The lastest (and largest) addition to the Great Lakes Museum collection in Kingston Ontario is the SS Keewatin.

I took this pic Saturday May 25 just before the Museum opened the exhibit.

Its new home is in the Kingston Drydock which is on the shore of Lake Ontario and its history goes back before Canada’s Confederation.

The above shows the Keewatin in the Drydock over the winter. Thanks to Google Maps and Doug Knutson for the Graphics.

Now on the the Radio Part of this….

This coming weekend is the Museum Ships Weekend event (June 1st and 2nd) and the Keewatin will be on the air for this event and we are in really good company.

SHIPS PARTICIPATING FOR 2024 – 101 Ships

updated 26 May 2024
NAME TYPE OF SHIP LOCATION CALLSIGN

K1USN Watson Museum Braintree, MA K1USN
USS Hornet Aircraft Carrier Alameda Point, CA NB6GC
USS Midway Aircraft Carrier San Diego, CA NI6IW
USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier Corpus Christi, TX W5LEX
USS Yorktown Aircraft Carrier Charleston, SC WA4USN
ST-695 Angels Gate Army Tugboat San Pedro, CA K6AA
USS Montrose Memorial Attack Transport(Haskell Class) Montrose, CO N0P
USS Alabama Battleship Mobile, AL KQ4RXA
USS Massachusetts Battleship Fall River, MA NE1PL
USS New Jersey 8am to 6pm from drydock Battleship, New Jersey NJ2BB
USS Missouri Battleship Pearl Harbor, HI KH6BB
USS Wisconsin Battleship Norfolk, Virginia N4WIS
USS Iowa Battleship San Pedro, CA NI6BB
USS North Carolina Battleship Wilmington, NC NI4BK
USS Oklahoma Mast Memorial Battleship Mast Memorial, OK WW2OK
**HS Georgios Averof Battleship Paleo Faliro, Greece SZ1AB
USS Tennessee Museum Battleship Museum Oneida, TN W4BSF
SS Col. James M Schoonmaker Bulk Carrier Toledo, OH K8E
**SS William A Irvin Bulk Ore Carrier Duluth, MN W0GKP
Claud W Somers Chesapeake Bay Skipjack Reedville, VA W4NNK
CSS Neuse (Jun 1 only) Civil War – Ironclad Gunboat Kinston, NC KN4RAM
MV Iris-Joerg Cargo Ship Wischhafen,Germany DL0MFM
MV Cap San Diego Cargo Ship Hamburg,Germany DL0MFH
USCG Ingham CG Cutter Key West, FL NR4DL
USS Potomac CG Cutter/Pres. Yacht Oakland, CA. NE6JP
USS Indianapolis CA-35 Memorial Cruiser Indianapolis, IN WW2IND
USS Littlerock Cruiser Buffalo, NY W2PE
USS Olympia Cruiser Philadelphia, PA WA3BAT
USS Salem Cruiser Quincy, MA N1SLM
HMAS Vampire Destroyer Sydney, Australia VK2VMP
USS Turner Joy Destroyer Bremerton, WA NS7DD
USS Cassin Young Sat only 9am-3pm EST Destroyer Boston, MA WW2DD
USS The Sullivans Destroyer Buffalo, NY K2EAG
USS Orleck Destroyer Jacksonville, FL K4D
USS Laffey Destroyer Charleston, SC NT4HI
USS Slater Destroyer Escort Albany, NY WW2DEM
USS Stewart Destroyer Escort Galveston, TX N5FKP
Evelina M Goulart Fishing Schooner Essex, MA W1E
**HMCS Sackville Flower Class Corvette Halifax, Nova Scotia VE0CNM
SS Grandcamp Memorial French Liberty Ship Texas City, TX K5BS
HDMS Peder Skram Frigate Copenhagen, Denmark OZ1RDN
SS Hope Memorial Station Hospital Ship Memorial Chatham, MA W1HNJ
Krasin Icebreaker St. Petersburg, Russia R1LK
SS Sankt Erik Icebreaker Stockholm, Sweden 8SØHRA
**Ernest Lapointe Icebreaker L’islet, Qc, Canada VB2MMQC
USCGC Mackinaw WAGB-83(Maritime Museum) Icebreaker, MI W8AGB
SS Jeremiah O’Brien Liberty Ship San Francisco, CA K6JOB
SS John W Brown Liberty Ship Baltimore, MD K8JWB
Amrumbank /Deutsche Bucht Lightship Emden, Germany DF0MF
LS Ambrose Lightship East River, NY City, NY W2AQ
LS Westhinder III Lightship Antwerp, Belgium ON9BD
Borkumriff Lightship Island Borkum, Germany DL0BRF
USS LST-325 LST Evansville, IN WW2LST
LST-393 LST Muskegon, MI N8LST
Chatham Radio/WCC Station Maritime Radio Station Chatham, MA W1WCC
SS Selma Merchant ship WWI(Concrete Hull) Galveston, TX W5MSQ
**Edwin Fox Museum Merchant Ship Picton, New Zealand ZL2KS
USS Lucid Minesweeper Stockton, CA N6MSO
HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen Minesweeper Den Helder, NL PA38AC
HNMS Mercuur Minesweeper Port of Vlissingen, NL PA6PARE
KRS 575 “Hans Beimler” Missile Corvette Peenemuende, Germany DL0MFN
Farragut Nav Training Sta.Brig Naval Training Station Athol, ID N7F
NS Savannah Nuclear Merchant Vessel Baltimore, MD K3SAV
SS Hohentwiel Paddle Steamer Bodensee, Austria OE6XMF/9
RMS Queen Mary Passenger Ship Long Beach, CA W6RO
SS Rotterdam Passenger Ship Port of Rotterdam PI4HAL

