Waiting For Isaias

October 10, 2026 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Well, the National Weather Service has some rain in our forecast. Hurricane Isaias (no clue how to pronounce that) will be hitting us tomorrow. It has moved onto land and we are expecting rain. There is only a 5% chance of getting enough to flood, here in Pencilvania, so we are no worried. It turned overcast this morning but as of right now there is no rain.

I might raise up my dipole tomorrow, depending on the weather. It is a well-known myth that the worse the weather is when you are putting up an antenna, the better it performs. We will see.

This weekend is the PA QSO party. The bands are full. There are also 2 other QSO Parties (AZ and SD) along with some sprints, DX activities and other contests. This makes for crowding on the bands, but you can always find a spot to operate. Contests, though I am not a big participant, are a good thing as they show the bands are being utilized. The more activity that can be shown, the less the chance the bands will be taken from us.

My favorite activity is POTA, whether hunting or activating. Today, SWMBO and I took off early with the destination of Mt Crawford VA in mind. That is where the closest Buc-ees is located. On the way we took a side trip to US-0730 Cedar Creek and Belle Grove Plantation National Historic Site. We have activated here once before, back in February, I think. It is a nice quiet park and covers several acres. We parked in the small lot across the road from the mansion and had a very successful activation, working 44 stations total in about 1/2 hour. I had to move frequency once due to intentional interference but I don’t let things like that get me down. These sad hams who set out to ruin the experience for others do not deserve the acknowledgment. If you just move away from them, the problem is solved. Anyway, a good time was had by all. SWMBO and I had fun and the contacts came flying in so fast that it was hard to self-spot. Thanks to all who worked us.

After the activation we continued on our way South and stopped off at an Ollie’s in search of anything that caught the eye. We also went to an adjacent Spirit Halloween store but didn’t find anything remarkable. We got to Buc-ees, gassed up and found some chicken fingers and fries. It made for a pleasant drive home.

I guess this is it for now. Keep your eyes on the skies and stay well grounded. Namaste, kids.

Hubert the gnome enjoying POTA at Belle Grove

The omni-present informational historic marker.

Come On POTA People, Put Your Hands In The Air

October 6, 2026 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Greetings one and all. After a 4-day work stint, SWMBO and I decided to relax. We did our shopping yesterday and took a short ride looking at leaves, much to our disappointment. Rather, it met my expectations. The trees are trying to change but here in this area they seem to dip their toes into the water by only changing 1 branch or starting with just thew tips of some of the branches, spreading it out over several weeks. Some trees just give up and, instead of donning their bright party clothes to show off, they just let their leaves turn gray and brown and shrivel up, the arboreal equivalent of wearing ratty clothes complimented by fuzzy bunny slippers for a trip to the local dept store. Contrast this with NH and Maine where you go to bed to forests of green and wake the next day to an explosion of vivid colours that are almost painful to look at and are gone within a week.

Today we went to Fort Frederick State Park in MD (US-1570 and US-0015 C&O Canal) We got there just about at opening time and were the first ones through the gate. We drove past the fort and down to the beaver pond where we heard American Robins, Northern Cardinals and Bluejays. There was a mist rising off the surface of the water and we stopped and took some pictures. We then went to the parking lot which is right next to the C&O Canal, making it a 2-fer. Over the course of 50 minutes, we worked 58 stations including some park-to-parks. I barely had time to spot our activation online and SWMBO’s fingers were almost on fire trying to keep up in the log. It was a bit surprising for a weekday but I am not complaining. We even worked a station in MO. I was also using my club callsign so anyone who worked us got 2 2-fers: 1 for me and 1 for the club, K3SRZ.

Well, I am anticipating a quiet evening (I can say “quiet” as I am not at work) and will be participating in a couple of radio nets. For now, namaste and keep your stick on the ice!

A view of Big Pool taken by the boat launch

Work And Hunting

October 3, 2026 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Hi Kids. I haven’t had an opportunity to activate as I am working extra to fill in for a co-worker. That doesn’t mean I am not radio active. When I can, I fit in some time to chase down activators from home. I can usually get on for an hour or so before work and I can always find someone on the bands.

