Tag: Buddipole
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Antenna notes
So it has been about a week (or more?) since I dried out all the Buddipole components (I hope, lol), which is to say about a week that the testing and inspection has been … pending. I started this morning by identifying the 3 calibration plugs for the NanoVNA (this turned out to be easy…
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Wildcat Mountain, again
I was feeling kind of “on a roll” this morning, after two successful activations. When I set out today, I had a couple of options; do some POTA, or run errands. Even as I left home I was not certain which way to go, but I brought the radio bag just in case. It was…
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Winter Field Day
On Sunday morning the weather had moderated a bit; the pre-dawn temperature was -12F, and I felt a bit more energetic than I did on Saturday. I still waited until about noon to set out, and I needed to deploy my battery charger / jump starter to get the car started. As usual, my first…
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2025 Field Day results are out!
December QST arrived about a week ago (I still pay extra for the print version) and after reading the Elecraft KH1 review (more about this later) I browsed the rest of the magazine and much to my surprise, there were the Field Day results! I scanned 1B – Battery – Single Op several times and…
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Testing the X6100 at Wildcat Mountain
The radio seemed to work okay with the new firmware update; I asked particularly for reports on my signal and audio; “just fine” was the typical response. (lol, insofar as anyone can tell when they’re giving me a 33 signal report). Here’s one ominous note: the volume knob froze on me again. It doesn’t seem…
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Radio surgery, part 3
Xiegu X6100 battery replacement, and a sampler of other stuff going on … First, the battery stuff: There’s a computer occupying my electronics bench right now, I need to get that out of the way so I can finish this battery change job. Watch for the next post! Activating US-12077 again It’s always a good…
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Two activations and a window sill
Wildcat Mountain State Park, US-1480 A cool and sunny Sunday morning made for a very pleasant drive through the woods and farm fields on the way to Wildcat Mountain State Park. It felt good to get out in the field again! Setup (in the customary location) was quick and routine. When I turned on the…
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Field Day 2025
It’s like the opposite ends of the spectrum, really; 10 years ago I was doing Field Day with a big club; 8 or 10 stations, each in their own tent, running from a big generator set and operating the full 24 hours … a couple of times I was even the chair, and wore my…
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A quick visit to Buckhorn SWA, US-12077
I was up early today, with a choice: hike, or play radio? Radio won today, and I headed for Buckhorn SWA. We had thunderstorms last night and it was still windy and overcast. I imagine that the trails would be muddy and slippery. I remembered to bring along a long tape measure, so while setting…
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Spring in the Kickapoo Valley, at US-4296
In the morning I wasn’t even thinking about radio, but with an early start on the household stuff, as noon approached the vista of the afternoon opened before me. I mulled over the POTA map for a few minutes and for some reason Kickapoo Valley SWA seemed like a good idea. Looking back, I see…
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Buckhorn SWA again
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…
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A double activation at Buckhorn
It seemed a little weird, is all; the last two times I went to activate Buckhorn State Park something interfered and no activating happened. Yesterday I decided to invoke the “third time lucky” clause and went back. The day started out lightly overcast and a bit below freezing, but the sun broke through early and…