April Fools Day, (Election Day in Wisconsin), though chilly, overcast, and windy, nevertheless provided a few unallocated hours for an afternoon activation, and I chose Buckhorn State Wildlife Area as my site. As a relatively new entity it has only been activated 4 times, 5 if you count this one; the leaderboard hasn’t even fully filled up yet!
It was back to winter operating conditions again, but propagation was good, if prone to sudden and drastic fading; 19 contacts got logged in 35 minutes on the air, then suddenly the calls stopped. I CQed for a while, then called and spotted QRT and folded everything up.
This was the first time operating with the new 18 foot (? that’s what the ad copy says) whip I purchased to replace the broken one (the first 3 sections fell apart in my hands the last time I tried to deploy it). I bought the cheaper alternative on Amazon; $21 with M10 thread vs. $76 with 3/8-24 thread since I already have the necessary adapter.
SWR was fairly flat, but over 3:1 across the band, so I operated through the X6100’s ATU. In milder weather (soon, I hope) I will measure and adjust as needed to restore the old setup’s excellent no-tuner performance; maybe even replace that tangled mess I call a counterpoise!
A short post, and a late one; almost two weeks old! I’m sure I have forgotten interesting details, and I’ll try to do better next time.
Thanks for visiting driftlessqrp!
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