Two activations and a window sill – QRP in the Driftless

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 radio, there was KR4CEL in a park in Maryland, right on frequency! What a great start for the day!

I tuned around, found a vacant area, and self-spotted; the next hour netted twelve more contacts. Chris in Harrisburg thanked me for a new park! Signal reports increasingly mentioned fading and interference; after 10 minutes without any calls I called (and spotted) Last Call, then QRT.

Two months ago I posted a picture of a fog-filled valley; this is the same valley on a clear and sunny day!

No connecting lines? No idea why, not a big problem, either.

A homeowner’s DIY interlude

The weather was still cool when I returned home, perfect for finishing a project!

A window sill needed to be replaced (long story short; old house, rotted wood).

After removing a lot of rotten chunks and powder the gaps and voids have been filled with spray foam and capped with a 1×4 secured to the remaining structure within the wall.

This stuff rocks! Limited expansion force and zero odor, perfect! I underestimated the amount I would need, however … which required a late-in-the-day journey to the Home Depot in Lake Delton.

Careful measurement and Sawzall work produced a replacement sill from a 2×6, which was inserted into a wall cavity completely lined with more spray foam. Three long screws completed the job.

Tomorrow, another radio day!

Buckhorn State Wildlife Area, US-12077

Another wonderful morning, another pleasant drive!

20 meters was a little busier today, so it took a couple of tries to get on an empty frequency with no QRM, but I spotted myself and started getting calls. The first one was a park-to-park twofer; thanks NC4XL for getting my activation off to a great start!

I started using the waterfall on the X6100 to time my CQing; nothing too fanatical, just as a kind of guide: when the track of my call disappears it’s okay to call again.

After an initial rush, calls tapered off and QRM started coming up; first a tuner-upper, then a round-table in Spanish that kept increasing in strength. QSY, only to find even louder interference. QSY again. OK, this is good. Re-re-spot.

More contacts … a guy with what sounded like RF in his audio – distorted, but I was able to catch just enough to complete an exchange. Another park-to-park, this one with with K4DSX, who was working towards his Kilo Award, congratulations, Rod!

QRM coming up again, so I do Last Call, and there’s a hunter! Last Call again; another hunter! The QRM is audible enough now that I can hear another activator in a park, or rather the pileup trying to work him, so I spot myself as QRT and shut down.

Lines are back, don’t ask me why, I did nothing different (as far as I know … )

This is a link to my current supplier of free QSO-maps-on-demand. Thank you!

Well, I need to get started canning tomato juice (the garden is doing great) so I will just thank all of my readers for visiting driftlessqrp! More, soon!