In Before The Heat

July 20, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Today is 20 July 2025, the 56th anniversary of the moon landing. I told my tale of where I was that day in a previous post, so if that holds interest you will have to scroll through my blog. Yesterday SWMBO and I bottled my IPA. It has a good taste, leaning toward being hoppy as an IPA should. The process only took 1 hour and 12 minutes which is pretty good considering that we haven’t bottled for a few years, having used kegs. There is something relaxing and zen-like in the rhythm of bottling. I was filling the bottles and SWMBO was capping. I think she likes capping as it allows her to take out aggressions on inanimate objects. 🙂 Today we set out to do an activation before the heat got oppressive. It is Support Your Parks Weekend and I wanted to get an activation in. It was hot and humid when we got to King’s Gap US_4361. This is our first time back to Kings Gap since January. The humidity climbed up to around 3500% before we left. We were set up and on the air in a short bit of time and within 40 minutes made 28 contacts (all on 40 meters). Our app recorded the following birds: Red-Eyed Vireos, Chapping Sparrows, Northern Cardinals, Eastern Towhees, Eastern Wood-Peewees, Worm-eating Warblers, Scarlet Tanagers, Tufted Titmouses, American Goldfinches and Downy Woodpeckers. We then decided that it was too uncomfortable to stay there so we packed up and left to do some shopping before having breakfast at Newville Diner. I have officially received my certificates for the SYP weekend: Hunter and Activator. I know it isn’t a great feat, but I am still happy with it. Now I am resting after putting in a new air conditioner. Kalamazoo is sitting on my lap though he is hinting that he wants food. I guess this is a good place to end this for today. Always remember that the simple things in life are the best and pleasure is all in your mind and attitude. Until next time, namaste.

The Number 13, Owls On The Hood And A Flamingo’s Day Out

July 6, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

It has been a busy week. I had to work 4 consecutive days, Monday thru Friday (12 hours at night) and that makes a person tired. This was also the week for the 13 Colonies Special Event, which is a major event in ham radio with thousands of stations vying to contact all the stations. Well, I was able to complete a clean sweep as of Friday, 4 July. I was pretty happy with that. Most of those stations I worked on CW, the rest SSB. Yesterday, 5 July 2025, SWMBO and I set out to get an activation in before it got too hot. We went to the ATV lot in Michaux State Forest US-5471. The last time we activated the lot was in March. As usual there were a few people there but not enough to make it difficult. One thing I like about the place is the fact that the people up there mind their own business and don’t worry about what other folks are doing. We made 31 contacts in an hour (9 of them park-to-park) and then the heat started building so we packed up and left. We came home and did some grocery shopping. Today, 6 July 2025, we went to the State Game Lands #169 US-8867 and spent some time there in the morning, again before the heat. We brought along Charade, the flamingo and Ptolomey, the owl. The lot we park at is on a back road so there is not a whole lot of traffic. This one we hadn’t activated since back in October of last year. Since this is a game land, I do try to avoid it during hunting seasons. It is a nice quiet area and a good place to park and play radio. Surprisingly, it has only been activated a total of 18 times. We made 14 contacts in about an hour as the bands were not that great today. We had a visit from a guy in his early 20’s who left when he discovered that I was holding an antenna rather than a fishing pole. On Friday, we brewed a batch of IPA which is currently bubbling away in the fermenter. The only other significant activity this week was we finally had the chance to cut Satan’s Putting Green. The plant growth was pretty high as this was the first chance we had to deal with it since our return from vacation. The amount of rain we had in the past 2 weeks did its work and made the place look like the pastureland it originally was. Here is the list of birds our app picked up today: Northern House Wrens, Gray Catbirds, American Robins, American Goldfinches, Northern Cardinals, Carolina Cardinals, Song Sparrows, Tufted Titmouses, Yellow Warblers, Chipping Sparrows, Common Yellowthroats, Indigo Buntings, House Finches, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, Eastern Peewees, Cedar Waxwings, Carolina Wrens and Field Sparrows. I guess this is my latest update. I am attaching a couple of pictures and a link to a video of the IPA boiling. As always, namaste kiddos.

