The Polar Bear QRP group started scheduling Polar Bear Moonlight Madness Events (PBMME) for the Winter, so I went out to operate for a couple of hours today to see if I could find any of my fellow Polar Bears on the air.
The weather has been a little sketchy; a nor’easter came up the coast overnight bringing some heavy precipitation. Fortunately, my area is far enough inland that we escaped the heaviest weather. It was only a rain event that tapered off this morning. However, with the soggy ground and the predicted high winds for today, I decided to wimp out and operate from the truck.
I drove over to nearby Upper Schuylkill Valley Park, one of my favorite operating locations during the Winter. Mine was the only vehicle in the parking lot today. I used my trusty KX3 and went with my usual 19-foot vertical, mounted on my truck.
I spotted myself on the QRPSpots and the Polar Bear QRP Ops mailing and started calling CQ on 40M. After one or two calls, W3FSA gave a holler from Maine. John and I chatted for a while, and I went back to CQing.
I wasn’t having much luck, so I started chasing some POTA activators. I ended up with 8 POTA stations in my log, including fellow Polar Bear, VE2JCW. Jean was doing a joint POTA/PBMME operation, and I managed to find him on 30M.
I switched over to my straight key and finished up with 2 SKCC contacts. All in all, I logged 11 contacts during my 2 hours of operating.
Although it was a dreary, windy day, it was a fun day for radio. Thanks to fellow Polar Bear VE2JCW for allowing me to bag a bear and avoid getting skunked.
72, Craig WB3GCK
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 