In a way, hunting is paying forward for those who hunt me on an activation. There is an interdependence between hunters and activators. Without hunters there would be no activations and without activators there would be no hunting. I know there are sad hams out there who bitch about POTA folks using up the bands but I believe activity beats silence. POTA has been a great boon to the hobby as it increases band utilization and keeps hams active. Even sitting home and hunting keeps the mind active. It also gives a person a reason to adapt and to experiment.

My home equipment might not be the biggest and best but it works well. I have a Yaesu FT450 (the original model, not the “D”) which I bought back in 2007. I only run it at 75 watts and my antennae are dipoles of various sorts. I have an Alpha Delta DX-LB Plus which covers 160, 80, 40, 20, 17. 15 and 10 meters. It is a fan dipole with coils for 160 and 80. I also have a 30 M homemade dipole and a 12 M dipole, also homemade, which can tune on 6 M. I know this is a modest station, but it does the trick, even during solar minimums. My next projects are to raise the main dipole up a bit and to make a dedicated dipole for 6 M.

I will be activating during my next days off but just wanted to make an entry. Below you will find some AI generated pics of my cats that I made for fun. Whatever you do, get on the air at least once a day if you can. Don’t let your skills get rusty and your equipment dusty. Namaste for now and keep your stick on the ice.

Kalamazoo and Dipper in a stegosaurus drawn chariot

Mayhem and Foggy riding to battle on ankylosaurs

A Decent Weekend I Suppose

September 27, 2026September 27, 2026 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Hi there, kidlets. It is raining lightly, I am sitting at home, I just got off the radio hunting POTA stations, I am eating shrimp and relaxing. Who could ask for more?

Friday the 25th, SWMBO wanted to go to Bunker Hill Farm, an historic site in Michaux State Forest. It is a nice location, not far from the Appalachian Trail and only a couple miles from Pine Grove Furnace. We strolled around, took some pics of the ruins and enjoyed a nice afternoon. The site was used for many things over the years. It was a farm, a religious camp, a CCC camp and also was used as a place to interrogate WWII POWs. Part of the barn is still there but you cannot get near it as there is danger of it falling on you. Some of the stones are teetering on the verge of succumbing to gravity. It a cool place to visit.

Next, we went up to the ATV lot on top of the ridge and activated Michaux State Forest US-5471. (for those not familiar with POTA, the US- followed by numbers is the POTA designation for the park.) It was quiet up there with not too many ATV riders in evidence and only a couple of campers. We got on the air and it was one of those days where making contacts was like pulling teeth! It took us about an hour to make 10 contacts. I believe it was a combination of poor conditions and time of day. Oh well, a successful activation is a success whether you make 10 contacts of 100. 🙂

On Saturday the 26th, we took a drive to East Broadtop Railroad. We had tickets pre-purchased for the caboose. (I learned that the plural for caboose is cabooses though it is also acceptable to use cabeese) Prior to going there I looked up the frequencies they use for operations and found two. They operate in 152.375 and 152.900 MHz which my hand-held radio can monitor. I climbed up into the cupola and rode there as the view was great. SWMBO decided to stay on the lower level. Riding a train being pulled by a steam locomotive is relaxing. We trundled through the PA countryside. We were cruising along when all of a sudden we came to an abrupt halt. I heard on the radio that one of the truks (sets of wheels on a car) had come off the track and then bounced back on. We were back in motion in moments, but it was a bit jarring. The rest of the ride was smooth and enjoyable.

Today we went grocery shopping and then trolloped over to one of the local Walmarts. After we got home I did my ride on the stationary bike (while playing a video game to distract me from the fact that I was exercising) I spend the remainder of the afternoon on the radio working POTA stations. Conditions are good today. Now I will spend the evening relaxing in preparation for working tomorrow.

Cherish every moment as it is unique and goes fast. Namaste, kids and keep your stick on the ice.

The engine which pulled our train at East Broadtop

Part of the ruins of the barn at Bunker Hill

SWMBO riding below in the crew compartment of the caboose

An Unanticipated Adventure

September 22, 2026October 3, 2026 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Harken! one and all to a tale filled with peril, woe and culminating in pleasant joyfulness!

