Radio Active in a good way

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Had a great day yesterday. My long suffering wyfe and I went camping at a local state forest and I activated it for the POTA program. Please note that my wyfe isn’t into camping and only went along to keep me company as I could not find anyone else to join in on the adventure. The campsite we chose was very remote. While we were there no cars went by, which pleased me to no end. It is up on a dirt road on top of a ridge. The only amenities there are a parking area, a picnic table and a fire ring. This was very suitable. While we were there the wind was blowing which kept the bugs to a minimum, even though the temperature was in the 80’s (farenheit) or high 20’s in Celsius. We had the camp set up in about an hour and I was soon on the air. I got to try out some new equipment. To hang my antenna I used a weighted arborists throwing bag. This was easier than using a stick and allowed me to throw the line higher in a tree. I had my generator that I had won in a raffle and my tent which I had also won. Both my owls were there, Ptolomy and Tootsie (pictured below) to guard the camp. I even brought along a slingshot with steel ball bearings in case a bear showed up and I wanted to piss it off. In reality the only critters we saw were a porcupine which walked purposefully past the camp, a large beetle doing beetle things a big toad, and a racoon which came by the tent this morning to see what was blocking his path. As for the activation, I had a very successful time. I made a total of 78 contacts with 4 of them park-to-park contacts. I stayed on the 40M band as it seemed to have a good result. I worked as far away as Puerto Rico, and several places in the eastern half of the country and a few Canadian stations before I had to stop due to my power supply running low. Overall, a good time was had by all. Hats off to my wyfe who made us a great supper of cabbage and kielbasa!

Not a Good day, a Great day!

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It was a great day today. The weather was beautiful and it was a very nice day to be off. One of those Sundays that come along once in a while that make you want to go outside and do things. Today my wonderful wyfe and I went out to a State Park about 15 miles down the road and did a POTA activation. POTA stands for Parks On The Air and is a program for ham radio operators to get out and be active in the public, operating in State and Federal parks, Forests and Game Lands. The park we were at was Big Spring State Park ( POTA Number K-4355) which is located on the western edge of Perry County PA. As I said, it was a beautiful day. It only took me about 15 minutes to set up. I put up an inverted Vee antenna with the apex up about 30 feet. My radio is a Yaesu FT891 and I was using my new LDG Z11 Pro II tuner. The setup worked great and I was able to make 26 contacts in less than an hour of operating before the bugs drove me out of there. In the meantime, my wonderful and long suffering wyfe was enjoying herself making videos of nature and of me operating. All in all, a good time was had by all. Following is a pic of me operating and my setup. The random hunks of tree bark on the table were still there when we left. 🙂

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.

So I lead A Boring Life

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The other day my Wyfe and I took a drive to Delaware and picked up a new toy: a Yaesu FT891. This is an HF and 6M transceiver. It is a pretty cool little rig. We took it out yesterday and tried it out in a nearby park. I set it up connected to a battery power supply and worked with a Buddi-Stick antenna. I only operated for a few minutes as it was a bit windy and chilly but I worked a station in Indiana with ease considering the location I was in is down in a hollow. I have better locations in mind for the next ventures. I am going to start doing Parks On The Air activations as a way of getting outside and being more active. It is also a way of generating interest in ham radio in a public venue. “Parks on the Air® (POTA) started in early 2017 when the ARRL’s National Parks on the Air special event ended. A group of volunteers wanted to continue the fun beyond the one-year event, and thus, POTA was born.” That is a quote from the POTA webpage and I couldn’t say it better. Basically parks (State and National) parks have assigned numbers. Other entities such as State forests have numbers too. To activate an entity you set up within the boundaries of the park and work stations. The stations you work are called hunters and you are an activator. Simple and fun. Well I can hear the work bell ring so it is time I get a long. Namaste to you’uns.

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.

At Least My Kitties Love Me!

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Of course the title has nothing to do with the subject. I hope everyone is well though that is a hope based in futility as if everyone is well then there is no basis of comparison, now is there?

I had some fun this past Sunday. I belong to an online Morse Code radio club called FISTS which sponsors a quarterly contest. In February, May, August and November, they hold 2 two hour contests. Since they are short duration contests they are called Sprints. The goal is to contact as many other stations as you can within the 2 hour time frame. There are 3 entry catagories: high power, low power and group. I was working low power (5 watts). I was able to make several contacts and was lucky enough to contact 8 different states. Each state gives a multiplier which ups the score. All in all I scored a very decent score for working a single band and a low power station. I am looking forward to the Spring Sprint in May.

More information can be found at fistsna.org and information on ham radio can be found at arrl.org. Information about the Perry County Amateur Radio Club and the special event station we will be running can be found at https://perrycountyarc.org/event/celebrating-marie-doro/ and also at https://www.qrz.com/db/KC3TKC

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