Working DX in Valley Forge

After spending the morning traveling to watch my grandson play soccer, I had some time to go play radio. I made a trip to nearby Valley Forge National Historical Park (K-0761, KFF-0761) for a quick activation. I almost talked myself out of going, but I’m glad I went ahead with it.

I pulled into a trailhead parking lot, where I’ve operated from a bunch of times in the past. I used my Penntek TR-35 (5 watts) in the truck, with my 12-foot whip and homebrew coil mounted on the back.

I started off on 40M, but I only made two contacts there. The 20M band was where the action was this afternoon. I searched around for some park-to-park contacts before parking on a frequency and calling CQ. I spotted myself on the POTA website, and the hunters started calling. Today, I also spotted myself on the WWFF spotting page. Right after that, I started getting calls from DX stations. 

After operating for about an hour and 20 minutes, I had 44 contacts in the log, with five park-to-park QSOs. Twelve of my contacts were with DX stations on 20M and 17M. I worked the following countries today:

• Italy (3 contacts. One station worked me on two bands.)
• Sweden (2 contacts)
• France (2 contacts)
• Ukraine
• Finland
• Poland
• Czech Republic
• Switzerland (WWFF park-to-park)

I also worked Michael VA2NB, a fellow Polar Bear QRPer operating from Quebec. 

Well, that sure was fun today. When I have to talk myself into doing an activation, I usually end up having a good time.

72, Craig WB3GCK