Support Your Parks!

Every quarter, the Parks On The Air folks have an event called Support Your Parks Weekend. The idea is to get out to the park at least once a quarter, right? I see it as just another weekend to go play, but maybe there are more hunters out there and a better chance for Park To Park contacts for those who chase those kinds of things.

For me, it’s another excuse to get out. “It’s the Support Your Parks event! I have to go out and activate! I don’t want people to think I don’t support the parks!”

Yeah, no one buys that, but it sounds good when I say it.

Keeping It Familiar

Everything about this activation was very tried and true. The truth of the matter is, I have a lot of change going on at home right now and what I needed more than anything was a chance to get outside and forget about it all while dits and dahs flow out of my radio.

The park was the personal favorite Cuyahoga Valley National Park – US-0020. The location was The Octagon at my usual picnic table. The radio was my IC-705 and the antenna was my AX1. This is a place and a pile of gear I could set up with my eyes closed. In fact, from setting down my bag to getting on the air was just about 3 minutes according to my stopwatch.

Sometimes, it just feels good to use the things we know.

The Bands

I started off on 40-meters and it was quiet. Really, really quiet. The kind of quiet that tells you it’s going to be a rough time on that band. I poked around and got two contacts in about 20 minutes. That’s not the best. I knew that I had a sink to install later, so I switched up to 20 so I could hopefully get what I needed.

20 was a little more lively. I could see a lot of activity on the waterfall and signals were coming in nice and clear. Low noise and little to no crashing. In fact, it was really great! But it still took me just under an hour to get enough contacts for an activation. Not that I mind. I did switch up to 17 in the end, but only got one contact there. Better than none!

The Point

This was one of the activations where it really is about sitting at the park and enjoying the weather. It was 72 dF, clear skies, light breeze, low humidity. There was nothing not to like about it. The Octagon area was more or less deserted, so there wasn’t any human noise either.

It was a great time to watch the open field which was freshly mowed. Lots of families come out here to have picnics and play games. Plenty of youth programs are held here during the week. It’s one of those wonderful shared spaces that we have set aside as what will probably be remembered as our nation’s best idea (just ask Ken Burns!).

For someone like me who has been coming to this spot for a while now, it was a chance to enjoy the way the hawks hunt mice and chipmunks when the grass is freshly cut. There is a pair that I’ve observed for some time. They patrol the perimeter and wait patiently for a mouse or chipmunk to get too cocky and get too far out from the tree cover. I’ve seen many raptor picnics on that field.

And isn’t that the point of Support Your Parks weekend? Seems like it is. Using the radio as an excuse to get out to a shared space and enjoy the weather – whatever it may be. See the trees or grass or whatever natural features you have to hand.

The QSO Map

It looks like everything was aligned to the west. I’ve not seen a QSO Map like this before with this antenna. I guess the east coast was just busy!

Final

For people who need an excuse to take their rig portable, the Support Your Parks Weekend really do deliver. They happen every quarter, so even if that’s the only time you activate, you’ll get to see your favorite park in each season. Take notes. Enjoy the scenery. Make some contacts and have fun.

Thanks for reading along and 72!

A Long Weekend

I had the opportunity to take Friday off, so I did. And with a day off and no commitments until much later, I headed out to The Octagon at Cuyahoga Valley National Park – US-0020. I just couldn’t think of a better way to spend a few hours in the quiet before a weekend of things and stuff.

A brief diversion? The summer has arrived, so my Jeep has its summer outfit on. This is a rag top with no windows save the front windshield and its safari doors. Look, I’m not made of sugar and I live in a place that is grey and cold for a decent chunk of the year. When I get the chance to enjoy the wind in my face, I take it. That does come with some risks. When it rains, well, I get wet. And to be absolutely clear, I expect it and embrace it!

The forecast for the day did NOT include rain. I tossed my clamp-on umbrella into the Jeep simply to keep the sun off as that can heat up the radio and get in my face. It’s a nice thing to take along for contingencies. Ya know, sun or…rain.

Halfway to the park, the skies opened up and it rained cats and dogs for about 25 minutes. I pulled over and looked at the weather radar. It was going to pass quickly enough so I kept going. Arriving at the park, I was met with some “jokes” from others in the parking lot. I smiled and grabbed my gear. They’d come back sweaty and gross while I was just freshly showered!

Getting to the picnic tables did show me that I had some obstacles. The table was wet and so was the bench. No worries! I brought my tarp (always do!) and I set up the umbrella to keep the water that was falling out of the trees off of my gear. I deployed the AX1 and hooked up the IC-705. I was ready to go!

Solar Goodness

Friday was great for solar weather. The conditions were good on 40 and 20 and I was able to grab enough contacts to call it an activation in relatively short order. It was so much nicer than the prior activations when the local star was blowing its top and making things difficult. It was great to pull in the contacts!

For a bit of extra fun, I tossed my Surface Go 2 into the bag and grabbed some FT8 while I was at it. It’s been quite a while since I did any digital work during a POTA activity.

QSO Map

With it turning from rain to clear skies I’d been on the air long enough and was feeling refreshed. Here’s what the QSO Map looks like.

Fun While It Lasted

Saturday rolled around and it turned out that we had a graduation party to attend and a few errands to run. What would normally have been a trip to CVNP on a bicycle turned into a quick drive out to play a little radio while the things that needed doing and didn’t involve me were done. I was very pleased to get two opportunities to get into the field in one weekend.

The wonderful solar conditions from Friday DID NOT flow into Saturday. The earth was spinning into all of the fun that comes from yet another CME. This was causing all kinds of problems. The bands would open for a bit and then go silent. As usual, I parked my IC-705 on a portion of the band where I could see the FT8 signals on the waterfall and watched them ebb and flow as I tried to nab enough CW contacts for an activation.

It didn’t work out that way. I managed to get 7 CW contacts in an hour. That’s not great. But I did bring along my computer and flipped over to FT8 to pick up an additional 4 contacts and validate the activation. I don’t know that I would have made it without moving to a digital mode.

The IC-705

It is not a secret that I am a huge fanboy for the IC-705. The switch from operating CW to FT8 was as simple as turning on my little WiFi router that I carry for these occasions and launching wvfiew and WSJT-X on my computer. That’s it. It took maybe 2 minutes and I was on the air and calling CQ on FT8. It’s brilliant and frictionless. Sure, I’ve been using it for years now and have figured out a workflow that makes things very smooth, but wow is this rig a dream for multi-mode portable. Which, again, is not a surprise as that’s kind of its purpose. It’s just amazing to me that it feels so simple when everything else (like the sun) is making things complicated.

QSO Map

Here’s what the activation looks like.

Final

As we get closer and closer to the solar maximum of Cycle 25 the conditions are going to get weird. I’ve decided that when I head out to do an activation I’m going to toss the computer into the bag just in case. More modes make a successful activation more likely. While activating isn’t the goal – being outside and playing radio is – it’s still nice to check it off as DONE. It also keeps me fresh on my digital operating skills. It’s probably time to play a bit more with fldigi so I can get some other modes in the log. Time for some more experimentation!

It might also be time to take the Hardrock-50 into the field with The Big Battery. We’ll see what happens if and when the mood strikes!

Thanks for reading and 72!

Gorgeous Weather

It was sunny and the temperature was darned near perfect for June in NE Ohio. My wife and I got on our bikes and cycled out to Cuyahoga Valley National Park – US-0020 so that we could enjoy the day. The plan was to spend a little time at The Octagon shelter area so I could play a little radio and then head into Peninsula to grab some lunch. I figured that I could get the park activated in about an hour while my wife did a little reading and we’d be on our way.

Well. Yeah. The thing is…

Sensing A Pattern

We’re heading toward the high point of Cycle 25 and it seems that conditions on HF are getting less and less reliable. I know very little about solar weather and I’m certainly not an expert on our local star. I know what I’ve read and I can compare that with my observations. I’m definitely not alone in observing that activations are harder and harder to complete and that makes me feel less like it’s a “Me Problem” and more like it’s a “Giant Ball Of Gas Problem”. That works.

When I set up my Go-To gear (IC-705 with the AX1) and I’m struggling to get it done, I start to doubt myself. Should I toss my EFHW into a tree? Should I have brought the SuperAntenna? But the truth is, if I’m sitting there and RBN is picking me up but I’m not hearing much, it’s very possible that there’s no one out there to hear me or conditions are worse than I thought.

In any case, it seems that budgeting an hour for an activation is not as likely to bear fruit as it was just a few months ago. Not that it matters. Being outside with my radio is the point. Relaxing and getting on the air are the ends.

