Yes, I’m Still A Ham
It’s been quiet around the blog, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been out and playing radio. With the weather turning into real spring and temperatures that are above the 40dF mark, I’ve been spending a lot more time outside on the bike and a lot less time in front of a computer. It’s great to be out and riding again most days of the week. And at least once a week, I’ve been riding out to Cuyahoga Valley National Park to play radio. I’ve been skunked a couple of times by bad band conditions, but that didn’t stop it from being fun.
The important park thing that hits every May in my neck of the woods is that the mountain bike trails open up again and I can get out and have fun pedaling through the trees at reasonably unreasonable speeds.
A Diversion
I’ve been fascinated with fat bikes since I saw my first Surly in person years ago. Deep in my heart, I want one of their Ice Cream Truck fat bikes so badly I can taste it. But it wasn’t until we moved back to Ohio and 2020 made it clear that being outside was the way to be that I finally got serious about a fat bike. Of course, so did everyone else. It seemed that anyone who ever thought about getting on a bicycle or who had been mulling over picking one up did so just as supply chains shut down. So I found myself perusing the used listings.
And boy did I find my bike.
It’s a 2017 Specialized Fat Boy Carbon. It’s light. Really, really light. The tires are 4.6″. The previous owner took really good care of it and swapped out the tires with tubeless 45NRTHs. It had everything that I would have done to it done already and, well, I bought it. I have had zero regrets.
On The Trail
With the mountain bike trails open, I took the only day that the forecast had clear of rain and loaded up the bike. As I got to thinking about it, the trail is adjacent to the CVNP (US-0020). Why not toss in the radio for good measure? Why not, indeed!
If I could have ridden my bike from the trail to the park I would have but the only thing this bike hates is pavement. Riding it on asphalt or a rails-to-trails setup is pure misery. So I don’t do that.
I had a really great ride, but while I was out on the trail, I threw my chain. It took a bit to get that rearranged and by the time I was back up and running, my hands were greasy and gross. When I got back to the Jeep I debated going home because I didn’t have a good way to clean up. But that? That was Quitter Talk. The IC-705 can take a little grease. So off I went to the Oak Hill Trailhead.
POTA Time!
I’ve been going with the Chameleon whip more and more as I do a lot of cycling. The trees are filling in and getting a line up into them where I usually go is tough. The Chameleon whip can be deployed anywhere and packs down to nothing when on the bike. It’s tried and true. With my picnic table selected, I put up the antenna and set up my IC-705 and key.
I have a whole post in draft form about some of the gear I’ve been taking to the field lately. That includes sessions with the X6100, the TR-35, and my thoughts on the Putikeeg paddles I used on this activation. The more use the gear gets, the more the strengths and weaknesses start to show. But that is for a later post. Soon. Seriously.
On The Air
I try not to look at RBN or pick up my phone once I’ve spotted myself on POTA.app but if it’s too quiet for too long, I do take a look to see if I’m getting out. On this particular day, I was doing quite well. Being heard at a distance on 40-meters CW. That doesn’t mean that anyone was listening. After about 15 minutes, I switched over to 20-Meters and did a little better. But not much.
On a lark, I’d thrown my Surface Go 2 in my backpack so I pulled it out and got on FT8. I find that I don’t enjoy FT8 as much as I do CW when I’m at the park, but it does get the contacts. And it’s still good to be sure that my field gear works, well, in the field! Everything was really smooth aside from the sunlight on my screen. It’s nice to see that I’m keeping my stuff up to date and functional.
On FT8, I was able to get a pile of contacts fairly quickly. I moved between 40-meters and 20-meters as 40 got quiet.
The Park
This particular trailhead is a spot I’ve worked before while my wife walked the puppy on the loop nearby. The tables are new and there is a nice tree that will have wonderful shade when its leaves come in. There is a restroom and it’s a popular spot for trail runners. A great place for radio when you set up on the edge of the picnic area. It’s not a place I would cycle to under normal circumstances as it’s up and down a few chunks of the valley on roads where people cycle frequently and yet motorists are not nearly so aware as they should be. But to take the Jeep there? Sure. Not a bad spot at all!
The Map
Here’s what the [https://qsomap.com](QSO Map) looked like.
Final
It’s definitely the time of year when I find myself wanting to be at the park most days. Mother Nature doesn’t always agree. I never look at the solar forecast before I go out to play radio because it makes me second guess myself, but the meteorological forecast gets my undivided attention. Riding in the rain is fine, but radio in the rain raises the stress level of the activity for me.
It was a good time to be outside and I hope to be out there again soon. Thanks for reading along!
72!
