This one is kind of a given…. Every now and again while spinning the dial on HF I happen upon a Special Event Station where the operator is calling with no takers… When that happens I like to jump in with quick 5/9 Ontario so they don’t talk to themselves
Here is their QSL card which arrived today
Well its Sunday am and I’ve finally thawed out…. Strange thing this Canadian Weather…..
I got on the bus at 130pm Eastern and the weather was nice and sunny….. Got off the bus close to the Murney Tower at 230 pm eastern and the weather was nice and sunny…..
Walked from the bus stop to the Murney Tower and the weather was nice and sunny….Started to set up and the weather was starting to cloud over…. Called CQ POTA and the sun gave up and hid beside the clouds and the wind from Lake Ontario picked up….
The working conditions was my Xiegu X5101 with a Sota Beams Bandspringer antenna. My Shakesphere 20 foot Wonder Pole was being supported by the Heavy Duty Tripod I mentioned a few posts back….
As you probally noticed the graphics above have for the most part been recycled from my library. I did have my IPhone with me but the pics for the most part did not turn out…..
I started out on 40m and had managed to contact about 5(or so) parks when Martin VA3SIE arrived and set up his KX3 along with his ALEXLOOP antenna. He started calling on 20m CW and I kept on with 40SSB.
Martin posted an excellent Video (link below) on his part of the activation so check it out….
After a while I switched over to 20ssb and managed a contact before jumping back to 40m ssb
As the sun turned into sunset it really got cold and the wind really picked up. We packed up and moved closer to the Murney Tower to escape the wind but it still was goshdarn cold…. Martin continued to operate and I decided to leave the gear packed up….
I managed to give out Murney Tower VE4877 and the Kingston Fortifications VE4872 to 14 hunters making it a successful Two Park activation day.
Just before 6pm eastern I got my bus ride home and called it a day…. Martin decided to stay (those youngsters just don’t feel the cold) and he was making SSB contacts on 40m and 20m….. I was actually impressed seeing how easy he was pulling in the stations with the KX3 and the loop…
This will most likely be my last activation for a while. The sheer pleasure of operating portable was negated by the reality of freezing (ok the coldest I have been in quite a while) and at a certain time it just is no longer fun…. I’ll keep on hunting till things change a bit….. and if we get a warm afternoon who knows…
A Bit of POTA News….
On Friday evening the Pota Gawds determined that I had been confirmed and had make contacts with 2000 individual parks. BIG THANKYOU to the activators that made this possible. This was one of my goals and it happened earlier than I had expected….
More News
As of the time of this post my attempts to complete the “Park A Day Challenge” continue and since Jan 1 2022 I have made at least 1 confirmed contact a day with a POTA Park. As of the end of October there were 24 of us still in the Challenge…
48 Days to go….Will I make it???
Thats it for now…. I’ll post more when I have something to talk about
73bob
Starting around 3pm Eastern (2000 UTC if I did the math right) a few of us hearty souls will be trying to activate the following POTA parks:
VE4872 Kingston Fortifications
The operators will be Martin VA3SIE (KX1 or KX3) and Bob VA3QV(Xiegu X5105). It is hoped that Bill VE3FI (KX3)will be with us as well if his earlier activation allows him to make it here. The activation was also talked about on our local QRP/POTA groups (VHF and HF) weekly net so I’m not really sure how many operators will show up.
We will be spotting ourselves on POTA Spots and hope to get you in the log.
This is also fitting with the Polar Bear Moonlight Madness (PBMME) event. The event takes place on the Saturday closest to a Full Moon and is a fairly popular event for the QRP Types
This will be the first time that my XIEGU X5105 will be playing outside with other radios in close proximity. Lets hope the little rig does not get overloaded
Hope to get you in the Log
73bob
Its getting hot…. Temps (counting the humidex) are getting close to tilt… Liz was saying that according to the local TV station were were over 100 deg F yesterday and its not looking much better for today
And just as I’m finishing this post I get this notification:
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1:14 PM EDT Friday 05 August 2022
Heat Warning in effect for:
A two day heat event is expected Saturday and Sunday.
Maximum temperatures are expected to be in the high twenties or low thirties with minimum temperatures in the low twenties, bringing little relief from the heat.
Humidex values are expected to reach the high thirties to low forties.
Cooler temperatures are expected on Monday.
Hot and humid air can also bring deteriorating air quality and can result in the Air Quality Health Index approaching the high risk category.
The risks are greater for young children, pregnant women, older adults, people with chronic illnesses and people working or exercising outdoors.
Drink plenty of water even before you feel thirsty and stay in a cool place.
Check on older family, friends and neighbours. Make sure they are cool and drinking water
Never leave people or pets inside a parked vehicle.
Outdoor workers should take regularly scheduled breaks in a cool place.
Heat warnings are issued when very high temperature or humidity conditions are expected to pose an elevated risk of heat illnesses, such as heat stroke or heat exhaustion.
Please continue to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada. To report severe weather, send an email to ONstorm@ec.gc.ca or tweet reports using #ONStorm.
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I’m on blood thinners and I hate the cold but I’m finding the current heat wave “quite unpleasant” and that description is about the only way I describe it and keep my blog suitable for all audiences.
