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Judy and I went to the beach today. Holy cow! It was so perfect… 85F and sunny. The propagation was pretty good too. I worked Colombia, a bunch of the 13 Colonies Special Event stations and had a great QSO with Jim N3JT.

While Judy was swimming, I set up at a bench overlooking Rye Harbor. I used the KX3 and a 33 foot mast with a half wave wire, strapped to the bench.

I used a 9:1 unun between the rig and the wire. It tuned perfectly
on both 20 and 40 meters.

Right away after tuning up on 20 meters, I heard Frank HK1/DL5PV calling CQ. I was surprised that he was so strong. We completed the exchange easily. Then I worked five of the 13 Colonies stations. They were all very strong and I received quick replies.

From the bench I could gaze out at the expanse of the ocean beyond the harbor entrance. In the foreground was a hedge of wild roses (Rosa Rugosa).

The fragrance of the roses enveloped the whole area.

I operated about a half an hour. Here’s my log:

2 Jul-19 1940 14.008 HK1/DL5PV CW 599 599 Colombia
2 Jul-19 1944 14.039 K2L CW 599 599 SC
2 Jul-19 1952 14.023 K2B CW 599 599 VA
2 Jul-19 1958 7028 K2M CW 599 599 PA
2 Jul-19 2000 7034 K2H CW 599 599 MA
2 Jul-19 2010 14.031 K2F CW 599 599 MD
2 Jul-19 2011 14.028 N3JT CW 599 599 VA

Certainly the most fun QSO was the last. Jim N3JT was operating from Virginia with 15W. We had a great path. At one point Jim turned on the amp and ran a KW. His signal jumped several S units. But it still sounded great when he returned to low power. After a few minutes the QSB hit us and we signed.

While I was still at the beach, I received a nice email from Jim.

“Fun QSO for as long as it lasted, Jim! You were honestly S9 at the very beginning, then settled to about S7. But at the end your signal went into the noise.”

No matter. It was a perfect day for an adventure at the beach…. and a perfect spot to play radio for a while.

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