Thanks to a snowstorm and some personal matters, my Winter Field Day effort was limited this year. The snow didn’t stop until midday Saturday, so I waited until Sunday morning to get out and make some contacts. Wanting to stay close to home, I drove over to Black Rock Sanctuary, a county park about 15 minutes away.
When I arrived at the park, the County had done an excellent job of plowing the parking lot. It was no surprise that I was the only one there. The temperature was 17° F (-8° C) with a windchill of 7° F (-14° C), so I raced to set up my vertical on the back of the truck to avoid numb fingers. Fortunately, the sun shining through the truck’s windows helped to warm up my operating position.
I spent about 45 minutes on 40M CW, doing all “search and pounce”. Normally, there isn’t much noise at this location. Today, however, the noise on 40M was S4-S5 at times. The 20M band was much quieter, so I spent the rest of my time there. Before packing up, I plugged in my microphone and made a couple of SSB contacts.
I was on the air for just under 2 hours, using the exchange: 1O EPA. In the end, I had 30 contacts in the log. The best “DX” today was California.
I was glad I could take part again this year, if even for a short time.
72, Craig WB3GCK
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 