Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Quick Outing to the Winnipesaukee River
August 7th, 2013 | 
Author: Today my wife, Judy and I took a quick bike ride along the Winnipesaukee River. I stopped in a beautiful spot and operated for 15 minutes. I worked Macedonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, and Italy.
What a glorious summer afternoon. The fields and farm land engulfed us as we rode along the trail in the warm sun. We stopped across from a small pond and walked into the woods and sat down on some rocks right at the river’s edge.
I heaved a 33 foot wire over some branches and set up the KX3 on the rocks. I operated on both 17 meters and 20 meters. There were plenty of strong stations on both bands. Here’s my log:
7 Aug-13 1950 14.010 Z320G CW 599 599 Macedonia
7 Aug-13 1955 14.009 9A2AJ CW 559 599 Croatia
7 Aug-13 2000 18.068 OK2AN CW 579 599 Czech Rep
7 Aug-13 2001 18.083 9A2YM CW 599 599 Croatia
7 Aug-13 2005 18.072 IK2SND CW 599 599 Italy
After making several QSOs, I packed up and got ready to head back. I’ve operated from this spot perhaps a half a dozen times. I’ve enjoyed it each time. I head up the hill to the bicycle and ride back.
Great weather and contesting.
One observation I made before surrendering to the great weather outside was in Ontario our section is no longer ON. This changed a short time ago when the province was divided into 4 sections Ontario North (ONN), Ontario East (ONE), Ontario south (ONS) and finally greater Toronto area (GTA) In the contest I would attempt to send ONS but most of the time I could only get to ON....my "S" was interrupted with TU.
This is really was not the fault of the contester as I found N1MM auto filled my section as ON and not ONS. Not sure if my N1MM is up to date and that change has been made but it was tough getting the ONS across during the contest. My contest effort stopped about an hour into the it. I made 17 contacts but the weather was calling my name. I figured the good weather days are going to become limited and soon the snow and cold weather will be here.....then lots of time to spend on the radio.
This coming weekend is the Skeeter hunt contest. This is the second running of the contest. I found it was a nice way to spend 4 hours of your Sunday afternoon. You are encouraged to get out into the out of doors for this contest. This year if you can operate beside a body of water you get bonus points!! I have scouted out two locations close to home were water (river) is....have to make my mind up as to where I will be heading. I had a look at the long range forecast today and Sunday is looking great!
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Working DF1LX (Peter) from the River
Dear Peter – What a wonderful QSO with you from along the riverside! I promised I would send some pictures and here they are. I am also writing you a note with a full account of my radio adventure this afternoon including our QSO. I also worked Columbia and Denmark.
The journey starts when I take the bicycle out of my VW camper on the old road that runs along the river and goes to New Hampton. The road has a gate, so to proceed, one must use a bicycle, a horse, or go on foot.
The road hasn’t been used regularly since the 1940s. It’s beautiful and passes through old farm land. When I first came to this spot nearly 40 years ago, a farmer grazed his cattle in the nearby fields. After cycling for a kilometer or so, I come to a corner with a perfect view of the river.
I continue another 2 km and come to an old bridge abutment. The bridge is no longer there, but there is a small clearing under some tall trees where I like to operate.
I pull the equipment from my bag and heave a line up about 12 meters over an oak branch. Then I pull up a 10 meter wire. It is perfectly vertical, and I sit down directly under it.
Today I am using the KX3 at five watts. The coax runs to a 9:1 unun and then to the antenna. At first I listen on 20 meters and hear HK1R calling CQ from Columbia. We quickly exchange 599s, and I switch to 15 meters. There you are, and I call. You know the rest, but for the sake of other readers, I will say you are 589 and you give me a 569. I tell you that I am QRP and portable near the river. You send, “solid copy from UR QRP DR Jim.” While we are chatting, you find my web page and comment on the pictures. I promise to send you some photos from today. We continue for more than 20 minutes. I am amazed that you can copy my tiny signal so well! Finally the QSB arrives and you drop down to 549… Surely you can not copy much of what I am sending at the end… You send, “So now I have got some QSB x Perhaps conditions are changing.” With that we say goodbye. What a wonderful contact half way around the world.
Before packing up, I go to 17 meters and make a quick contact with OV1CDX on Sjaelland Island in Denmark. Frank is 599 and he gives me a 559. I am overjoyed and walk down to the old bridge site to take a picture.
I drink in the view, being careful to avoid the poison ivy! It’s everywhere here. And I walk back to the operating position and pack everything away for the ride back.
Peter, I hope you can now imagine how much fun I have on these radio outings. What could be better than a ride through glorious countryside… add to that a QSO with DF1LX and a perfect afternoon is guaranteed. Thank you, my friend. 73 Jim W1PID
DX from Old Hill Village
This afternoon I rode my bicycle to Old Hill Village and worked Cuba, Ukraine, Spain, Belgium and Denmark. It was a fantastic afternoon.
