Another day at Atterbury Fish and Wildlife Area

 

Another Day in the Great Outdoors at Atterbury

Another beautiful day today, low humidity, and temps in the upper 60's to mid 70's. Bright sun, and a slight breeze. So nice.  So I packed up the gear and headed to the park at about 12:30pm, drove around for a bit looking for a shady spot to erect the POTA station.  I stopped at several familiar places, Beaver Bottom Lake had no shade and about 15 people fishing off the dock.  I did not see any fish being caught but they were having a great time. I then drove over to Stone Arch Lake, and the parking area was also without any shade.  Since it was about 1PM the sun was almost directly overhead. I finally landed at Mink Meadow Marsh, under the shade of a big walnut tree that was hanging over one corner of the parking area. 

Once again at Mink Meadow Marsh

So today I decided I was going to make this a quick one and I would go ahead and use my Alex Loop antenna.  It's very easy to setup and tune, and goes a lot faster than the hitch mounted portable vertical. 

Alex Loop with my Elecraft KX-2 radio in its handy pouch

After I got the antenna assembled and in place, I broke out the KX-2 and remember to turn off the auto tuner.  When you are using a Magnetic Loop antenna, you tune it by adjusting the variable capacitor in the rectangular box at the bottom of the loop.  This is why you must set the autotnier in the radio to BYPASS.  I started out on 20 meters, 14.058 Mhz to be exact.  I got on the air at 1:13PM EDT and almost immediately started making contacts.  I worked Idaho, Newfoundland, Maine, Oregon, and Nevada in the first ten minutes.  Not bad for a Mag Loop and 10 watts. The band was really working well this afternoon.  At 1:40PM I shut the station down with 12 contacts, enough to qualify as an activation of this park, my 48th time to activate this park.

KX-2 radio and log book, ready to go to work! 

From the looks of my contact mapping, I had the antenna angled so it was radiating East-West. Worked both coasts and a bunch in the middle. 

Weatherman says we have more severe weather on the way, and to expect rain and storms the next three days, with over 3 inches of rain expected in total.  Indiana has logged 71 tornadoes so far this year.  We had one last Friday night the ripped through the Morgan Monroe State Forest, cutting a swath of knocked down trees 1/4 mile wide and about 8 miles long.  I will try to make to MMSF next month to do some POTA work....but I want to give the DNR a few weeks to get things cleaned up a little bit. 

Until next time, 73 es Best DX to you! 

Brian KB9BVN

Beautiful Day to be Outdoors!

 

KB9BVN at the key, ready to POTA!

Gosh what a great day weather wise.  Here in central Indiana it was over 90 degrees every day last week, and every night we had torrential rain and thunderstorms.  One system even spawned about half a dozen tornadoes in the northern third of the state. Fortunately no one was killed. 

Here is it Monday again, or Saturday to those of us that are retired, and the temperature was 65 degrees when I rose this morning.  Sunny, and cool...perfect day for POTA at the park.  So today I headed back to US-4183 Atterbury Fish and Wildlife Area in southern Johnson County.  I used the Eagle One portable vertical, the KX-2 radio, and the KX-2 paddles.  Getting the antenna erected and the operating position setup took about fifteen minutes or so. 

The location I chose today was called "Mallard Marsh".  I think I have operated from here before but it has been a couple years or so since the last visit.  I took a short hike back to the lake and the marsh area, and using the Merlin application on my phone I logged 7 different bird species. Including a rare to find these days, Bob White Quail.  I heard it but I never found the location for a picture.  Maybe next time. 

Mallard Marsh has no restroom, and limited parking 

The sky was really beautiful this morning, and the clouds were rolling but no rain predicted here until maybe Thursday. 

Looking east at the beautiful sky and the slow moving clouds

Before I started operating I took a quick hike down to the pond and by the marsh.  Pictured here at the current state of things, this place is usually crowded with ducks and geese and all kinds of birds in the Spring and early Summer. I heard several bullfrogs but did not see them. 

Here is a shot of my setup with the Eagle One vertical.  It mounts to my trailer hitch, and has a large clamp that clamps on the ground side of the antenna, making my Trailblazer in to a counterpoise, or radial if you prefer.  I also clip on 2 wires made from 18g speaker wire, each about 22-23 feet in length to help the antenna tune up better on 40m.  One of the wires I lay across the top of the vehicle and out over the hood...gives it some elevation.  Does it help? I don't know but I like to think it does.  The other wire I just deploy to the ground and let it lay there. 

Today the bands seemed to be in OK shape.  I started out on 40 meters at about 12:15PM EDT.  It took about 20 minutes to get the first three contacts.  Granted I was only running 10 watts.  I switched to 20 meters (longer distance) and immediately worked California, Florida, and Nebraska.  Then 20 meters seemed to go quiet, so I switched back to 40m.  

