With my Christmas shopping done, I had some free time yesterday. So, I got in a quick POTA activation before the Christmas holiday festivities kicked in. I drove over to Marsh Creek State Park (K-1380, KFF-1380) and operated from my usual spot near the West Boat Launch area.
WB3GCK at Marsh Creek State Park (K-1380, KFF-1380)
I used my usual Penntek TR-35 (5 watts CW) and 12-foot whip, and got on the air within minutes of my arrival. Things got off to a fast start on 40M. I made my first 10 contacts in about 9 minutes. The 30M band was also going strong.
When I switched to 20M, I encountered some intense pile-ups. I was beginning to think someone spotted my callsign incorrectly and people thought I was a rare DX station or something. Although it was tough trying to pull callsigns out of the din, I appreciate all the hunters who were out there yesterday.
After an hour and 10 minutes, I shut down and packed up. I ended up with 55 contacts, including two park-to-park contacts. I also worked 10 European stations: Finland, Sweden (2), Italy (2), France (3), and Germany (2).
So now, I’m looking forward to getting together with my family on Christmas day. I want to wish you and yours the very happiest of holidays.
I’ve been a little under the weather this week, but I squeezed in a long overdue POTA activation this morning. Although I had a successful activation, I had to contend with some annoying QRM.
I took a ride down to Ridley Creek State Park (K-1414, KFF-1414), one of my favorite nearby parks. I went with my usual setup: TR-35 (5 watts CW) and 12-foot whip with my homebrew loading coil.
WB3GCK at Ridley Creek State Park (K-1414, KFF-1414)
I had a great start on 40M, logging my first 10 contacts in 12 minutes. Four contacts later, a loud digital signal popped up on my frequency wiping me out. I moved up to 20M and had to tune around for a while until I found an empty spot. Although the band was producing contacts for me, it seemed like I was operating on the “international tune-up frequency” or something. At one point I had to stop for an extended “tuner-upper.” After what seemed like an eternity, he finally unkeyed. After that, I heard someone call him a “lid” (in CW, of course). Fortunately, things were more civilized on the 17M and 30M bands.
When I wrapped up, I had 43 contacts in my log, including Finland, Italy, and two stations in France.
Despite the occasional QRM, it wasn’t a bad morning.
One of my favorite quotes—attributed to several people and often paraphrased—states: “Predictions are tough, especially about the future.” That famous quote certainly applied to the propagation predictions for today.
Yesterday, a major geomagnetic storm wreaked havoc with the bands. The propagation widget I have on my phone described it as a “severe storm.” That’s a description I don’t see very often. This morning, the widget showed some improvement, although it predicted poor daytime propagation on the 40M, 30M, and 20M bands.
Poor daytime band conditions were predicted for this morning for 20M and below.
Undeterred by these predictions, I headed out to Evansburg State Park (K-1351, KFF-1351) for an early morning activation. I used my current go-to setup, which includes my Penntek TR-35 (5 watts) and my 12-foot whip combined with my homebrew loading coil.
My location this morning in Evansburg State Park (K-1351, KFF-1351)
Despite the predicted poor conditions, I started out on 40M. I immediately found band conditions to be anything but poor. In fact, it only took nine minutes to make the requisite 10 contacts. I had equally good results on 30M, 20M and 17M. The 17M band was very active, and I had a mini pile-up of DX stations at one point.
After an hour and 20 minutes, I ended up with 58 contacts. I didn’t have any known park-to-park contacts today, but I had 11 European DX contacts including: France (4), Italy (2), Denmark, Belgium, Slovenia, Sweden, Slovak Republic. I ran into a lot of QRM today, so I thank those operators for their perseverance. As an added bonus, my little five-watt signal also made it out to California today.
I’m sure glad I didn’t let the band predictions scare me off this morning!
Our family had to postpone our Thanksgiving get-together until the weekend. So that gave my (far) better half and me a quiet day to ourselves. What better way to celebrate a holiday than a POTA activation?
My destination today was Marsh Creek State Park (K-1380, KFF-1380), one of my favorite local parks. As I was walking out the door, my (far) better half told me, “You shouldn’t expect too many contacts because of the holiday.” Ha! After being married to a ham for 46 years, you would think she would know better. A holiday is just an opportunity to get on the radio instead of working!
My rig today was my old YouKits HB-1B. After I bought it through Ten Tec 10 years ago, it was my go-to portable rig. In recent years, I’ve been taking it along on trips as a backup rig, but it hasn’t seen much air time.
The HB-1B has a canned “CQ” CW message, but no programmable memories. I brought my old NorCal keyer along to take care of that. Since the HB-1B also lacks an internal tuner, I used my Elecraft T1. Actually, this was a portable configuration I have used many times years back. Antenna-wise, I went with my 12-foot whip and homebrew loading coil on the back of my truck.
My old YouKits HB-1B transceiver, along with my Elecraft T1 ATU and NorCal keyer
The HB-1B never had the cleanest sounding sidetone; but using a LiFePO4 battery (around 13V), the sidetone had some loud clicks. Over the years, the display also developed some kind of mark or smudge that is very noticeable at some viewing angles. Neither of these issues were a show-stopper for me.
I started out on 40M and seemed to get out well enough. After the first eight contacts, though, the band seemed to dry up. I moved up to 20M, and things picked up. Although it took 20 minutes to get my first 10 contacts, there was lots of activity on the 20M band. The power output is slightly lower on 20M (approximately four watts), but I still collected 32 contacts there. I picked up a few more on 30M before calling it quits.
My view of the lake in Marsh Creek State Park (K-1380, KFF-1380)
In less than 90 minutes on the air, I ended up with 50 contacts (with one dupe). There were no park-to-park or DX contacts today. (I neglected to post a spot for the WWFF folks.)
