The event was held on June 1st and finished on June 2nd. At the time of posting this there were 106 Museum Ships (including memorials) on the list. For more info on the event check out: https://www.nj2bb.org/museum/ .

In Kingston we were fortunate enough to have the SS Keewatin berthed at the Great Lakes Museum and so for this event it was a 45 min bus ride with all the radio gear I needed to participate.

Here is a couple of pics I took while at the museum.

The gear I used for operating from alongside the Keewatin was my POTA Station that consisted of my Yaesu FT891, Eco-Worthy 20ah LIPO 4 battery and a MFJ 33 foot telescopic mast to support the home brewed 63 Foot End Fed Half Wave (10m to 40m) antenna.

It looks rather small compared to the size of the Keewatin… Thanks to the Taxi Driver who moved into the pic so I could show the size of the ship easier. No I did not use the taxi… Kingston Transit bus #3 stops right at the front door of the Museum.

All my gear fit in my wife’s laundry cart… She may never get it back now…

I used some bungy cords to secure the mast (right of the pic) to a fence behind the tree cover. It suspended the EFHW in a “inverted Vee” configuration and worked well for me with no tuner needed.

I was able to operate for about 3 hours (or less) each day. The gear worked without a hitch but not so much the operator.

As the radio room in the Keewatin has not been updated yet, I was forced to operate from alongside (the above pic) so I was unable to leave the gear to use the facilities and so once nature called… it was time to pack up.

At the end of the event according to my logs I actually was contacted by 100 stations that were “Welcomed on Board the Keewatin”… of those 100 contacts 12 of them were other Museum Ship and their details follow.

(Pictures above the name of the ship)

Col James M Schoonmaker

USS Lafferty

USS Thresher Memorial

USS Massachusetts

Tall Ship Elissa

USS Nautilus

Claud W Somers

USS North Carolina

Watson Naval Museum

USS Salem

USS Cobia

This was a “spur of the moment” style of activation. I was going past the ship a week before and then found out the Museum Ships event was the next weekend. Although the Keewatin does have a valid Callsign without the radio room ship shape they were not in a position to activate.

I asked if I could do it and was given the green light to operate (using my own personal callsign) from where I did. (alongside but outside the fence)

As the Drydock is part of the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail (POTA CA-6003) some amateurs also got a new park in their logs.

Long story short… The activation was a success…. At least 100 amateurs now know of our ship and the Museum Ship community welcomed the Keewatin and its my hope that next year the ship itself will the on the air.

If we made the contact, thanks again. My logs for the two day event have been uploaded to EQSL, QRZ.com, the Museum Ships Group and will be uploaded to LoTW when they have fixed the security issue. I will also offer a copy of my logs to the Keewatin Radio Operators (see above link) for their records.

73bob

Well its not as bad as indicated from my last post…

But its still got a way to go…

This morning on my 11 am (Eastern) hour on the TPN I managed to get 7 stations in my log which is the best its been in a while. After the net ended I had some household chores to do before I could get to the next part of this post.

Today I wanted to take my Yaesu FT891 rig along with my two antennas out into my backyard and make sure everything is still working as well as I remember. Next week my shifts on the TPN will be ending for a while as I am taking the summer off in an attempt to concentrate on my POTA part of the hobby.

So here’s the setup

Rig: Yaesu FT891 powered by my ECO-Worthy 20ah LI-PO4 battery

Antenna 1: 40m EFHW which is 63 feet long and fed by a 64:1 unun. This antenna usually is used in a sloper or inverted Vee configuration. Its very nice on 10-40m and I have 2 small counterpoises which I clip on as needed. I feed the unun from a 25 foot run of RG58 with a RF choke at one end.

Antenna 2: 17.5 foot long end fed fed by a 9:1 unun. I normally would use this in a vertical or sloper configuration. Its excellent on 10m to 20m but will also work on 40m without the need of a tuner. Depending on the situation I have a couple of small counterpoises I can clip onto the unn if needed. I feed the unun from a 25 foot run of RG58 with a RF choke at one end. The advantage to this antenna is that if I use it as a vertical there is next to no footprint which could make a couple of the parks in the downtown area much easier to activate.

If the trees do not cooperate I also carry a MFJ 33 foot telescopic masting which will support the wire if needed.

How did I do today?

Operating from my deck I strung out the 63 foot EFHW kind of as an inverted xyz configuration. Hanging 63 feet of wire anywhere I could hand it without anyone seeing it or running into it. Despite the setup Contacts were made on 40m and 20m despite the band conditions. with a reasonable SWR (no tuner in line) where I normally use it

Next I used the 17.5 with the 9:1 unun as a low sloper and made 1 contact on 20. The SWR was “tolerable” on 40m but on 10m to 20m it was under 2:1 which is great for a Portable setup. Nothing to complain about on my part.

I also use this style of antenna at home in a vertical configuration and it works great for my need either “home or away”

So here’s the plan…

If you notice the above map there are 10 POTA sites (yellow dots) that I can easily access from my home in Kingston. All of them easily reachable via public transit or a bit of a walk. The one on the bottom right (the island) is not reachable via foot. There is a dock but I can’t find out if Kingston has a Water Taxi so if I can activate 10 out of 11 I will be pleased.

