March 2018 – WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio

Antenna Testing in the Park

Today was fun. I had a little time this afternoon, so I headed out to a nearby park to test a new antenna and ended up making a couple of interesting contacts.

I spent a couple of hours in Towpath Park, a nice little park along the Schuylkill River. It’s usually not very crowded, so it’s been one of my favorite places to test new antennas. Today, I was doing some initial testing and tuning on a Tri-Band Vertical from QRPGuys.

My "outdoor shack" overlooking the Schuylkill River — My “outdoor shack” overlooking the Schuylkill River

I set up the antenna and spent some time taking SWR plots on the antenna. The 20 and 30 meter bands were great without any adjustments. The 40M band is resonating too low, so I need to do some tweaking on one of the loading coils. I’ll do a separate post on this antenna when it’s finished.

My antenna today. My $9 telescopic pole from eBay is mounted on a screwdriver shoved in the ground.

I put the antenna analyzer away and got out my KX3. I made a few “CQ SKCC” calls on 20M and was answered by CT7AFN in Portugal. There was some QSB but we managed to exchange SKCC numbers. A few minutes later, I got a call from another station in Portugal, CT1BQH. Wow! Back-to-back Portuguese SKCC stations. This new antenna definitely has some mojo.

I worked stations in Texas and Florida before wrapping up. I neglected to bring gloves today and the wind chill was taking a toll on my fingers. I packed up my equipment and headed out happy with the contacts I made in a short period of time.

I have a little work to do on this new antenna but so far it looks like a keeper.

72, Craig WB3GCK

Is It Finally Spring?

After enduring the fourth nor’easter this month, I needed a little QRP-portable fix. Unfortunately, my bike is in the shop for repairs and the ground is saturated from melting snow, so I opted for quick trip to a local park and operated from the truck.

Charlestown Park is a beautiful community park just down the road from my home. I hadn’t operated from there in a while, so it was an ideal spot for a quick outing.

As I was setting up, a curious passerby walked up and asked about the 20-foot Black Widow pole I was getting ready install on the truck. I explained that it was a ham radio antenna. He watched to see how I mounted the pole then resumed his walk.

Once again, I focused my efforts on making SKCC contacts. I started off on 40M and added a few new members to my log. On 30M I had two 2xQRP contacts. One with W9ILF in Indiana and one with KI4KGK in Georgia who was running 1 watt.

As I was operating, a security officer cruised by looking at my antenna. He drove down the road a bit and turned around. He slowed down in front of me, probably getting ready to approach me. I waved to him and he waved back and drove off. I guess he was satisfied that I wasn’t doing anything nefarious.

On 20M, I received a nice signal report from VE4MG in Manitoba. He was very strong into Pennsylvania. I made one more contact on 40M before packing up.

Today was a nice break from the snow we had this week but I’m looking forward to some warmer weather. Hopefully, it’s not too far off.

73, Craig WB3GCK

First Bike Ride of 2018

Despite all the bad weather lately, we managed to get a weekend’s worth of half-decent weather. So, I brushed the cobwebs off my bike (literally) and went out for a spin on one of my favorite trails.

I rode the Schuylkill River Trail from the Oaks Trailhead up to the Perkiomen Trail and stopped in the Lower Perkiomen Valley Park for some bicycle-portable QRP. I parked next to a convenient bench and set up my KX3.

I did some experimenting with a mount I made to use my bike as a support for my portable vertical. That didn’t work out as planned so I ground-mounted my 19-foot vertical next to my bike, using a screwdriver shoved in the ground.

My setup in Lower Perkiomen Valley Park. The white object on the ground is a Dollar Store cutting board. The ground was soft so I used the cutting board under the kick stand to stabilize the bike.

I started off looking for some SKCC QSOs on 40M but there wasn’t much activity there. I moved up to 30M and KO5Q in Georgia answered my CQ. After I finished chatting with Roger, I moved up to 20M and found W0RT in Kansas. Immediately after I signed with Rick, I got a call from a very loud NA3AR. Tony was just a few miles away in nearby Collegeville. That accounts for his very loud signal.

By the time I finished up with Tony, the wind had picked up and it was starting to get cold. So, I packed up the bike for the ride back to the trailhead.

It sure felt good to get out on the bike today. I’m a member of the Rails to Trails Conservancy, so I’m making it a point this year to explore more local trails with the bike. There will definitely be more bike-portable operations in my future.

72, Craig WB3GCK