Somewhere, UNDER the Rainbow

KB9BVN at US-4183

I got off work at 4PM today so I grabbed my POTA kit and loaded up the SUV and headed to US-4183 (again).  Murphy was in the car with me and I didn't notice until I got to the park.  Today I was using the Eagle One hitch mounted vertical, a couple of 20 foot radials, my Elecraft KX2 radio at 8 watts, and my pencil/paper logbook.

I carry two coax cables, both RG-8X, one is 25 feet and the other is 50 feet. I prefer the shorter one, but of course when I got it out of my POTA kit I discovered one end had the BNC smashed in the lid of the POTA kit.  No longer round, more egg shaped than anything, it was not going to be used this outing because I could not bend it back enough (no tools of course) to fit it on the BNC on my antenna.  SO, luckily I had the 50 footer with me and was able to get it unwound, on the ground and connected to the Eagle One.  Although I have activated this park about forty times now, this is the first time I have setup in this particular location.  I give you Teal Marsh.  Didn't see a single duck, did see a few muskrats, and about 30 million mosquitos. 

I finally got everything connected, tested and tuned and got on the air at 21:14Z.  To test out my setup I checked the spotting page and worked a couple of parks, namely Tripp N4NTO down in North Carolina at park US-6956, and Jeff KE8NJW over in Ohio at park US-1998. 

Based on those contacts I spotted my station on the POTA spotting page, at 7.065 Mhz.  With two already in the log, I needed at least 8 more to validate this activation.  Did I mention I was starting to hear thunder? 

In the next 11 minutes I managed to get 9 more in the log for a total of 11.  Just as I wrote down number 11, which was Bill KI9NG from Valparaiso IN, the rain started falling.  Sprinkling at first but my old Boy Scout spidey sense convinced me to tear down and get in the truck as fast as I could.  

I rolled up the radials, the coax, and took the antenna down.  Just as I finished the sky basically opened up and I was drenched.  Good thing I had the KX2 and the paper logs already stashed in the truck.  In Indiana we have these weird little pop-up thunderstorms. They go from clear blue sky, to torrential rain in less than 5 minutes.  We need the rain.  It lasted maybe 15 minutes...then here comes the sun.  I was soaked so I just headed back to the ranch, and I got to see this on my way out. 

Double Rainbow

Beautiful Sky post Storm

The storm has left the arena! 

One of the best things about POTA, in my opinion, is the beauty of nature that you get to participate in, I have as much fun watching the hawks, squirrels, rabbits, deer, and even an eagle as I do operating in the outdoors.  It's way better than being cooped up in the office.  We still have decent daylight until nearly 8PM so I hope to get a few more after work POTA trips in before the snow flies. 

Here's the contact map for today.  Not bad. 

Until next time! 

73 de KB9BVN

Brian

I saw an Eagle today!

Started off with a good breakfast then back out to US-4183 this morning...it was a chilly and windy 56F degrees but a glorious day to be in the outdoors.  I even saw an Eagle flying over Stone Arch Lake.  Very spectacular. 

I got setup by 10:15 and tore down one hour later with 22 contacts in the log.  Running the CW KX2/Eagle One combo at about 8 watts today.  Managed California, New Hampshire, Quebec, to Texas.  Log has been uploaded.  I think I had 5 P2P's today.  BTW this is the third activation in about 5 days with this KX2 and internal battery...time to put it on the charger, I always have a backup battery just in case.

The 20m band was where I did all my activity this morning. The band was a little bit muffled as the A Index was hovering around 8. I really prefer it being under 4 or 5 for best results. i was hanging out on a frequency of 14063 Khz, and calling CQ POTA at about 17 words per minute. I got my first 10 in the log in about 25 minutes. Best DX today was WB6POT out in California, and then maybe WX1S in New Hampshire. I have several contacts from Canada today, heard from Ontario VE3KZE, VE3GRG, and VA3NU, and then heard from Quebec when VA2EO contacted me.

Did not have any contacts in Europe or Asia today, but then again I was only pushing about 8 watts of RF out the trusty and never rusty Eagle One portable Vertical antenna. 

Map of my Contacts this Morning

The morning was extremely nice, but around 11:15 I had to pack up and head back home. I'll be back though, this is one of my favorite spots to setup at US-4183.  Only 14 days of summer left people, get out there and use it up! 

Until next time!  

72 de KB9BVN  (72 is 73 for QRP)

It's STILL summer! Act like it!

At US-4183 Atterbury Fish and Wildlife Area

Greetings!  Didn't make it out in August we were too busy processing all the goodies my brother in law, Tim, grew in his garden.  It was a bumper crop of sweet corn, green beans, jalapeño peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, candy onions, and summer squash. Tim is an Iowa farm kid, that came here to Indiana to marry my wife's youngest sister, Rose,  over 30 years ago.  