After about 90 mins, the DNR showed up with a John Deere mower...and proceeded to mow all around me while I was operating.  The noise being generated by the mower engine was enough to cover up anything I might hear.  The DNR lad was very nice and I showed him what I was doing and how much fun amateur radio is.  So at about ten until two o'clock, I packed it in.  Finished with 13 contacts, all I need is ten for a valid activation.  Done and Done. 

Here's a map of my contacts from today:

It is supposed to be nice again tomorrow, so I may try to run down to the fishery in Martinsville Indiana, or maybe even down to Lake Monroe in Bloomington. 

Until the next one,  may you have the best DX and all the contacts you need! 

73 de KB9BVN

Brian

Tough Sledding!

US-4183 Teal Marsh 

Headed out to Atterbury again on May 7th in hopes of  better conditions, and more contacts.  Did not work out that way though.  Took me almost an hour and a half to make 10 contacts and get this park activation in the books.  Furthest contact was Wyoming, and that was another POTA operator working from Miles Landing BLM Recreation area.  Not too bad.  

I checked with the Reverse Beacon site and found my signal was being heard but it was very weak due to poor propagation characteristics.  This Solar Cycle 25 is beginning to wind down.  Each Solar cycle is about 11 years in length and the current cycle actually started back in December 2019.  It hit the peak about 3 or 4 months ago, and now we are starting the 5 year slide to minimum conditions.  

A signal to noise ratio under 10db is usually pretty hard to copy.   So I was getting out, just not getting out very loud.  

Here is a map of my contacts for this outing.  The antenna I was using was the 33 foot tall, hitch mounted vertical antenna.  I had a couple 16 foot ground wires attached as well, we call these radials. 

Map of 10 contacts from May 7th at US-4183 - Took about 90 minutes

So while I was waiting to make contacts I found this Painted Turtle sunning itself in the bean field, this guy was about 15 inches from nose to tail. 

Painted turtle - Catching a few rays in the bean field!

It was slow going, but at least I had some nice scenery to enjoy, and a plethora of different birds enjoying the marsh. 

Well that's about it from this outing...until next time, may the propagation be with you! 

73 de KB9BVN

So that's an R1 Radio Blackout Event

KB9BVN at US-4183 Atterbury FAWA

Woke up this morning and the birds were chirping and the sun was shining and the day was looking like a beautiful April day....so why not load up the gear and head out for a Parks on the Air outing? 

So normally when I go out for a POTA activation, I usually have my 10 required contacts within 15-20 minutes, sometimes even faster. Today was going to be much different.  I never check atmospheric conditions before I play radio, I don't want to get jinxed.  Well, today is a day I should have looked, but even if I had looked I doubt if it would have stopped me from playing radio in the outdoors today.  

Here is what the conditions report was showing:  SSN:154 SFI:148 A:9 K:1 - what this means is there were 154 sunspots active, and the Solar Flare Index was 148.  With this kind of sunspot activity being this high, this usually means noisy conditions.  Which in and of itself isn't that horrible.  You like to see the A Index 5 or less, mush over 5 and you'll heard a lot more signal fading (up and down).   What I did not know was the earth was in the middle of an R1 Radio Blackout.  

An R1 (Minor) radio blackout is the lowest level of space weather event on the NOAA Space Weather Scale, caused by an M-class solar flare. These flares release X-rays and ultraviolet light, ionizing the lower D-layer of Earth's ionosphere. This ionization causes High Frequency (HF) radio signals to be absorbed or degraded, resulting in weak or brief blackouts, mainly impacting sunlit areas.

This explains why it took me almost 2 hours to make 10 contacts.  None of them outside the United States, and all contacts were made on the 20m band.  

Three of the contacts were not POTA hunters, they were working the Florida QSO Party, but as we say in the POTA world, a contact is a contact.  So they count toward the 10. 

Signals were WAY down, and the fading and noise was ever present.  I'm amazed that my little 10 watts was getting out at all but my reverse beacon logs showed in some places I was booming in and in some places I was not even noticed. 

On the bright side, I enjoyed a few hours in the outdoors, got to watch some blue jays, some squirrels, a big black snake, and some geese.  Plus I had a nice picnic lunch by one of the lakes, it was a peanut butter sandwich and a nice crisp Gala Apple.  Made the trip and the time all worth it! 

Oh and I forgot my metal folding chair.  I had taken it out of the POTA mobile so I had something to sit on during our fish fry a few weeks ago.  So here's my operating position...while I sat on an overturned pickle bucket...not very comfortable! 

