Drawing upon my experiences last Monday, I left the house as the sun was rising:
A quick stop at KwikTrip for lots of coffee, then rather more than an hour of driving, finally brought me to the perfect twofer spot that I scouted out last week. Though the day was sunny and the forecast promised a high of 40 degrees, right now it was in the mid-to-upper 20s with a chilly breeze, so operating from the car seemed like the wise choice.
Tripod, pole, telescoping whip; radio, (don’t forget to connect the antenna!) battery, logbook; I found an empty bit of airwaves, and after a few “is this frequency in use?” calls I started CQing and spotted myself.
In all things radio, expect the unexpected! My second or third CQ got a reply! That one finished, QRZ brought another! Next one I had to pull out of a pileup; “the November 5 station again, please?” and pileup conditions continued for a couple of log pages. “Station ending in Echo, go.” “The park-to-park station?” Once in a while I could even copy a whole callsign in one go.
Conditions were about usual for 20 meters, with a lot of sudden and deep fading, which often was of short duration, thankfully. Suddenly a DX station came up on frequency and started calling CQ North America; he obviously couldn’t hear my 10 watts, (I tried calling him a few times myself) but he got a reply, and another, and built a big pileup quickly. Time to QSY, I guess …
After finding another clear frequency and spotting myself again things slowed down to a minute or so between calls, and I filled a couple more pages in the log, then it slowed down some more, and then I flipped The Last Page in the Logbook! I filled that page about 2/3 of the way down, called Last Call a few times, then called and spotted myself as QRT (thank you, hunters!).
Turned off the radio, took a couple of deep breaths, poured a fresh cup of coffee (the previous one had gone cold), and considered the situation. Counted the QSOs, holy cow, fifty! (actually 49, there was a dupe in there). First CQ to last QRT, 73 minutes. Wow. That was a surprise. My last few attempts at activating were so dismal, my expectations were low, and hopes were not even in the menu of options. I was forgetting to expect the unexpected!
After I took down the antenna and packed up, the Ice Age Trail tempted me to take a hike, but the wind cutting through my jacket dissuaded me. I drove home instead. The first hike of 2026 is still pending.
It’s getting late, and I want to post this while it’s still fresh!
Thanks for visiting driftlessqrp!