time we arrived the sun had emerged and the clouds were gone. The sky was clear and blue and the temperature was up in the low 30’s Celsius. A very nice day, indeed. I tried a 20M “HAMSTICK” and could not find a vacant spot on the band as the Florida QSO Party was going on. I put the 40M ‘stick back on and worked 14 contacts including 6 park-to-park contacts in less than an hour during the middle of the day when D layer absorbtion was going strong. All in all, I call the great experiment a rousing success! Even Ptolemy was pleased! Well TTFN. Namaste, y’all

A cloudy morning at US-1376 and Ptolomy is looking pleased

That Leather Thing on the Back of the Horse: I’m Back in it

April 14, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

So got my radio back on Friday and the wyfe and I went out today for a couple of activations. We started out at Michaux State Forest (US-5471) at the ATV lot and worked 19 stations after a great breakfast at the Newville Diner. The radio is working great though now I suspect the issue is with the tuner. I was able to work 40 meters but when I tried to tune 15 meters it went back to no output. I went back to 40 meters and worked more stations with no problems. I was starting to suspect the antenna at this point. We packed up and set out for Kings Gap (US-4361). We set up a wire antenna ( a g5rv jr) and got on the air. Again it tuned 40 meters and did not work on 15 meters. Since the radio was fully tested and I swapped antennas and coax, the only thing left is the tuner. I will have to do more testing and try another tuner. In any event we worked 28 stations at Kings Gap in less than an hour. I count today as successful for an activating. Namaste for now kids.

Ptolomey watching me make a call at Kings Gap

“When Owls Cry” or “There ain’t no wind ‘neath my wings”

March 20, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Terrible. Horrible. Awful. No shit, guys, there I was, trying to activate a park or 2 and realized my radio wasn’t putting out a signal. No one was hearing me. I thought it might be location or bad coax or a problem with my antenna or tuner… any number of things but I narrowed it down to my radio. The fans were not running which causes it to get too hot and this causes the PA circuit to go into protect mode. Not fun. I exchanged a few e-mails with the tech guys at Yaesu and, long story short (too late), I sent my FT-891 to the repair shop today. I am now without the ability to activate until I get it back. I am going to cry myself to sleep until I can get back out there and make some noise in the parks! Actually, me and the owls and the flamingos and the cats will do hunting from the arm chair and log a few in the books on a daily basis. I guess this will give me an excuse to do a few more chores around here. I will have to fire up the implements of destruction and get medieval on the back yard is taking out the wild roses and all the trash brush that is trying to grow up there. As the philosopher once said, Que sera sera. Namaste, kidlets.

I need a refill for my analogy medicine (Mommy? What’s a meta for?)

March 10, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Nope, no activation for me today. I have to work (work is the curse of the drinking class) tonight so I didn’t have the time between chores and sleep to run out anywhere. I did manage to get on the radio for a while and do some hunting and that is what generated this thought train. Other than POTA hunting,I also hunt special event stations and it works about the same. Sometimes you go to the creek after checking the fishing report (POTA spotting and/or special event spots) and toss your bait into a promising spot, hook that fish and move on. Sometimes you get to the creek and there are a bunch of people there vying for the same fish. I remember going fishing for stripers at Parker Dam on the Colorado River in Arizona and marveling at how the safety cable above the dam was used as a mooring spot. The boats stretched from one side of the river to the other,all trying to catch Striped Bass as they were heading upstream to spawn. POTA hunting can be the same. You have to be patient and repeat your call over and over. Wow, another thought. It can be compared to frogs in the Spring. They call again and again and attract swarms of prospective mates. In any event, the competition can be fierce at times or, if the timing is right, you can hit one after the other without much effort. Activating is the other side of the coin. You put your call out there and sometimes getting an answer is similar to pulling teeth from a hen. Other times there are pile ups. How you handle the pile ups is up to you. Some ops go “by the numbers”, calling call areas out numerically, some make lists. I listen for park-to-parks and qrp stations first then I go for the first signal that catches my ear. Sometimes I have to tell a station to stand by when I work another station. Overall, you do the best you can. I guess I have run out of steam for now and I think that if I have not thoroughly confused you, I have confused myself. Namaste for now kidlets.

Another Fine March Day

March 7, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

And there it was, another fine March day! The temperature was around 11 C and the sun was trying to burn away the clouds and SWMBO and I set out to a couple activations. What a great way to spend some time on a day off! We decided to stay near home and to revisit the familiar. It has been a bit since we activated Big Springs SP and Tuscarora State Forest so that is where we went. We started at Big Springs. It was nice and quiet there. We got set up quickly. The temperature was 11 C when we got there and 14 C when we left. It did not take long to make 35 contacts on 40 meters including 6 park-to-parks. The band was co-operating and contacts were coming pretty fast. I cut it off at 35 ( my log reflects 37 as a couple were 2fers) so that we could move on. The first location in Tuscarora I wanted to try was not good for us as there was no internet. I prefer to have a means of spotting our activation, I am funny that way. lol. In any event, we went to the 3 Square Hollow Vista which overlooks Cumberland Valley PA. Nice view. Very quiet though there was some traffic. I switched between 40 and 20 meters and worked 35 contacts including a DX from Spain. SWMBO had a good time logging. We had one curious person drive past, stop, back up, check out my antenna and then drive on. He didn’t ask any questions though I would have been happy to provide answers. While driving around we got to observe 5 turkeys (turkies?) and 5 squirrels (4 of them semi-suicidal). There were also the usual assortment to tweety birds and hawks. The nice thing about these parks is getting out in nature and away from most of the trappings of civilization but now I am going to have to wash my car again. Well kidlets enuff for now. Namaste.

