AmateurRadio.com

Judy and I took a walk near Hunkins Pond this afternoon. The fall colors were at their best! 20 meters was pretty good too. I worked Cuba, the UK and Rhode Island.

We hiked west and north on the old range road. When we got to David Swain’s north field, we turned in. The view was stunning. Even though the true temperature was 55F, in the sun it was almost 75F. I set up the Par 3-band end fed wire as an inverted vee over a maple branch and sat down in the sun. It was glorious.

I was running the KD1JV Mountain Topper at 3 watts. As I tuned down the band, I heard T47GDXC calling CQ. This is a special event station from Cuba. We exchanged quick 599’s and I was glad to have one contact under my belt. I had an ear to stations on the band and both eyes on the fantastic view.

Tom G3HGE from England was working one station after another. He and I are old friends and I was anxious to work him again. I called several times but other stations beat me to it. Finally, I got my chance and called him in the clear. “PID?” he sent and I returned with my call sign several times. At last he copied my call and we had a wonderful exchange. He was a solid 569, but I was only 339 to him. “UR signal is dropping to S1,” he sent as I told him I was operating portable in the beautiful outdoors. We signed after a couple of minutes, but I was thrilled to complete a QSO with him for the first time in a month or so. My little Mountain Topper sat in my lap with a notebook on my knee. You’ll see Tom’s call sign in the notebook.

I switched to 40 meters to see how that band was and heard Joe N1EFX in Rhode Island right away. He was calling CQ with a solid 589. He gave me a 449, but copied well, and we chatted for several minutes before signing.

I was satisfied with the contacts and wanted to hike down through the fields a bit before heading home. We headed east and south on the range road and came to Dearborn’s Farm. What a wonderful spot. Shimmering green grass, trees aflame in gold and corn over 8 feet high. We headed into a quiet glen and I took a quick snapshot.

These glorious days are so fleeting. Tomorrow and the next day it’s supposed to rain. We may lose much of the color.