QSO Map

Here’s what it looked like on the QSO Map:

Final

QRP seems to be about patience these days. Could be that all radio activities are going to involve more patience than they have in this solar cycle. There are still plenty of exciting times ahead. There are months of long, warm, bright days ahead and I plan to spend as many of them as I can in the field playing radio.

Thanks for reading and 72!

You Read That Right

It was a dessert activation. Monday nights are Scout meetings so I figured I could sneak out to Cuyahoga Valley National Park – US-0020 and get an activation in after dinner. I thought of it as a bit of mental sorbet to cleanse the pallette after a long day. It worked out very well!

The past few times that I’ve been out at the park, the local star has been a royal pain. When the sun throws a tantrum, things get crazy for all of us radio folks – not just the QRP operators! As a result, the past couple of activations have been ones that I barely got over the line. Having taken a good look at the conditions for the day in question, it seemed like I might be hitting the right time in terms of solar weather which I normally don’t check at all. My approach is usually one of “Sure, they say the conditions are bad but what does that mean to me in the spot where I’ll be sitting when I’m sitting there? Best test it to find out!” After a few solar tantrums, I at least check to see how much water or coffee to take along.

Tried And True

The gear was predictable. I took the IC-705 and paired it with the AX1. I had my tarp out and everything set up in about 5 minutes. I have this kit down to SOP levels of repeatability. With everything deployed, I didn’t really take any chances. I went straight to 20-meters and I was rewarded.

Moving Around

I managed to get enough contacts for the activation rather quickly on 20. That’s not a shock, but it was nice to get them in the bag. I decided to move to 17 and see what I could hear. It was really, really quiet. I managed to get a contact in Idaho and one in Utah. A friend from Mastodon said I could be heard poking my head out of some serious QSB in Colorado. I can usually tell how well things are going by the number of other activators on the band. I was the only one, so I moved on to 40 to get the local crew. I was not disappointed.

Refreshing

Getting outside on a warm, sunny evening is a beautiful thing. Even if the bands hadn’t cooperated, it was still nice to be the only one at The Octagon. The field around the structure had just been mowed and there was still the smell of cut grass in the air. The birds were busy – including a few crows that were quite disruptive with some QRN (see what I did there?) while I was trying to copy.

The truth is that radio is one of those things where you can only focus on the activity at hand. Careful listening requires attention and when it’s done right all of those other thoughts from the day disappear. After a good hour or so on the air I almost always walk away feeling refreshed and reset. Every thing is cleared out and I can move on to whatever is next without any mental clutter.

QSO Map

With three bands in play, I managed to get 26 contacts. Here’s what it looked like on the QSO Map:

Final

I get the sense that I need to do more of these “Dessert Activations” this summer while we still have the daylight. As has been mentioned to me a few times recently, we’re hitting the solstice and that means that The Long Dark is slowly turning in our direction. I definitely want to make radio hay while the sun shines.

Thanks for reading and 72!

Weeks Without POTA?

The past couple of weeks have been very busy and kept me away from my beloved parks and activations. Life is like that sometimes and we have to muscle through it. When I saw a break in the action on Sunday morning, I knew that I had to jump on it. The weather was going to be great and I didn’t have any commitments for a stretch. I knew that I could grab about 90 minutes or so for an activation at Cuyahoga Valley National Park – US-0020.

Tried And True

I’ve been putting together some resonant wire antennas lately and really wanted to pull one of those out, but I knew that with it being Memorial Day Weekend the park was going to be crowded at all of my normal spots and getting a wire in a tree or a mast set up was going to be a hassle. I fell back on my reliable AX1 paired with the IC-705.

It’s fun to experiement and I do love to try new things, but when time is short we have to reach for what we know will provide results. This combination has rarely left me skunked in the field and it’s very quick and easy to put up and tear down. Given that time was a concern, this was really the only kit to take.

The Bands…Again

The good news is that the bands were not complete garbage like they have been of late. But not being bad and being good are two different things. I would put it all at a solid medium for performance. It didn’t help that there was a contest going on, but the day before the bands had been far worse. It took about an hour to land 11 contacts. One of those in there was a park to park. That always adds a little spice to the mix.

I felt a little rusty. I’ve been practicing my copying at the computer on and off during most days, but being in the field is different. It’s all a surprise. There’s no telling when that call will come breaking through the noise or how hard you will have to listen to copy it. It was nice to get back in front of my rig and paddles.

The QSO Map

It’s a pretty good spread given that it was 40 and 20-meters all day long. Here’s what it looks like on the QSO Map:

Final

There are days when all that matters is that I get myself outside and into the field with my rig. Sitting there in the quiet and playing radio is a very peaceful way to spend a bit of time. It’s very intentional and almost meditative. The time flies by and I always head back feeling refreshed. Here’s hoping that I’m able to sneak out a bit more as we hit the long summer days.

Something New-ish?

Cuyahog Valley National Park – US-0020 is a massive park. It stretches a good way between Cleveland and Akron. There are over 100 miles of hiking trails scattered throughout the park and there are many nooks and crannies. On Saturday morning, I headed out to do an activation. I had some time and I wanted to go down to the Quarry area to work. But as I was driving, it occurred to me that going down into the valley after a couple of weekends of Less Than Stellar Propagation might be adding another layer of difficulty to something that had the makings of a rough day for the bands anyway.

Driving along, I came upon the Shady Knoll picnic area and pulled off there. It’s nothing more than a couple of parking spots and a few picnic tables. There was no one around and as I set up I could tell that the traffic zipping by not to far away might be a reason that more people don’t frequent this area. No matter! I got set up and got to work!

New Fangled Picnic Tables

The tables at the picnic area are the newer ones that I have seen in the park. They are quite thick. In fact, they are far too thick for the clamp mount that I have for my AX1 (more on the mount below!). I had wondered about this because I couldn’t recall if the Quarry area had those tables as well, so I tossed my mini-tripod in the backpack just in case. I’m glad I did!

Slow

I deployed the IC-705 and my Begali Traveler. I was set up for 40-meters and got to work. It was very slow going. There was the activity on the band, but contacts were few and far between. I stalled out after 3 contacts on 40. It was just a lot of calling CQ and a lot of silence coming back at me. Time to move to 20-meters!

The last time I was out, I sat on 14.069 and not for nothing. The waterfall on the IC-705 puts the 14.074 on the far right of the screen if I’m centered on 14.069. That means I can see the FT8 and FT4 traffic. This was very, very useful. As I was calling CQ and listening, I could see the bands fade in and out as I watched that traffic ebb and flow. It’s a handy little trick that I plan to use more often when things are questionable.

As one might imagine, it was slow. The time between QSOs was long. The bands were coming and going. When they were up, things were great! When they were down, I couldn’t hear a thing other than the occasional crash. After about 90 minutes, I had my 10 contacts. 10 minutes more and nothing heard. It was time to go QRT and get lunch with my son.

QSO Map

Here’s what my patience got me on the QSO Map:

A Note On The AM1

I mentioned my antenna mount above. I have the AM1 Portable Antenna Mount System from ProAudio Engineering. It is a wonderful mount for the AX1. It attaches well to normal picnic tables and even to the cargo cage of my Jeep. I take it everywhere. But I did notice something about it early on. It seemed that I got much better results attaching the counterpoise of the AX1 to the ground lug of my IC-705 rather than the lug on the antenna mount. I didn’t give it much thought because I found a setup that worked and I stuck with it. On Friday, I got an email from ProAudio saying that there was an issue with the lockwasher on the unit that wasn’t allowing a connection between the BNC connector and the lug. I got out the old meter and, yup, that was the case. A couple of moments with a file around the edges where the BNC connector passes through to remove the thick anodized coating and BOOM the meter confirmed that things were flowing where they ought to flow. I wasn’t able to play with that this weekend as the table was too thick for the mount, but I’m confident I will have improved results in the field.

Final

Another “struggle” of an activation with the bands being less than helpful. I still got to sit outside with my radio and enjoy The Big Blue Room. It felt good and it was far better than being indoors for sure. I’m not sure I will hit that spot again as the traffic noises kept a lid on the outdoor vibes, but it’s a place to remember when there are crowds elsewhere.

Thanks for reading along and 72!

Getting Out To Support The Parks

One of my favorite things in amateur radio is obviously getting out to the parks and participating in POTA as an activator. It’s also pretty clear that I really love hanging out at Cuyahoga Valley National Park – US-0020. There’s really not much better on a Saturday than to bike out to the park and enjoy a couple of hours in the sun making contacts. Well, the thing is…

April Showers? No… Just More Grey Cold

My wife and I were planning to bike out to the park. We were slowly getting ready and started to look at the weather. The temperatures were in the 40s, it was overcast, and the winds were around 18 mph with 32 mph gusts. We looked at each other for a bit and realized that this was totally doable, but probably not much fun. So we changed plans. I would go out to the park on my own and activate for a bit and come home.