I guess I could also say that this would be a test of the station I will be using for Field Day this year. Not sure where I’m going to be yet but…. I know I’ll be participating from somewhere near Kingston.

.

Till next time

73bob

Well its not as bad as indicated from my last post…

But its still got a way to go…

This morning on my 11 am (Eastern) hour on the TPN I managed to get 7 stations in my log which is the best its been in a while. After the net ended I had some household chores to do before I could get to the next part of this post.

Today I wanted to take my Yaesu FT891 rig along with my two antennas out into my backyard and make sure everything is still working as well as I remember. Next week my shifts on the TPN will be ending for a while as I am taking the summer off in an attempt to concentrate on my POTA part of the hobby.

So here’s the setup

Rig: Yaesu FT891 powered by my ECO-Worthy 20ah LI-PO4 battery

Antenna 1: 40m EFHW which is 63 feet long and fed by a 64:1 unun. This antenna usually is used in a sloper or inverted Vee configuration. Its very nice on 10-40m and I have 2 small counterpoises which I clip on as needed. I feed the unun from a 25 foot run of RG58 with a RF choke at one end.

Antenna 2: 17.5 foot long end fed fed by a 9:1 unun. I normally would use this in a vertical or sloper configuration. Its excellent on 10m to 20m but will also work on 40m without the need of a tuner. Depending on the situation I have a couple of small counterpoises I can clip onto the unn if needed. I feed the unun from a 25 foot run of RG58 with a RF choke at one end. The advantage to this antenna is that if I use it as a vertical there is next to no footprint which could make a couple of the parks in the downtown area much easier to activate.

If the trees do not cooperate I also carry a MFJ 33 foot telescopic masting which will support the wire if needed.

How did I do today?

Operating from my deck I strung out the 63 foot EFHW kind of as an inverted xyz configuration. Hanging 63 feet of wire anywhere I could hand it without anyone seeing it or running into it. Despite the setup Contacts were made on 40m and 20m despite the band conditions. with a reasonable SWR (no tuner in line) where I normally use it

Next I used the 17.5 with the 9:1 unun as a low sloper and made 1 contact on 20. The SWR was “tolerable” on 40m but on 10m to 20m it was under 2:1 which is great for a Portable setup. Nothing to complain about on my part.

I also use this style of antenna at home in a vertical configuration and it works great for my need either “home or away”

So here’s the plan…

If you notice the above map there are 10 POTA sites (yellow dots) that I can easily access from my home in Kingston. All of them easily reachable via public transit or a bit of a walk. The one on the bottom right (the island) is not reachable via foot. There is a dock but I can’t find out if Kingston has a Water Taxi so if I can activate 10 out of 11 I will be pleased.

I guess I could also say that this would be a test of the station I will be using for Field Day this year. Not sure where I’m going to be yet but…. I know I’ll be participating from somewhere near Kingston.

.

Till next time

73bob

If you were checking the Trans Provincial Net Website you might of noticed a small blurb mentioning I will be taking the summer off.

“Bob VA3QV will be away starting 18th May till  September 2024.”

I currently cover the 11am (EST) hour 5 days a week and I do enjoy being a NCS…. But… Now that the nicer weather is finally looking like it might arrive… I decided I would prefer to spend it doing other stuff compared to sitting in the shack for a while.

No doubt that radio will be a big part of my summer but it won’t be from the shack unless its raining.

As always if I am doing (or have done) anything interesting in radio you will be able to read about it right here.

73bob

This was a special one for me. The last I tried to activate the Marshlands Conservation Area I had an equipment malfunction and as such it was a “Failed Activation”.

Today I headed out to get the one that got away.

I set up (red dot on the map) and operated with my FT891 set at 30w , 40m EFHF and proceeded to give out contacts….

In one hour I had managed to make 23 contacts in Ontario, and the Eastern Parts of the USA.

In the “learning part” of my activation I still have to find a way to carry more stuff and also make the kit lighter… It was a 4 km walk there and back (thats almost 2.5 miles to those of you south of the border) and to be honest I was really glad to get home and get my feet up.

I mentioned a few posts back about using some sort of trailer to carry the kit and today’s effort reinforces that thought….

Anyway I did have fun…. and if I worked you I hope you had fun as well….. If you don’t see our QSO today in your Hunters Log let me know and I’ll try to figure out why not…

73bob

From the Contest Club of Ontario website:

The 27th Annual Ontario QSO Party 2024

To be held on the third full weekend of April
1800Z April 20 to 0500Z April 21, 2024
and 1200Z to 1800Z April 21, 2024

I normally participate as a casual operator giving out the rare”FRO” (Frontenac County) multi from home.

This year if the weather cooperates (if I’m lucky) I hope to take my POTA Station out to one of yellow dots on the below map and activate a POTA location giving out both the Park number along with 5/9 FRO exchange.

If the weather does no cooperate then it will be more of an operation from home.

If I remember correctly the OQP is being run the same time as the

Michigan QSO Party

and the

Quebec QSO Party

so if you head over to their websites you can try and get the exchanges ready so you can give out contacts at the same time you are in the OQP.

Rain or shine…. It should be a fun weekend…

73bob