SS Keewatin Passenger Steamship Kingston, ON VA3QV

HMAS Gladstone Patrol Boat(Fremantle Class) Gladstone QLD, VK4GLA
**USS Pueblo Memorial Research Ship Pueblo, CO N0K
MK1 PBR #105 River Patrol Boat Charleston, SC WD4PBR
PB Niederoesterreich (Jun 2 only) River Patrol Boat Danube/Vienna, OE3XNO
Tall Ship Elissa Sailing Barque Galveston Island, TX N5E
MS Seefalke Salvage Tug Bremerhaven,Germany DK100DDSR
USS Ticonderoga (1814) Schooner Whitehall, NY W2C
USS Cod Submarine Cleveland, OH W8COD
USS Cobia Submarine Manitowoc, Wisconsin NB9QV
USS Blueback Submarine Portland, OR W7SUB
USS Drum Submarine Mobile, Alabama K4DSR
USS Razorback Submarine N.Little Rock AR N5R
USS Nautilus Submarine Groton, CT N1S
U-995 Submarine Laboe Germany DL0DMB
USS Croaker Submarine Buffalo, NY N3ARB
USS Albacore Submarine Portsmouth, NH NM1JY
Flore Submarine Lorient, France TM2FLO
HMCS Onondaga Submarine Pointe-au-Père, Quebec VA2GNQ
Nazario Sauro Submarine Genoa, Italy II1NS
S-61 Delfin Submarine Torrevieja Spain EH5DLF
USS Batfish Submarine Muskogee, OK WW2SUB
USS Pampanito Submarine San Francisco, CA NJ6VT
USS Cavalla Submarine Galveston, TX N5FKP
USS Silversides Submarine Muskegon, MI N8SUB
H. L. Hunley Submarine – Civil War Charleston, SC N4HLH
Novosibirskij Komsomolec (B-396) Submarine 641-B Moscow, Russia RU3AWK
USS Thresher Memorial Submarine Memorial Kittery, ME W1WQM
USS Parche Memorial Submarine Memorial Bremerton, WA N7P
**”The Fin Project” Submarine Fin Memorial Seattle, WA NR7WL
**CSS Acadia Survey Vessel Halifax Nova Scotia VE0MMA
USS Hoga YT-146 Tugboat N. Little Rock, AR N5H
USAT LT-5 Tugboat/Cargo Transport Oswego, NY W2LGA
SS American Victory Victory Ship Tampa, FL W4AVM
Red Oak Victory Victory Ship Richmond, CA K6YVM

And as you can see we will be in pretty impressive company…

Now the only issue with this (the first) activation of the new museum ship is that the passenger areas of the ship are open to the public but the Radio Operators Room is still waiting for some period equipment to be set up as a display. So until that is done we can’t install as we don’t know how much room there will be for the “modern” equipment.

