ham radio

The Flamingo Has Landed!

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A great day, today. We set out to activate 2 parks and met our goal. After a great breakfast at Newville Diner we drove down to Mont Alto State Park (K-1386). Initially I did not have high hopes for this park. It is a tiny park located along a somewhat busy road and is down between some hills. I didn’t think the radio signals would get out, combined with the contesting going on this weekend. I was wrong! We made 33 contacts including 5 park-to-parks , all on 40 meters during the morning! The only negative was that I had unintentionally started out too close to a net which I did not hear. I had asked if the frequency was open, heard no reply and listened for 2 minutes before asking again. I worked a few stations and then got asked to move. I apologized and found another frequency. Stuff happens. We spent about an hour there and it was very fruitful.

After picking up our gear, SWMBO and I went to Caledonia State Park, K-1337 where we worked a total of 28 contacts of which 9 were park-to-parks. There were a lot of people out and about in the park, biking, walking, and enjoying the day in general. We had one man approach us and ask questions about what we were doing and regale us with stories about his father having a Zenith short wave receiver which he used to listen to the world broadcasts on. A couple of pickup trucks pulled up next to us and we met face to face with W3TWB and N3AIR who were also out activating. We chatted for a few minutes before they took off and went to set up their operation. I was very pleased with how the morning went and SWMBO seemed to enjoy herself. She even got to see a very cool pavilion at Mont Alto next to Antietam Creek and she took a video of a waterfall at Caledonia. As has been said many times, many ways, a good time was had by all. Namaste Kidlets!

Charade the flamingo feeding off of stray rf at the foot of the antenna as Tootsie watches our 6

A better view of Charade the Flamingo
Making a contact

Should we have brung the flamingo?

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Had a great day today. SWMBO and I set out after breakfast for Milton State Park and Shikellamy State Park for a couple activations. Ptolomey came along to grace us with his presence (or to present us with his graces, that much is unclear). It was a nice warm day at the start. Milton SP is located on an island in the Susquehanna River and reachable by bridge from either Milton or West Milton. I found a nice spot to set up and was soon on the air. We made a total of 30 contacts on 3 bands including 1 with a station from the Dominican Republic. We got some curious looks from other people in the park; joggers and dog walkers for the most part, but no one approached us. It was a very nice park and we will be back another day. I think the weather has people itching to get outside and dust the winter off of their hands.

The next destination is a short 20 minute drive away. As I described in a previous entry, Shikellamy SP Overlook sits on a 120 meter high cliff above the Susquehanna River. We had passed the signs for this overlook numerous times over the years and never stopped here. What a loss on our part. Just the view is worth it. Since we don’t completely dis-assemble the antenna or the rig/tuner when we move locations, it doesn’t take long to get set up again. This time we only worked on 40 meters and quickly knocked off 20 contacts. Overall a great success. Ptolomey agrees with me. Between the 2 activations we worked 4 park-to-parks varying from RI to TX. It was a great day. I do think next time we should bring one of my lawn flamingos to share in the fun. Enough for now, kidlets. Namaste, y’all

Ptolomey overseeing the Milton Island operation.
Ptolomey watching over us at Shikellamy SP. The cones mark my coax and my faraday cloth.

Hilltop Hamming at Kings Gap

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I think I am blaming myself for this weather. I bought that ice fishing shelter and the weather turned warm. I have only used it twice this winter so the warm winter must be my fault. The shelter and the propane heater. Oh well. It was a beautiful day. SWMBO and I set out to do an activation and went to Kings Gap, K-4361. The usual spot where I set up was usurped by a crew that was cutting wood and grooming the forest so we went next to the mansion. It didn’t take long to set up and the activation was legit within a short period of time (18 minutes) on 40 meters. I did a little band hopping but my best results were on 40 though I did manage to work an Italian station on 20 Meters. The most surprising contact was on 15 Meters when I was contacted by a station who was mobile and about 4 kilometers (straight line) away. I worked 3 park-to-park contacts and had no encounters with lions, tigers and/or bears; it is a good idea to have an owl with me. My long suffering wyfe did a great job with the logging and we really make a good team. Anyway, I made a total of 24 QSO’s and the important thing is that we had fun. Namaste for now kidlets.

