Today was the last day of a heatwave we have been experiencing this week. It was the only free day for me this weekend, so I headed out to Evansburg State Park (K-1351, KFF-1351) for an activation. Having had a heat-related issue recently, I wanted to get out early and keep it short.
I set up my trusty Penntek TR-35 (5 watts) and homebrew 19-foot vertical. As is my normal practice, I started out on 40M CW. Before I started calling CQ, I made a park-to-park contact with a station in Maryland. Things got off to a slow start, but I managed to make my first 10 contacts in about 15 minutes.
I moved up to 30M and started calling CQ. The first station to call was NJ2BB. I immediately recognized the callsign as the amateur radio station aboard Battleship New Jersey (BB-62). The New Jersey is a WWII-era battleship, which is now a museum ship in Camden, New Jersey. I chatted with the operator, Tom, for a bit letting him know I was a former U.S. Navy Radioman, I always enjoy contacting museum ships; however, this was the first time one has called me.
After logging a few more contacts on 20M, I pulled the plug. After an hour, I ended up with 28 QSOs in my log, including two park-to-park contacts. The NJ2BB contact was certainly the highlight of my outing this morning.
73, Craig WB3GCK
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 