First of all thanks to that Europoean DX Contest of the weekend just past… Every time I was bored this weekend I was able to head down in the shack and work DX on 10-15-20 and 40m.
Make a few contacts and then come back a couple of hours later and make a few more contacts. Although according to the Atlas I have not worked all of Europe yet in the approximately 30 contacts I made over the weekend in Europe I got no new ones… All I was doing was hearing a CQ and answering it… If the log said he was a dupe then don’t answer… Was not looking for anything… Just giving out the contacts for those who were contesting…
So that was the weekend past….
The weekend future (September 15th-16th) is starting to fill up pretty quickly in Ottawa with 3 events happening so far… The big event would be the Ottawa Valley QRP Societys “Chilicon” This is a laid back camping event with QRP Portable Operations thrown in for good measure.
People will start arriving at Rideau River Provincal Park (south of Ottawa in Kemptville Ontario) on Friday afternoon and will run all weekend. This is a very unstructured event… Show up when you want…. Leave when you want…. Operate how you want…. with evening gatherings by a campfire to lie (brag) about your setup and contacts made…
It can also be a lot of fun…
In case of rotten weather there is a large covered area when you can sit and operate or cook etc sheltered from the rain… Covered roof but no sides… This is the last weekend the park is open for the season so it won’t be too busy…
Walk around the park and listen for the sounds of CW and the radio ops will be easy to find…
On Saturday am the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club will be sponsoring a Portable Radio Demo Event at Britannia Park in Ottawa’s west end.
There will be all sorts of goodies to be seen….
Stations of all kinds … QRO, QRP, Portable and Transportable…. CW, SSB and Digital…. This will start at 10am and will go till about noon….
The area we operate from for this one is lacking foul weather shelter but another area of the park has a large covered shelter. I’m not sure what the plans are for bad wx. Limited talk in and info on the morning might be found on repeater VE2CRA (146.940 - ctcss 100.0)
Heres what last years event looked like… Courtesy VA3CME… And place CLOSE ATTENTION at the 3:05 mark of the video for a great looking Portable station and an excellent experienced operator….
What a few of us wimps (those who don’t tent camp, LIKE MYSELF) do is spend Friday night in Ottawa and then head to Britannia on Saturday am then head south to Kemptville for Chilicon and spend Saturday afternoon & evening there and return to Ottawa on Saturday night…. It make for a busy day but a fun day…
This might be a good time for a few definations of the terms I have used so far today…
QRP- refers to the power level used by the transmitter Less than 5w
QRO- refers to the power level used the the transmitter. Normally 100w or more
Portable station is a complete field station that you carry to the field in one trip
This is my portable station. As you can see everything fits into the backpack and is easy to carry and setup…
Transportable station is a complete field stations that you carry from the parking lot to the field in more than 1 trip or with several people helping you
Above is a picture of my “Transportable Station” FT897- LDG Autotuner- W3EDP Antenna and the heavier than heck Marine Battery. The weight of the battery alone makes this a Transportable Station.
Below is the same station being used by Connie NR4CB when she dropped in to visit the VE3ORF/3730 group when they set up at Iroquois Ontario just after field day.
Now on Sunday Sept 15 I have heard that some of the heartier ones are doing a SOTA activation of Mt. Ste Marie QC (FN25) that will (might) include some of the microwave bands… I am still working on getting a bit more info on this… I’ll let you know once I get more info…
Enjoy your week
73bob
Tags: amateur radio, Amateur Radio Portable Operations, Britannia Park, Mt Ste Marie QC, NR4CB, OARC, Ottawa Amateur Radio Club, Ottawa Valley QRP Society, Rideau River Provincal Park, SOTA, Summits on the Air, VE2SOTA
September 10, 2012 at 3:52 pm |
Hi Bob,
Unfortunately, for the moment, both the WeatherNetwork and Environment Canada are forecasting 40% chance of rain on Saturday. If it does rain while we’re out there, we can seek shelter in the permanent gazebo on site. I will also have the club’s publicity booth/tent there and that provides some shelter from the rain too. We may discuss the weather forecast at the meeting on Wednesday evening too.
We haven’t talked about contingencies due to rain. Hopefully, ignoring the possibility will mean it won’t happen.
Arthur
September 10, 2012 at 6:01 pm |
Hi Arthur…
If the WX is bad then we most likely won’t have as many participants so the small gazebo where we set up close to will likely be large enough… A big participation with us being caught by a sudden squall could have us move to the larger covered area closer to the main building as no one else would be craZy enough to be having a picnic in the rain… I guess…
Anyway thanks for the comments (and the reminder that This Wednesday is the OARC Meeting ….
Trisha and myself should see you there and I’ll CU at Britannia
73bob