I moved my gear from my pannier to my backpack and headed out for the park. The sky was grey and there was a pretty stiff breeze. I went with the AX1 and set up my TR-35 to give it another go now that I had changed a ton of settings on the ATU-10. I was hoping to get a random wire in a tree if I had time.

With everything set up, I got on the air.

Anybody Home?

I started on 20-meters because I did want the activation to move along today. It was a bit cooler than I wanted it to be and with no sun, being outside felt like a continuation of winter. As I called CQ and even spotted myself, no one came back for a long, long time.

The band was crashing. There were flashes of static and a very high noise floor alternating with dead silence. It was enough to make me question the rig and the antenna. I did what I did last time and swapped the TR-35 for my IC-705. No dice.

At this point, I was giving the AX1 some serious side-eye. I reached into my bag and pulled out my 40-20-10 EFHW and my throw line. With no one around, I picked a branch in a tree that was perfectly positioned and got the line over it on the first try. This was a Batman level throw and there was no one to see it. Such is the life of a POTA Activator, I suppose.

This antenna is really the best in my collection in terms of efficiency. It never misses. So why were the bands still crashing and quiet? Why was 40-meters fading like I’ve never heard before? Oh, ya know, just luck. Later on Mastodon I would have my complaints confirmed by a panel of experts who were also frustrated by conditions.

Finally…

I did get my 10. I walked away with 12 contacts total in about 2 hours of activating. Not the worst Support Your Parks Weekend story I heard about Saturday, but not my favorite by far. By the time it was all said and done, my fingers were cold and I was pretty tired of sitting outside in the grey. I guess my mind really believes that April should be warmer and more inviting. I forget where I am sometimes.

QSO Map

Here it is. From the looks of it, it wasn’t too bad. But it didn’t feel that way getting there.

Final

Yes, any day outside is better than one spent inside. I’m just impatient for REAL SPRING and some more time with that elusive yellow orb in the sky. I know it’s coming. And I know that my TR-35 will continue to get a workout until I get a full activation with it. The conditions will change. Things will improve. Next weekend looks good so far.

Thanks for reading and 72!

Amazing Weather!

The entire weekend was about picture perfect. The sun was out. There was a nice breeze. It was warm but not hot. We did have a little work to do with some plumbing on Saturday, but it got done and that made time for Other Things. And you know that means POTA!

Too. Many. Variables.

I decided that I’d go to my most local park which is the Cooperrider-Kent Bog State Nature Preserve – US-9401. It’s just down the street and seemed like a great idea since I had some Dad Taxi duties floating around with unknown timelines. The truth is that this park is a boardwalk look around a bog. There are no picnic tables and no space to sit, really. Thus I was consigned to the Jeep. I’ve shared many times that this is not my favorite setup. This was the first variable in play.

The second was the Penntek TR-35. I’ve been itching to get this little guy into the field, so I tossed it in my bag. I don’t know this transceiver very well, but the only way I learn is by doing.

The third variable was the one that might have wrecked things but I’m not really sure just yet. I recenly received an ATU-10 automatic antenna tuner as designed by N7DDC and built by a reputable seller to whom I shall not link until I have determined if I have a problematic unit or the dreaded Operator Error. I was planning to use this little guy to give the AX-1 that little bump that it needs to work with the TR-35. I’d measured the SWR on the AX-1 a few times in experiments earlier in the week and it just needed a touch of tuning. So little, in fact, that getting it right on the z-match tuner was a total pain. Why not try the ATU-10?

Lots of new stuff in a new place in an operating position I don’t love. What could go wrong?

This Looks OK…

I got everything set up. The AX-1 was clamped to my Jeep’s cargo bar. The tuner was set up on the dash. The TR-35 was hanging out on my speaker in the phone holder (not at all precariously!). Everything looked good. I hit the tuning cycle on the ATU-10 and things settled in at about 1.1:1. Cool! So I started calling CQ.

And I kept calling.

I spotted myself.

And kept calling.

The RBN heard me! That was good! But it was a very long time before I got a call. It came in at 599 for sure. The signal indicator on the TR-35 was lit up nice and bright. It was a perfect signal from Maine. No fading, no nonsense. It was impressive!

And then nothing. Some static. A few crashes on 20-meters. No other calls.

It was time to pack it in.

I wasn’t too phased by not getting the activation. It was a Saturday at about 3 PM and the weather was amazing. It was nice to sit there in the sun (in the Jeep) and play with my new toys. I had the nagging feeling that I get with a new rig that I did something wrong, but I don’t believe that there was anything to do wrong. Sometimes, the magic simply doesn’t happen. And that’s OK! Besides, as soon as I pulled out of the parking lot, my daughter requested pick up and food for her and her friends. Dad Life!

QSO Map

Here is what my QSO with Maine looked like:

Sunday Will Be Better

It is well known that my wife and I love to bike out to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park – US-0020. We do that most weekends in the summer and I always take my radio along to do a little POTA while we eat lunch. I figured this would be an easy win! Once again, I set up the TR-35 and the ATU-10 with the AX-1 and got to calling CQ. This time, I even used the message memory in the TR-35. Good stuff!

Lots of crashing on 40-meters. I got one contact with Michigan and then moved to 20-meters. More crashing. Maybe our local star was trying to wreck my flow, but it could also be that, again, I was using new stuff. This time, I was prepared. I reached into the bag and pulled out the IC-705.

And I got nothing.

It was almost 20 minutes until I got a contact. It was a Park To Park with an operator in Kansas. The crashing on the bands didn’t let up. There was a lot of fading. After about an hour and a half, I had 7 total contacts and a lot of band noise. I’m not going to give any side-eye to the new gear as I really do believe the bands were hot garbage. I also noticed that the POTA site didn’t pick me up on the RBN though I was getting picked up by the RBN. In fact, all of the activators only had spots from hunters. I wonder if there was a technical difficulty there. Not that it would have helped. You can only work what you can hear and there’s no hearing anything over that kind of noise.

QSO Map

Here’s what the map looked like for Sunday in the park.

Final

What’s does all of this mean?

Nothing. Playing with new toys is learning what they’re good at and where you have to give to take. I plan to take the TR-35 out with a resonant wire antenna in the near future and give it a chance to shine in some backyard portable. I also plan to take this week and mess around with the ATU-10. It seems to want to kick into tuning cycles at odd intervals. Maybe I just need to tune it and turn it off. I was pretty sure that I consumed all available documentation on the device and given that it only has 3 button press commands, it’s hard to imagine that there is a lot of user error here. I will report back with findings.

Also, it’s important to note that there’s no getting skunked in POTA. Sitting outside in the sun with a nice breeze on a Sunday afternoon is fantastic with or without contacts. It’s about playing with a radio outdoors. And that, my friends, is hard to screw up.

P.S.

I didn’t take pictures while I was out on these activations for no really good reason. So you get a picture of Bella the Rottie after a very, very muddy hike where she rolled in everything that she could. You’re welcome!

72!

Vacation Time!

The kids hit Spring Break for the last week of March and I took the week off to hang out with them. Of course, that means a little bit of camping because as a family that’s what we do. This time around, my wife, daughter, rottie, and I were the attendees for the camping portion of the week off. My son wasn’t feeling it and if he was going to be home, it made sense to leave the Old Man Dog aka Nacho home as well given that it was going to get cold and he’d likely not have a great time with it.

We packed up our camper and headed out into the far flung reaches of…Ohio?

We picked a private campground near Hocking Hills State Park – US-1958. Our plan was to set up and hang out and get over to the park to do some hiking as weather and mood permitted.

This trip was less about radio and more about learning bits and pieces about our camper. We used the heater for the first time and it was amazing! I had a lot of doubts, but the team at Opus has really thought it through. Well, that was until we turned on the water and the water heater started spewing water into the back compartment of the camper. This required some field maintenance which turned out to be field discovery of the comings and goings of the plumbing. Let’s just say I learned a lot and we’ll have water for our next trip, but we were using a kettle to pour water from the Jerry Cans for this trip. Live and learn, right?

The Park

Hocking Hills is known as one of the most scenic parks in Ohio. There are massive caves and waterfalls. It’s all very carefully laid out as to be accessible for everyone (in most places) and that’s great! This does attract crowds and I find that it’s harder for me to relax in nature with 300 of my closest friends.

The crew hiked to Ash Cave and then split up. The ladies and pup went onward and I headed back to the parking lot to attempt an activation.

