Cabin Fever
It’s real. Working from home full time makes it a bit worse. There are sometimes three day stretches where I don’t leave the house in the winter. It’s nice to be able to stay warm and not have to drive, bike, or walk in the weather, but it starts to warp my senses and I have to get out for some time in The Big Blue Room. These days it is The Big Grey Room. No snow on the ground and a week of rain has things soggy, muddy, and generally not Rush Outside For Fun weather. It doesn’t matter. I have to get outside anyway. So I chose West Branch SP – K-1999 as I slowly work my way toward a Kilo under a picnic shelter.
New Gear Alert
Totally unrelated to Ham Radio but an important pice of gear for camping and being outside in general, I got a new Jetboil. I love that little thing. It boils water in no time and is very fuel efficient. I take one camping every time I go out because, well, stuff goes wrong and boiling water makes life easier. I tossed it in the backpack today so I could give it an inaugural run in the great outdoors. It made a fine cup of coffee.
Set Up And On The Air
I used my clamp mount this time as my trick with attaching the AX1 to the tuner has been less than effective lately. I like the stability of the clamp and it keeps things so that I can move them as needed. With everything good to go, I started on 40-meters. I got 6 contacts fairly quickly and then things stalled. I moved to 30-meters and there wasn’t much going on. The band was very, very quiet. I did grab a couple of contacts. Then I bounced to 17-meters and got very little. That band has been good to others recently, but not me today. Finally, I turned to 20-meters to bring me home. With Winter Field Day in motion, it was cramped. I found a sliver of the band and got enough contacts to end the day at 18. Not too shabby, but not what I would have liked.
Within the hour, the winds picked up significantly. The rain that was coming down was now getting to me even in the middle of the shelter. In situations like this, the fun starts to flag and we have to make decisions. It didn’t look like it was going to turn around. In fact, it got colder and on my drive home, there was snow falling. Where was that while I was operating? I always prefer snow to rain!
Something I Noticed
I don’t use the keyer very often. I have macros for things, but the only one that I ever use is the one for calling CQ. And I only use that one when I’m trying to grab a sip of coffee. I truly love tapping away on my Begali, so the memories only come out when I need a warm drink. It’s the weird little stuff, right?
The Map
Despite only being on the air for a little bit and the bands seeming less than thrilled with my attempts and compounded by Winter Field Day, I still managed to get a pretty good spread with my 5 watts. Here’s what the QSO Map looks like:
Final
POTA is a powerful tool. It’s a great lever for getting myself outside in this weather when I need it most. Thanks for reading along and 72!
