The weather prognosticators said we’re under a Wind Advisory from midday today through tomorrow. In the best interest of my antenna, I got an early start this morning to avoid confronting the forecasted 45 MPH wind gusts.
Instead of doing a normal POTA or WWFF activation, I headed down to Ridley Creek State Park (K-1414, KFF-1414) to take part in the Straight Key Century Club (SKCC) Weekend Sprintathon (WES) contest. I haven’t been very active in the WES contests of late, so I focused my attention on that.
I used my usual Penntek TR-35 transceiver (5 watts CW) and my 12-foot loaded whip antenna. I also used my little American Morse MS2 straight key. The MS2 is an unusual-looking key, but I’ve really grown to love it over the years. I did some earlier posts on the MS2 and the magnetic base I built for it.
Most of my operation today was on 40M. I split my time between calling CQ and search-and-pounce. The WES contests are rather laid back, compared to a typical POTA activation. The WES QSOs come at a much slower pace. I didn’t log my 10th contact until about 45 minutes in.
As I was making my tenth contact, it started raining. So, I grabbed a plastic bag and went back to wrap up my loading coil. It was only a passing shower, so I removed the antenna’s “raincoat” a short while later.
I ended up this morning with 15 contacts in my log. Thirteen were with SKCC stations, and two were POTA park-to-park contacts. I also worked KS1KCC, the SKCC club station in Michigan, on both 40M and 20M.
This was a fun change of pace today, and I added a few new SKCC numbers to my log.
72, Craig WB3GCK
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 