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.

Though Calamity doesn’t go on activations, she helps me hunt!

Return to Mont Alto and a Little Surprise

October 17, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Great day today. We set out to Mont Alto after breakfast for an activation. The day started out cool but sunny. We got set up and decided to try 40M to start out with. In 50 minutes we made 38 contacts. I then decided to try 10M as it seemed to be open. Within a short time we worked 7 contacts including 2 from Spain, 1 from Austria and 1 from Poland. We also worked some stateside including Texas and Colorado. I figured that was a good activation. Mont Alto was nice and peaceful, as usual. after this we did some shopping. When we got back we found something sitting on our doorstep: a kitten. She appears to be abandoned. She is clean but was very hungry. She is socialized and affectionate. I don’t think she came from one of our neighbors, in fact I think she was dumped. It didn’t take long for her to bond with me. She likes my company. Our boy cats are curious about her but are not hostile. I am calling her Calamity as she was standing right next to the road when we saw her. She came to us and decided to be likeable. I will include a pic of her with this. Anyway, it was a great day. Namaste for now kiddos.

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

Spittin In The Storm

October 8, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Due to a couple of solar flares the other day there was a severe solar storm yesterday, October 7th and today October 8th, so of course I decided to go activate a park. First of all, i would like to say some nice things about my long suffering wyfe whom I refer to as SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed). She does my logging on these activations and keeps me sane. She also offers great advice and opinions. Today she suggested that we go to Gettysburg. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining when we arrived on Culp’s Hill. We heard white breasted nuthatches and american crows around the perimeter of the hill. It did not take long to get set up and get on the air and within about 40 minutes we had made 34 contacts to include 5 park-to-park exchanges. It was very successful. We had an older gentleman approach the car and inquire as to what we were doing and we chatted for a few minutes. After the activation I climbed the tower. I know this is not a feat to compare to the scaling of the Eigerwand or K2 but for a chubby middle-aged guy like me it was sorta significant. The tower is about 60 feet tall and as I was climbing the stairs I ran the entire song “Inna Gadda Da Vida” through my head (including the drum solo in the middle), finishing just before I got to the top. After regaining my breath I did a bit of a video of the view from the tower which I am including a link to below. To make this day complete, we drove around some of the back roads in Maryland between Catoctin and Hagerstown. We located a few State Parks for future reference and then returned to the Gettysburg area to indulge in some chicken tenders from a convenience store which is part of a chain that claims to have “world famous chicken”. Not too bad, I must say. After this we took my mother-in-law to the grocery store and here we are back home, relaxing. As for the storm, the Devil whispered in my ear “you aren’t strong enough to withstand the storm”. I smiled and whispered back “at least I didn’t lose my gold fiddle to a redneck kid in Georgia and at least I don’t still live in my daddy’s basement”. The Devil hung his head in shame and slunk away. Namaste for now kidlets.

From Rain On The Lake To Sun On The Hilltop

October 3, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

It has been a great couple of days! Yesterday I started off with a visit to my doctor. He did the usual poking and prodding and subjecting me to various and sundry indignities before proclaiming that I should stay the course for the next 6 months as my tests looked good and I was doing well. He then left and had the nurse stab my arm with the usual Autumn flu jab. This put me in a decent mood and we, SWMBO and myself, set out to Little Buffalo State Park US-1376 where we set up for my 99th activation. 40 meters was in fine shape and we worked 35 contacts at a leisurely pace which I thought was pretty good for a weekday afternoon. The part of the park where we were set up was pretty empty and we only observed a handful of cars. While we were there it went from a light drizzle to a constant rain and back to a drizzle. It was nice to watch the rain coming across the lake toward us in a line of disturbance. Today the sun came up! No, I mean it! The sun actually shone the whole day! This has been the first day in the past week and a half in which there has been no rain. Shit! I might be tempting fate by saying that. I just knocked on wood to ward against the bad luck. Anyway, it was warm and sunny today and we went to Kings Gap US-4361. I started out calling on 40 Meters but it was slow going so I switched antennae and began calling on 17 meters . That band was a lot more lively with stations from western Europe and all over the US and Canada answering our call. We finished up with 24 contacts to make a bonafide 100th activation and then SWMBO requested that we shut down as she needed to do some errand running. Since she is nice enough to keep me sane and to do my logging, I don’t argue with her requests. Well I am going to end this here with my usual line: Namaste kidlets!