Super Stealthy Ham Guy

This parking lot was loaded. I didn’t take any pictures because there were constantly people coming and going. I didn’t want to creep anyone out, so I only snapped a quick shot of my setup. It’s the stealth combo of the IC-705 and AX1.

I picked a picnic table that was off in the mud so that it wouldn’t be Prime Real Estate and got set up. It was interesting in that there was a tree to blind it from cars turning into the parking lot, but otherwise, I was in plain sight about 20 yards from the lot. No one even so much as looked at me. The low profile of the AX1 was doing its thing. I had my headset, so I was silent. I was sure someone would say something, but no one did. Weird!

I got to work an put 27 CW contacts in the log before I was rejoined by the ladies and the pup.

QSO Map

Propagation was good to me on 20-meters with my meager 5 watts. Here’s what the QSO Map looks like.

Final

That was the only radio I was able to work in while we were camping. But more happened later in the week when we returned home. Stay tuned for more excitement and thanks for reading along! 72!

Activation Report

Last weekend wasn’t great for being out and activating, so it’s going to be a quick post today. On Friday, 08-Mar-2024 I took the day off and got a little time to head out to West Branch SP – K-1999 for an activation. The weather was outstanding. Sunny, in the 50s, and only a light breeze. There were many boats on the water as everyone seemed to decide that it was the day to take off. And they weren’t wrong given that Saturday was rainy all day and Sunday saw 2″ of snow drop on us. Friday was what we got.

My dad asked about the mount that I have for the AX1 so I figured I’d put a picture of it here to use as a future reference. It’s a cool antenna mount that fits picnic tables as well as the cargo cage on my Jeep. It’s solid and does its thing.

The bands were not great. It was noisy and there was a lot of fading. I worked 40-meters for a bit and then switched over to 20. It wasn’t easy going on either band. I still managed to get from Arizona to Nova Scotia despite the less than great conditions.

The gear was the usual: IC-705, mAT-705 tuner, Begali Traveler, and the AX1 antenna. Quick setup, quick tear-down, and great performance.

QSO Map

Here’s what the QSO Map looked like.

Final

Quick report today to keep myself honest and track progress. I’ve been out every weekend this year so far except one to activate. Funny to look back and think that a goal for 2023 was one activation a month. Now it feels like if I’m not doing one a week I’m going to lose my mind! I guess that’s what happens when you’re having fun.

This Activation Was Quick

Look, not every trip to the park is a walk in the park. Something like that. Sometimes, it’s really cold, really windy, there are whitecaps on the reservoir and everything is miserable. The siren song of POTA and the therapeutic benefits are all still in tact during times like these, but it doesn’t make for the most fun of activations. Though it does test an operator!

I went to West Branch SP – K-1999 and set up very quickly. I had the IC-705 with me as always and I went with the AX1 because when I use it with the picnic table mount, it is extremely stable even in high wind. And there was considerable wind. It was coming in with gusts up to 25 mph. Not the best weather for an activation.

The temperatures were in the mid-20s F. With the wind, I would assume it was in effect close to 0dF or so. Certainly cold enough that my fingers weren’t happy to be exposed for any period of time. But with my gear deployed, I got to work.

I started on 40-meters and the Ohio team came out in force. I knocked out 9 contacts on 40 before things dried up. I consider 10 minutes with no contacts in that weather time to move on. So I pulled the 40-meter coil and moved to 20-meters. The Radio Mastodon crew came out to support me and I grabbed contacts with WJ3FF and N0ZB. Always good to have people out there to grab you when you’re freezing at the park.

Is That It?

Yeah. This was definitely a simple Get Outside And Activate day. I felt better for it, but also very cold. Sometimes, it’s just fun to get outside and do our thing.

QSO Map

Here’s what the QSO Map had to say.

Final

Thanks for reading and hopefully I have more exciting activations this week!

On Being Invisible

Late last week, I was made aware of some concerns that the POTA team were having relayed to them by various official agencies about the poor behavior of activators in parks and on public land. This led to a great post by Thomas K4SWL and some good discussion over in the ham radio corner of Mastodon.

This kind of discussion is right up my alley because, as I’ve discussed before, I am all about being as inconspicuous as possible when I’m out activating a park. In many ways, that simple fact has driven the gear I carry and the modes I use when I’m out and about. It also plays into site selection. I figured I would talk about that a bit and tie it back to the two activations that I did this weekend.

Picking An Activation Site

I’m a creature of habit. When I decide on a park as a place I’m going to spend some time, I immediately try to find the most out of the way place to set up my station. This is more difficult in some places than in others. When I’m working out at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, there are several places near trailheads where picnic tables are isolated and leave a lot of room for people to enjoy the park with a bit of space. There are other places where the only tables are in very conspicuous spots and near a lot of foot traffic. I tend to gravitate to the former and leave the latter alone unless there are no other options. When I know I’m going to be in the line of sight of traffic, I handle my station appropriately by ensuring that no one could step on or get tangled up in a counterpoise and that I’m not using wires in trees which can cause all forms of grief near a trailhead.

When I’m activating West Branch SP – K-1999 this isn’t too difficult. The spot that I go to most weeks is in a field that is being reclaimed by nature per the parks department’s plan. There are a couple of tables here that I might use, but I take the one that is off on the point near the water. The general feeling out in this part of the park is one of desolation. I feel like the last person on earth out here except for the disc golfers who wander by at a good distance – 500 yards out or more.

What Gear To Use

I have come to appreciate and adore the efficiency of a wire antenna in a tree. I keep a random wire antenna and a 40-20-10 in my bag with a weight and throw line. It’s an elegant solution and it always works.

But…

There are a number of parks where putting lines into trees is not welcome. It’s also true that it can be distracting to have line in trees and wires dangling. If one is going to take this approach, there is a lot more to the site management portion of the activation. It’s up to the operator to ensure the safety of the other park patrons. This means that a wire in a tree might not be a great solution. I wouldn’t even consider it in more heavily travelled parks.

Masts are great for deploying wire antennas. I like to take a mast with me when I ride my bike to the park as I have a couple of clamps that will hold the mast to my bike and that removes the requirements for guying out the mast and making more of a mess. At that point, I’m really just managing the antenna and the feedline. I got pretty good at that deployment strategy last summer.

But…

Masts do draw attention to themselves. It’s difficult to minimize that. Sometimes, it’s easier to deploy a whip with a ground spike. I have a Chameleon setup that works every time. I always use it when we go camping because it’s low-profile when setup behind our camper and I can keep it close to the camper itself so that I don’t have a feedline out there waiting for one of the dogs to get wound up in it.

But…

Whips and spike mounted antennas still have radials to be managed. I find it’s easier to manage them because the antenna can be deployed out of the path of most other park visitors. That said, there are plenty of parks that do not allow for spikes to be driven into the ground. I keep a nifty clamp for my Chameleon whip on hand to attach it to a grill or picnic table to avoid breaking that rule.

All of that said…

Look, I broke down and got the Elecraft AX1 after watching a ton of videos where Thomas K4SWL went off and made more than enough contacts with really good distances with that little antenna. It’s almost impossible to see if you’re at a picnic table, it doesn’t require anything more than my cool table clamp or even the bipod to keep it upright, and it’s quick to setup and tear down. It doesn’t even feel like a compromise most times. I’m still getting coast to coast and Europe in there. There is a counterpoise, but it’s easily managed. Is this antenna for everyone? No. But boy does it work for me!

Modes

I’ve talked at length about how I don’t like doing phone at the park. Sitting at a picnic table and having what sounds a very dull phone conversation not unlike what one might expect in a call center isn’t something that I enjoy. I do OSPOTA every year and I will hunt with phone, but activating using phone isn’t my thing. What’s that mean?

I was very much a digital activator for most of my early POTA career. I have tuned my digital portable station to the point where there is very little left to optimize (in my opinion at this date). I can set up quickly and activate a park using FT8/FT4 or even RTTY. I’d love to get more digital modes into my repertoire and that’s something I’m working toward. Sure, I have to carry around my tablet and manage that, but it’s fun! It’s also QUIET.

The other mode that I’m finding is very low-profile is CW. It further reduces the footprint of my station and, through the judicious use of headphones, produces no impact on the park around me. The AX1 is fantastic on CW. QRP and CW go hand in hand. My key doesn’t make a sound that anyone can hear unless they are sitting right on rop of me in which case, I care a lot less about the noise.

We don’t talk about this enough: We need to respect the sonic space of a park.

Is there anything more irritating when you’re camping than to hear the music of the site next to you? Is there anything less fun than being on a hike and unable to pass a group with a Bluetooth speaker that is cranking out song after song that gets in the way of you hearing the breeze in the trees or the river and the birds? Personally, I would rather sit next to a crying baby on a Trans-Atlantic flight than listen to the oldies coming out of a tinny speaker hanging from the fannypack of a speed-walking grandmother.

