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