Today was a day of sunny weather sandwiched between a rainy day yesterday and a week of mostly rainy days coming up. So, I took advantage of it and headed over the Norristown Farm State Park (K-4363, KFF-4363) for an early morning activation.
I operated today from a parking lot near the picnic pavilions. This area is a little lower in elevation than some other parts of the park, but I always seem to do well there. This spot also has the advantages of being less crowded and having nearby “facilities.”
I used my usual “stationary-mobile” setup, with my Penntek TR-35 (5W CW) and 12-foot loaded whip. Although the bands seemed a little weak, the hunters were out in full force. Starting out of 40M, I had 10 contacts in the first eight minutes. After an hour and ten minutes, I had 48 QSOs in my log with two park-to-park contacts.
Among my contacts today was one with fellow QRPer, W2LJ. It’s always nice to hear Larry. I also had a DX contact with SM4BNZ. Initially, I copied his callsign incorrectly (placing him in Italy). Fortunately, he called back, and I got my log squared away.
I had some other things I needed to do today, so I was glad I could sneak in a quick activation this morning.
73, Craig WB3GCK
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 