Sometimes during an activation, I seem to get in my own way. This morning was an example of that. I was short on time, but a couple of self-inflicted problems caused me to waste time that should have been spent making contacts. I spent more time in the park than originally planned, but it was still a successful outing.
I made a trip down to Ridley Creek State Park (US-1414, KFF-1414) for a long-overdue activation. The drive down there was somewhat of an ordeal. The typical Wednesday morning rush hour traffic, coupled with some road construction, made for a longer-than-normal trip.
On arrival at the park, I set up a 12-foot whip and my Junk Box Coil on the back of the truck. It was a beautiful fall morning, so I set up my little camp chair next to the truck and used my KH1 on a kneeboard.
I set the coil tap for 40m and got busy—and I sure was busy. For the first 10 or 12 minutes, I had to sort through some pileups. After logging 25 contacts on 40M, I set up the KH1 for 20m.
I heard very few signals on 20m, and I wasn’t getting any Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) hits. My guess was that it was just bad band conditions. I managed just two contacts with some pretty dismal signal reports.
Next, I went over to change the coil tap on the antenna to 17m. That’s when I realized I never set the antenna for 20m. It was still set up for 40m. Doh! The KH1’s ATU had found a decent match, so I was blissfully unaware of the issue.
I changed the coil tap to 20m and went back to the radio to give the band another try. It was much better this time. Right off the bat, I got a call from SM6CNX, and I was now seeing RBN hits. After logging a few contacts on 20m, I moved up to 17m and worked five stations in quick succession. I was running short on time, but I gave 15m a quick check. I picked up two more DX contacts, but I needed to shut down. Trying to squeeze contacts out of my improperly adjusted antenna wasted too much of my operating time.
My other faux pas happened while I was taking some pictures. I dropped my Bluetooth remote shutter, and it got lost in the leaves. After some searching, I eventually found it. My phone had started snapping pictures in rapid succession. As it turns out, I had my foot on it. Doh! When I got home, I had to delete about 50 pictures of my empty camp chair.
I finished up with 38 contacts, with a handful of park-to-park contacts. Here are the DX stations I worked:
- 20m: SM6CNX
- 17m: F4HXJ, F4HZR, DL1AX
- 15m: DL1AX, F5UQE
Despite the misadventure with my antenna and time spent searching for something I was standing on, it was a beautiful morning to spend in the park.
And finally, I’d like to give a special Veterans Day shout-out to all the veterans out there. Thank you for your service.
72, Craig WB3GCK
