Category: Uncategorized
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Coulee Experimental State Forest, K-5578
Woke up this morning thinking “activate a new park today”, but which one? In the end I decided to try Coulee Experimental State Forest, K-5578 again. (for my previous attempt, click here). It was an ideal day for a wire antenna and I quickly hung my 20 meter dipole from some sapling trees and turned…
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Slingshots
I have always liked a slingshot of one kind or another as an aid to getting a wire up in a tree. I still have the Wrist-Rocket that I bought from L. L. Bean back when they were an obscure sporting-goods store in Maine, and it has served me well all of those years, (allowing…
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Wildcat Mountain, K-1480
Well I got lucky with the weather on Tuesday; though it was 26 degrees overnight the forecast called for a daytime high in the upper 40s. I decided to keep everything simple, so equipped with plenty of hot coffee, I headed for Wildcat Mountain State Park, K-1480. Setting up the Buddipole 20m vertical took about…
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QRPguys Multi-Z Tuner kit arrived last week
I have been wanting a really small tuner to use with the Penntek TR-35, and I have had my eye on the QRPguys Multi-Z tuner for some time. It was kind of a toss-up between this and the Emtech ZM-2; they both have good word-of-mouth. Haven’t even opened the bag yet. More to come, soon!…
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Scouting a couple of parks, and the antenna build continues
While running errands today I went a bit out of my way to visit two parks I have not activated yet: Buckhorn State Park , K-1443 and the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, K-0603. I am rushing through this post, so I will just say that they are both lovely parks, ideal for radio, and I…
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Antenna build is on hiatus until next weekend, and another week goes by without an activation
Also, the finished dimensions are way less than perfect, though for what it’s worth I really did just pick them out of the air; it needs to be wider to provide space for the tripod head, and the 1/4″ hole might need to be a bit off center for the same reason. Maybe I will…
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Antenna build progress
In the spirit of full disclosure, this project got started when I was reading about the QRPguys DS1 antenna kit in late February; when I looked at the DS1 on their website it was not available to ship at that time (nor is it today). Looking a bit further, I realized that I already had…
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A hike or two, and all sorts of unrelated miscellany
With many updates; February 28th to March 9th Cold on Saturday and Sunday, raining on Monday, it was never quite a weekend for radio. Tuesday (February 28th) was sunny, if hazy, and the temperature made it into the 40s; I didn’t feel like taking the time for a park activation but I did go out…
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Mirror Lake SP, K-1464
On Saturday night I was musing over the POTA map and my road maps, wanting another new park to activate and it struck me suddenly that Mirror Lake State Park, K-1464 which I really only knew of from a sign and a quick glimpse of water when driving by on the interstate, was actually right…
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Activating Kickapoo River SWA, K-4296
For a while now, I have been wanting to activate a new park, and last Tuesday offered the opportunity to do so. An overcast day in the low 40s with a chance of some rain in the afternoon was the forecast, and that’s good enough for operating from the car. My last try for a…
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The trees know that spring is coming …
Yesterday I was in the neighborhood of Mill Bluff S. P. (K-1463) and the weather was unusually mild for this time of year, so it seemed like it might just be time for a quick hike through the woods! The Camel Bluff trail was slippery with half-melted snow and irregular semi-ice and I was glad…
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A day of exploration, and an activation at Wildcat Mountain (with QRP DX !)
I woke up early Sunday morning knowing that the weather forecast was for fair and mild conditions, the 20 meter band conditions were good, and I wanted to activate a new park! There were several possibilities, none particularly nearby, and after a few moments of study I decided to try Coulee Experimental State Forest near…