Moxie and Missy guard the radio as Zarathustra watches our 6

Ptolomey, Missy, and Moxie at State Game Lands 169

Charade the flamingo enjoying his day out.

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 Soon?

May 23, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

I have found that the older you get, the quicker time goes by. I just finished a 4 day break from work. Another member of the team had to swap days with me as he had an obligation out of state to attend to. This means that my work schedule is a bit skewed. I was off for the past 4 nights and now I have to work for the next 4 nights. This did allow me to do some activations. I posted in a previous entry about not being in Hawaii but I went out on the 21st, also. It was a short, spur-of-the-moment activations. The bands were bad due to solar activity and I was only able to work 15 stations in an hour at Big Spring State Park US-4355. Before we had finished it started to rain so my owl got moist. I will be adding, either tonight or tomorrow night, a video of a train I took while sitting in the Lincoln diner, to my Youtube channel. You can find it at https://www.youtube.com/@gestyrious/videos. Anyway, I am sitting here drinking coffee and considering getting ready for work. I enjoy my job so that is no big thing but the hours do get long. A 12 hour shift can be a bit endless on the 4th consecutive night. I guess we all have to make our way as best we can and take the ups with the downs. SWMBO and I got some new action cameras so I might be adding more videos soon. In any event, it is Memorial Day Weekend so let us take a moment to think of those who sacrificed their lives to ensure our rights and freedoms. Well, one of my cats, Kalamazoo, is begging me for some treats so I better comply. For now and as always, namaste kiddos.

Ptolomey in the rain at Big Spring State Park

Funny, This Doesn’t Look Like Hawaii

May 20, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

It was a beautiful day today so SWMBO and I set out this morning to do an activation and checkout a cemetery. We decided to go to Gathland State Park US-1574 which is a 2-fer as the Appalachian Trail US-4556 runs right through it next to where we were parked. We were going to park in the lower parking lot, but another ham was there, and we didn’t want to crowd or bother him. We got set up and made 25 contacts within about 40 minutes which was pretty good as the bands were pretty bad. We had 3 park-to-parks and then set out for a nearby cemetery for some video and photography. You can find some interesting things in cemeteries such as the carvings on the older stones. The cemetery we went to was Union Cemetery in Burkittsville MD. I found an interesting carving which I will include below. From there we went to Gettysburg PA US-0027 for another activation and to get lunch. We had stopped at one of our favorite spots, Culp’s Hill and making contacts was like pulling teeth. It took almost an hour to make 22 contacts, 3 of which were park-to-parks. Of the 22 contacts, 19 were on 20M (not my favorite band) and the first ones were on 40M. As I had said, conditions were bad and sometimes things got a bit lost or garbled which is what happened to my park number. One of our contacts re-spotted me on the POTA app as US-0037 (Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park) instead of US-0027 (Gettysburg National Military Park) which caused a slight bit of confusion. I was wondering why people were thinking we were in HI and not PA as I kept identifying. I hope this didn’t screw up their logs or ruin their days. I didn’t find out about the spotting error until we were sitting in the Lincoln Diner in Gettysburg and I saw the mistake on my HAM Alert app. In any event, I chalk it up to mistakes happen. At least the log I uploaded to the app is correct. We did hear a lot of birds today both in MD and PA. The list is as follows: Red-Eyed Vireos, Yellow Throated Vireos, Wood Thrushes, Blue Jays, American Goldfinches, Mourning Doves, House Sparrows, Black and White Warblers, Eastern Wood Peewees, American Robins, Scarlet Tanagers, Cedar Waxwings, Chipping Sparrows, Jack Sparrows, European Starlings, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers and Great Crested Flycatchers. I would have to classify today as a success but I really will be thankful when the bands get better. I will be uploading a few new videos to my Youtube page soon. Until next time, namaste kids.

Usually the finger on tombstones points up. Makes you wonder…

A cool stump in Union Cemetery in Burkittsville MD

Should I Have Brought A Flamingo?

