Author: Admim

  • Dell Creek SWA; US-4281

    Dell Creek State Wildlife Area, US-4281, occupies several unconnected tracts of land, mostly in Sauk County, west of the Wisconsin Dells and Mirror Lake State Park. There are 13 parking areas scattered among them to provide access. Early Sunday morning I started at the northernmost ones along Dore Road, which all lacked shade, had lots…

  • Found-materials antenna challenge

    It might have been 2 weeks ago that I stopped in a wayside and saw a tangle of something orange-ish laying on the blacktop as I was leaving; naturally I stopped to pick it up just for the sake of keeping the area clean. It proved to be two lengths of something like 24 gauge…

  • A new park: Willow Creek SFA, US-10646

    Today when I left the house I had a list of parks in my head; some new, a few that I just haven’t visited lately. Necedah, Buckhorn, Rocky Arbor, Dell Creek, Mirror Lake, Natural Bridge, Devil’s Lake, … As I drove away from the KwikTrip with a fresh breakfast sandwich and a big cup of…

  • Back on the air at Wildcat Mountain

    It was cool and damp, and the sun was not yet up, when I headed off along the back roads toward my favorite activation spot, hot coffee in hand. Last year on June 25th I activated Wildcat Mountain State Park, US-1480, and started an unbroken string of activating only that park; not by planning or…

  • Finishing the (tr)uSDX amplified speaker

    June 24th: To quickly recap, the story begins here, and is continued here. All it took, in the end, was actually sitting down at the bench and (gasp!) actually working on it for maybe 40 minutes; I had the last remaining part, an input jack, right there. Finding one was the last thing I did…

  • Adding a solar data thing …

    … to see how it works. it’s a snippet of HTML: inside a “Custom HTML” block. The snippet above is in a “Code” block. I don’t have a sidebar to put it in, though; maybe stick it down on the bottom of the page ? hmm, okay; seems to work at the bottom in the…

  • huh, wow, blindsided by Field Day again

    Check back after the weekend to find out how I deal with it Updated, July 1st: Never was able to get a block of time freed up to do radio, either Saturday or Sunday. Next year!

  • Hamfest!

    It was quarter-to-one Sunday morning when I got up to go to the De Kalb Radio Club’s hamfest in Sandwich, Illinois. I barely had time to shave, dress, and make enough coffee to fill both a big reused Kwik-Trip cup and one of the larger vacuum bottles before it was time to toss my packs…

  • Well, here’s something new: a Wildcat Mountain trifecta

    I enjoy hiking in a lot of different ways; sometimes all-eyes-and-ears observing the sight and sounds of life all around; sometimes meditative and full of the spirit of shinrin-yoku; often a mixture of both; sometimes (not often) it’s just pushing along to get to the end of the trail. Today, I don’t know quite why,…

  • April omnibus post

    Spring is getting pretty firmly established here; though we are still getting some light overnight frosts, the daytime temperatures can get into the 60s. The lakes and streams are still low; we need more rain! Home DIY is taking up a lot of time, and the expanded garden is making increasing demands. I managed to…

  • Camel Bluff again, on a snowy day

    Really, just a few pictures taken this morning. I love hiking when it is snowing; it lays a great silence on the world which makes for a tranquil and invigorating experience. That’s about all for today; it’s still snowing now, hours later. It looks like 3 or 4 inches so far. Radio? Soon! Thanks for…

  • Mill Bluff Trifecta! and a few random notes

    Saturday morning I was up early and managed to get out for a hike before the sun was up; Mill Bluff State Park was my choice. I avoided the three deer crossing the highway and made it to the park just a bit after dawn. Since I had so much time I thought I would…