So I snuck out to the park Friday and I figured that would be all the activating I could get in for the weekend. But I forgot about the time change as we leave DST behind. When our Rottie slapped me in the face to get up, the sun was just creeping into the sky. I wanted to go back to sleep, but the dogs weren’t having it. The dogs got their breakfast and were let out to wander the yard. After a very tasty homemade breakfast sandwich, I still hadn’t heard from my camping crew. I looked around the house. I looked at my watch. I had enough time.
Step one: dump coffee into thermos.
Step two: toss backpack that I hadn’t unpacked from the Freeze Your Acorns Off event into the Jeep.
Step three: right…the dogs. Get them back in the house.
Off to the Park!
The weather from FYAO was still with us. It was warm and clear. There was a light breeze. No one was around but the ranger emptying the trash at the Octagon Shelter. I set up at my favorite table and got to work. With no one around, the stillness and silence was stunning. The Chameleon vertical was the antenna of choice since that was what was in the pack.
Propagation was much better just 24 hours after FYAO. Such is the magic of radio! I pulled in contacts on 40, 30, 20, and 15. That was neat!
I meant to get on and do some phone, but I used my pocket supercomputer to figure out where my family was and they were…heading home. The funny part about that is that they drove past where I was sitting to get home from the Scout camp. It’s good to be home when people land from camping so that I can help get gear in and all that jazz. It was time to go.
The QSO Map looks like this:
There’s more to say about how the gear that’s going into the field with me has dialed in over the last year. That will come in the year end post that is brewing. There’s a lot to say about the gear that worked, what didn’t, what failed, what died, and the MVP (which might just be the least expected). Right now it’s all about getting ready for winter operation from inside of the Jeep or a portable shelter of some sort. There are also goals to set for 2023 and the expedition mindset that has been developing over the past year with the succession of POTA field work.
But that’s for later…
