Tag: Wildcat Mountain
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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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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 misty, moisty morning at Wildcat Mountain
Finally, some prime hiking weather! Last evening cool winds from WNW broke the heat of the past few days and brought welcome rain! What else could I do but get up before dawn and head out there for a hike? It was 67 degrees, calm, foggy and overcast when I left; lots of iced coffee…
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A springlike afternoon at Wildcat Mountain
Even though it was late in the day, it was just too nice a day to let the opportunity to play radio slip away! I thought a lot about where to go: new park? different park? but in the end, I went with nearby and familiar. Other than that, everything went well! The X6100 was…
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Winter Field Day, 2025
– a retrospective When I was mostly awake in the dark on Saturday morning, I felt for my watch and found the lower-left button and pressed it once, to shift from local time to what I still often think of as Greenwich Mean Time. Next, the upper-right button to illuminate the face. Eleven-hundred something. Five…
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Ice Cave – status report
After a hike on a new (to me) trail, a return to an old favorite! The Ice Cave trail is a short and enjoyable hike all-year-round, but its special time is winter, when there may be an actual Ice Cave. I must have driven past it 7 or 8 times in the last few months,…
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A wintry activation of US-1480
It was overcast, seventeen degrees, and flurrying gently when I rolled out of the driveway en-route to Wildcat Mountain State Park, and the sun was about to get above the horizon as I was driving along the county highway. As I promptly realized when I got to the park it was just too cold for…
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Back on the air at Wildcat Mountain
It was cool and damp, and the sun was not yet up, when I headed off along the back roads toward my favorite activation spot, hot coffee in hand. Last year on June 25th I activated Wildcat Mountain State Park, US-1480, and started an unbroken string of activating only that park; not by planning or…
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Well, here’s something new: a Wildcat Mountain trifecta
I enjoy hiking in a lot of different ways; sometimes all-eyes-and-ears observing the sight and sounds of life all around; sometimes meditative and full of the spirit of shinrin-yoku; often a mixture of both; sometimes (not often) it’s just pushing along to get to the end of the trail. Today, I don’t know quite why,…
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April omnibus post
Spring is getting pretty firmly established here; though we are still getting some light overnight frosts, the daytime temperatures can get into the 60s. The lakes and streams are still low; we need more rain! Home DIY is taking up a lot of time, and the expanded garden is making increasing demands. I managed to…
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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…