Tag: Wildcat Mountain
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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…
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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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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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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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A non-QRP post
DIY stuff around the house has been taking up a lot of my time these past few weeks, with a proportionate decrease in park activations! I keep on thinking about sort-of-related things that might make interesting posts though, so here are a few of them for your entertainment: circa 10/13/23: Interesting reading, and maybe a…
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(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…
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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…
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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…