Wow! Where has the time gone? Today marks 50 years of ham radio for me. I was first licensed as WN3YSV on this date in 1974, after finishing a four-year hitch as a Navy Radioman. Over those years, I’ve made a lot of great memories. I also made a lot of great friends, both in-person and on the air.
Thanks to the thousands and thousands of hams I’ve had the pleasure of working over the past 50 years. I look forward to many more contacts over the next 50 years!
72, Craig WB3GCK (ex-WN3YSV)
With the holidays closing in, it seems like it’s getting harder to find time for getting out to play radio. However, I managed to get in two early morning activations over the weekend.
First up was a chilly trip over to Norristown Farm Park on Saturday. I’m slowly progressing towards a POTA Repeat Offender award, so I’ve been activating this park quite a bit lately. My rig was my trusty Penntek TR-35 (5 watts, CW) and 12-foot loaded whip.
I started on 40M and got off to a brisk start, making my first 10 contacts in about 9 minutes. By the time I had 24 contacts in the log, the pile-ups subsided, and I switched to 20M.
Despite some high noise levels on the band, I added 11 more stations to the log. My first contact on 20M was with DK3DUA, who would later work me again on 17M.
I finished up on 17M, where I was plagued with the same noise levels. Undeterred, I worked nine more there, mostly European DX.
After an hour and ten minutes, I finished with 44 contacts. Among those, were two park-to-park contacts and 9 DX contacts:
And then, it was back home to help my (far) better half set up the Christmas tree.
On Sunday morning, I drove down to Ridley Creek State Park. Thankfully, the weather was a little milder this time around. My equipment setup was the same as the day before.
Once again, I was amazed with the number of early-rising hunters. The action on 40M was fast and furious; my first 10 contacts came in about seven minutes. Things were a little slower on 20M, but I made a few DX contacts. The real fun came on 17M. The signals weren’t all that strong, but there were lots of them.
After an hour and 15 minutes, I had made 55 contacts. I only had one (known) park-to-park contact, but I had a dozen Europeans in my log:
After logging contact #55, I had to take off to run a couple of errands. All-in-all, it was a pretty good weekend—by my standards, anyway.
72, Craig WB3GCK
I was out in central Pennsylvania over the past weekend for our family’s belated Thanksgiving get-together. Before we left for home on Sunday, I squeezed in a quick early-morning POTA activation. This time, I drove down to Falmouth Boat Launch to activate the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail (US-4567).
The Falmouth launch is about two miles downstream from the infamous Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station. I was here once before back in 2018. However, I had forgotten that this water trail includes the entire length of the Susquehanna River. (I have since uploaded that log to the POTA website.)
It was about 20F (-7C) when I headed out for the 15-minute drive to the site. The parking lot was nearly empty, so I was able to park in a spot that fell within the 100 feet guideline. I had previously used Google Earth to measure the distance to the river.
I quickly put up my 12-foot loaded whip (before my fingers got numb) and set up my Penntek TR-35 (5 watts CW). Thankfully, the sun and my body heat brought the cab of the truck up to 40F (4C) in short order.
The conditions on 40M were amazing. The first two stations answered my CQs before I had even spotted myself. When I finally posted my spot, I had a huge pile-up. There were a lot of early risers out there, so Craig was a very busy boy for the first 15 minutes or so.
I gave the cheap QU-21C paddles a real workout this morning. My quick and dirty magnetic mount held perfectly, and the paddles worked great. They’ll be seeing a lot more use in the future.
After 33 minutes on the air, I had worked 32 stations, all of them on 40M. I had one known park-to-park.
Then, it was time to head back to my daughter’s house for breakfast. On the way, I pulled over to take some pictures of Three Mile Island. I also saw another boat launch that I’ll have to check out further.
Happy belated Thanksgiving to all who celebrated.
72, Craig WB3GCK
When I bought the QU-21C Mini Paddles a while back, I wasn’t crazy about the small square magnet attached to the base. It didn’t seem to hold very well. When subjected to vigorous keying, the paddles would sometimes move side-to-side. I came up with a quick and dirty hack that resolved the issue for me.
A little backstory is in order. I’ve never been a big fan of “two-handed” keying; that is, holding the paddles in one hand while sending with the other. I modified a small clipboard by gluing two steel washers to it, such that they lined up with the two magnets in my Palm Mini paddles. The clipboard securely holds the paddles and gives me a nice writing surface for logging in the field. I’ve been using clipboards like this for about 10 years now.
In just a few minutes, I modified my QU-21C paddles to adapt them to my clipboards and make them more suitable for “single-handed” keying. The first order of business was to remove the square magnet from the bottom of the paddles. That was almost too easy. I wedged a knife blade between the base and the magnet, and the magnet popped right off.
Next, I took some perf board from my junk box and cut off a 3.5 x 1 inch piece. I used some Goop® adhesive to attach two magnets on one side of the board. I placed them so they had the same spacing as the magnets on my Palm paddles. Then I glued the QU-21C paddles to the other side of the perf board. Except for the drying time for the adhesive, I completed the project in about 10 minutes.
The magnets I used are really strong and probably overkill for this application. But, I had a bunch of them on hand, so I put them to use.
