QRP in the Driftless
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Dare we hope that Punxsutawney Phil was right?
Barring a couple days of polar weather about 2 weeks ago, the weather in the Driftless has been unusually mild in the month that has passed since the annual proclamation, which, unusually, was for an early spring. This has only occurred 21 times in the138 year history of the noted weather prophet. I greeted the…
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Staying in that rut
After the last post I resolved to go to a different park next time; alas, that resolution evaporated last Saturday morning just after I got my coffee (big cup and full vacuum bottle) at the local Kwik Trip! Onward to Wildcat Mountain! The moon was setting, near the horizon, as I drove westward, and soon…
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In a rut
A few days ago I noticed (looking at my POTA stats) that since last June the only park I have activated has been good old K-1480, Wildcat Mountain! Not sure just how that came about; I started 2023 with a string of new (to me) parks. I think I need to get back into that…
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Winter Field Day 2024 at Wildcat Mountain
WFD is, first & foremost, an emergency communications exercise conducted under less-than-optimal conditions (at least for those of us in the Northern states, lol). This year I made a virtue of necessity and used my lack of planning (see the previous post) as part of the exercise; after all, emergencies do not give us advance…
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Winter Field Day is next weekend
and I have done nothing to prepare for it, nothing at all. Radios are packed at least; with fully charged batteries. Probably I will go to a park, but which one? https://winterfieldday.org/ for details about this annual event, or visit here a day or two later to read all about what I did. Thanks for…
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Word cloud
in lieu of any other content: I have always thought word clouds were cool, so when I visited wmtips.com recently I saw this and made a screenshot of it. It seems to only encompass the main page’s content. Maybe I will look for a WordPress plug-in or widget to do this for the whole site.…
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Last hike of 2023, and first hike of 2024
On the 30th, and again on the 1st, I hiked the Ice Cave trail at Wildcat Mountain S. P. to commemorate the passing of the calendar year and to start off the new one in a spirit of happy outdoor fun, also to carry on the struggle to stay in shape for the milder months!…
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A hiking-centric Christmas in the Driftless
The weather has been anomalously warm the past few days (mostly in the 40s day and night), overcast, with generous amounts of dense fog, and no serious social obligations anywhere, so we have been getting in a hike every day ! I try to always have a radio packed, in case I suddenly feel the…
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Hung a new antenna today!
It seems like just yesterday I was thinking about getting an antenna up in the trees at home … Now, as the sun sets, I have one! The day started sunny and cold, but after noon sunny was winning and the temperature got up to around 30. I had all the necessary stuff handy (I’ve…
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A post about many things
re: Field Day 2023 The December issue of QST arrived a while ago and I invested maybe 15 minutes looking through the fine print for my score: 440 points. I think that my claimed bonus for Public Information Display was rejected; not unfairly mind you, it was a bit skimpy. Eh, surest way to fail…
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An amusing juxtaposition
seen on the kitchen table yesterday. Nothing, otherwise; certainly no radio; home DIY is absorbing a lot of time as a project draws to a close. Maybe next week, right? (rueful lol) Thanks for visiting! Please leave a comment if you get what I found amusing in that picture, or if you just have a…
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Cut down my knee board today
When I made this I cut it to fit in a good-sized backpack, never thinking that I might want to use it with any of the smaller packs that I more often use for portable operating; this is why it gets carried hanging outside the pack from a carabiner. Today I had a few moments…
A backwater of the Mississippi River in the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge on a gloomy, chilly day in early November, viewed from the Lower Diversion Dike Trail.
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