Philosophy

Always have a plan “B”

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Once again it was too nice a day to waste, so my long-suffering wyfe, my owl Ptolomy and myself set out to activate a park. I wanted to get a new one (at least new to me) in the books so we headed to Col Denning State Park, just on the other side of Doubling Gap. It was a great day and it did not take long to get set up. Unfortunately I was unable to make more than one contact. He was mobile and in RI so I know it wasn’t my antenna. Just circumstances, I guess. There was no internet signal where I was so I could not see if I was spotted, nor could I spot myself. Oh well, such is life and ham radio. On to Plan B. Not too far away is the Three Square Hollow Vista in Tuscarora State Forest, which I have worked from before. It is a beautiful location with an outstanding view and good radio visibility. Within about 1/2 hour of operating I was able to make 29 contacts including some park-to-parks which helped ease the sting of an unsuccessful attempt. All in all it was a great day. I even got to chat a bit with some of the other hams out there. I am attaching the obligatory photos of Ptolomey, my radio and the view from both locations. Namaste, kidlets, until next time.

Ptolomey watching my 6 at Col Denning State Park.
Yes, that is a thermos of coffee.
Ptolomey at Three Square Hollow Vista blocking my view of Cumberland County PA.

If Nothing Went Wrong, It Wouldn’t Be Ham Radio

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Yup. did another activation today. We took a drive on the spur of the moment up to Kings Gap Environmental Education Center (POTA K-4361). You might have surmised that we sorta-kinda like the place. What’s not to like? A peaceful hilltop in a verdant setting where any noises are muffled by the trees. Today there were 2 bus loads of public school kids and 4 van loads of Mennonite school kids participating in a school program and we didn’t even hear them from where we were parked. As to my setback … well, it was a lapse on my part. I got my antenna set up and ready and then put my rig out and connected it to the tuner and went to make the final connections to the battery and LO! and BEHOLD! I had left the pigtail that goes from the power pole connectors on the rig to the battery at home! Luckily, I had spare connectors, wire, alligator clips and crimpers in my radio box. I rigged up a pigtail and was soon on the air. The antenna I was using was my Buddistick. I had it mounted on a tri-pod and was using 6 meter by 10 cm copper mesh strip as a counterpoise. It worked pretty good on the 40M band though it did not out perform my usual inverted vee setup. I made 30 contacts varying from CT to MI to the Carolinas to Ontario. I will try this again to make sure it wasn’t just the day. I will also try this setup in one of the other parks I have activated before and compare notes. I will have to keep an eye on the weather but I may activate on Tuesday, either Big Spring or possibly Little Buffalo State Park. I am not looking forward to colder weather and am planning on squeezing in as many activations as I can before I am forced to stay inside until the area gets more hospitable. Well my coffee cup is empty so I think I will end this for now and will post a few pictures to include the owl of the day, Zarathustra. Picture 1 is my Biddistick. Picture 2 is Zarathustra supervising my logging. You kids behave. Namaste.

As for Summer, I don’t hear no singing!

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It was a beautiful day today and I decided to go activate a park. I went to Big Spring State Park which is located in Tuscarora State Forest, making it a two-fer! All went well. I put my antenna up over a convenient branch with my arborist bag and quickly got on the air. I self spotted on the POTA app and soon was making contacts. I had no real issues until an operator started using AM on a nearby freq. I just moved down the band and started over. I ran for a while more before the heat got to me. Overall a very successful activation. I made 44 contacts including 3 park to parks. I will be back there in the near future as it is a nice park and is nearby. I enjoy working portable and POTA gives me a chance to get outdoors. Yesterday I was out on my lawn and, with the help of my long-suffering wyfe, got my Buddistick tuned up using a 4″ by 20′ length of copper screen as a ground radial. It worked great and I will have to try it at a park next. Now I think I will sit here and stream some shows.

Namaste, y’all

Took a Late Spring Break

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Well I am back. Took a bit of a break inclding a vacation which included driving over 2400 miles and eating lots of food that I shouldn’t have eaten, but isn’t that what you are supposed to do on vacation? In the near future I will be posting some more on here. I have some picture and comments and observations. First off, though, I would like to point out that I would like to say that I am the type of person that it would be good to have on a ghost hunt. I am a sceptic and look for explanations rather than jump to conclusions. Having said that, my wyfe and I were in a cemetery where she was doing some recording trying to catch EVP (electronic voice phenomenon). I was staying away from where she was and was wandering around taking pictures of cool stones and textures. I caught motion out of the corner of my eye and the impression that someone was walking next to me. There was no one there. I took out my phone and activated a “spirit box” app. Now these things are, in my opinion, apt to pick up random words and phrases from broadcast and CB radio. Just for fun I asked “Is there anyone there?” I heard a reply: “Hello” I asked do you have anything to say? All I heard was static. I asked again: “Do you have anything to say?” I heard a very distinctive “I’m freezing”. I have no explaination for this. Since this was late June and the current temp was in the high 70’s, I doubt such a comment would come up in normal conversation. Who knows. Well, namaste for now kidlets.

