On the way out to my lunchtime portable operating location I dropped just over 30 QSL cards in the mailbox. Can't wait to see if I start getting more back now that I have sent some.
Today was a fun day on the radio. 20 meters was nice and quiet. 17M had lots of noise at my location, and really only heard one QSO, so I stuck with 20 meters and was rewarded with several nice contacts.
With one eye on the SOTA Goat iPhone app, it is always nice to see some SOTA spots.
W4TZM - Tom was activating W3/SV-004 Ritchey Knob in Pennsylvania. He was only 229 here but he gave me a 599.
W2LJ - Larry, the blogging and lunchtime portable legend was calling CQ and I got lucky enough to grab him! He was 449 and he gave me a 559. Larry operates with a Buddistick on top of his Jeep from the parking lot at his office over the lunch hour. He also keeps a great blog at http://w2lj.blogspot.com/. Great to work you today Larry! 2xQRP and 2xKX3 QSO.
K1JD - John answered my CQ - he was sending faster than I liked. John was in Santa Fe, NM and mentioned something about SOTA. I asked if he was on a peak, and he never responded. Either I couldn't hear him or he got tired of me asking for QRS repeats :) 2xQRP and 2xKX3 QSO.
K0JQZ - Frank was activating W7Y/PA-103 Notch Mountain in Wyoming. He was 559 here and he gave me a 559.
KU6J - Eric was activating W6/NS-211 with no name, just a number Pt. 7481 in the Northern Sierras of California. He was a 449 here and gave me a 549.
I would call that a good day! 3 SOTA stations at least and W2LJ who's blog I read everday - can't get much better than that.
Good morning Burke, very nice blog always nice to see another QRP blog out there! I have had plans for some time now ( not yet have done it) to bring my KX3 into work. I am not able to get out at lunch to get on the bands but I can get a good hour in before work starts.
ReplyDeleteMike
Thanks for checking in Mike! The key for me was finding an antenna that could be put up in just a couple of minutes. When I first tried this I would go to a park and throw a line in a tree and pull up the wire. This was simply a hassle, but with my new setup it only takes about a minute and I am ready to attach coax to the rig.
ReplyDeleteLet me know if you ever give it a try, and thanks for reading!
Burke I have not as of yet done the toss an antenna into the trees thing....I have the Alexloop and when close to the car I have a host of mono band whip antennas I put on the car.
ReplyDeleteMike
Burke, thanks for the QSOs and QSLs. I will be returning some to you shortly. I did want to point out that on 6 Aug I was on two summits but the one we had a QSO on was W7Y/PA-163 vice PA-103.
ReplyDeleteIt is great to hear a new callsign in the mix while activating summits. I hope to hear you acyivate a summit soon, it is a thrill. Also, I am interested in your antenna design that your are using portable.
73
Frank
K0JQZ
Thanks for checking in Frank! I have updated my chaser log, I appreciate you letting me know. I think I copied that location from SOTA GOAT - not always sure how accurate that is. Looks like fun to be an activator - definitely on my bucket list!
ReplyDelete