Zarathustra and Charade with my Buddistick at the vista

Should we have brung the flamingo?

February 27, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Had a great day today. SWMBO and I set out after breakfast for Milton State Park and Shikellamy State Park for a couple activations. Ptolomey came along to grace us with his presence (or to present us with his graces, that much is unclear). It was a nice warm day at the start. Milton SP is located on an island in the Susquehanna River and reachable by bridge from either Milton or West Milton. I found a nice spot to set up and was soon on the air. We made a total of 30 contacts on 3 bands including 1 with a station from the Dominican Republic. We got some curious looks from other people in the park; joggers and dog walkers for the most part, but no one approached us. It was a very nice park and we will be back another day. I think the weather has people itching to get outside and dust the winter off of their hands.

The next destination is a short 20 minute drive away. As I described in a previous entry, Shikellamy SP Overlook sits on a 120 meter high cliff above the Susquehanna River. We had passed the signs for this overlook numerous times over the years and never stopped here. What a loss on our part. Just the view is worth it. Since we don’t completely dis-assemble the antenna or the rig/tuner when we move locations, it doesn’t take long to get set up again. This time we only worked on 40 meters and quickly knocked off 20 contacts. Overall a great success. Ptolomey agrees with me. Between the 2 activations we worked 4 park-to-parks varying from RI to TX. It was a great day. I do think next time we should bring one of my lawn flamingos to share in the fun. Enough for now, kidlets. Namaste, y’all

Ptolomey overseeing the Milton Island operation.

Ptolomey watching over us at Shikellamy SP. The cones mark my coax and my faraday cloth.

Hilltop Hamming at Kings Gap

February 22, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

I think I am blaming myself for this weather. I bought that ice fishing shelter and the weather turned warm. I have only used it twice this winter so the warm winter must be my fault. The shelter and the propane heater. Oh well. It was a beautiful day. SWMBO and I set out to do an activation and went to Kings Gap, K-4361. The usual spot where I set up was usurped by a crew that was cutting wood and grooming the forest so we went next to the mansion. It didn’t take long to set up and the activation was legit within a short period of time (18 minutes) on 40 meters. I did a little band hopping but my best results were on 40 though I did manage to work an Italian station on 20 Meters. The most surprising contact was on 15 Meters when I was contacted by a station who was mobile and about 4 kilometers (straight line) away. I worked 3 park-to-park contacts and had no encounters with lions, tigers and/or bears; it is a good idea to have an owl with me. My long suffering wyfe did a great job with the logging and we really make a good team. Anyway, I made a total of 24 QSO’s and the important thing is that we had fun. Namaste for now kidlets.

A day to remember maybe

February 18, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Hi all. It was a beautiful day so we went out. We started with breakfast at the Newville Diner in Newville PA. After a filling and hearty breakfast we set out for Gettysburg, PA. Yes, that Gettysburg. We arrived at the first hill overlooking the town from the north. There is a tower here and it is across from the Peace Light. I started to set up and broke my tripod. The tilt control snapped. We took off to the local Walmart and got a new tripod which I resolved to not leave in the car during freezing temps. We got back to the location which I thought might be relatively quiet and set up. There were more cars in and out of the parking area than I had thought there would be but we were in a spot where we were not in the way. I did observe a van pull up next to us at one point and a young man (late teens, early 20s) jump out wearing fake military cammy and carrying an airsoft “assault” style rifle. He and his group went up into the tower and I believe he took some selfies. They departed a short time later. The wind was blowing relatively strong which made it chilly. Even Tootsie didn’t want to leave the car. Between 20 and 40 meters I worked a total of 35 contacts including some park-to-parks. It was a good activation in spite of the broken tripod. SWMBO and I are making a good team on these excursions. 🙂 We left there and went to the ATV lot in Michaux State Forest on Bendersville Road above Pine Grove Furnace. The lot had some ATV riders there along with their vehicles and trailers but we found a good place to park and set up. Yup. then I started making mistakes lol. First I tuned my coax to a perfect 1:1 on 20M. Yup. Tuned the coax without it being attached to the antenna. Luckily my long suffering wyfe pointed that out to me. “Aren’t you going to connect your cable to the antenna?” she asked. After I got it attached, I got on the air. Worked 20M for a while and then went to 40M to let the locals have a chance. Finally when we were ready to go, I looked at my antenna and LO! and Behold! the tilt had loosened and the wind had blown it over. Lesson learned. Always have the antenna in your line of sight. Also, always check the tightness of any and all connections on new equipment. How do you spell duh? Amazing thing was the last few contacts came in just fine and it didn’t seem to affect the SWR. We logged a total of 26 contacts there including some park-to-parks. We got home ok and then got all equipment put away and entered the qso’s into the log. Then had a catastrophe. One of our cats does not get along at all with the 2 younger cats. we try to keep them separated. I was carrying one of the youngsters up from the basement and slipped. He is ok but I am nursing a very sore arm/wrist/ribs/knee. Oh well, as the philosopher said: “you take the good, you take the bad”. Enough for now. Namaste kidlets