May 11, 2025May 27, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Yesterday and today, both, had very poor conditions for some reason. Yesterday, 10 May, we (SWMBO) and I took a drive to Lum’s Pond State Park US-1741 in Delaware. It was a nice drive through some scenic countryside. The only down side was having to dodge all the Amish buggies in Lancaster County. Anyway, we got onsite at Lum’s Pond and set up. We started making contacts at 13:00 UTC and by 13:55 UTC we had made a total of 11 contacts. It was a bit down heartening but from what I read on the interwebs, it was poor conditions all around. Now today, we went to breakfast at Grandpa’s Love Shack. After breakfast we did some grocery shopping and then we both tackled Satan’s Putting Green. SWMBO was using the lawnmower and I was using Nemesis which is what I named my heavy-duty walk behind string trimmer. We also tried out my power pruning shears on the bamboo in the back 40, thinning it out. These shears are impressive, cutting through 2.5 CM bamboo stalks like a hot knife through butter. All in all it was a productive hour. Next we helped my brother in law empty some stuff from his storage bin. After all this a decision was made to do an activation. We tried the Pioneer Cemetery in Pandamonium but there were people there so we travelled on to the 3 Square Hollow Vista. Again, it was a bit crowded so we trolloped over to the site where an Army cargo plane crashed back in 1956. You can see a video I took there on my YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@gestyrious/videos). Well I sat there doing my radio stuff and over the course of 57 minutes we made 14 contacts. In both cases, 3 Square Hollow and Lum’s Pond, we made enough contacts to be legitimate activations. I had my owls and gnomes with me but I wonder if I should have brought a flamingo? I can always try next time. Ok kids, ttfn and namaste.

Missy, Moxie and Tootsie at the plane crash site on Blue Mountain

A Sunny Day, 3 Parks And A Walk

May 2, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Yesterday, 1 May 25, was a really nice day. The sun was shining and the temps were in the upper 20’s C. SWMBO suggested we go activate 3 parks and then have lunch. I grabbed some coffee from the local store, PDS, and we drove down to Cunningham Falls State Park US-1566 in Maryland. I have a park pass so I do not have to pay admission to the parks in Maryland, which is handy. We got set up and on the air by 0840. We were the only people in the park aside from the rangers. Band conditions were bad, it was almost like pulling teeth to get contacts but we made 11 contacts in about 20 minutes. We decided to move on and go to Catoctin Mountain Park US-0666. We stopped at the visitors center to make sure it was ok to operate. Camp David is close to the park and you need to check with the rangers before you play radio. It was a good idea to check with them as I was informed by the ranger on duty that the Chestnut Picnic Area was being used by school groups. He suggested we go to Thurmont Vista parking area and it turns that it was a good suggestion. There were very few people around, mostly folks out for a walk. We got set up and on the air by 0940 and made 16 contacts by 1001. It was such a nice day that we decided to take a walk on the Charcoal Trail. This is a loop through the woods where they used to make charcoal for the local furnaces. There are displays along the trail which showcase the activities and process in making charcoal. It was just nice to get out and about in the forest. There were mosquitos buzzing around but we survived them. I will post my videos of the walk on my YouTube channel. Just do a search for Planet Gestyrious in the next few days. Anyway, we made it back to the car and went to Gettysburg US-0027. As usual, we set up on Culp’s Hill and made 12 contacts in 23 minutes before we called it a day. I was putting away my antenna when a man walked up and asked if I was fishing. I told him it was ham radio. He seemed to lose interest. As I had stated earlier, bands were not in good shape. Between the three parks we heard the following birds: Carolina Wrens, Red-Eyed Vireos, Tufted Titmouses, Louisiana Waterthrushes, Wood Thrushes, American Robins, American Redstarts, Eastern Wood-Peewees, Oven Birds, Northern Parulas and Great-Crested Flycatchers. We drove from Culp’s Hill to downtown Gettysburg and ate at the Lincoln Diner which is located by the railroad station. We highly recommend it though the seating is old and uncomfortable. The food there is very good and the staff friendly and courteous. Well I guess that is my update for today. Namaste and stay cool.

