A short report this time as there isn’t much to say about this one. My wife and I had a weekend to ourselves and we love to get out and ride. Our favorite destination is still Cuyahoga Valley National Park as it’s a good out and back with options if we’re in the mood to hike, explore, or grab some dinner at a local restaurant. On this given weekend, it turned into an out and back because the air quality wasn’t in our favor.
The park was pretty empty and we set up at The Octagon. She dug out her book and I set up with the usual deployment. It was all together in minutes. It’s becoming a well-oiled machine, as it should be!
I was expecting to be able to do a little FT8 and then bounce over and try some CW. My goal is still to get 10 CW contacts at a park before the end of the summer. But on this particular Saturday, we were enduring some intensity hurled at us by our local stellar entity. Every signal I was getting on FT8 when I was listening was under the noise floor. Even the stations that are regulars and are really loud. I managed to pull off my contacts – 20m did pull through for me – but when I switched over to CW, I couldn’t get anyone to come back to me on any of the bands that I tried. I was able to self-spot and was picked up by the RBN, but I got nothing. Maybe no one wanted to hunt at 12 wpm? I really can’t say.
Here’s what the QSOMap looked like:
It was a great ride out, even if the bands weren’t cooperating. Even a rough day at the park beats a day of not getting the radio outside. There’s more summer left and I’m hoping to sneak out that kilo before the end of the year. It’s close. I can feel it.