The ever vigilant Zarathustra
CQ POTA CQ POTA CQ POTA

 

A day to remember maybe

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Hi all. It was a beautiful day so we went out. We started with breakfast at the Newville Diner in Newville PA. After a filling and hearty breakfast we set out for Gettysburg, PA. Yes, that Gettysburg. We arrived at the first hill overlooking the town from the north. There is a tower here and it is across from the Peace Light. I started to set up and broke my tripod. The tilt control snapped. We took off to the local Walmart and got a new tripod which I resolved to not leave in the car during freezing temps. We got back to the location which I thought might be relatively quiet and set up. There were more cars in and out of the parking area than I had thought there would be but we were in a spot where we were not in the way. I did observe a van pull up next to us at one point and a young man (late teens, early 20s) jump out wearing fake military cammy and carrying an airsoft “assault” style rifle. He and his group went up into the tower and I believe he took some selfies. They departed a short time later. The wind was blowing relatively strong which made it chilly. Even Tootsie didn’t want to leave the car. Between 20 and 40 meters I worked a total of 35 contacts including some park-to-parks. It was a good activation in spite of the broken tripod. SWMBO and I are making a good team on these excursions. 🙂 We left there and went to the ATV lot in Michaux State Forest on Bendersville Road above Pine Grove Furnace. The lot had some ATV riders there along with their vehicles and trailers but we found a good place to park and set up. Yup. then I started making mistakes lol. First I tuned my coax to a perfect 1:1 on 20M. Yup. Tuned the coax without it being attached to the antenna. Luckily my long suffering wyfe pointed that out to me. “Aren’t you going to connect your cable to the antenna?” she asked. After I got it attached, I got on the air. Worked 20M for a while and then went to 40M to let the locals have a chance. Finally when we were ready to go, I looked at my antenna and LO! and Behold! the tilt had loosened and the wind had blown it over. Lesson learned. Always have the antenna in your line of sight. Also, always check the tightness of any and all connections on new equipment. How do you spell duh? Amazing thing was the last few contacts came in just fine and it didn’t seem to affect the SWR. We logged a total of 26 contacts there including some park-to-parks. We got home ok and then got all equipment put away and entered the qso’s into the log. Then had a catastrophe. One of our cats does not get along at all with the 2 younger cats. we try to keep them separated. I was carrying one of the youngsters up from the basement and slipped. He is ok but I am nursing a very sore arm/wrist/ribs/knee. Oh well, as the philosopher said: “you take the good, you take the bad”. Enough for now. Namaste kidlets

Gettysburg was too cold for Tootsie
The view out the windshield at Gettysburg
Tootsie protecting us from ATVers

I Got Some ‘Splainin To Do

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Ok, I guess my posts have been somewhat obfuscating and confusing to folks who are not familiar with ham radio and/or with my sense of humor, so I am going to strive to clarify a few things. 

First off, the owls. No owls have been harmed in the writing of this blog.  I like to take one of my owl decoys along with me when I am doing an activation as a sort of mascot/decoration. I have 3 owl decoys: Zarathustra, Tootsie and Ptolomey. I also have a plastic flamingo named Charade. Yes, I am a big kid and like to have toys. 

Next I should explain the whole POTA thing. Back in 2010, some hams got together and put together a program to get hams more physically active. There is a SOTA program (Summits On The AIr where folks can climb to a mountain top and operate from the top) but not everybody is cut out for that. Some hams are older or not physically able to climb mountains so HAMPARKS.ORG came into existence in September of 2010. The idea was to encourage hams to get outdoors to State and National parks and operate portable stations. It caught on and became very popular … so popular that in 2016 the ARRL (American Radio Relay League, a national organization for ham radio operators) ran a year-long event called National Parks On The Air. This sort of melded into the POTA program and it has evolved into what it is today. There are hams who go into the parks and operate (activate) and there are hams who contact these hams from home (hunt) and there are hams who do both. There are various awards and certificates for levels of achievement and thresholds crossed. The program is run by dedicated volunteers. It is also a way for hams to practice setting up in off-the-grid situations and to practice operating in less than optimum conditions. Myself, I use it as a way to keep active and maintain mental acuity and to have fun. It gets me out into the woods. 🙂

Well that is all for now. My fingers are all finged out from the typing. Namaste, kidlets until next time!