It was 60 Degrees today...I just had to POTA

Got off work at 4PM, loaded up and headed south to US-4183 Atterbury FIsh and Wildlife Area, which is about 25 miles away.  By the time I got there, and setup my station, it was 4:40PM.  

KX-2, Paddles and Contact logbook at the ready

I chose the Mink Meadow Marsh as my operating site today, it's paved, dry, surrounded by trees, and easy to get in, and easy to get out. 

I started calling CQ POTA at 4:40PM on 20m, choosing 14.062 Mhz, and I had my tenth contact at 4:53PM.  That's got to be some kind of record for me.  This is the 39th time I have activated this location.  One more and I get the "Repeat Offender" award from POTA. 

By the time I logged number ten, the temperature had dropped to 57F and the wind was starting to pick up. We are still in Eastern Standard Time here until March 9th, so I decided to go ahead and call it an outing and started packing up. 

My entire station fits in a medium sized Apache protective case from Harbor Freight.  The case is full of foam squares you can pick out to form fit your gear.  The outer shell is thick plastic of some kind, is waterproof, and can take some rough handling. 

KX-2 Station in a Apache Case

My poor SUV is in need of a serious bath, I promise on the way home I will run this filthy beast through the car wash.  I have three stickers...one is for Parks on the Air, one I got from the park office in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park...we actually did walk on the Appalachian Trail for a few hundred yards.  The Apple...well that was put there by my son N9AWM.  He knows I am not a fan of Apple and he thought this would be a nice way for me to show the world how much I like Apple. It does make me seem more hip and cool...something I can use more of. 

Also, on a final note, on Sunday our newest Grand Daughter  was born.  She's just wonderful and cute and we can't wait to get our hands on her later this week.  Mom and baby doing well...dad is hard at work. With 13 kids, you have to stay ahead of the curve.  

Until next adventure! 

73 de KB9BVN

Brian

What a day for a QSO

 

Here it is, February 24th, and I can see Springtime from here.  I had hopes of maybe going to the park today but the temps only got to the low 50's briefly, and then the sky got overcast and now it looks like some rain may be headed our way. 

In preparation for another Parks on the Air season, I spent most of yesterday afternoon making up a couple new battery packs.  One for the Elecraft KX-2 and one for my Elecraft K1.  Both are nice smallish radio that are easy to take outdoors and operate.  My K1 is the K1 I built in May of 2002.  I purchased the kit from Wayne Burdick N6KR as he was at Dayton Hamvention selling Elecraft wares.  Wayne is a co-founder of the Elecraft company, know for their high quality amateur radio transceivers, amplifiers, and antenna accessories.  My K1 is serial number 1205, and it covers four bands - 15m, 20m, 30m, and 40m.  So it comes in real handy for Parks on the Air. 

I got these batteries from Amazon.  They are 3 cell lithium batteries made with the ever popular 18650 lithium cell from China.  The come with a two pin connector, and the radios need a 5.5mm by 2.1mm Male DC Power plug.  So I had to cut off the two pin connectors and solder on the male plugs.  Not real pretty but works very well.  The battery pictured here fits in my Elecraft KX-2 radio. 

KX-2 Spare Battery

The other battery I made is for my Elecraft K1 radio, so I put a longer cord on it. 

These batteries are 3.7vdc Lithium cells, commonly known as the 18650. If you own a Tesla, you're familiar with these as there are hundreds, if not thousands of these in some models.

Three of these calls in this configuration will deliver 12.3vdc fully charged, and you should recharge them when that drops below 11.1vdc,  As a rule of thumb you don't want to run them down much below 10vdc as it will cause them to wear out prematurely, and nobody has time for that.  So today during my lunch break I got out the old K1 and a set of vintage Ten Tec CW paddles, and got on the air.  The battery performed very well.  I was able to make 16 or 17 contacts with various park operators in about an hour.  Battery started out at 12.1vdc.  Then I tuned to the 30m band (10.117 Mhz) and started calling CQ and was answered by Tom Johnson K8TLJ over in Bloomingdale Ohio.  He's located in East Central Ohio...about 20-25 miles from West Virginia and not too far from Pittsburgh.  i was running 4 watts of power to my attic dipole antenna.  The K1 has an antenna tuner built in, so I was able to match the radio to the antenna.  Tom and I chatted for close to 20 minutes, he's a retiree, and has quite a nice station setup. 