Last September Rose passed away, leaving a huge hole in our family. To say she was wonderful is the understatement of them all.  Time marches on.  She is very sorely missed. 

This was Labor Day weekend.  I was able to go out and do some POTA work on Monday, and since I had today as a vacation day I was also able to do it again today.  Both trips were to Atterbury Fish and Wildlife Area in Johnson County, central Indiana. 

On September 2nd, the band conditions were looking pretty bleak.  Solar Flare Index was 226, Sunspot Number was 200 - GREAT RIGHT?  A index was 16 and K index was 2...which meant 40m was pretty much useless, and 20m was very quiet and audio signals were really suppressed. 

I started out on 14061 Khz on Monday morning at 11:38 AM, I was using my KX-2 and the Eagle One 33 foot vertical attached to my SUV trailer hitch.  I was really surprised to have the first 10 in my logbook by Noon.  Signals were down in the mud but if I concentrated I could pull them out.  I got a lot of 559 reports, which mean typically quiet but readable. 

The temperature was an unusual mid 70's for this time of year, I was setup in the shade at the Mallard Marsh location and had quite a nice view.  Had to move my setup a time or time to stay in the shade. 

I wrapped it up at about 12:30PM and packed up.  My next stop was at Blue Heron Park in Franklin Indiana.  Blue Heron is not a POTA park, it is a city park.  My wife and I go there to walk to trails and get some exercise.  So I decided to stop there and take a hike, of two miles.  It was such a beautiful day. 

Here are a few pictures of some of the sights I saw while on my hike. Can you identify any of these? 

I know the red berries are BAD for people, so I didn't eat them...or any of the other stuff I saw.  I did get accosted by a gang of geese.  They seemed peaceful until I got closer. 

Anyway, I escaped! Walk the two miles, and headed home. 

On Tuesday I woke up to temperatures in the low 50's, very unlike September in Indiana, I headed back to Atterbury at about 11AM and things were a little different.  First of all, not as many POTA hunters out there, I think everyone but me was at work.  It took me about an hour to get 10 in the log book.  Today I was using the KX-2 again,  but this time I had the little AX-1 antenna in play. 

I managed to work NY, OK, NJ, AR, FL, WI, NC, CT, and GA all on 20m.  The band conditions were only slightly better than yesterday.  Solar Flare Index was 238, Sunspot Number was down to 133, but the A Index was still high at 8, and the K Index was down to 2. 

Ended up with 13 contacts and wrapped it up at 12:30PM.  Another beautiful day in the heartland for sure. 

We that's it for this run, until the next time, 72 es OO and Best DX to all! 

de KB9BVN

Brian

Atterbury Fish and Wildlife - No Skunk!

 

Atterbury Fish and Wildlife Area - US-4183

So after I got off work today, I loaded up the gear and headed to the scene of the skunking I got in April. Today was upper 70's, sunny, with a slight breeze...for July this is what we call perfect weather to be outside. 

I arrived at about 4:45PM and was setup and on the air by 5PM.  I'm getting good at setting up and tearing down quickly.  I still use a written checklist when loading back up to make sure I don't leave anything in the park.  It's happened. 

Happy Camper

Here I am getting ready to start calling CQ POTA.  See how happy and excited I am?  Everything went smooth on the set up so off I went.  As a reminder, to activate a park, wildlife area, state forest, or other state wilderness area you must make ten contacts, minimum.  I am happy to report that within the first 20 minutes, on the 20m band, I had my ten contacts in the log.  My first contact was WA5RML from New York, then I had W3NCK from Delaware, WA7RAR from Oregon (THAT was a surprise, I was thinking I was only going to be working east coast today) then W8NLZ from Virginia, WJ0L from Minnesota, NK2C from New York, AA7WU from Arizona, KW5CW from Texas but he was at a park like me so this is a Park to Park contact, those are always cool, then K1PUG from Connecticut, and my tenth one today was N0ANE from Minnesota.  I ended up with 21 contacts for the outing.  I spent the entire hour there on 20 meters.  The band was not very good, and there was a lot of signal loss, and wavering....we call that QSB. 

KX2 Radio and Eagle One Vertical Antenna with a small hand key

Stone Arch Lake and Ominous Clouds

All Packed up and Ready to Leave

So on the way out today I decided to drive through the area and go over by Camp Atterbury.  Camp Atterbury at one time was a prisoner of war camp for Italian and a few German soldiers during World War II.  Currently it is an army camp where we train our troops, and foreign troops.  