Moxie the gnome, Tootsie the owl and Tom the ham at Kings Gap

A Wet End to September

September 29, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

It has been moist and wet for the past few days and it appears that the trend will continue for a few more, according to the weather guessers. My weather station has recorded 49.28 MM of rain this month which is good for the plants and for my well but makes for a dreary scenery outside. The rain hasn’t been hard, mostly, primarily drizzle with some periods of real rain, making the early autumn landscape look droopy and forlorn. The leaves have yet to go all out in their yearly change but some are trying to get some colour. For the most part it is shades of the greyish green you get in the late season making you tired of looking at it and wanting something fresh and different. Today is 29 September 2024 and we did an activation yesterday and one today. Yesterday we activated Big Spring State Park US-4355. In a way I see that as our home base. It is close by and easy to get to. It is a go-to park when time is at a premium and is as comfortable as an old pair of slippers. There were people there yesterday over near the pavilions. We stayed at our usual spot and didn’t bother them. I think they were actually there for the restrooms though I did not investigate. I just set up and started operating. In a short 1/2 hour we made 30 contacts. It then started to make a serious attempt to rain and it was getting dark. Pennsylvania’s DCNR likes people to be out of the parks at sundown unless there is a campground there so we stopped our operation and made our way home. Today, 29 September 2024 (Sunday) we decided over breakfast to go to the ATV lot in Michaux State Forest US-5471 located over Pine Grove Furnace SP. The lot was almost deserted and the weather was again rainy and drizzly. This is not a problem as the only part of my rig that is outside of the car is the antenna and coax. We had sporadic contacts on 40 Meters, working 30 contacts over the course of about 40 minutes. Hmmm … I wonder if 30 is a magic number? lol. Anyway, we survived the dampness and made it home where we are safe and sound and surrounded by our loving kitties. Okay, enough for today. Namaste Kidlets

A wet Zarathustra and a dry Moxie at the ATV Lot.

A Dark, Dreary, Drizzly, Nice, Fun Day

September 25, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Yesterday, September 24th, SWMBO and I set off early to activate a park. I had an appointment at 0645 with the vampire to have my blood analyzed so we ventured out after that. Our destination was Susquehanna State Park US-1601 in Maryland. It was drizzling when we left and the weather guessers had promised the same for the rest of the day. We didn’t let this bother us as my radio sits in the car and the only parts of the rig exposed are the antenna and the coax. It was a nice drive down there, taking a little over 2 hours. We checked out the picnic area but it did not suit us for an activation so we proceeded further down the road to the boat launch area which was had a large parking area and a great view of the river. We observed seagulls flying around, fishermen out on boats and cormorants floating and fishing. It was no longer drizzling by the time we had arrived but the sky was an iron gray, making for a soul sucking dreariness (just kidding but the sky was gray). I made a short video of the area (see below) and got on the air. 40 meters was doing well for a while and then signals went away. I went to 17 meters and worked 5 contacts and finished out the activation on 15 meters which had a good opening to Europe. Overall it was a good day. We had a nice leisurely drive back including a stop at a Royal Farms store for some chicken tenders. Even a dreary day can be a good one, without a moss covered 3 handled family gredunza. Namaste for today, kidlets.

Ptolomey and Moxie at Susquehanna State Park

Culps Hill Finally!

September 19, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Today SWMBO and I were able to make it to Culps Hill at Gettysburg US-0027 with no road blocks and no mowers. We did find that they have marked the parking spaces adjacent to the 7th Indiana monument as handicap spaces but other than that, things are ok. We got set up and were able to make 33 contacts in about 1/2 hour of operating time all on 40 meters. The band was in good shape. We worked 4 park-to-park stations of which 2 were 2-fers so it was a good day. The weather was nice and the cloud cover burned off to reveal the sun. It didn’t get too hot, either. We did pause during out activation as a tour group moved right next to us and the guide did a presentation to them. This took about 20 minutes. I didn’t want to bother them so I went radio-silent until they left. All in all, the day went well. Until next time, namaste, kids.

Nature, Radio, and Me

A POTA Explorer's Diary

Hilltopping