On Saturday morning at 1000 Eastern (10am) there is an informal roundtable net on 3.760 for us locals here in Ottawa. Now anyone who can be heard is welcome but normally its a groundwave net or a calling in from the cottage net…
This morning after talking to VA3PCJ it was decided that he would swing by and pick me up and we would join the Ottawa Valley QRP Society with their Field Day warm up which also coincided with the Polar Bear Club summer event.
We arrived at Hampton Park just after 11am and set up my W3EDP antenna with Jose’s brand new IC703 rig.
Now everyone knows Yaesu is my brand of choice but the IC703 sure is a tempting radio. Lightweight, neat and a larger display than my FT817. I could operate it without my glasses…
Anyway I had been bragging about how good the W3EDP was as a multiband antenna and sure enough as we finished hooking everything up and hit the “Tune” button on the 703 the 80m band came to life. An easy contact was made with Grant VA3OGR Grant who lives north of Brockville Ontario. Now I will agree with you that this was not DX but a QRP Contact on 80m in the daytime is nothing to skoff at especially with the noisy and poor band conditions we have been having recently…
VA3PCJ/QRP
Right at 1130 Bob VA3RKM came over and brought all of his toys. Part of the plan was to see what he would need for the Ottawa Valley QRP Society Field Day Station and so we set up a tent along with a 20m vertical and a 40m vertical.
(Above)Bucky VE3JRR helping??? put up the tent
(Above)VA3RKM Bob… Finishing the set up
(Above) The finished product
(Below)The 40m 1/4w Vertical Antenna
Look UP…..
Look way UP…
In addition to Bucky, Ernie VE3EJJ dropped in for a visit along with fellow blogger Bob VE3MPG I do wish I had Bob’s skill as a photographer as there were some other pictures that did just not want to turn out…
The Ottawa Valley QRP Society is planning to do Field Day from Bate Island in Ottawa this year. For those of you who are Island Hunters… Bate Island is CISA ON283. But Field Day in June is much warmer than the Canada Winter Contest in December if you are planning to do an outdoor event…
After about 3 hours Jose and myself had to shut down his station and head back as we both had other family things to do but it was a great way to start off the morning… A HF Net followed by a Park Outing… Does it get any better than that…. Good Friends and amateur radio…
73bob
PS and the final installment of the OVMRC Show and Tell will be posted tomorrow with any luck
Tags: amateur radio, Hampton Park, Icom IC 703, Ottawa Valley QRP Society
May 23, 2010 at 12:20 pm |
Hi Bob,
Greetings! Keep the the blogs coming! The latest series on using amateur radio in the outdoors has been superb.
Makes one if having this much fun is ‘illegal’?!
Take care!
73
de James, VE2KHC
May 23, 2010 at 12:36 pm |
Thanks for the comments James…
Its definately not illegal but after July 1st it could be taxable when Ontario starts the new HST to replace the PST and the GST… Wonder if they have figured out a way to tax “Fun” yet???
Remember that “Radio can be an outdoor sport”
73bob