Admittedly, this cheesy little hack doesn’t look like much. If I feel ambitious sometime, I might come up with something more elaborate. Maybe something like the base I made for my little MS2 straight key. For now, though, this will suffice.
72, Craig WB3GCK
Reading through some blog posts recently, I came across an interesting idea from John AE5X. In the comments section of a recent post, John mentions adding a ground stud to a magnetic mount. The ground stud allows him to connect two ¼-wave radials (for 20M) for his MFJ-1979 telescopic vertical. So what follows is my implementation of John’s clever idea.
On occasion, I’ve used my Gabil GRA-7350TC vertical with a small magnetic mount salvaged from an old 2M/440 antenna. I plan to use this configuration on my (far) better half’s car while visiting family over the holidays. The mag mount is only 3.5 inches in diameter, so I’m sure it’s not providing much of a ground connection. While the Gabil vertical is certainly usable with this mount, I’ve always felt that it needed more of a counterpoise on 40M and 30M to obtain a better match. I figured John’s idea might be the way to go.
Since I needed to drill a hole from inside the mount, I had to remove the foil covering from the bottom of the mount. This magnetic mount is probably around 25 years old, so removing the foil wasn’t too difficult. Using my pocket knife, I was able to peel the foil off, while keeping it intact.
Next, I drilled a ⅛-inch hole through the ground plate and out through to the top of the mount. It was a tight squeeze, but I was able to get a 4-40 bolt and a star washer in there. On the outside of the mount, I used a nut and lock washer.
The final step was to re-apply the foil covering on the bottom of the mount. I used some rubber cement to reattach it. I don’t know how well the rubber cement will hold up over time, but it won’t be seeing heavy use. It seems fine so far.
While I was at it, I replaced the PL-259 connector. The years had not been kind to the connector that was on there.
I gave the modified mag mount a try during a recent activation at US-1380, KFF-1380. I used the GRA-7350TC and mag mount on the roof of my truck. With no counterpoise wire attached, the best match I could get on 40M was just a hair under 3:1.
Next, I attached a 33-foot counterpoise wire to the mag mount. I ran the wire off the back of the truck and onto the ground. To avoid creating a trip hazard for others, I wrapped the wire around the side of the truck. In this configuration, I got the SWR down to about 1.2:1. Success!
Using the same counterpoise, the best I could do on 30M was a little under 2:1. I tried two 16.5-foot wires, but the result was about the same. No worries. An SWR of 2:1 is a piece of cake for the Elecraft T1 tuner.
I ran the entire activation on 40M and 30M with great results (40 contacts in less than an hour). In fact, it was the best I have done with the Gabil antenna and mag mount. Was it because of the counterpoise wire? Maybe. Regardless, my five-watt signal was getting out just fine with this thing.
Thanks again to John AE5X for the inspiration.
72, Craig WB3GCK
I made a quick trip over to nearby Valley Forge National Historical Park (US-0761, KFF-0761) this morning. It almost didn’t happen, but it turned out to be a fun morning.
Located a few miles from my home, Valley Forge has always been one of my favorite places for QRP-portable operations. During the winter months, I usually operate from a trailhead away from the main areas of the park. When I rolled in this morning, I couldn’t believe how crowded it was. It’s usually a popular place, but this was different. The parking lot was full, with a few folks even parking on the grass. There were a few sizeable groups of hikers/walkers gathering, which accounted for the crowded conditions. I was about to leave, when a parking spot in the middle of the lot opened up.
It was a beautiful, albeit windy, morning. I was hoping to get a spot where I could operate from the tailgate, but that was not to be. One of the hiking groups had occupied the only picnic table, so I operated “stationary-mobile” from the middle of the parking lot. I used my usual TR-35 (5 watts, CW) and 12-foot loaded whip.
The bands were as busy as the parking lot I was in. There were a ton of hunters out on 40M, so I made my first 10 contacts in less than 10 minutes. After logging 20 contacts on 40M, I moved up to 20M, where it was just as active and produced some DX contacts. Same goes for 17M. After an hour and 20 minutes, I had logged 41 contacts, of which four were known park-to-park contacts.
Some highlights from this morning:
Although my location wasn’t all that great, it was a fun activation this morning.
72, Craig WB3GCK
Earlier this week I had a day without my usual obligations, so I planned to do a POTA/WWFF activation somewhere. I was originally thinking of visiting one of my usual local parks. My (far) better half, however, suggested I take advantage of my free day to activate some parks in the other end of the county I had been planning to re-visit. She’s always right, so off I went.
The first stop was White Clay Creek Preserve (US-6433), which I last activated a year ago. With Monday morning rush hour traffic, it took over an hour to get to this park near the Pennsylvania-Delaware border.
When I finally got there, I set up my 12-foot whip and homebrew loading coil, along with my Penntek TR-35 (5 watts, CW). I fired up the rig on the 40M band and encountered a horrendous noise level. It was so bad, I didn’t even try to use the band. This was my fourth activation at this location, and I can’t recall running into noise issues like that. I ended up splitting my time between 30M and 20M. Those bands had some noise, but nowhere near as bad as 40M.
