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.
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

2 thoughts on “First Bike Ride of 2018”

  1. Craig, You have a very interesting web site. Been running QRP for a little over thirty years and always interested in learning new things in the field of QRP. Now that I am retired maybe I will have more time to experiment with antennas. My current home antenna is a Horizontal Loop at 25 feet on a small city lot, 30 feet x 40 feet. The vertical that I use is the Hustler 5BTV which has shown a very good account for itself. Also have an End Fed antenna which I take out in the field with my Icom 703. Have you ever used the 5BTV or other Hustler antennas before and if so what were the results? Thanks again for your info. 73, Richard Swanson, K0RDS

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    1. Richard:

      Thanks for the kind words. I don’t have any experience with the hustler antennas. With a few exceptions, my antennas have mostly been wire antennas that I cobbled together.

      I hope to work you on the bands sometime.

      72, Craig WB3GCK

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