If there was a good side to this its that its still cooler (almost comfortable) in the shack (basement of our home) and so… Its too darn hot to do much else than sit in the shack and use the FT991a and make lots of contacts.
Well so far since I got the new rig back on July 19th I have logged 340 contacts resulting in 110 new unique parks in 3 dxcc entities.
Nothing “new” in my DXCC list but I did manage a couple of new states in CW working towards my ARRL Triple Play award from Kingston. I had previously completed my “Triple Play -Worked all states in SSB/CW/Digital ” from Ottawa and so far I am at 50 states in SSB, 46 states in Digital and 26 states in CW.
Need: Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Wyoming in Digital. As I no longer operate FT8 I am hoping to fill in the missing digital states using PSK31 or RTTY . I have a PSK/RTTY interface which worked quite well with my earlier Yaesu Radios and I just want to confirm that it will work with my 991a before I plug it in and start.
Need mostly the central states and the western states along with Hawaii. I have not confirmed Alaska yet but I did contact the K7K DXPedition on 17m cw so that should be confirmed soon.
Not sure if I can do it or not but I would like to complete Triple Play from here (Kingston) before we move at the end of May 2023. Time will tell…
So in the meantime as the basement is cooler the “Shack Cat Trio of Mouse, Sassy and Willow” and myself are staying as cool as we can in a non AC house… and I continue to spin the dial and make contacts.
73bob
It started during the RAC Canada Day Contest on July 1st when I started answering CQ’s on 40m from a station with a call of K2D. During the contest K2B and K2L also made it into my log.
On July 2nd while I was hunting some POTA K2M also made it into my log for a total of 4 of the Special Event Stations in the bag
On July 3rd once again hunting POTA I also managed to get K2K, K2A, K2G and K2F for a total of 8 of the 13 now in my log.
On July 4th in between wishing any US station that was calling CQ or answered my CQ a happy 4th of July. I also managed to get K2J and K2E for a total of 8 logged with only 3 to go.
July 5th was a busy time with K2I, K2C and K2H along with the Bonus Stations WM3PEN and TM13COL logged,
And on July 7th the final Bonus Station GB13COL was captured for the Clean Sweep
So there you have it ….. 13 Colonies and 3 Bonus Stations in 7 days… And for the most part I did have fun…
For those who might be wondering about the operating conditions used….The HF RIG is a Yaesu FT 950 running at approx 95w on SSB. My antenna is a 50 foot long inverted L with approx 150 feet of radials that run along the edge of fence and small yard. I use the SGC 237 auto tuner to bring it all together and it gives me excellent results on 10-80m and tolerable results on 6m, 60m and 160m but it does work on all the above mentioned bands. This setup has to be stealthy as the CONDO Corporation or HOA group does not like antennas but I’m still on the air after 4 years here
However on the downside of things…. The just plain stupid operators who could not figure out the words “UP 5-10” or “He’s working split” while the bulk of operators were trying to get GB13COL and TM13COL in the logs…. Right behind them were the operators who could not figure out what “by the numbers” meant when the DX stations were calling for specific calling areas to try and ease the pile ups.
And as always the self proclaimed DX POLICE had to increase the frequency QRM by telling each individual several times of their mistakes
In some cases the behavior was so bad that the DX Stations were forced to shut down for a while…. People calling on top of other operators…. People calling on top of the DX Station??? (really guys if you can’t hear him then why are you even calling???) and of course the operators who insist on tuning up their AMPS and antennas on the DX Frequency…
The stations who benefit the most from the 13 Colonies event have to remember that to the DX Stations it means nothing(Ok to the British it means something but not what it does to the Americans) and the French are just being nice to try and help out. I tell you they had more patience than I would of had and I for one thank them for what they did for us.
Last night (July 7th around 0030utc) when I was getting frustrated by the lack of brains in the pile up …I Tweeted the following:
“Starting to believe that on the #hamRadio Exams for any class that includes #HF they should have to prove that they understand the words “SPLIT” and “Listening up” and know to use the function”
I feel the same today even before the joy of successfully completing the event wears off
Once again… Thanks to the various operators of the K2A to K2m stations and also the WM3PEN operators and of course the various operators of TM13COL and GB13COL.
73bob
Well first off….
Happy 4th of July to my friends, family and fellow Amateur Radio Operators who are celebrating the birthday of their Nation…
In between Canada Day Operations and my usual chasing POTA (Parks on the Air) stations it was hard to miss a number of US Special Event Stations calling CQ with callsigns ranging between K2A through to K2M.
Here’s what its all about….
There are 13 special event stations out there representing the original 13 Colonies along with 3 bonus stations (check the poster above)
The trick is to try and contact all of them. Living in Ontario without trying too hard I have been able to contact 10 of the 13 on 40m.
I did hear GB13COL on 20m last night but the pile up was just overwhelming. The operator called CQ and for 3 minutes the whole world (or so it seemed) tried to reply all at the same time.
And if you need more info go to their website…. Link Below
http://www.13colonies.us/http://www.13colonies.us/
In the meantime its back to chasing POTA for me
Once again…..
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA
73bob
My Amateur Radio Life 