So for this event I will be operating from “alongside” the ship (see below pic)

The Radio I use for this event will be my POTA Station gear which is a Yaesu FT891 along with a 40m (64:1 unun) EFHW supported by a 33 foot MFJ Telescopic mast. Backup antenna will be a 17.5 foot vertical (using same mast) fed by a 9:1 unun with a single raised counterpoise.

The operating plan is to be operating from the “American General” parts of the different bands. Hoping that 20m and 40m will be good for us but we have the equipment to operate from 6m to 40m

I hope to start operating at 1300 (UTC) and run till the 20ah battery dies out ( or darkness arrives) on both days.

Will be operating as VA3QV and will uploading logs to LoTW, EQSL and QRZ.com.

This page will not be updated so check my QRZ page for last minute updates….

73bob

The lastest (and largest) addition to the Great Lakes Museum collection in Kingston Ontario is the SS Keewatin.

I took this pic Saturday May 25 just before the Museum opened the exhibit.

Its new home is in the Kingston Drydock which is on the shore of Lake Ontario and its history goes back before Canada’s Confederation.

The above shows the Keewatin in the Drydock over the winter. Thanks to Google Maps and Doug Knutson for the Graphics.

Now on the the Radio Part of this….

This coming weekend is the Museum Ships Weekend event (June 1st and 2nd) and the Keewatin will be on the air for this event and we are in really good company.

