The Thing About NE Ohio…
There are fun facts about NE Ohio that no one talks about because, well, not a lot of people talk about life in NE Ohio. For those of us who live here one of those little gems is that we have more overcast days than Seattle (on average…whatever that means anymore). There’s a new family in our community that moved from Houston. We used to live there and one of the things that my wife was quick to point out, as she did learn quite a bit by moving here years ago, was that aside from going out and buying new socks because whatever they currently had would be wholly inadequate for the climate, was the little nugget that it’s not the cold but the lack of sun that will get to them fastest. She saw one of the family at the gym the other day and got the word that she was right.
In these long, grey winter days, there are occasionally moments when the sun pokes its way through the clouds. Sometimes for a few hours and sometimes for a few days. When that happens, the place explodes into activity. Suddenly, people are out walking trails and doing what they can to expose themselves to that sweet sunshine and all of the associated boosts it gives. Today was one of those gorgeous days.
It’s a rare weekend when I am alone with the dogs and left to my own devices. My only real chore was fixing the lights in the refrigerator and that was awaiting a part. I did get it fixed, by the way, so I’m a successful handyman this round. With nothing else on the agenda, I slept in a little bit, made breakfast sandwich and then headed out to West Branch SP – K-1999 at my leisure. The sun was bright and it held all day.
Park People
I went out to my favorite spot as there wasn’t any precipitation on the menu and got set up. As if on cue, a boat came buzzing by kicking up a rather gnarly rooster tail. I’ve said it before, if the water isn’t frozen… And of course I saw a good number of disc golfers out walking the course with their wheelie bags full of frisbees. There were even a few dog walkers wandering the fields and walking along the shoreline. Those of us who live in the parks came out into the sun today and it felt great.
With my gear set up, I got to business. With the AX1 I tend to work 40 then 30 then 17 then 20. It’s a contest weekend and a QSO party weekend so 20-meters was going to be a mess. The other bands were lightly traveled in my experience. I called CQ and it took a bit on 40, but I eventually captured about 6 calls before I got to the point where I was sending more CQ and sipping coffee than getting contacts. 30-meters wasn’t in great shape. Only 2 contacts there. 17 was a surprise. I picked up more than I expected and some of them were quite a distance from me. It was great! And then 20-meters.
Busy Bands
There are people who say that ham radio is dying and the bands are empty and blah, blah, blah. Those folks needed to take a peek at my waterfall today on 20-meters. It was shoulder to shoulder all up and down the band. I could barely hold my frequency as bigger stations elbowed me. But I did crank through more than a few. I had two contacts that stood out. The first was with NX1K. It was the first time I thought it appropriate to give a 119 RST. I couldn’t see the signal on the 705’s screen which NEVER happens. I was just pulling the signal out of the noise and we muddled through the QSO. Apparently, things were better on the other end, which is how radio is sometimes.
The other notable contact was with my buddy Joe KC1SRI. He has rigged up the gutters of his house as an antenna. This is likely not the most efficient antenna and I’m sure we could debate it endlessly. But he’s in MA and I was sitting in OH and it sounded like he was right next to me. 599 easy. I got a 229 which probably makes sense. Look, a rain gutter is likely going to have some noise, right? These are the kinds of experiments and craziness that make ham radio fun. Also, kudos to Joe for sticking with the CW and making his way through the QSO. It’s always good to have someone else take an interest in CW.
Despite the sun, it was still in the low 30s and I was sitting still. I had my long underwear on and a heavy coat. I even deployed my Mad Bomber hat that makes me look like a sad and lost deep woods trapper. After more than an hour of sitting still I was starting to get cold. I should find a place where I can build a fire. That would help quite a bit. That’s a thought for the future.
Always Check Your Spot
If you don’t, you might miss beauties like an operator thanking you for pulling them out of the noise.
The QSO Map
I walked away with 27 contacts all in. That’s not too bad at all. When it warms up, I bet I can sit there for 2 or 3 hours and collect contacts. That’ll be grand! Here’s what the QSO Map looked like:
And Then There Was Sunday
Back to the same park but, wow, it was a lot warmer! The temperature was in the low 40s when I arrived and nearing 50 dF when I was packing up. It was incredible! I tossed the Jetboil in for this run and made a quick cup of coffee to sip on while grabbing contacts. The day looked the same, but felt entirely different! I will say that the bands were not in the best of shape. They were very, very quiet. Not so bad that I thought it was my setup, but that kind of quiet where you know either no on is home or the local star has decided that there won’t be a whole lot of fun that day.
I started on 40 and got a couple. It was slow going. I eventually migrated to 30 and had roughly the same experience. Not one to sit too long without a contact, I took the 40-meter coil off of the AX1 and shifted to 17-meters. I got a few and then the wildest thing happened: I heard a call that started with G.
What Was That Call?
To be clear, when a call starts with something that isn’t N, W, K, or A the excitement builds. Yes, I still love getting Canadian stations so a VE gets exciting for me, Yes. I know Toronto is a 4 hour drive away and I should be less thrilled about ON than ID, but that’s how it is. If I get a call that starts with G or M or D or F? Hoo boy! We’re off to the races. This is Ohio, so Europe isn’t a given on 5 watts.
That call started with a G and then a 4. I was wondering if I hadn’t missed a prefix. We went back and forth about 5 times before I got G4ELZ. I gave about a 229 RST. It was rough to pull out of the noise, but it was readable. We finished the contact and after a little waiting around, I moved on to 20-meters.
I’ve come to dread 20-meters. It’s where I get stepped on the most. I’m constantly having to shift around to find a little space. It’s a lovely problem to have, but it’s less leisurely than I’d like. I bumped over and started to pull in some more contacts. It was a pretty good deal. And then…there was that G again. G4ELZ followed me to 20-meters and we got another one in the log! Now that’s some exciting stuff! I plan to look up the operator and find out just how hard the lift was on that end to get my 10 watts into an AX1 from Ohio.
Packing It Up
Things were slow and I was out of time. As I packed up, I noticed how warm it was. There were people fishing on the banks of the reservoir and more disc golfers than I’ve seen since summer. People were out enjoying the sun and the warmth. We know it’s a trick. We still have more weeks of February and the lying liar that is March. We’re a long way from putting the coats in the closet for any period of time. But while the sun is out, we’ll get out in it, as we should.
The QSO Map
This was a 16 contact activation. Things were slow and I feel like the bands weren’t in the best condition. Even 20-meters was slow. But I got contacts from Idaho to England so there’s no complaining here! Here’s what the QSO Map looked like:
Final
It felt good to indulge in the radiation from our local star. While it wasn’t all warm, it was soothing and good. And any day outside is a good one.
72 and thanks for reading!
