October: ZA/AE5X update

I've been getting a few emails asking for more info on our upcoming trip to Albania.

Thanks to Col at DX World for the image and to Bernie at the Daily DX - and to both of them for publicizing this holiday style operation that will begin in October.

I'd like to emphasize that this is a vacation, not a DXpedition. All radio ops will be a bit on the spur-of-the-moment but I will be able to pre-announce them on my blog and the POTA website a couple hours beforehand.

Dates:

• 8-13 October in Theth National Park in northern Albania. I plan to *try* to activate it but will be surrounded by mountains. NVIS?
• 13-18 October we'll be in the Tirana area and I plan to be on the air from the old Radio Tirana site 40 minutes west of the city.
• 18-30 October - southern Albania, Gjirokaster and near beaches.

 

Video: QDX-M assists in the rescue of a spelunker

The low-frequency capability of Hans G0UPL's QDX-M proved its worth in Alberta last week.

Rescuers attempting to retrieve a cave explorer made use of a QDX-M built for the 2200 meter band (136 kHz) which, evidently, will allow communications through solid rock.

The rescue was successful and can be read about here:

Calgary Herald

CBC

According to Hans:

"There is a request to make the QDX-M firmware operational down to 88 kHz which is where the UK and European cave rescue services have an allocation. I will try to get that done in the next week or two.

W7, VE7 ops...and booking ahead for ZA

We've arrived at cooler temps and have been at our AirBnB for several days now, located between Courtenay BC and Strathcona Provincial Park. We see snow on the mountaintops from our balcony - what a concept!

Mount Rainier was our last stop before taking the ferry over from Port Angeles WA to Victoria BC.

We did a 4 mile hike there and came face to face with a black bear heading  our way on the trail. We walked away from it slowly, it did the same. I walked backwards and opened my phone's camera app and made a brief video as the bear paralleled us on the other side of a small creek.

Yesterday consisted of a beautiful 7 mile hike in Strathcona PP followed by a frustrating activation. Were band conditions poor or does being surrounded by mountains adversely affect propagation?! 10 tough, well-earned contacts went into the log, all of them weak.

Later today we are headed to a beach where I'll see if saltwater offers an improvement in radio'ing. We'll be at Miracle Beach Provincial Park CA-3807 sometime between 1900-2200Z and may go to another nearby beach (and POTA site after that).

POTA road-tripping

We are currently in Oregon, en route to Vancouver Island - a long way from Florida in a lot of ways.

Up to now we've been mostly focused on laying down the miles. We are now a bit ahead of our scheduled ferry and AirBnB reservations so a few activations have (and will) creep in.

Arches National Park was the first one and I appreciate all the calls. Is there more of an interest in working national parks than state parks, wildlife preserves, etc? My experiences at national parks seems to suggest this is the case. Many callers but my time was heat-limited.

The weather was much cooler earlier today where I activated a small but beautiful park (Three Island Crossing State Park) in Idaho. The camp host was also a ham so we chatted a bit, then walked around the scenic Snake River.

Prior to that we visited and picnic'ed at Shoshone Falls, a city park in Idaho Falls, at the recommendation of Michael N6MST. Man, what a beautiful place. 

Tomorrow we continue northward and I plan to activate Emigrant Springs State Park in northeastern OR, probably sometime between 1700-2000Z. The rig is an FT-891 with a 17' (5m) whip antenna. 100 watts, CW, starting on 20m.

Beginning Friday, we'll be on Vancouver Island for a week, rambling about but staying at an AirBnB near Strathcona Provincial Park. 

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POTA Today: Arches National Park

Sometime between 1600-1900z today I'll be activating US-0004 in Utah for 30 minutes. 

FT-891 (100 watts), vertical antenna, 20m CW.

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