Events Special and Otherwise

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Yesterday we, the club I belong to, held a special event to mark the anniversary of the birth of Marie Doro, a local who was a very well known actress in the early 1900s. She was very famous on stage and in silent films and was the first American actor invited to appear before the British royalty!. She was born here in Duncannon PA and is buried here, though she lived the majority of her life elsewhere. In a perfect world, running a Special Event would be simple. Since when has this world been perfect? There is quite a process involved starting with getting the club interested in hosting the event to announcing the event and getting the announcement published in QST magazine and on QRZ.com to painstaking work designing the certificate to securing a venue to hold the event to procuring equipment to enticing people to operate the radios and bring food, chairs, tables and other odds and ends. anyway, we did it. I even made a batch of chili which was a big hit. I even brought one of my mascot owls, Tootsie to supervise. He approved of the radio activity.

Not so long ago in a galaxy next door ….

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Today the weather turned out nice. It started out rainy but then turned sunny. I was able to beat Satan’s Putting Green into submission and we planted some gourd seeds in the hopes of obscuring part of the yard in vines for most of the Summer.

A funny thing happened this past Saturday. My wonderful wyfe has been wanting an all black kitten for ages. I finally found her one. After doing some schedule juggling we arranged to meet up with the nice lady who had such a kitten and she brought us a choice of 2 10 week old all black male kittens. Of course we took both of them. Meet Dipper and Kalamazoo:

Trust me, they are a lot cuter in person.

I have also come to the realization that I really do live out in the sticks. Here is my proof:

So until we meet again, happy snails and Namaste!

Summertime is getting closer and the living will be easy

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Soon it will be time to start thinking about getting outside more and enjoying the warmer weather …. until it is 95 degrees Fahrenheit ( for those who still use that system, I prefer 35 degrees Celsius) with a relative humidity of about 85% then you will want to lay about in the AC and bitch. Actually I was out yesterday with my new radio and a G5RV Junior playing around. First off I was learning the foibles of tuning this set up as an inverted vee. I didn’t want to have it set up in too permanent looking a configuration as I was in a public location. Second, I was learning the menu system of the radio as so far I have not had a lot of time to use it. Third, I was fine tuning my grab and go style. Back some years ago I could have a portable QRP station up and on the air within 15 minutes of pulling into a location. Yesterday it took me over 40 minutes to get on the air not including having to return home to get my power supply (turning red with embarrassment). I am not as readiness able as I used to be, I reckon. Guess I just need to practice. My plans for the future include bringing alternate antennas to try out. One nice thing is that my wyfe is willing to assist. She enjoys coming along for the ride and likes to laugh at my mistakes. 🙂 In any event, I will keep plodding away and keep posting here. For now, namaste, y’all.

Beware the Ideals of March

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Here it is again, the middle of March. We went for a bit of a ride but the animals were not cooperating. It is currently 2 C outside with the winds between 10 and 26 KPH so I think the ruminants are huddled in the treeline wrapped up in squirrels and robins for warmth. Typical March weather in the Northeast.It is okay, it gives me an excuse for idleness on my day off. I can sit here drinking coffee and listening to folks on the ham radio bands. The stove is running well and keeping it nice and warm in here. I am trying to work a special event station celebrating National PI Day but not having luck so far. They are located in NJ but are right now on 20M which is a bit long to reach here. Hopefully they will QSY to 40M sooner or later. My cats are behaving which translates out to they are asleep. Overall a good day. I have an appointment tomorrow at the ophthalmologist so that I can be informed that my retinopathy has progressed and my cataracts are a bit bigger. It is a yearly ritual; almost pagan in nature. I think I will relapse into a semi-vegatative state for now and lose myself in the comforting white noise of 40M.

Namaste, kidlets.

It is a coffee and radio kinda day

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Wow! I am sitting here yawning and it is only 1623 est. Even copious amounts of coffee don’t seem to help. It is -2 C outside … the kind of day you want to sit inside and do inside things. I was on the radio for a bit, chatting with a few folks after i did my due diligence on my exorcise bike. My wyfe joined me and we spent the time killing things on the video game. It is a great way to distract yourself when you are exorcising. Now I am sitting here contemplating my next course of inaction. My kittehs are all snoozing in the warmth of the stove so I can’t interact with them. My wyfe is cocooning. Well I guess I will have to get back on the radio and see if I can scare up any more people to bother. I am getting a lot better with the cootie key which is a lot easier on my arm. I think it was a good purchase.

Well enough for now. Namaste y’all

Hah Bumbug!

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Well it is the day before Christmas and currently -11 C outside which is a good argument for staying inside and drinking coffee. It is nice to be off this year. It alternates but sometimes the person who works on the opposite shift from me asks to switch. I am going to sit here in the warmth and play on the radio. I just checked the propagation data and it looks promising. https://www.hamqsl.com/solar3.html#hfprop (one of the sites I use). That site is great because it explains what all the data means. Most hams know already but there are new people out there. Learning is a good thing. My antennas are still up despite an ice storm last week which is more than I can say for my peach tree. The only issue I had with my antennas was a very high SWR on 40, 80 and 160 Meters due to the antenna being coated by ice. I knocked it off and all is well with the world. I am getting better with my cootie key and actually can be understood when sending.

My coffee cup is empty and I must go. I hope everybody has a very enjoyable holiday season

Namaste, kidlets