A hut used by colliers during charcoal making season. Catoctin Mountain Park

A view of the forest at Catoctin Mountain Park.

Moxie, Missy and Zarathustra at Cunningham Falls SP

Missy, Zarathustra and Moxie guarding my radio and the car at Catoctin Mountain Park.

Again In A Repetitious Manner

April 27, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Wow, what can I say about today. The weather was beyond awesome. The temperature was mild, there was a bit of a breeze and there were birds everywhere. SWMBO and I had breakfast at Grandpa’s Love Shack in Shermansdale PA. They put on a good breakfast buffet on Sundays. When we finished eating, SWMBO said “Why don’t we go to Gettysburg?”. I had my radio equipment in the car so we headed out to Culp’s Hill, one of my favorite places to activate. Surprisingly the place wasn’t busy. I got set up and on the air in a short time and within half an hour we logged 32 contacts. After this we took a bit of a drive around the park gawking at stuff. We heard a bunch of birds today: Tufted Titmouses, Northern Parulas, Yellow-Rumped Warblers, White-Breasted Nuthatches, White-Throated Sparrows, Black-adn White Warblers, European Starlings, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, American Goldfinches, Yellow-Throated Vireos, Chipping Sparrows, Eastern Towhees, Northern Cardinals, Indigo Buntings, Blue-Headed Vireos, Gray Catbirds, Field Sparrows and Carolina Chickadees. Quite an impressive selection. It is Spring here I guess. Well I am going to close for now. Namaste, kidlets.

Moxie, Tootsie and Moxie’s new friend, Missy at Culp’s Hill

The Mayapples are emerging in profusion.

Two Days Out And About

April 22, 2025 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Avail yourselves of refreshing beverages and hearken to my tale of two very active days and two activations. Yesterday April 21st, a Monday, SWMBO and I had a busy day after I awoke from my sleep. We did some errands then we tackled Satan’s Putting Green for the first time this year. She used the lawnmower and I got all cave-man with the industrial weed wacker. This thing is made for heavy grass and light brush and uses 1/4 inch strings. It does the job and gets results. Once this herculean task was finished, we went for groceries. This brings us to the point where we decided to activate. SWMBO wanted to go to the Pioneer Cemetery in Tuscarora State Forest US-5479. The cemetery is located in an area known as Pandemonium. The road going up there is mostly gravel after the pavement ends. I was surprised that there were no birds to be heard there nor did we see any wildlife apart from squirrels. While she was going around taking pictures and shooting videos, I set up. I started operating on 40M and it did not take long to rack up 22 contacts (less than half an hour) and we packed it in. SWMBO did the logging, as usual. I did make a screw up by asking one ham to stand by because I wanted to work a weaker signal station and I didn’t get back to him. Next time I hear him on the air I will apologize. This brings us to today. This morning we went to some cemeteries in the Mechanicsburg area. You might notice a theme. We like taking pictures and photos in cemeteries. In one of the cemeteries we visited is buried a woman whose cause of death was spontaneous combustion! We then trolloped off to Gettysburg for a quick activation and a lunch at the Lincoln Diner. Through the course of the day our phone app heard: American Robins, Fish Crows, Northern Flickers, American Pipits, Chipping Sparrows, Blue Jays, American Crows, Northern Cardinals, White-Breasted Nuthatches and Red-Winged Blackbirds. I guess they were all out enjoying a nice day. Instead of going to Culp’s Hill where we usually go, we went to Barlow Ridge, near the Peace Light on Mummasburg Road. The contacts were slow to come today. I tried 40M and worked 5 before getting a bit frustrated. I went to 17 M and worked 7 more before we called it a day and went to lunch. If you are ever in Gettysburg, check out the Lincoln Diner. You won’t be disappointed. Well kidlets, here ends my tale for now. Below are some pics. I will be uploading at least 1 video to https://www.youtube.com/@gestyrious/featured in the next few days. Enjoy life and, as always, namaste!

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.