This is my dad.  Sgt Major William J Murrey, retired.  He served in the US Army and later in the Indiana National Guard.  He passed away in January 2016 at the age of 79.  Pop was assigned to Camp Atterbury for a number of years.  

My kids went to Cub Scout Day Camp at the park next to Camp Atterbury, and my dad and a couple other guys showed up in Humvees and took the kids on some Humvee rides, and let them get a good look at the dining facilities at Camp Atterbury, I believe they were even permitted use of the on base pool as well.  This had to be 35 years ago, and those kids still talk about that to this day.  So I like to go to Atterbury to operate for POTA, I kind of feel a connection here.  Dad was a true patriot, loved his family, loved his country, and served the Lord. 

Veterans Memorial at Camp Atterbury

Before I left the property entirely, I stopped at the Camp Atterbury Veterans Memorial Park for a look around.  

Open from Sunrise to Sunset

Huey Helicopter UH-1M Iroquois - Used in Vietnam

Lots of old military vehicles in the Memorial Park 

I walked around the Memorial Park for about 45 minutes looking at all the vintage equipment they have on permanent display.  When it was time to go I drove back over by the lake and found this little duck family enjoying a early evening swim.  

Until next time! 

de KB9BVN

Walk for the Bacon Slo-Code Sprint

Once again it is time for the Flying Pigs QRP Club International to run their world famous 40m Walk for the Bacon Slo-Code Sprint! 

Whether you're a new CW operator or a long time CW operator, the Walk for the Bacon Sprint is enjoyable fun for everyone. 

The sprint is held the first Wednesday and Thursday of the month.

All logging is done on the autologger.  https://qrpcontest.com/pigwalk40/

This month it is:

Evening of Wednesday July 3^rd at 00:00Z to 01:00Z on 40m 7050 Khz to 7065 Khz 
and the evening of Thursday July 4^th at 02:00Z to 03:00Z on 40m 7050 Khz to 7065 Khz.

This is a slow code sprint, please set your keyer or your fist to no faster than 13 wpm, and please QRS to match speeds.

If you need a Flying Pig QRP Club International number, you can click on the word MEMBERSHIP at the bottom of the home page. You do NOT need to be a Flying Pig club member to participate!

https://fpqrp.org

No dues
No rules
Just fun

We hope to see you there!

de KB9BVN
Brian
FP -57

US-4215 Morgan Monroe State Forest

Finally got back out there in the wilderness today. Instead of the old standby of Atterbury Fish and Wildlife Area I took a longer drive do to Morgan County Indiana and activated at Morgan Monroe State Forest.  I haven't been here since September 2023, and this was my 40th park activation since starting in POTA in June of 2020.  I am definitely not setting any records but it was a beautiful day to be outdoors. 

The temperature was about 76 degrees, which compared to the 90's and upper 80's we've been having, it was delightful to say the least.  I got to the state forest at about 11:15AM EDT and got my station setup and operational but about 11:40AM.  The solar propagation numbers were not looking too good for the lower bands, 30m down to 80m was virtually silent., so I setup on 20m at a frequency of 14059 Kilohertz and started calling CQ POTA.

I did not break out the little AX1 antenna with the KX2 transceiver, instead I raised the mast on the Eagle One, attached a couple radials, and started tuning up.  The Eagle One is a telescoping vertical that raises to a full 10 meters in height. The band was pretty quiet and I was beginning to think I made the trip down here to just practice setting up. 

With the attached radials, this antenna can be tuned on the 40m band down to the 10m band.  Which comes in pretty handy. 

I called CQ POTA for about 5 minutes, once every 30 seconds before I got that fist contact. K4AHO down in Florida answered my call.  I was running 10 watts today because I knew the band was not great.  In the next 8 minutes I made contact with W0PWE in Iowa, WE5K in Texas, W7GB in Washington State, VE3GRG in Ontario Canada, K5VWW in Nevada, and K9PMM in Florida.  That was GREAT...my hopes were raised, as you need 10 contacts for the activation to count.  

So I was munching on a bag of veggies, and enjoying a handmade turkey sandwich while I listened for a few minutes.  Next up was VE3GSS from Ontario Canada, N0EO from Minnesota, W5WIL from Oklahoma, K2MER from New Jersey and I finished up with AI5DD also in Oklahoma but he was operating from a park there.  This is called a Park to Park contact. always fun to work other operators in other parks. 

The site I was operating from within the state forest is a long term study of the local hardwood ecosystem in the Morgan Monroe State Forest. 

All in all a great day to play radio in the outdoors. The mosquitos eventually located my sweet juicy self and began attacking in full force. Total operating time was about an hour.  

The reverse beacon network was not having any trouble picking me up at 10 watts on the 20 meter band. 

Until next time! 

72 es OO de KB9BVN