SHIPS PARTICIPATING FOR 2024 – 101 Ships

updated 26 May 2024
NAME TYPE OF SHIP LOCATION CALLSIGN

K1USN Watson Museum Braintree, MA K1USN
USS Hornet Aircraft Carrier Alameda Point, CA NB6GC
USS Midway Aircraft Carrier San Diego, CA NI6IW
USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier Corpus Christi, TX W5LEX
USS Yorktown Aircraft Carrier Charleston, SC WA4USN
ST-695 Angels Gate Army Tugboat San Pedro, CA K6AA
USS Montrose Memorial Attack Transport(Haskell Class) Montrose, CO N0P
USS Alabama Battleship Mobile, AL KQ4RXA
USS Massachusetts Battleship Fall River, MA NE1PL
USS New Jersey 8am to 6pm from drydock Battleship, New Jersey NJ2BB
USS Missouri Battleship Pearl Harbor, HI KH6BB
USS Wisconsin Battleship Norfolk, Virginia N4WIS
USS Iowa Battleship San Pedro, CA NI6BB
USS North Carolina Battleship Wilmington, NC NI4BK
USS Oklahoma Mast Memorial Battleship Mast Memorial, OK WW2OK
**HS Georgios Averof Battleship Paleo Faliro, Greece SZ1AB
USS Tennessee Museum Battleship Museum Oneida, TN W4BSF
SS Col. James M Schoonmaker Bulk Carrier Toledo, OH K8E
**SS William A Irvin Bulk Ore Carrier Duluth, MN W0GKP
Claud W Somers Chesapeake Bay Skipjack Reedville, VA W4NNK
CSS Neuse (Jun 1 only) Civil War – Ironclad Gunboat Kinston, NC KN4RAM
MV Iris-Joerg Cargo Ship Wischhafen,Germany DL0MFM
MV Cap San Diego Cargo Ship Hamburg,Germany DL0MFH
USCG Ingham CG Cutter Key West, FL NR4DL
USS Potomac CG Cutter/Pres. Yacht Oakland, CA. NE6JP
USS Indianapolis CA-35 Memorial Cruiser Indianapolis, IN WW2IND
USS Littlerock Cruiser Buffalo, NY W2PE
USS Olympia Cruiser Philadelphia, PA WA3BAT
USS Salem Cruiser Quincy, MA N1SLM
HMAS Vampire Destroyer Sydney, Australia VK2VMP
USS Turner Joy Destroyer Bremerton, WA NS7DD
USS Cassin Young Sat only 9am-3pm EST Destroyer Boston, MA WW2DD
USS The Sullivans Destroyer Buffalo, NY K2EAG
USS Orleck Destroyer Jacksonville, FL K4D
USS Laffey Destroyer Charleston, SC NT4HI
USS Slater Destroyer Escort Albany, NY WW2DEM
USS Stewart Destroyer Escort Galveston, TX N5FKP
Evelina M Goulart Fishing Schooner Essex, MA W1E
**HMCS Sackville Flower Class Corvette Halifax, Nova Scotia VE0CNM
SS Grandcamp Memorial French Liberty Ship Texas City, TX K5BS
HDMS Peder Skram Frigate Copenhagen, Denmark OZ1RDN
SS Hope Memorial Station Hospital Ship Memorial Chatham, MA W1HNJ
Krasin Icebreaker St. Petersburg, Russia R1LK
SS Sankt Erik Icebreaker Stockholm, Sweden 8SØHRA
**Ernest Lapointe Icebreaker L’islet, Qc, Canada VB2MMQC
USCGC Mackinaw WAGB-83(Maritime Museum) Icebreaker, MI W8AGB
SS Jeremiah O’Brien Liberty Ship San Francisco, CA K6JOB
SS John W Brown Liberty Ship Baltimore, MD K8JWB
Amrumbank /Deutsche Bucht Lightship Emden, Germany DF0MF
LS Ambrose Lightship East River, NY City, NY W2AQ
LS Westhinder III Lightship Antwerp, Belgium ON9BD
Borkumriff Lightship Island Borkum, Germany DL0BRF
USS LST-325 LST Evansville, IN WW2LST
LST-393 LST Muskegon, MI N8LST
Chatham Radio/WCC Station Maritime Radio Station Chatham, MA W1WCC
SS Selma Merchant ship WWI(Concrete Hull) Galveston, TX W5MSQ
**Edwin Fox Museum Merchant Ship Picton, New Zealand ZL2KS
USS Lucid Minesweeper Stockton, CA N6MSO
HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen Minesweeper Den Helder, NL PA38AC
HNMS Mercuur Minesweeper Port of Vlissingen, NL PA6PARE
KRS 575 “Hans Beimler” Missile Corvette Peenemuende, Germany DL0MFN
Farragut Nav Training Sta.Brig Naval Training Station Athol, ID N7F
NS Savannah Nuclear Merchant Vessel Baltimore, MD K3SAV
SS Hohentwiel Paddle Steamer Bodensee, Austria OE6XMF/9
RMS Queen Mary Passenger Ship Long Beach, CA W6RO
SS Rotterdam Passenger Ship Port of Rotterdam PI4HAL

