Category: Field Work

Field Operation Log – 17-Apr-2022

Posted on by KC8JC

An Easter activation! We got home from our muddy camping trip and decided to, well, go out to another park. This time it was Portage Lakes State Park [K-1984]. As my son would say, “Literally 1984!” Anyway, Bella always needs a walk. It was NE Ohio April weather which really means that we spin a…

Field Operation Log – 15-Apr-2022

Posted on by KC8JC

My wife and I decided that Easter weekend would be a good one for a camping trip. It turned out to be a quick one and one that we did without the kids because, well, they do a lot of camping with the Scouts and just weren’t feeling up to it. So my wife, our…

Field Operation Log – 10-Apr-2022

Posted on by KC8JC

The Triangle Lake Bog State Nature Preserve [K-9439] is only a few miles from my house. In fact, it’s not too far from the Kent Bog that I activated the previous weekend. I’ve had this one on the list of places that are close and could be worked from the trail or the parking lot….

Field Operation Log – 03-Apr-2022

Posted on by KC8JC

The Cooperrider-Kent Bog State Nature Preserve is a very small park near my house and seemed like a natural place to go to grab a quick activation. I arrived Sunday morning and it was grey and cold out. No precipitation, but it was a far cry from the weather of Saturday. I put the Chameleon…

Field Operation Log – 02-Apr-2022

Posted on by KC8JC

My last trip into the field was to activate Tinker’s Creek State Park [K-1997] and it ended in a cold, wet mess with only 4 contacts in the log. This Saturday, I wanted to settle the score and get my activation. This time around, it was clear, sunny, and in the 30F range. So sure,…

Field Operation Log – 26-Mar-2022

Posted on by KC8JC

When I looked at the weather going up to the weekend, I thought that the weather would be cold with a touch of snow, perhaps, and that would drive people out of the park. Which park? Any park. Tinker’s Creek State Park [K-1997] looked like a great place to try. I’d never been there before,…

Field Operation Log – 11-Mar-2022

Posted on by KC8JC

I took Friday off and managed to get out to Cuyahoga Valley National Park (K-0020) for a bit with my wife and her dog. I decided to leave The Mighty Nacho at home as the weather was questionable at best. For some reason Ohio can’t let go of the snow this year. While my wife…

Field Operation Log – 05-Mar-2022 – First Activation!

Posted on by KC8JC

With a couple of failed activation attempts behind me, I decided to turn my park trips into experiments. Last week, I tried a different approach to my Jeep mounted MP1. That didn’t really do much for me. So this time out, I was going to ditch the MP1 and head out into a field so…

Field Operation Log – 27-Feb-2022

Posted on by KC8JC

This was supposed to be a quick trip out to Wingfoot Lake State Park (K-3516). The variables for this operation were narrowed to simply making 10 FT8/FT4 contacts. I will lead with this: yet again, I got 8 contacts. This time, I was out there for about 2 hours working on 20m. The bands were…

Field Operation Log – 20-Feb-2022

Posted on by KC8JC

Another set of experiments and another list of lessons that were learned through experience. Part of the joy of ham radio is in the challenges that it provides. One can dial in the gear very tightly and still hit vairables like propagation and even the whims of other operators. It’s a wild ride every time…