My XYL and I spent the weekend camping at Codorus State Park (K/KFF-1342) in south-central Pennsylvania. When we were here last year, we had a weekend of bad weather. This year, it was a tale of bad traffic, bad knees and bad propagation.
With a late start and heavy traffic, it was dark by the time we arrived at Codorus on Friday. After setting up the trailer it was getting late so I decided to wait until morning to set up my antenna. We were in a heavily-wooded camp site, so my antenna wound up surrounded by large trees.
The day before we left for Codorus, I injured my knee and paid a visit to the local urgent care facility. The doctor said I needed to stay off of it for a few days and ice it several times each day. Following my doctor’s orders, I spent much of the weekend relaxing in my reclining camp chair with my KX3 on a table next to me.
I didn’t do an announced activation at Codorus; instead, I just tuned around making contacts where I could find them. Along with some Ohio and Kansas QSO Party stations, I worked an interesting assortment of stations. On Sunday morning, I woke up to the news that there was a geomagnetic storm in progress. The dead bands confirmed that; I only managed a few more contacts over the rest of the weekend. Fortunately, I made more than enough contacts on Saturday for a qualifying POTA activation.
Here are some of the highlights:
- I made park-to-park contacts with Joe N2CX at K/KFF-1461 and K/KFF-1452 in Wisconsin.
- On Saturday afternoon, Ron WB3KVR answered my CQ on 40M. It turned out that Ron was also camping in Codorus and operating QRP. After we signed, I drove over to his campsite for an “eyeball QSO.” Ron stopped by my campsite the next day to see my set up.
- On Saturday evening, I worked LZ1146SPS in Bulgaria on 30M. The unusual callsign is for a special event by the Bulgarian Radio Club Blagovestnik.
- I wrapped things up on Monday morning with a contact on 30M with K0RU/M in Kansas City, Kansas. Rob was operating while driving to work. I’m always amazed by hams who can carry on a CW conversation while driving. Very impressive!
Although the bands could have been better, I still enjoyed my lazy weekend resting my ailing knee and playing around on the radio.
72, Craig WB3GCK
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 