I spent the weekend camping in French Creek State Park near Elverson, Pennsylvania. The Straight Key Century Club’s (SKCC) monthly Weekend Sprintathon (WES) was held this weekend, so I spent some time making straight key contacts.
I was set up in my pop-up camper using my KX3 at 5 watts on battery power. My antenna was my trusty “Pop-up Vertical.”
Prior to the start of the WES contest, I had a nice 2-way QRP chat with John W3FSA up in Maine. John’s YouKits HB-1B was putting a great signal into Pennsylvania.
Working the contest on and off over the weekend, I logged 39 contacts. Some of the highlights included:
- Working F6EJN and DK7OB. Both were new additions to my SKCC log.
- An early morning QSO with Tony K6ELQ in California on 40 meters. I have to admit, the credit needs to go to Tony and his phenomenal station. It’s not the first time I’ve worked the West Coast on 40 meters during daylight hours but I always like when that happens.
- Adding enough new contacts to my SKCC log to qualify for the Tribune x3 level. I was stuck at the Tx2 level for a while, so I was pleased to finally get to the next level.
While tuning around 40 meters on Saturday afternoon, I heard my old QRP buddy, WA3WSJ, making some contacts in the Pennsylvania QSO Party. I gave Ed a contact and let him know I was camping not far from his home. A little while later, Ed stopped by the campsite for a visit. He even came with some food items he acquired during one of his NPOTA trips. It’s always fun to do some catching up with Ed.
I had a bittersweet moment this morning as I was taking down the Pop-up Vertical for the last time. My XYL and I decided to retire the pop-up camper and go with something different next year. Over the past 19 years, my ham radio setup in the camper has evolved to where I could be up and operating in minutes. The Pop-up Vertical has always performed well for me. So, I’ll have to start all over working out a new antenna setup for whatever kind of camper we end up with next year. That should be fun.
72, Craig WB3GCK
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 