What’s that mean? It means that I want to have a little empathy for other park visitors and make sure that the sound of my radio goes into a pair of headphones rather than into the sonic space we’re sharing. No one wants to hear the beeping of my rig or the voices coming to me from the west coast. I’m very mindful of that. Keeping myself unheard is very important to me.

My Personal Practice

As you can see in the above photos, I’ve been frequenting a park that could be the set of a post-apocalyptic thriller. In fact, on Sunday, the only humans I saw at the park were this fisherman:

and two people paddling kayaks in February in Northeast Ohio. Yeah. The water is liquid, gotta be in the boat. I have to imagine that they’re pretty chilly sitting on the water like that.

I’ve talked with one ranger in my entire time visiting this park. I’m including my childhood in that. He was out emptying trash and I asked him a couple of questions about the facilities that were being torn down. Good chat. He asked what I was doing and nodded along. OSPOTA has been around a long time and the parks department is well aware of us. It’s a good relationship.

In short, I go where it’s not crowded and use as little gear as possible, in the most compact way it can be deployed. Those are the guidelines. How does it work in practice?

Saturday Activation (10-Feb-2024)

I got to the park Saturday morning and set up. It was a dramatic and overcast day. There was a touch of wind – more than I’d normally like – but it was warm enough that I didn’t need gloves for most of the time I was out there.

40-meters was respectable and treating me well. I got most of my activation done there and then switched over to 30-meters. I managed to grab two contacts there and then…rain. Unpredicted rain. Cold, miserable, throw-the-radio-in-the-pack rain. I got everything packed up and headed out. I didn’t feel like setting up in the Jeep, so I went home and grabbed a nap.

QSO Map

The reach wasn’t all that impressive, but I got the contacts I needed. Not too shabby for 5 watts.

Sunday Activation (11-Feb-2024)

Superbowl Sunday is a great day to go to the park. There’s no one there. As I said above, there was not a single car anywhere in sight. Nor were there dog walkers or people fishing along the shore. It was me and the boats.

I got on the air and went from 40-meters which was maybe not as chatty as the day before and jumped right over to 20-meters. That was zipping along as one would expect. There was plenty of fading and QSB as the hour progressed and I got some fun comments in the POTA.app spotting log.

But the upside was getting my Mastodon buddy WJ3FF in the log with a more proper contact than our last go:

Remember gang, always read the POTA spots if you can. There’s fun stuff in there.

QSO Map

A little more distance than the day before.

Final

There is no doubt that when we’re out in the parks activating, we are representatives of the entire ham radio community. Not just POTA, but all hams. Poor behavior on the part of a single operator will sour other park patrons and park staff to our presence as a whole. The last thing anyone should want to do is wreck a great hobby for others. Being polite and respectful are table stakes here. If anything, we should go above and beyond the basic expectations of park goers and do what we can to leave the place better than we found it.

Thanks for reading and 72!

The Thing About NE Ohio…

There are fun facts about NE Ohio that no one talks about because, well, not a lot of people talk about life in NE Ohio. For those of us who live here one of those little gems is that we have more overcast days than Seattle (on average…whatever that means anymore). There’s a new family in our community that moved from Houston. We used to live there and one of the things that my wife was quick to point out, as she did learn quite a bit by moving here years ago, was that aside from going out and buying new socks because whatever they currently had would be wholly inadequate for the climate, was the little nugget that it’s not the cold but the lack of sun that will get to them fastest. She saw one of the family at the gym the other day and got the word that she was right.

In these long, grey winter days, there are occasionally moments when the sun pokes its way through the clouds. Sometimes for a few hours and sometimes for a few days. When that happens, the place explodes into activity. Suddenly, people are out walking trails and doing what they can to expose themselves to that sweet sunshine and all of the associated boosts it gives. Today was one of those gorgeous days.

It’s a rare weekend when I am alone with the dogs and left to my own devices. My only real chore was fixing the lights in the refrigerator and that was awaiting a part. I did get it fixed, by the way, so I’m a successful handyman this round. With nothing else on the agenda, I slept in a little bit, made breakfast sandwich and then headed out to West Branch SP – K-1999 at my leisure. The sun was bright and it held all day.

Park People

I went out to my favorite spot as there wasn’t any precipitation on the menu and got set up. As if on cue, a boat came buzzing by kicking up a rather gnarly rooster tail. I’ve said it before, if the water isn’t frozen… And of course I saw a good number of disc golfers out walking the course with their wheelie bags full of frisbees. There were even a few dog walkers wandering the fields and walking along the shoreline. Those of us who live in the parks came out into the sun today and it felt great.

With my gear set up, I got to business. With the AX1 I tend to work 40 then 30 then 17 then 20. It’s a contest weekend and a QSO party weekend so 20-meters was going to be a mess. The other bands were lightly traveled in my experience. I called CQ and it took a bit on 40, but I eventually captured about 6 calls before I got to the point where I was sending more CQ and sipping coffee than getting contacts. 30-meters wasn’t in great shape. Only 2 contacts there. 17 was a surprise. I picked up more than I expected and some of them were quite a distance from me. It was great! And then 20-meters.

Busy Bands

There are people who say that ham radio is dying and the bands are empty and blah, blah, blah. Those folks needed to take a peek at my waterfall today on 20-meters. It was shoulder to shoulder all up and down the band. I could barely hold my frequency as bigger stations elbowed me. But I did crank through more than a few. I had two contacts that stood out. The first was with NX1K. It was the first time I thought it appropriate to give a 119 RST. I couldn’t see the signal on the 705’s screen which NEVER happens. I was just pulling the signal out of the noise and we muddled through the QSO. Apparently, things were better on the other end, which is how radio is sometimes.

The other notable contact was with my buddy Joe KC1SRI. He has rigged up the gutters of his house as an antenna. This is likely not the most efficient antenna and I’m sure we could debate it endlessly. But he’s in MA and I was sitting in OH and it sounded like he was right next to me. 599 easy. I got a 229 which probably makes sense. Look, a rain gutter is likely going to have some noise, right? These are the kinds of experiments and craziness that make ham radio fun. Also, kudos to Joe for sticking with the CW and making his way through the QSO. It’s always good to have someone else take an interest in CW.

Despite the sun, it was still in the low 30s and I was sitting still. I had my long underwear on and a heavy coat. I even deployed my Mad Bomber hat that makes me look like a sad and lost deep woods trapper. After more than an hour of sitting still I was starting to get cold. I should find a place where I can build a fire. That would help quite a bit. That’s a thought for the future.

Always Check Your Spot

If you don’t, you might miss beauties like an operator thanking you for pulling them out of the noise.

The QSO Map

I walked away with 27 contacts all in. That’s not too bad at all. When it warms up, I bet I can sit there for 2 or 3 hours and collect contacts. That’ll be grand! Here’s what the QSO Map looked like:

And Then There Was Sunday

Back to the same park but, wow, it was a lot warmer! The temperature was in the low 40s when I arrived and nearing 50 dF when I was packing up. It was incredible! I tossed the Jetboil in for this run and made a quick cup of coffee to sip on while grabbing contacts. The day looked the same, but felt entirely different! I will say that the bands were not in the best of shape. They were very, very quiet. Not so bad that I thought it was my setup, but that kind of quiet where you know either no on is home or the local star has decided that there won’t be a whole lot of fun that day.

I started on 40 and got a couple. It was slow going. I eventually migrated to 30 and had roughly the same experience. Not one to sit too long without a contact, I took the 40-meter coil off of the AX1 and shifted to 17-meters. I got a few and then the wildest thing happened: I heard a call that started with G.

What Was That Call?

To be clear, when a call starts with something that isn’t N, W, K, or A the excitement builds. Yes, I still love getting Canadian stations so a VE gets exciting for me, Yes. I know Toronto is a 4 hour drive away and I should be less thrilled about ON than ID, but that’s how it is. If I get a call that starts with G or M or D or F? Hoo boy! We’re off to the races. This is Ohio, so Europe isn’t a given on 5 watts.

That call started with a G and then a 4. I was wondering if I hadn’t missed a prefix. We went back and forth about 5 times before I got G4ELZ. I gave about a 229 RST. It was rough to pull out of the noise, but it was readable. We finished the contact and after a little waiting around, I moved on to 20-meters.

I’ve come to dread 20-meters. It’s where I get stepped on the most. I’m constantly having to shift around to find a little space. It’s a lovely problem to have, but it’s less leisurely than I’d like. I bumped over and started to pull in some more contacts. It was a pretty good deal. And then…there was that G again. G4ELZ followed me to 20-meters and we got another one in the log! Now that’s some exciting stuff! I plan to look up the operator and find out just how hard the lift was on that end to get my 10 watts into an AX1 from Ohio.

