Mayapples and Roadapples

May 16, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

So the solar storm abated and we went out the other day. That was on Sunday the 12th. We set up in Big Spring State Park US-4355 and in about half an hour we worked 17 stations including 2 park-to-park contacts. The rain held off and I got a few pictures of the area and we got to enjoy the outdoors. A good day overall. Yesterday was a bit different. Sort of. Kind of. We had lunch and then decided on the spur of the moment to do an activation. We needed a few things from the big store so we decided to load up the gear and stop off at a game land that we have been wanting to activate for a while. That is how we found ourselves at PA State Game Land 169 US-8867 on a Wednesday afternoon. The parking lot where we parked was off of a not so busy road and that suited me. I like it quiet. It being early afternoon, I did not have high expectations for 40 M but started there anyway. I made 1 contact and then nothing for a few. I changed antennas and tried 6 meters. Now the solar prediction software may tell you that 6 Meters is open but that doesn’t mean that anyone is listening there. I called for a while on 50.130MHz, just above the SSB calling freq and got no response so I went back to 40 Meters where I had much better luck. I checked the spots and hunted up a couple of other activators who had come on in the past few minutes and that changed my luck. Within half an hour we logged a total of 14 and that made it a bonafide activation and made me happy. We tore down and, as always, made sure we left no trace of our being there. Well enough for now kids. Namaste and happy owls to 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

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

How to Re-gruntle a Kitty

April 18, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Been a busy few days off. Yesterday I decided to attack Satan’s Putting Green for the first time this year. I let it go so that the bees would have some fine cuisine until the major flowers started blooming. Well, that might have been an error, no matter how well intentioned. Anyone with Army experience would know the term “significant vegetation”. This refers to an amount of vegetation in which you could provide concealment to troops. That described my yard until yesterday. I attacked it with my industrial strength weed whacker and beat it into submission. Now it no longer looks like a pasture gone wild and sort of resembles a lawn that has been ravaged by a demented greenskeeper. All this allowed me to set out today on an activation at Little Buffalo State Park. Propagation was not the best but we logged 12 contacts including some park-to-parks and had an enjoyable time. We got slow drive bys from the park ranger and had some curious looks from fisher folks but no one approached us. As always, we left no trace of our prescience. All in all a good time was had by all. A father with 2 sons parked next to us did ask me what we were doing as we were packing up. I told him and his son proudly showed me the 2 trout he had caught. I am attaching some pics of our set up along with some cat pics because my cats have positive ions. All cations are positive. Namaste, kidlets.

Mote slightly disgruntled because he can’t go outside and chase birdies.

Mayhem wondering why I am taking pictures.

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

Yes, I am shivering

April 9, 2024 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

So here we are … waiting in anticipation. I had a phone conversation last Thursday with a tech at Yaesu and it turns out there is nothing wrong with my radio that they could determine. He even had it keyed down for 10 solid minutes at full output (100 watts) and the power did not drop at all. He said the most likely suspect is the powerpole connectors I used. He said the cheap ones can get soft when they warm up and cause problems. He has seen this issue before. I have since ordered some new connectors from a reliable company and will have them on hand soon. In the mean time, when I receive the radio back, I will connect it to the battery without using any connectors, just using the wires on the battery terminals. Now I am waiting on the return shipment.

Now on to other stuff. Spring is getting old. The forsythia bushes have bloomed and the bright yellow of their flowers has evolved to the dusky gold of late autumn goldenrod. Soon trees will be spewing evidence of their sexual exploits all over my car and causing people all over the area to be sneezing and wheezing. The fur-gods (cats) have their butts glued to the window-sills and are enjoying the fresh air from the open windows. My lawn is starting to sprout dandelions and I hate to think that I will soon have to attack it with the mower. As I have stated in previous posts, it is not really a lawn, it is old pasture land that I have to beat into submission every couple of weeks, which is why I refer to it as “Satan’s Putting Green”. Yup, the joys of ownership. I admit I am getting restless and want to do some camping and some activating. I am looking forward to outside activities and more clement weather. Well enough for now. Namaste, kidlets.

“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.