SS Keewatin Passenger Steamship Kingston, ON VA3QV

HMAS Gladstone Patrol Boat(Fremantle Class) Gladstone QLD, VK4GLA
**USS Pueblo Memorial Research Ship Pueblo, CO N0K
MK1 PBR #105 River Patrol Boat Charleston, SC WD4PBR
PB Niederoesterreich (Jun 2 only) River Patrol Boat Danube/Vienna, OE3XNO
Tall Ship Elissa Sailing Barque Galveston Island, TX N5E
MS Seefalke Salvage Tug Bremerhaven,Germany DK100DDSR
USS Ticonderoga (1814) Schooner Whitehall, NY W2C
USS Cod Submarine Cleveland, OH W8COD
USS Cobia Submarine Manitowoc, Wisconsin NB9QV
USS Blueback Submarine Portland, OR W7SUB
USS Drum Submarine Mobile, Alabama K4DSR
USS Razorback Submarine N.Little Rock AR N5R
USS Nautilus Submarine Groton, CT N1S
U-995 Submarine Laboe Germany DL0DMB
USS Croaker Submarine Buffalo, NY N3ARB
USS Albacore Submarine Portsmouth, NH NM1JY
Flore Submarine Lorient, France TM2FLO
HMCS Onondaga Submarine Pointe-au-Père, Quebec VA2GNQ
Nazario Sauro Submarine Genoa, Italy II1NS
S-61 Delfin Submarine Torrevieja Spain EH5DLF
USS Batfish Submarine Muskogee, OK WW2SUB
USS Pampanito Submarine San Francisco, CA NJ6VT
USS Cavalla Submarine Galveston, TX N5FKP
USS Silversides Submarine Muskegon, MI N8SUB
H. L. Hunley Submarine – Civil War Charleston, SC N4HLH
Novosibirskij Komsomolec (B-396) Submarine 641-B Moscow, Russia RU3AWK
USS Thresher Memorial Submarine Memorial Kittery, ME W1WQM
USS Parche Memorial Submarine Memorial Bremerton, WA N7P
**”The Fin Project” Submarine Fin Memorial Seattle, WA NR7WL
**CSS Acadia Survey Vessel Halifax Nova Scotia VE0MMA
USS Hoga YT-146 Tugboat N. Little Rock, AR N5H
USAT LT-5 Tugboat/Cargo Transport Oswego, NY W2LGA
SS American Victory Victory Ship Tampa, FL W4AVM
Red Oak Victory Victory Ship Richmond, CA K6YVM

And as you can see we will be in pretty impressive company…

Now the only issue with this (the first) activation of the new museum ship is that the passenger areas of the ship are open to the public but the Radio Operators Room is still waiting for some period equipment to be set up as a display. So until that is done we can’t install as we don’t know how much room there will be for the “modern” equipment.

So for this event I will be operating from “alongside” the ship (see below pic)

The Radio I use for this event will be my POTA Station gear which is a Yaesu FT891 along with a 40m (64:1 unun) EFHW supported by a 33 foot MFJ Telescopic mast. Backup antenna will be a 17.5 foot vertical (using same mast) fed by a 9:1 unun with a single raised counterpoise.

The operating plan is to be operating from the “American General” parts of the different bands. Hoping that 20m and 40m will be good for us but we have the equipment to operate from 6m to 40m

I hope to start operating at 1300 (UTC) and run till the 20ah battery dies out ( or darkness arrives) on both days.

Will be operating as VA3QV and will uploading logs to LoTW, EQSL and QRZ.com.

This page will not be updated so check my QRZ page for last minute updates….

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

The weather this weekend was not nice enough (for me) to seriously consider taking the Portable Station out any of the local POTA Parks as I had previously mentioned. Although the temps were above the freezing mark I find the cold harsher now and it was a bit too cold for me to be sitting at a picnic table.

Now it was not as bad as the above but it sure felt like it so…

So my Plan “B” was to just operate from the shack and give out contacts….

So starting on Saturday (0000hrs utc) I started spinning the dial and giving out contacts to whoever I could hear in whatever contest/event they were participating in. Contacts were made in the following contests/event:

POTA Support Your Parks, Ontario QSO Party, Michigan QSO Party, Nebraska QSO Party and the Quebec QSO Party. A few Special Event Stations were also in the log as well.

All the contacts were given a 5/9 ON exchange with the Ontario QP Participants getting a “5/9 FRO (Frontenac County)”.

I managed to give out 40 OQP exchanges .

The POTA activators were really busy and I found (in some cases) hard to break the pileups. That part of our hobby is growing in leaps and bounds. I hope that some of the newer operators were not discouraged by the sheer numbers of stations calling.

According to my records I managed to raise my Unique Parks worked count to 2565 logged. Slowly heading towards the 3000 mark which is my next goal.

With the promises (would the Weather Person lie to me?) of better (warmer/dryer) weather in the next week I am still planning to give the Portable station’s new 17 1/2 foot vertical a testing out from the field. Don’t know which day (yet) as the band conditions have to cooperate along with a bit warmer weather from “Mother Nature”

Hope to get you in the log soon

73bob

.

If you look back to my previous post in which I had covered my successful POTA activation of CA5143 I mentioned that I had used my 40m EFHW antenna to make the 23 contacts made.