Packing It Up

Things were slow and I was out of time. As I packed up, I noticed how warm it was. There were people fishing on the banks of the reservoir and more disc golfers than I’ve seen since summer. People were out enjoying the sun and the warmth. We know it’s a trick. We still have more weeks of February and the lying liar that is March. We’re a long way from putting the coats in the closet for any period of time. But while the sun is out, we’ll get out in it, as we should.

The QSO Map

This was a 16 contact activation. Things were slow and I feel like the bands weren’t in the best condition. Even 20-meters was slow. But I got contacts from Idaho to England so there’s no complaining here! Here’s what the QSO Map looked like:

Final

It felt good to indulge in the radiation from our local star. While it wasn’t all warm, it was soothing and good. And any day outside is a good one.

72 and thanks for reading!

Cabin Fever

It’s real. Working from home full time makes it a bit worse. There are sometimes three day stretches where I don’t leave the house in the winter. It’s nice to be able to stay warm and not have to drive, bike, or walk in the weather, but it starts to warp my senses and I have to get out for some time in The Big Blue Room. These days it is The Big Grey Room. No snow on the ground and a week of rain has things soggy, muddy, and generally not Rush Outside For Fun weather. It doesn’t matter. I have to get outside anyway. So I chose West Branch SP – K-1999 as I slowly work my way toward a Kilo under a picnic shelter.

New Gear Alert

Totally unrelated to Ham Radio but an important pice of gear for camping and being outside in general, I got a new Jetboil. I love that little thing. It boils water in no time and is very fuel efficient. I take one camping every time I go out because, well, stuff goes wrong and boiling water makes life easier. I tossed it in the backpack today so I could give it an inaugural run in the great outdoors. It made a fine cup of coffee.

Set Up And On The Air

I used my clamp mount this time as my trick with attaching the AX1 to the tuner has been less than effective lately. I like the stability of the clamp and it keeps things so that I can move them as needed. With everything good to go, I started on 40-meters. I got 6 contacts fairly quickly and then things stalled. I moved to 30-meters and there wasn’t much going on. The band was very, very quiet. I did grab a couple of contacts. Then I bounced to 17-meters and got very little. That band has been good to others recently, but not me today. Finally, I turned to 20-meters to bring me home. With Winter Field Day in motion, it was cramped. I found a sliver of the band and got enough contacts to end the day at 18. Not too shabby, but not what I would have liked.

Within the hour, the winds picked up significantly. The rain that was coming down was now getting to me even in the middle of the shelter. In situations like this, the fun starts to flag and we have to make decisions. It didn’t look like it was going to turn around. In fact, it got colder and on my drive home, there was snow falling. Where was that while I was operating? I always prefer snow to rain!

Something I Noticed

I don’t use the keyer very often. I have macros for things, but the only one that I ever use is the one for calling CQ. And I only use that one when I’m trying to grab a sip of coffee. I truly love tapping away on my Begali, so the memories only come out when I need a warm drink. It’s the weird little stuff, right?

The Map

Despite only being on the air for a little bit and the bands seeming less than thrilled with my attempts and compounded by Winter Field Day, I still managed to get a pretty good spread with my 5 watts. Here’s what the QSO Map looks like:

Final

POTA is a powerful tool. It’s a great lever for getting myself outside in this weather when I need it most. Thanks for reading along and 72!

Support Your Parks!

Anyone into POTA probably knows that there is a weekend event each quarter called “Support Your Parks” where anyone who gets an activation in or hunts an activator on that weekend gets a nifty award. This past weekend, 20-21-Jan was the Winter event. It was a good one to be out in the cold for in NE Ohio.

PCARS Parkspedition

My local club, PCARS, hosted an expedition at Wingfoot Lake State Park – K-3516. They had food and warm drinks as well as a tent set up in the picnic shelter with a heater to keep the operators warm. My dad and I stopped out to hang out with some folks for about an hour and I did a little FT8 on 40-meters using a member’s QDX. It was a ton of fun!

It’s nice to have club events like this just to get folks out and talking radio. We had a couple of interested operators drop by who want to get active in our club. That was cool! I hope to see them around at some other events or meetings. It’s great to have someone to talk POTA with or to shoot the breeze about antennas. More fools, more fun, right?

With some contacts in the log and enough time being outside, we decided to head out. It was a great event that will make for a good story in The Radiogram.

A Very Cold Morning

On Sunday, I got up and had breakfast. I realized that I was going to need to get out to the park for an activation. I decided on West Branch SP – K-1999 because there is a picnic shelter there and the snow was coming down fairly steadily. The wind was low at first, but was bound to pick up the longer I was out. The temperature was in the low 20s F, but it was nice and sunny.

Arriving at the park, it was empty. I saw one other truck pass me on the road out near the entrances to the park areas. It was quiet. At the shelter, it was absolutely silent. My boots were the only sound I heard as I got down to the shelter and started to set up. With the IC-705 and the AX1 all set up and ready to go, I got on the air on 40-meters.

I sat at a table with my back to the wind. It didn’t give me the most commanding view of the water, but it did keep the wind out of my face. That was to be more of a concern the longer I was out there. It was sunny and bright and beautiful as winter days go. The bit of snow falling added some color and gave it that look that lives in my memories from winters here as a kid.

I pulled in 6 contacts on 40-meters pretty quickly. But then 40 seemed to shut down. I’m not sure if it was just Sunday morning on 40 or if the band conditions shifted, but it got really, really quiet.

I flipped the switch on the AX1 and went up to 30-meters. Special thanks to the operators who worked me on both bands. I was excited to cross the 10 contact line. The temperature wasn’t going up, but the wind was starting to get serious. I closed out at the next lull in contacts. After a pileup or two, I was at 18 contacts for the day in about 40 minutes of operating time. Not too bad. I wish I could have stayed out longer, by my fingers and face were telling me that it was time to call it a day.

It was a fun activation and I was glad to be in the field again.

QSO Map

Here’s what the QSO Map looked like for this activation:

Side Notes

I’ve said before that this time of year is some of the best for me at the parks. Sure, it’s cold and windy and sometimes being outside isn’t very pleasant, but it’s quiet. It’s the kind of quiet where you can really hear yourself think. I believe that one of the reasons that parks resonate with us is that they provide a place where we can step outside of what we do all day and recharge ourselves on a very primal level. Sunshine. Breeze. Trees. Birds. The sounds of water. And even the deafening silence that comes with a landscape blanketed in fresh snow.

After I got home, I took a nice 5-ish mile hike with my wife out at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park while my daughter and a friend did some sledding. Blue skies, sunshine, and moving through the landscape did wonders. I highly recommend it.

72 and thanks for reading!

Out Into The Weather

I mentioned my wife’s hiking challenge in my last post. It’s still going strong and her team is doing well. Part of that is getting out every weekend and hiking both Saturday and Sunday. This makes for Park Synergy in our household. Not so much for the kids, but they are old enough top mind themselves or do whatever it is they do when they’re with their friends.

Saturday was grey and a bit windy. There wasn’t supposed to be much precipitation. My wife went one way with a hiking buddy and I went another out to West Branch SP – K-1999. I’m not really sure what made me drive past my normal spot, but I kept going until I got a little closer to one of the boat launches which is down the way from the point where I normally operate. What I found was that there was still a structure in place as well as restrooms! I had assumed that all of the buildings on that side of the park were demolished. No so!

There are quite a few tables stacked up near the pavilion. A few of the grills are wrapped in tarps to keep them out of the elements for the winter. But what was nice to find was that the view from the picnic shelter was a good one. I decided to give it a try and set up my gear.

Because it’s the last place to turn around in the park, there were a couple of vehicles that came and went while I was operating. No one came down to the shelter to say hello. That was fine. I did overhear a rather harried photographer talking about the nesting pairs of bald eagles in the park with a couple of older women who seemed to have a lot of questions. They got cold and left with the photographer still focused on getting his shots of something that I could not see from my vantage point.

I started on 40-meters and got quite a few contacts right away. It was a very good day for the AX1 it seemed. Moving to 30-meters provided results as well. I decided to go for it and took off the 40-meter coil. 17-meters and 20-meters both had something to offer me. It was wonderful! Even a contact from Sweden on 17-meters. That was wild. It is not often I get calls starting with “S”.

The Birds! (Hitchcock Not Included)

In the middle of a rather modest pile-up I was suddenly being buzzed by what had to be the largest formation of geese I have ever seen. They were so loud when passing over, I couldn’t make out the hunters who were calling me. I had to wait it out. I’ve had noisy neighbors in avian form before, but this was new territory. I wish I’d thought to grab an audio or video clip of it.