Tom Johnson K8TLJ of Bloomingdale Ohio

We carried on for about 20 minutes and we covered the weather, our ages, what we do for work, and what kind of station setup we were running.  It was a great QSO and I will make sure to send him a QSL card in the US Mail tomorrow. 

I just looked at the weather (WX in ham terms) and it might hit 60 this week...but it'll be raining. So no Parks on the Air for right now, but it's getting close! 

My K1 station today, with vintage Ten Tec Paddles 

Fun facts about Bloomingdale Ohio:  The village was formed between 1816 and 1822 and in 1850 the population was 184.  Population peaked at 339 in 1950, and sits at 135 as of 2023.  It is located in Jefferson County Ohio on the border of West Virginia.  50 Miles east of Pittsburgh PA.

Bloomingdale is the site of a Camaldolese monastic community at Holy Family Hermitage, part of the Congregation of Monte Corona. 

Best 73 and here's to better weather soon!!

de KB9BVN

Brian

Tap Tap Tap...Is this thing on?

 

Good grief.  This page of my ramblings has been snoozing since last fall.  I did have a POTA activation in October but for some reason I didn't journal it here. Give me a break...I'm a Great Grandpa now.  Last October I activated none other than the Atterbury Fish and Wildlife Area on the 2nd and the 7th.  These two activations were number 46 and number 47.  I had my heart set on hitting the 50th before the end of 2024 but it just wasn't in the cards.  

Lot's of stuff in the family going on that kept me otherwise occupied.  The most exciting thing was on Halloween, Oct 31 2024, my great grandson was born.  The little guy had to struggle from the very beginning and we had some stressful days at the hospital.  Glad to say all is well, and he is a perfectly healthy little baby boy today.  We now have seventeen grandchildren, and one great grandchild.  The even better news is that in March we add one more grandbaby, and in October we add another great grandchild. God has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams.  

Great Grandson Helping Papaw at Work

In November, we had two family members in the hospital fighting cancer.  We spent a considerable amount of time visiting and checking on them.  They are not out of the woods yet but the prognosis is very positive.  We still have a lot of praying to do, and trying to keep up with the doctors and the hospitals, and the treatment schedules has been an interesting endeavor. 

Then winter got here, then the holidays, and sub zero temperatures, and I just don't feel like POTA when it's that cold, and blustery.  

In February we got teased with a couple days in the 60's, but not sunny, just drizzle and rain.  Looks like single digits again next week....I remind myself that Spring is a mere 37 days away, and I am running out of patience with Winter.  But...whuddya do?

So my plan this year, is to get out as much as I can, and visit some new parks.  I'm not trying to win a prize or anything I just enjoy operating in the outdoors.  Maybe this year I can get my wife to tag along on more outings, we always have a good time when she does.  I also have a couple of grandchildren that are smart enough and old enough to study for and pass the Tech and General exams. We'll be working on that, as they would be great fun to have with me on my adventures.  One thing I did not do much of last year, was fishing.  This year I am going to keep my gear in the SUV for fishing at POTA sites when the bands are quiet.  

Wayne AC9HP set up a SES (Special Event Station) as W9L to celebrate the 216th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president.  So I have been running the W9L callsign on HF today off and on, managed 43 contacts and 28 states all QRPish CW.  SESs can be a lot of fun.  We get to use W9L until 00:00 02/18/25 so watch the spotting networks for us. 

Well that's about it, if anyone is still reading this, thank you.  

73 de KB9BVN