Well that's it until next time!  Hoping for better conditions soon! 

de KB9BVN

Brian

Another day in the 70's

 

Cikana State Fish Hatchery  US-12023 

Headed down to Cikana State FIsh Hatchery this afternoon, it was a beautiful day, 77 degrees and heading up to about 82 by the end of the today. Never mind that we have severe weather and a cold front moving in late this evening.  High tomorrow is predicted to be in the 40's.  It's opening day for Major League Baseball, and I am listening to the Cincinnati Reds playing the Red Sox while working on this post.  Being of the age that I am, and a lifelong Reds fan, opening day is a great day, it means summer is just around the corner. It won't be too much longer!  

Today I was operating from the picnic table near the entrance of the location.  The gear today was the Elecraft KX-2 radio at 10 watts, and the Alex Loop magnetic loop antenna and my key was a 3d printed key held together with black plastic electrical tape.  This location is in Morgan County, and right off State Road 44 just east of I-69 and just north of Martinsville. 

Brian KB9BVN having a relaxing POTA activation

One of many ponds where the DNR raise game fish for the state lakes and parks 

My infamous magnetic loop antenna 

I got started at 16:55Z (12:55PM EDT)...and it took a few minutes before I got the first contact from KG1A down in Florida.  The 20 meter band was weird today.  The contacts would come one right after another for about five minutes, then nothing for 15 minutes or so.  The signals were very up and down...going from full strength to almost dead quiet...and then coming back after a minute or two.  We've had a pretty big solar storm this week but I though that was all done by now, I guess not. 

I worked the radio for a solid hour and managed to contact 12 different states and 21 total contacts. Longest contacts were Arizona and Wyoming, and then out to Maine for a couple.  Did not work any stations outside of the US today.  You can see the map below. 

7 Florida Contacts today! 

Tomorrow will be cold again, but the cold front should be gone by early next week. I hope to get out again.  Gasoline around here is over $4.00 a gallon now....so won't be going too far from home.

73 de KB9BVN
Brian

Driftwood State Fishing Area - New Park US-13100

The Driftwood State Fishing Area is home to three different lakes that were created from old gravel pits sometime in the early to mid 1900's.  The Indiana DNR expanded and did some improvement to this site in the late 1990's to increase the availability of public sport fishing waters.  The pits and the property are adjacent to the Driftwood river, which flows southward toward Columbus Indiana.  Sometimes when the river floods, it connects to the pits and allows for some interesting fish populations to move in and out.  Driftwood state fishing lakes contain a wide variety of fish species, including catfish, muskie, crappie, bluegill, sunfish, and gar.  The turtle population is also great here.  You can fish from the bank, from a boat, or canoe and kayak.  There is no entrance fee, but if you are fishing you will need to have an Indiana DNR issues fishing license.  Located on the west side of US 31 in Edinburgh Indiana, the lakes are easy to access. 

Notice:  NO restrooms, NO pit toilets, NO tables 

I arrived at about 11:15AM today, and originally planned on using the KX-2 and my magnetic loop antenna.  I was all setup and ready to get on the air at 11:35AM.  Try as I might I could not get the magnetic loop antenna to tune on 20m.  I think it may have a short in the coax feedline. So I deployed the 33 foot hitch mounted vertical and radials, and I will check the magnetic loop out when I get back home. 

At the end of the excursion I moved to 30m and 40m working ONE on each band

Band conditions didn't look too bad (SSN:38 SFI:106 A:3 K:3) but when I tried listening around on 20 meters, I was not hearing much.  I started out on 14048 Khz and called CQ POTA a few times and at 11:50AM I was finally answered by NE1D Dimitris in Massachusetts.  Now I just needed nine more to qualify this activation.  

I never found myself with a pile up, it was slow going for the most part and finally at 12:14PM I had my tenth contact in the logbook.  AB4BA in Colorado was number ten today. 

I kept at it for another 20 minutes or so and the contacts just stopped coming back to me.  The fading and the atmospheric noise was winning out.  

Also speaking of noise, this location is right next to Camp Atterbury...and today they must have been doing artillery practice.  You can hear the booms as they fire the big guns and sometimes you can even feel it in the ground a little bit.  

My final two contacts today ended up being one on 30 meters, and one on 40 meters.  I wrapped it up after that.  Total time at the location was about ninety minutes including setup, re-setup, and tear down.  Not too bad.  I ended up with 20 contacts. 

Map of contacts for today 3/20/26 - HAPPY SPRING!! 

Welcome to Plover Pit  

Very deep and easily fished from the bank

This location straddles two counties.  Johnson and Bartholomew.  I was operating from Bartholomew County. 

Best 73 and DX!

de KB9BVN

Brian