Well one thing I neglected to mention was the difficulty I had getting 62 feet (or so) wire stretched out in the rather dense brush just off the trail. In the past I had mentioned about getting a 2nd antenna in the kit for when the EFHW was just not able to be deployed easily.

I had tried a BuddiPole but it did not (could not) do exactly what I wanted…. Using some parts from the BuddiPole and then adding a “Imitation” Shock Corded 9 foot whip (In my opinion…FWIW the Amazoon 9.5 ft shock cord whip is a real POS)was not doing it for me either. I tried following the instructions and when those did not work I tried (to no avail) to use what I tried in the past with other portable antennas but just no joy…

Fast forward to yesterday. The LDG 9:1 UNUN that I ordered on the Monday had arrived and so I decided to duplicate the “Coastal-20” antenna that I use at home for 10-12-15-17 & 20m. If you “Google Coastal-20 you should see the basic plans. Its a 9:1 UNUN along with a 17.5 foot vertical with a short counterpoise.

Now on my first build I found the short counterpoise version did not perform exactly as I had hoped so I decided to go with 3 elevated counterpoises. I cut 1 for 10-15 &20m and it worked quite well for me on 10 to 20m. By well I mean that I was making contacts and the SWR on all the needed bands was low or low enough that the internal tuner in my Yaesu FT991a was handling it.

Mostly copying my first version with the exception of swapping out 3 counterpoises for a single 11 foot counterpoise seemed to make no difference with the SWR and it was loading up just as well as the previous one did.

The next test for the new antenna will be when I get out into the Park (hopefully this weekend) if the forecasted rain ever stops. The plan is to have both antennas available for when I participate in the POTA Support your Parks event which happens April 20th and 21st and by strange luck is also the same weekend as the Ontario QSO Party, The Michigan QSO Party and the Quebec QSO Party so there should be no problems getting contacts to activate what ever park (parks) I head out to…

73bob

As always the CQWW Contests are a great source of entertainment and also a great chance to increase your DXCC totals…. This one was no different

This year I operated in a S & P (search and pounce) mode for approximately 8 hours in total. The rig I used was my Yaesu FT991a and the antenna of choice was my “Modified” Coastal-20 vertical antenna

I made 42 contacts in 22 DXCC entities covering 4 continents (NA/SA/AF/EU) using 10m-15m and 20m

I was able to contact stations in:

Alaska, Argentina, Aruba, Bonaire, Brazil, Canada, Canary Islands, England, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Slovenia, St Lucia, Turkey (Turkiye), United States of America

Now if everyone confirms I believe that there will be one new DXCC for my DXCC totals, but also there should be a couple of new ones for my 5 Band DXCC which I am hoping to complete sooner or later but most likely later

More on this once the confirmations come in via either LoTW, QRZ.com or EQSL.

For now its back to Playing POTA…

73b0b

Words to live by…..

“If it ain’t broke….. Don’t mess with it…“

One of the things on my “to do” list was swap out the 17.5 foot vertical wire on my Modified “Coastal 20” antenna with a 29 foot vertical wire.

I did the swap and then came back to the shack to do the SWR testing and also see where I was being heard and what I was hearing….

First issue found is that I no longer able to tune up on 40m using the built in tuner in my Yaesu FT991a….

On 10-12-15-17-20m it seemed to tune up quicker (2nd issue) but I did notice that I also had to tune up more often as I was searching and pouncing. On the plus side the signal reports I was given (after asking for an honest report as I was testing the antenna) seemed what I was expecting between S7 and S9. I was hearing most stations with no problems…

After careful consideration I decided to swap the 29 foot wire out and bring the 17.5 foot wire back. The reasoning for this was as I do a lot of S & P at home, I prefer not to have to re tune constantly…

And for the record the shorter wire is working exactly as well as it was working before I tried to improve things… There could be a lesson to be learned here…

To those who are participating in the CQ WW WPX Contest good luck and have fun.

UPDATED- Mar 30 0118 utc

I guess the antenna works on 15m

73bob