Despite the local noise, band conditions were pretty good. After 45 minutes, I had 28 contacts in the log. No DX today, but I had one park-to-park contact. After taking the antenna down, I took a short, three-mile drive over to Big Elk Creek State Park (US-9721, KFF-6093).
Situated on the Maryland border, Big Elk Creek became a state park in 2022. My first activation there was about two months after POTA added the park. Two years ago there were no amenities whatsoever. This time, I found the trailhead now had a gravel parking lot, portable toilet, and some picnic tables.
I used the same setup as the previous park. Thankfully, I didn’t have to deal with noise problems. I made a few contacts on 40M before moving up to 20M and 17M for the rest of the activation. Besides the POTA spotting page, I spotted myself using the smartWWFF app. That brought out the Europeans, especially on 17M:
Activating under both the POTA and WWFF programs certainly increases the number of hunters out looking for you.
In a little over an hour, I had 35 contacts with four park-to-park contacts. I briefly thought about making a quick trip into Delaware to activate White Clay Creek State Park, but saved that one for another time.
All in all, it was a fun way to spend my free day. I’m glad I listened to my (far) better half.
72, Craig WB3GCK
I planned to activate two parks at the other end of the county this morning. Given the travel time involved, I figured I’d need to leave the house around 0700 local time, to get back home in time to take care of a few things this afternoon. I’m always up super early, so I didn’t need an alarm clock. Hah! Of course, I slept in this morning.
I needed a Plan B, so I stayed close to home and headed up to Evansburg State Park (US-1351, KFF-1351). To switch things up a bit, I opted to give my (tr)uSDX another shot at a POTA activation. Along with the (tr)uSDX I used my 12-foot whip, homebrew loading coil, and my Elecraft T1 ATU.
Although I got off to a slow start on 40M, things picked up significantly when I moved to 30M and 20M. An hour and twenty minutes later, I had 30 contacts in the log. No DX today, but I did have one park-to-park contact. Thanks to WA2QLK for hunting me on two bands.
The little (tr)uSDX got the job done. Since my last activation with it, I tweaked a couple of settings, which made the receiver a little easier to listen to:
I also calibrated the frequency. The Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) confirmed that the frequency readout is right on the money. The sidetone still has some clicks and pops, but overall the little rig was better this time. It’s a fun little radio, although probably not my first choice for POTA activations.
I’ll have to get down to those other two parks another time. Next time I’ll use an alarm clock.
72, Craig WB3GCK
The QRP zombies were out and about on the bands last night. I got on the air for some of the annual Zombie Shuffle. This year was a little different experience for me from past years, but it was still fun.
This contest is called a “shuffle” because zombies don’t sprint. It kicks off at 1500 local time, but I usually don’t work too many fellow zombies in the first hour. The 40M band is usually my bread and butter band, however, I made most of my contacts in the first hour on 20M. I kicked things off by working a bonus station and worked about eight total in the first hour before taking an extended break.
I checked the bands again twice after dark, and it was slim pickings for me. There was a constant S3-S4 local noise level on 40M, which made things tough. I managed five more zombies on 40M, but it was rough going at times. From my RBN spots, I was obviously getting out better than I was receiving.
I usually pick up a few zombies on 80M, but not this year. Anyway, I wrapped things up early and submitted my entry to Paul NA5N in time to watch Game 1 of the World Series.
This year I was again running 5 watts from my KX3 into my rain gutter antenna. During exchanges, I used my zombie name, Bones.
My 13 contacts were a few off from last year’s shuffle, but it certainly wasn’t my worst year either. It’s a silly contest, but I look forward to it every year.
72, Craig WB3GCK
My (far) better half and I spent some time with family in central Pennsylvania over the weekend. Our busy weekend didn’t leave much time for a POTA/WWFF activation, but I was determined to get out to a park. The result was a brief but successful activation at Pennsylvania State Game Lands 246 (US-8941, KFF-5862).
I’m a notorious early riser, so I was the first one up on Sunday morning. After sunrise, I loaded up the truck and scraped the frost off the windshield. It was about 0740 local time (1140 UTC) when I headed out. SGL 246 is only a few miles away, so I was on site and operational by 0800 local (1200 UTC). I used my Penntek TR-35 (5 watts, CW) and 12-foot loaded whip.
I started on 40M and ended up staying there. I kicked things off hunting a park-to-park QSO, before finding an open frequency and calling CQ. A minute or two after spotting myself, I had a pile-up on my hands. A steady stream of callers kept me busy for the next 30 minutes—and it was pretty hectic at times.
My initial plan was to just make my 10 contacts and head back to the house. However, my half-hour activation yielded 29 contacts, far exceeding my expectations. I also had three park-to-park QSOs in my log.
The 40M band was amazing. I guess it was a combination of good band conditions and being a POTA Support Your Parks Weekend. Whatever it was, the hunters were up early and out in full force.
About 15 minutes after my last contact, I was back at the house and just in time for breakfast. It was a chilly morning, so that second cup of coffee hit the spot.
OK, so it wasn’t exactly a “drive-by” activation, but it was certainly a short one.
72, Craig WB3GCK
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 