QSO Map

I came in with 45 contacts in all. My fingers weren’t too cold as I was trying out some “Writer’s Gloves” which are very thin but keep the chill off just the same. Here’s what the QSO Map looks like:

But Then There Was Snow

Sunday was a Cuyahoga Valley National Park day. My wife hiked a 4 mile loop with the dog and I got set up on a picnic table near the trailhead. It was a little different in terms of weather. There was a lot of snow. But absolutely no wind!

I though far enough ahead to take along a collapsable milk crate thing that I got forever ago. When there’s precipitation and no good shelter, I set it up and put something over it. In this case, a towel we use to clean the dog after muddy hikes. With my IC-705 tucked away, the AX1 mounted to the outside of the crate with the nifty mount I keep in my backpack, and my paddles folded under my tarp, I started the activation.

40-meters was good to me. I got a steady stream of contacts until I hit number 9 and things went flat. I moved to 30-meters and there was no one home. I think the band itself was just dead. No noise. No nothing. 17-meters was much the same. So I jumped over to 20-meters and picked up another 21 contacts rather quickly. I added W0ABE to the log and a couple of other Mastodon residents. I put out the call on Mastodon when I moved to 20-meters and I’m sure that helped me close it out!

Wet

The snow was wet. It was falling straight down which kept most of my gear safe, but there’s no protecting a notebook. Rite In The Rain is really the only choice when out and doing POTA. If it’s not snow it’s rain. If it’s not rain it’s coffee. Something is getting spilled. Always be ahead of that!

This activation was far more miserable than the day before because everything was soaked. My battery indicator on the IC-705 went red for the first time ever and I knew it was time to pack it in. It matched up perfectly with my wife’s return. It’s called teamwork!

QSO Map

Here’s what the QSO Map looks like:

More PDFs!

This was activation 60 for me at K-0020. That means I get another level of repeat offender. That’s cool! As with most POTA stats it’s not really meaningful to anyone but me. All in good fun.

Final

Cale K4HCK put a nice link to my blog in his Amateur Radio Weekly newsletter. That was really neat! It’s the first time a post has been read by more than 100 people. Fun stuff! If you’re not a subscriber to that newsletter, you should be. It’s a great weekly round up of things on the web in the world of ham radio. Check it out.

Wrapping Up Vacation

During my time off for the holidays, I got in 6 activations. I’ve been writing them up in pairs and so it only makes sense to put out this last report for 2023 and the first of 2024 in one post. Two different parks, two different years, but still in that Ohio Winter Style.

The Last of 2023

On 29-Dec-2023 I went to West Branch SP – K-1999 for what would be my last activation of 2023. We had a lot going on with the end of the year and the weather was getting worse and worse per the forecast. The last Friday of the year was set to be overcast and chilly. It delievered on those promises.

There was no precipitation and only the lightest of breezes when I got to the point near the water. What was most noticeable was how quiet it was. I rolled out my tarp and got the IC-705 up and running with the AX1. There was just a touch of sunlight and the clouds weren’t the dense sort that produce that nasty “wintry mix” that we’d have for the next two or three days.

I decided to start on 40-meters despite the time of day. As expected, I only pulled in about 2 contacts before it became apparent that that I had to change frequencies. Someone on Phone in the CW portion of the band kept repeating “My toes…my toes…my toes…” which is something that is vaguely familiar to me from the 40-meter lore, but I wasn’t really in the mood to think about it. I shifted a bit and managed to wrangle 10-ish contacts before moving to 20-meters.

On 20-meters, things moved a lot faster and the contacts were coming in more and more like a pile-up. Lots of operators calling on top of one another. I felt like a popular kid for a bit there! I even made contact with a couple of friends from the Ham Radio Mastodon world. That was really cool!

When I closed up for the day it was because I was out of coffee and the wind was starting to pick up. I was dressed for it, but my desire to be out in it was dropping fast. It’s a hobby, so I packed it all in.

As I wound up my counterpoise wire, I looked around. For the first time, there were no boats. I hadn’t seen a disc golfer all day. In fact, I saw no other cars. Moments like this take us to a very different place. With 24/7 connectivity and the constant presence of other people, it stands out when we’re truly alone. I studied the water for a bit and drank in the solitude of the moment. It was so quiet. Perfectly so. This part of the park – as far as I knew – was only me. I walked back up to the Jeep and left the park in its stillness.

QSO Map

Here’s what the QSO Map looked like:

Nothing Changes On New Years Day

My wife and a group of her peers have set up a hiking club. That club is participating in a challenge that is pulled together as a fund raiser by the volunteer conservancy group that serves Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The challenge starts on the first of the year and runs through the end of June. Since the team she’s on is mostly overextended mothers of teens and younger, they need to be DONE quickly. That means a lot of hikes are going to happen in rapid succession. To start the whole thing off right, my wife wanted to take the puppy and head out on a longer stretch of the trail on the first day of the year. It sounded like a good enough reason to hit the park for an activation.

The day was not great for hiking. There had been significant rain for the previous two days or so and it was still coming down on and off in that lovely stuff we call “Wintry Mix”. I had a feeling it was going to take longer than expected to finish the hike and that meant a longer time on the air. But…see also, “Wintry Mix”.

Still Love That Tarp

Once again, my tarp was bound to save the day. I set my gear up on a very wet table that I did my level best to dry off about as well as could be expected. I then proceeded to make a Radio Taco with my tarp keeping the IC-705 and my Begali out of the rain.

Being ready for weather is something that I don’t think about much. My little backpack has almost everything that I would need to be in the outdoors. Look up the Scouts BSA 10 Essentials for more on that, but there are radio-specific items that I keep on hand as well. In this case, I had the cool picnic table mount for the AX1 and a 6 foot run of coax. Recently, I’ve been putting the AX1 straight onto the ATU. In this scenario, that wouldn’t have worked out as I needed to keep the radio covered. Having the mount in my bag with some extra coax (which I’d never leave home without anyway) made the activation possible.

The other item that probably doesn’t get enough press is my Rite In The Rain notebook for logging. Having paper that is seriously resistant to water comes in handy whether it’s raining or you’re spilling coffee. I’ve dealt with both. I will also admit that I love notebooks. I have a Field Notes subscription and I’ve often thought of using them for log books. Every time I think about that, I get out in some weather and we’re back to Rite In The Rain.

And back to “Wintry Mix”.

On The Air

The AX1 is set up to run 40/30/20/17-meters if you have the 40-meter extension. I decided that I’d just walk the bands and see how it went. Overall, it was good!

Given the time of day, 40-meters wasn’t going to be a thing. With that expectation in place, I got one contact in about 20 minutes and moved on to 30-meters. That was a lot better! I don’t do nearly enough with the WARC bands and I’m going to change that. 17 was equally good. Finally, I brought it home to 20-meters and picked up my bulk of the contacts for the day in a flurry of activity.

An Awesome Surprise

There was one station, however, that stood out. The operator was sending their call very slowly. I scribbled it down and it was more than a little familiar. It was KC1SRI Joe from over on the Ham Radio Mastodon world! Now Joe isn’t a CW operator. He’s a ham freshly minted in 2023 and he’s been going on about how he wired up his raingutter as an antenna. His signal was weak, but readable. Definitely 339. But he was getting the important stuff. I got his call and his state. And most of his signal report. Sending numbers takes a lot more practice than most people think. He did a fantastic job! Checking on Mastodon later, we cleared up what it was that I sent and what the experience was like on his end. It’s exciting to be a first CW contact for someone. And it’s even better when that person is just jumping out there and taking a stab at it. After all, it’s radio and we’re all friends here. We should be able to take a chance or two.

More Weather Talk

The weather didn’t get better. The rain did transition fully to snow but snow isn’t much better when everything is wet from rain. My wife was making good progress on her hike and I was finally deciding that sitting outside was getting old. We exchanged texts and I pulled my gear together so I could go pick them up at a more convenient location. With all said and done, I had 40 CW contacts across 4 bands for a banner start to the year.

QSO Map

Here’s what the QSO Map looks like:

Final

This week off brought many opportunities to get outside and play radio in the parks. I’m glad I could take advantage of them. Although the days are getting longer, they aren’t going to get warmer soon and given my experience with this state, there will be lots more weather to navigate. What’s important is that any day playing radio is better than a day when you don’t.

Thanks for reading and 72!

How Did That Happen?

