Once all the tax paperwork was signed, copied, and in the mail, I could turn to something more pleasant: getting out to play radio!
Between weather, household tasks, and the general chaos of life, it has been months since the last time I got out to do some POTA; when I look at my logbook it is almost three months since Winter Field Day. I have had the Xiegu 6100 pack in the car for weeks just in case an opportunity presented itself, so when I left the post office I headed for the nearest park, Buckhorn.
From the POTA point of view “Buckhorn” could be any of three entities:
- Buckhorn State Park, US-1443
- Yellow River State Wildlife Area, US-4346, or
- Buckhorn State Wildlife Area, US-12077
which are all contiguous but not overlapping. (alas, no twofers!) I have never activated the Yellow River site (yet); the state park has the best all-year-round access, but my favorite of the three is US-12077, Buckhorn SWA, a relatively new entry on the list. I like to think that its relative rarity (only 469 QSOs, total) makes it more attractive to hunters.
Setting up my usual antenna required a bit of assembly; I took it completely apart (to dry out) back in February.
Getting the antenna back together was easy and quick, same for the rest of the setup. On the air again! I spotted myself and started CQing!
First was a park-to-park contact; it’s always a pleasure to work another activator! Next, a hunter in Massachusetts. Out of nowhere, a DX station in Sweden! More hunters, one every few minutes, some P2P, as QRM kept increasing; finally I had to QSY. A few more hunters, and more (new) QRM, as well. QSY again!
While searching for an empty place I ran into another activator and made another P2P contact, and another, and wow, another DX station! Colombia!
Two DX contacts in one activation is a big first for me!
While tuning around and calling, I had been hearing the distant rumble of thunder occasionally; the cloud cover was increasing and the wind was picking up. I worked a 2-operator P2P, and decided to call it a day. 14 contacts (2 of them DX!), 1 hour 45 minutes on the air, an excellent day!
I was so happy to get out to do radio in the park again, but I chose a good time to quit, too; while I was doing my electronic log a couple of hours later the thunderstorms arrived, heralded by big hail, some over quarter-sized! Over that night we got two more bursts of hail, and about 4 inches of rain.
Thanks for visiting driftlessqrp!
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