I took the trail south from Needle Shop Brook. It was glorious. The road winds through fields and old farm land. One section close to the river is lined with helianthus flowers.
Hill Village lies on the opposite side of the Pemigewasset River from Sanbornton. The old road runs along the river from Franklin, through Hill Village to Bristol. The road has been closed since the 1940s when the area was abandoned to create a flood control area for the Franklin Falls Dam. It’s a perfect spot for a bike ride.
Today was crystal clear with a good breeze. It was nearly 75F… one of those summer days when kids swing from ropes and do somersaults into the river. After peddling more than two miles, I set up under an old butternut tree across from a field of goldenrod.
I tossed a line 40 feet into the tree and pulled up 30 feet of wire. I sat down in the grass and tuned the Elecraft KX3 on 17 meters. I used a 9:1 unun from the Emergency ARC in Honolulu. I was running five watts.
I only operated for a half an hour. But there were plenty of strong stations
on 17M that heard my weak signal. I had no trouble working into Europe.
Rather than detailing each QSO, here’s a copy of my log:
30 Jul-13 1934 18.078 CO8LY CW 599 599 Cuba
30 Jul-13 1936 18.077 UT7UJ CW 599 599 Ukraine
30 Jul-13 1940 18.085 EA7AJR CW 559 599 Spain
30 Jul-13 1942 18.087 ON7PQ CW 339 579 Belgium
30 Jul-13 1955 18.090 OO8ZL CW 599 599 Belgium
30 Jul-13 2000 18.074 OZ2TF CW 559 599 Denmark
The view from my operating position was refreshing. Ironically, I had more trouble taking down the antenna than I had putting it up. In fact, I left a spool of wire stuck fast in a branch high in the tree. A knot in my line got stuck in a tight spot and wouldn’t come loose. When I tugged hard on the line, it snapped and left the spool of wire high above the road.
Returning to Needle Shop Brook was a treat. I didn’t just ride the bike back, I soared, seemingly several feet above the road. The fragrance of the summer air caressed my whole being and my eyes absorbed the richness of the wild growth along the riverside. I thoroughly enjoy these outings.
Tom Christian, VP6TC SK
VP6TC/VR6TC, Tom Christian, longtime famous ham from Pitcairn Island, who probably gave most of us that "new one," has passed away, peacefully, on July 7th. Tom was diagnosed with possible Parkinson's and early signs of Alzheimer's/dementia in December, 2009, while on a family visit in New Zealand.
His wife, VP6YL/VR6YL, Betty Christian, says his health "deteriorated all too quickly," and the last few months were "cruel ones to watch such a strong, vibrant man reduced to where he was not really aware of his surroundings and then was unable to walk and swallow food or liquid."
Tom was buried July 8th in the cemetery on Pitcairn. Lack of available transportation prevented most of Tom and Betty's children making it back for the funeral. Tom was known as the "Voice of Pitcairn," was an M.B.E., Member of the British Empire, and served on the Pitcairn Island Council as the Governor's Representative for 40 years.
Art Bell, W6OBB, returns to radio
Art Bell, W6OBB, photo courtesy of QRZ.com
Radio legend Art Bell, W6OBB, has announced that he will be returning to the air via satellite and Internet streaming starting Monday, September 16, 2013. His new show will be carried by SirusXM Channel 104 Monday through Thursday from 10pm to 1am Eastern time. The new show will be called “Art Bell’s Dark Matter” and will explore the paranormal and unexplained, according to a SiriusXM press release and his website.
At his peak in the late 1990s, Bell’s show Coast To Coast AM had nearly 15 million listeners and was syndicated on 500 AM/FM stations. Since his surprise retirement in October, 1998, he has left and returned to the air a number of times. His most recent hiatus from broadcasting, over 6 years beginning in July, 2007, was the longest break Bell has had from regular broadcasting. Coast To Coast AM did continue after Bell’s retirement, but I honestly never found the new hosts to be as enjoyable — probably because Bell is so talented.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSm-eYaQJa8
Working overnight shifts in the 1990s, I would enjoy listening to Bell’s show. I enjoyed the sometimes bizarre and almost always intriguing topics he would cover. Listening to the show in the car at 2am had a bit of a spookiness to it. It’s hard to explain. Maybe someone else can comment on why Bell was so successful. I can’t be the only one here who listened to his show on a regular basis.
If you’ve never had the chance to listen, you can hear random shows from Bell’s career on a show called Somewhere In Time which features a random show from Bell’s broadcasting career.
I don’t have SiriusXM service, but I may just have to take advantage of their 30-day free trial to hear if Bell still has the radio magic he had 20 years ago.