There were a lot of things stacked against doing an activation on the 27th. First and foremost, it’s my wife’s birthday so she sets the tone for the day. Having a birthday after Christmas isn’t fun. Most people are just celebrated out by that point and no one wants to eat any more sweets. So usually, I make a riff on a steak salad she loves and bake something like bannana bread. It works. And I had acquired the goods for the dinner and even baked the bread while she was doing some things in the morning.

In the afternoon, she said she wanted to take the dog for a hike at Cuyahoga Valley National Park – K-0020 despite the mud and potential for yet more rain. She was the one who offered that it would be a quick hike and if I wanted to go along and radio it up, I could.

Who doesn’t take that deal? Someone who isn’t me!

Water, Water and More Water

There was a lot of rain the night before and that morning. It’s not like I go anywhere without my little tarp and foam seat cover anyway, but I was really glad that I had this as a part of my kit this round because not having them would have meant setting up in the back of my wife’s car and I’ve said many times that I don’t like working from a vehicle. I got the IC-705 set up with the AX1 and got to the sending of dits and dahs.

All told, it was 18 CW contacts. Not too bad. The bands weren’t in really great condition from where I was sitting, but I did get my activation and some extras to spare by the time I got the text telling me my wife was about to be in the parking lot. Timing is everything!

QSO Map

So here’s what the map had to say:

And Again? Is This A Habit?

I rarely post the day that I do an activation but I’m not working this week so I have a bit more time for fun stuff. And speaking of fun stuff, I got out to West Branch SP – K-1999 for an activation while everyone else was otherwise engaged. I am not complaining.

An Aside: The Activator’s Lifestyle

There was a period of time when every day I would sit at my desk before work got going and fire up WSJT-X to get some FT8 contacts. There was one operator who was at a park that wasn’t all that far away. He would start on 80-meters and walk his way up the bands. I would catch him and then move to the next band and listen, hoping that I could catch him again. I made over 100 contacts with him over that period of time. In September of 2022, he stopped. I can see on his POTA profile page that he’s still hunting, but he hasn’t activated since that day in September. A couple of things come to mind.

First, what a way to spend your summer! Up early and at a park almost every day with your radio. Making contacts. Filling that logbook. Maybe observing the shifts in the band conditions over time. Making note of the weather. Who knows what one might do when the routine involves going to a park and setting up a small computer next to a radio.

When I imagine that for myself, I think about having a nice thermos of coffee and a notebook to jot down those stray thoughts and observations. But most of all, it’s a sense of going to a place with purpose and living in a moment. Each contact is a moment. Each log entry is a captured experience. How wonderful is that? Gives me strong incentive to retire.

The other thing that it brings up is that sense of knowing these other operators. I’ve never met this person and I only know what I’ve seen on QRZ or POTA. That said, when you establish a regular series of contacts with someone, there’s a sense that they are now a part of your world. Given the obviously older age group at play in ham radio, it’s not hard to imagine that someone will become a Silent Key and you’d never know it if you didn’t poke around a little. It’s a strange web of connections we make through these contacts. Strange and beautiful.

More Boats

No, really. There were two of them out there on the reservoir today. I snapped a picture of the boat that is always there when I show up. I get the feeling that it might be hard to believe without photographic evidence.

More Contacts!

I got my EFHW into The New Tree and didn’t love the SWR I was getting. I was also struggling with my throwline today. Everything worked out in the end, but it took longer to deploy my antenna than I’d like. That is to say, more than 2 minutes.

With my tarp spread out to keep my radio dry, I called CQ and the contacts started flowing. I was pulling about a contact a minute the entire time I was there. It was a great day for the bands and I was getting plenty of attention on 20-meters. I even made contacts with 3 friends from the Mastodon radio world. Always great to have more of those folks in the log!

I noticed something today that I’d not been conscious of before. When it’s cold out – and it was in the lower 40s while I was activating – my left hand gets cold but my right hand, my sending hand, never does. There’s got to be some kind of psychological mechanism at play there but I’m not going to spend any time on it.

QSO Map

Getting an Alaskan station in the log (even when he gives you a 129 RST) is always exciting. I do love it when the map includes that section of the continent.

Final

Maybe I can keep this streak alive. I don’t go back to work until the 2nd of January. I wonder how many more trips out to the park I can make. Stay tuned to find out..

72 and thanks for reading!

A Little Time Off

With the holidays upon us, I find myself looking for time to get outside and get on the air. This week has been a good one for it with two activations (so far) that landed in perfect timeslots with weather that was Good Enough.

Tinker’s Creek

On the 23rd we were more or less done with all of the food shopping and as much preparation as we could get done before people started to show up. We were hosting a brunch on Christmas Eve and doing Christmas at home with my mom. This means there’s no travel for anyone and we get to have a very relaxed time enjoying family. But being done at around 2 PM meant that I could get out and do a quick run to a park.

Sadly, the weather wasn’t being my best friend. The forecast said that the rain was done for the day but looking out the windows induced a bit of dissonance. It was misty and then drizzly and all-around messy. The park that lept to mind was Tinker’s Creek – K-1997 because it has a picnic shelter that is easily accessible and was very likely to be unused on a Saturday before Christmas Eve in the rain.

I got set up at a table near the edge of the pavillion so that I could get my counterpoise out onto the ground. The AX1 is an amazing antenna in this scenario as it’s easily deployed in the shelter and keeps me nice and dry. I’ve noticed that deploying both counterpoises improves performance significantly – including the SWR. We’ll science this out later, but my observations keep me working in a particular fashion.

With everything ready to go, I got on the air. I worked 40-meters for a bit and got almost nowhere. One contact. I moved on to 20-meters and life got significantly better. I walked away with 19 contacts in total.

The interesting note for this activation was the local disruption. At some parks, it’s hikers or people having picnics. Some places it’s motorboats. Here it was swans. Big, white, fluffy, noisy, nosy swans. They were surprisingly loud and at a frequency that wasn’t all that far off from the CW I was trying to decode. I couldn’t help but laugh.

The Map!

Here’s what the QSO Map had to say:

The Day After Christmas

My family was itching to hit the gym and go to craft stores to pick up supplies for my daughter as Christmas began to fade. I looked outside and saw weather in the mid-50s and a chance to get to a park. There was no rain in sight. The radar was telling exactly the story I needed to hear. So I went out to West Branch SP – K-1999 to enjoy a little radio.

Given that it wasn’t windy, I grabbed my EFHW out of the Jeep and put it up into a different tree. This felt like it was an extra spicy move given my success with the usual tree, but not only did I get the line up in the tree on the second try, it was the perfect branch to hit to get a really steep deployment from the table. I was very pleased with myself.

After putting the line in the tree, I looked out on the water and noticed that, yes, I was still in Ohio. There were two guys in a boat the day after Christmas. Look, if there’s no ice on the water, you should be in your boat. It all makes sense to me.

I set up my oil cloth tarp that my family got me and spread out my gear. A note for future activations is that the tarp keeps the key from sliding. It’s a really great work surface. AND it keeps my stuff dry and clean. It also is ready to be folded in half to keep rain off of my gear while I pack up if needed. And…well…hang on…

It was a healthy day for 40-meters. I pulled in a good number there before switching up to 20-meters. I got a nice Park To Park in there that happened to be a two-fer. But mostly, I was glad that it was warm enough that my hands didn’t get cold and there wasn’t much of a breeze. It was really a great, if overcast, day to be outside. It felt wonderful.

Sitting at the table and pulling in contacts was so very peaceful. I grabbed a pretty constant string of contacts and had a really wonderful time with it. I’m looking forward to working on my CW in the coming year so that I can get to a conversational level with it. Seems like getting back on the LICW class train would be a good idea. Starting with the Intermediate level, perhaps.

The Weather

What’s the saying? If you don’t like the weather wait five minutes and it will change. The back of my hand felt a drop of water and I looked around. Pulled from that wonderful CW flow and back into the world around me. Yeah, it was starting to rain.

I folded my tarp over my gear and got it packed as quickly as I could. The antenna came down fast thanks to my strange style of deployment (I’ll write that up someday…I doubt that it’s unique but I don’t see a lot of people working it that way). With everything in my pack, I wandered back to the Jeep, waving to some disc golfers along the way. Those dudes don’t disappoint.

The Map

Here’s what the QSO Map looked like:

Wrapping It Up

That’s a Christmas pun there. The title of this section, that is. If you read this far. And hey, if you did read this far, thanks! It’s the end of the year but I’m not sure that I won’t sneak in another activation. I’ve pulled together a list of things that I did this year in the hobby and I’ll be posting that soon enough.

Here’s hoping that everyone has a safe and enjoyable New Year! And now I’m off to buy stuff to make my wife’s birthday dinner. There’s still more revelry ahead.

72 and thanks again for reading!