You can tell from the lack of posts here that February hasn’t been a good month for me, radio-wise. Between the snowstorms, freezing temperatures, and family obligations, I haven’t been out portable at all this month. I set out this afternoon to change that before the month ends.
We’re in a stretch of moderate temperatures this week here in Pennsylvania. The good news is that the snow is melting away; the bad news is that mud is replacing the snow. Coupled with a rainy weekend forecast, I set out for somewhere paved where I could hunker down in the truck.
That quest lead me back to Black Rock Sanctuary near Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, one of my usual haunts. I used my trusty 19-ft vertical on the back and my KX3 up in the cab.
I had no particular activity in mind for today. I set out to make a few CW contacts and maybe work a POTA activator or two. Since there’s going to be a full moon tonight (the Snow Moon), I also hoped to contact some of my fellow Polar Bear QRPers.
Well, Eric VA3AMX didn’t disappoint. My fellow Polar Bear from Ottawa was my first contact. The 40M band wasn’t great, but we managed to complete the QSO. Eric would be my only Polar Bear today.
I ended up with nine contacts in my log. Among these were three POTA activators (MO, IN, OH) and a SOTA activator in Quebec. I also logged a couple of contacts with South Carolina QSO Party stations. The highlight of the outing was a QSO with OZ8X in Denmark on 30M.
Despite the lousy weather, it felt good to get out for some portable operating. I couldn’t bear the thought of going a whole month without getting out. Hopefully, Spring is just around the corner.
73, Craig WB3GCK
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 