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| The road to the Stokes Forest campsites |
New Jersey is a study in contrasts and I lived there long enough to see a fair amount of them.
One set of contrasts exists between the two POTA's - one beautiful; the other, industrial - and I activated them both. What they each have in common is a drive-up-able overlook, perfect for RF radiation to all parts of the world.
The rig in both cases was the trusty, ever-reliable FT-891 powered by a 12AH battery. The antenna was MFJ's 17-foot whip screwed into a magnet mount on top of the car. Simple, effective and quick to set up.
The first POTA was from beautiful and peaceful Stokes State Forest K-4999. Specifically, from Sunrise Mountain.
Peak fall color, as I recall from eons ago, is mid-October. I missed that but enjoyed the view outside the windshield regardless. It's not uncommon to see turkey and black bear in this park but I saw neither today.
I hiked around a bit, going down Memory Lane, recalling the specific locations of past outdoor QRP ops way before POTA and NPOTA.
The rigs of choice back then were the new-at-the-time Norcal 40A and the DSW series from Small Wonder labs. Alkaline AA's supplied the juice and the antennas were simple affairs due to the rigs being monobanders.
Today's effort resulted in only 25 contacts since the main reason for being there was for nostalgia.
The second activation took place during CQWW (CW) and was from Garret Mountain K-6462 in lovely Paterson NJ...
Why? Overlook.
I called 'CQ POTA' on 20m CW way up (I thought!) from contest activity and was called by numerous DX stations who probably thought I was participating in the contest.
A lot of familiar QRP and POTA-op callsigns were logged from here including one I never thought I'd work on CW: PE4BAS.
Multiple stations replied every time I called CQ and I distinctly heard "PE" among one set of replies. Of course that turned out to be Bas on a mode he mentions that he's not too active on. Great signal, Bas, and good to get you on a new mode!
We were tapping along at 22 wpm - not bad at all for a non-CW op.
77 contacts went into the log from Garret Mountain, then I skedaddled on outta there.
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Hello John, nice photo as always. It was a coincidence I heard you on 20m CW. I just finished the QSO with VE9KK and was just listening for DX in the contest. Your signal was "far away" so I thought you were some rare DX station ;-). I was also assuming you were in the contest. But later I heard you calling on 17m calling "CQ POTA". I didn't call you that time but listened to your signal which was RST557. Yes, I am not really a CW operator. My CW decoding and also transmitting is done mainly with the computer. I can recognize some letters/numbers and the usual contest style abbreviations. Recognizing my call at all speeds is no problem. Although some contest stations transmit with speeds that exceed 40wpm. I hear that as prrrrrt prrrt prrrrt. It is a big question how people can decode that? Anyway, it was a nice surprise, tnx for the contact. 73, Bas
ReplyDeleteBas, I worked you at the end of a dying battery! I was almost sure that a contact would be ended by the battery management's protection circuitry but voltage went down to 11.6 and the rig kept working. Now I'm wondering how low a Bioenno goes before the the circuitry says "No more".
DeleteThanks again for the contact and the interesting report.
73,
John AE5X
Good evening John, very nice write up on the activation and it's always nice to make contact with a fellow blogger. As for the past weekend contest I must of had a brain fart regarding contacting you in the contest. I am now of the impression it was a very close call to yours. I would imagine the bands would be very busy on the contest weekend. I purposely stay below the QRP watering holes in contests. I am not sure other do as I saw a lot of healthy activity in that section of the band. Oh and I also updated the blog removing the contact we never had. :))
ReplyDelete73,
Mike
VE9KK
Hello Mike,
DeleteYes, CQWW brings contesters up to at least 14.125 on 20m. I operated just a bit above that for a while, working Bas and several other EU stations, then moved to 17m. I would like to have played just a bit in CQWW - this is the first year I've missed it in a long while.
Quite a respectable score you have and it's nice to see a good amount of activity taking place on 15m. Hopefully conditions will be at least as good for ARRL DX Contest in February.
73,
John AE5X
Last time I was up on the Garret mountain overlook was around 1979 or so. I was in my 1974 Jeep Cherokee with my Yaesu FT-101ZD and a 102 inch whip. Yes - the 101ZD had a 12V inverter! I did a couple of June VHF contests from Stokes State Forest in that same time frame. I know I had a Microwave Modules 144 to 28 converter with a 160W solid state amp, but I don't remember what I used for an exciter. Those were the days! Moved to PA in 1985. CO in 2016.
ReplyDelete73 - Dave kx3dx
Small world, isn't it?! I wonder how the area surrounding Garret Mountain looked in 1979 - I've heard it was once quite nice and the architecture of the houses allows me to imagine that it probably was.
DeleteI was pondering an inverter while there so that I could charge my battery as I drove to the next park. But an inverter to power an FT-101ZD while mobile - that's dedication! I was licensed in 1978 and 10m was hopping back then. I'm sure the 102" whip served you well.
73,
John