The NJQRP Skeeter Hunt is one of my favorite QRP field contests. This year, I planned to do some biking along White Clay Creek but the dire weather forecasts made me opt for “Plan B.” “Plan B,” in this case, was to activate nearby Valley Forge National Historical Park (HP46) and operate from my truck. This was my first time back at Valley Forge since I activated it on New Year’s Day.
I chose a parking spot that was away from the trees. I also made sure to face west, so I could keep an eye on the approaching storms. I took a few pictures before the Skeeter Hunt started, while the weather was still decent.
I used a 30-foot wire vertical mounted on the back. This antenna, fed with a 9:1 unun and 18-feet of coax served me well on several NPOTA outings recently. I set up my KX3 on the passenger seat of my truck.
A few QSOs into the contest, a park ranger rolled up next to me and asked what I was doing. I mentioned National Parks on the Air and he said, “that’s cool.” He also warned me about the approaching storms. I assured him that I planned to shut down if there was any lightning.
At about 20 minutes into the contest, the rain started and never really stopped. It varied between slight drizzle and torrential downpours. When the rain forced me to roll up my windows, the cab of the truck got unbearably warm. I couldn’t operate with the truck running due to electrical noise from the engine. Every so often, I took a break from the radio and ran the air conditioner to cool off.
The bands seemed to be in pretty good shape. After a little more than two and a half hours of operating, I had 29 QSOs in the log.
QSO_DATE UTC BAND MODE CALL RST-S RST-R EXCHANGE ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 20160821 1701 40M CW K3COD 559 559 NC NR145 20160821 1710 40M CW K4YA 569 569 TN NR8 20160821 1716 20M CW N4BP 599 599 FL NR173 20160821 1718 20M CW N0SS 579 579 MO NR18 20160821 1720 20M CW AB9CA 559 559 AL NR57 20160821 1727 20M CW WK8S 559 559 CO NR156 20160821 1729 20M CW NN9K 559 559 IL NR168 20160821 1732 20M CW WB4OMM 599 599 FL NR97 20160821 1737 20M CW VE3XT 569 559 ON NR162 20160821 1739 20M CW K2WO 599 559 FL NR2 20160821 1749 20M CW W4MZA 569 579 MN29 NR60 20160821 1750 20M CW KX0R 569 569 CO NR166 20160821 1756 40M CW N2CX 589 579 NP51 NR1 20160821 1802 40M CW NC4RT 579 559 TR10 NR24 20160821 1808 40M CW KG3W 599 579 PA NR160 20160821 1809 40M CW AA8WQ 599 569 OH 5W 20160821 1816 40M CW AA4XX 569 449 NC NR112 20160821 1818 40M CW N3AQC 589 569 TR14 NR76 20160821 1823 40M CW KY3P 579 589 NY 5W 20160821 1826 40M CW W1PID 559 559 NH NR41 20160821 1835 40M CW W4MPS 579 559 NC NR163 20160821 1845 40M CW WD8RIF 579 559 HP11 NR46 20160821 1850 20M CW K7TQ 559 559 ID NR11 20160821 1856 20M CW NF4GA 579 579 GA NR110 20160821 1904 20M CW AB4QL 569 569 AL NR149 20160821 1911 20M CW AD4S 599 579 GA NR56 20160821 1916 20M CW WB5BKL 579 579 TX NR42 20160821 1926 40M CW VE3LFN 599 599 ON NR28 20160821 1936 40M CW W3BBO 559 559 PA NR5
The rain was really starting to come down heavily, so I put on my rain gear and tore down the antenna. The park ranger was parked in the lot behind me. He was probably getting a chuckle out of the crazy old guy taking down his antenna in a downpour.
As I was making the 3-mile trip home, the rain stopped and the sun came out. Go figure! Anyway, I had a fun time, despite the rain. Once again, a tip of the hat goes to Larry, W2LJ, for coordinating this fun contest.
72, Craig WB3GCK
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 