Despite its shortcomings, the little HB-1B gave a good accounting of itself. It’s still a worthy backup rig, and I need to put it on the air more often.
Finally, to all those celebrating, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.
I made a run down to Ridley Creek State Park (K-1414, KFF-1414) for an early POTA activation. I usually do well at this park, but this morning was something else.
Using my usual Penntek TR-35 (5 watts), along with my 12-foot whip and homebrew coil, I made my first ten contacts on 40M in ten minutes. Among those was VE3WMB, a fellow Polar Bear QRPer. When things slowed down on 40M, I moved up to 20M. That’s when things really got interesting.
The WB3GCK “QRPmobile” at Ridley Creek State Park (K-1414, KFF-1414)
After I started calling CQ on 20M, I spotted myself on the WWFF spotting page. A minute later, the European stations came out to play. Between the stateside and European hunters, things got pretty busy. Up on 17M, for example, I had a string of six DX stations in a row.
When I wrapped up after 90 minutes, I had 52 QSOs in my log, with five park-to-park contacts. I had a total of 13 European contacts today, including:
Italy: IW2NXI, IK1GPG
Finland: OH1MM
Germany: DL1EBR, DL1HB, DG1KJG
Sweden: SM4BNZ
France: F4ILH, F4HZR, F6EOC
Denmark: OZ1IPP
Latvia (a new one for me): YL2TQ
Poland: SP6GNJ
I think today’s activation was a combination of a site with good elevation, good band conditions, and some DX stations with exceptional ears.
I made a long overdue visit to a nearby park yesterday. Norristown Farm State Park (K-4363, KFF-4363) is only about 30 minutes away, but it has been six years since my last activation. So, I set out to rectify that.
This time around, I parked in the lot near the park office, a few spaces away from where I parked six years ago. Being a working farm, this parking lot is surrounded by cornfields, making it an unusual setting for a state park.
Operating from Norristown Farm Park (K-4363, KFF-4363)
This time around, I used my current go-to setup: Penntek TR-35 (5 watts) and 12-foot loaded whip. I noticed that there was some local noise on the bands. It was most noticeable on portions of the 20M band. Undeterred, I got on the air.
I started on 40M, but that was slow going. After logging three contacts, I moved up to 20M, where I spent most of my time. I also checked 17M, and that band seemed in good shape as well.
After an hour and 20 minutes, I logged 34 contacts, including five park-to-park contacts. Some highlights:
European contacts with Spain, Italy, and Germany. (WWFF spots always seem to bring out the DX stations.)
K4NYM called me on 17M from Florida. Bill was working a “3-fer,” giving me three park-to-park contacts with one QSO. Thanks, Bill!
I’m not sure why it took me so long to get back here, but I’ll definitely visit more often.
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 ValleyForge 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.
My location at the Yellow Spring Road trailhead in Valley Forge National Historical Park
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.
I headed out for an early morning activation at Evansburg State Park (K-1351, KFF-1351). The weather forecast was calling for scattered showers today. I consulted my weather radar app before leaving the house. It looked like I could get an activation done before the next round of rain came through. Ha!
It was raining lightly when I got to the park, and it continued most of the time I was there. I set up my homebrew loading coil and 12-ft whip on the back of the truck. I used a plastic shopping bag to fashion a “raincoat” to protect the coil from the elements. To keep things classy, I used a bag from a local dollar store. It looked pretty cheesy, but it worked. I used my TR-35 (5 watts) in the cab of the truck.
An improvised “raincoat” for my homebrew loading coil
Despite the lousy weather, I had a successful activation. After 90 minutes of operating, I had 45 QSOs in the log with 5 known park-to-park contacts. The 40M band was the most productive for me today. I had 22 contacts on 40M, with the rest divided between 30M and 20M.
Thanks to all the hunters out there who kept me busy this morning.
I had a little time this morning before heading out of town for a family event. It’s been a while since I last visited Marsh Creek State Park (K-1380, KFF-1380), so I made a quick trip over there.
I operated from the parking lot at the West Lauch area of the park. Despite the hilly terrain leading down to the boat launch, I’ve always had good luck there. The beautiful view of the lake is a bonus, too.
My view at Marsh Creek State Park (K-1380, KFF-1380)
For my antenna, I went with my 12-whip and homebrew loading coil combination. I used my TR-35 (5 watts) in the truck.
The bands were in pretty good shape, which made for a busy activation. After operating for 50 minutes, I finished up with 30 contacts. Twenty-two contacts were on 40M, and the rest were on 30M. I had two park-to-park contacts I know of.
It was a short activation but a lot of fun. And now it’s time to hit the road to visit family.
Looking through my POTA stats, I noticed I was one activation away from a Repeat Offender Award for French Creek State Park (K-1355). So, I set out today for my 20th activation for this park. For many POTA activators, this is a trivial milestone. But for a casual activator like me, it takes a while to get to that point.
The Straight Key Century Club (SKCC) Weekend Sprintathon (WES) was going on this weekend. I hadn’t taken part in a WES in a while, so I started off using a straight key and calling “CQ WES.” My first eight contacts were with SKCC members. After that, I spotted myself and started calling “CQ POTA.”
The 40M band was in great shape this morning, with lots of POTA activity. In fact, all of my contacts were on 40M. In about an hour and 15 minutes, I ended up with 23 contacts. Among those were four park-to-park contacts.
My parking spot at French Creek State Park (K-1355, KFF-1355)
I used my 12-foot whip and homebrew loading coil for the second time today. I like that I can set it up in a couple of minutes. Once again, it worked like a champ. I think it will probably my go-to antenna for stationary-mobile operation. Inside the truck, I used my trusty TR-35 (5 watts).
And with that, POTA activation #20 at French Creek State Park is in the books.
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 