Tag: Buddipole

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • (tr)uSDX and X6100 at Wildcat Mountain

    Well, in accordance with my last post there seemed to be nothing left to try but to take the (tr)uSDX out to a park and try it on a resonant antenna, and the next day seemed to be free, so it was up before dawn to make coffee and sandwiches, load the car with radio…

  • A day at Wildcat Mountain

    I mainly went out to Wildcat Mountain to test and adjust my wire antennas, so I brought a couple of radios, all of my antennas, and a variety of test equipment. I set up just off the upper parking area near one of the trailheads of Old Settler’s Trail, which is one of my favorite…

  • Back in the field (at last!) – Wildcat Mountain, K-1480

    It was 7:44when I pulled into the only partly-shaded space in the upper lot at Wildcat Mountain State Park; I shut off the engine and thought “let’s see if I can be set up and on the air by 8:00!”. By 7:55 the 17′ whip was up on the Buddipole and I was turning on…

  • Field Day, Day 2

    The rain did quit sometime overnight, so I got up a bit before 4:00, made plenty of coffee, and got on the road back to Wildcat Mountain State Park, K-1480. Though I drove slowly and watchfully to avoid deer, I was at the park a few minutes before it opened at 6:00. (Deer are termed…

  • Field Day, Day 1

    My planning for Field Day was kind of sketchy, and not at all ambitious, so I grabbed my radio pack after lunch and arrived at Wildcat Mountain State Park a bit before 2:00, or already almost an hour into the event. It took me about 20 minutes to set up the X6100 and the 20…

  • Devil’s Lake State Park, K-1449 and Ice Age National Scenic Trail, K-4238

    After a weekend of chilly and rainy weather there came a day where the forecast promised slightly nicer conditions, and I had scouted out this location a few weeks earlier on a trip to the Menard’s in Baraboo. I got there early and considered operating outdoor portable for the first time this year, but a…

  • Dell Creek SWA, K-4281

    I needed to visit the Home Depot in Lake Delton today, and I really wanted to do another activation, too. I brought the dream and the reality together by stopping at Dell Creek State Wildlife Area, K-4281 along the way! Once I found an access with parking, (off Town Hall road, north of North Avenue),…

  • 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…

  • 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…