I posted last time about a malfunctioning mic. I ordered a replacement and yesterday I got word of its impending delivery along with an updated 40 M hamstick. Well, they arrived! I opened the box with anticipation and removed the contents. The antenna was packaged as expected and there was also a smallish box containing the new mic. I set up my FT891 and attached the new mic (after, of course, removing the old one). I attached my house dipole and turned on the rig. It tuned up just fine. I turned the power up to 75W and keyed the mic giving my callsign and the word testing. I had the meter set to “power out” and observed … nothing. As with the old mic, the transmit light came on but there was no modulation. Drats! I was hesitant to believe a new in box mic could be bad so I went through the menu and verified every setting. I tried again and got the same result. I performed a factory reset, re-adjusted all the settings and … no change. Still not modulating the carrier. Non-voice modes seemed ok. I turned the rig off and replaced the mic with one off of my FT450. I immediately worked a POTA station from Canada with no problems. Tarnation! I guess the new mic was bad right out of the box. This led to today’s adventure.

Since mailing back and forth would cost money and take a few days each way, SWMBO and I decided to take a ride to the dealer where I had purchased the offensive item (microphone that is). We left home (in the rain, of course) at 0700 and had a good ride down to the store. The manager was polite and professional as he listened to my tale of sadness and disappointment. He gladly replaced the mic with a new one and we tested it on an FT891 had set up for such purposes. The new mic worked well and then we replaced it with the one that they had previously sent. It did not work! That vindicated me and made it apparent that the issue WAS a bad mic and not a problem with the radio.

Since it was not too distant and was located upon a route that would take us in the direction of home, we departed for Havre De Grace in the hopes of going to the Maritime Museum located there. It was still raining hard as we arrived at our destination and we realized that we had not checked the hours-of-operation prior to going. They are closed on Monday and Tuesday. CRAP! well now there was nothing left to do but test the new mic with an activation.

Located about 10 miles North of Havre De Grace is Susquehanna State Park US-1601. I set up my new antenna and fired up the rig. When I attempted to tune up I received a high swr error message. Sigh. Wait! I had neglected to adjust the stinger length on the antenna. I made the appropriate adjustment and it tuned up just fine! I self-spotted on the POTA app and got on the air on 7267 MHz. Over the course of 1/2 hour we logged 15 contacts. Not too bad considering it was daytime and on the 40M band.

I guess that troubleshooting is a matter of 1) always look for the simplest cause first and 2) if you hear hoofbeats, think horses and not zebras. Yes I realize that both those things are pretty much the same. Now for some coffee and relaxation. Autumn begins at 20:04 EDT today so this was my last activation for the summer. Namaste and keep your stick on the ice.

Hubert celebrating the fact that he is not out in the rain

For no reason, here are some yellow flowers.

Dead Mic Redemption

September 17, 2026 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Greetings kids. You could say that we had an interesting morning by the broadest definition of the word. It started out ok. A bit dismal with mist and a temp of 21 C (70 F) but still it had promise. We drove for about 1 1/2 hours to Swatara State Park, which for some reason, my GPS did not acknowledge its existence. We arrived and got set up and ready to operate. I posted a self spot and started calling with my voice recorder (which is built into my rig). I started getting responses, but they did not hear me. WHAT??? The transmit light was coming on but they could not hear me. I did some field troubleshooting and discovered the culprit … the mic. The PTT button worked but it was not modulating. I said several choice words as I had no spare with me. Sigh. We decided to go do our shopping and head home.

Once I got home, I attached the mic from my FT450 to my FT891 and, LO! AND Behold! it transmitted. From my driveway I worked W1AW/1 with ease … sorta … my signal was weak to him but considering my location, it was good. SWMBO decided to stay home when I took off to activate Little Buffalo State Park US-1376.

It was raining when I arrived at my usual spot near the boat launch. Surprisingly, there were several people around doing things like walking their dogs. I set up and got on the air but soon the 23 C temperature and the 1000% humidity had the car unbearable. I was able to work 16 stations in a short time though propagation was up and down. The only birds I heard today were bluejays laughing at me.

The biggest thing to take from this is to always try the simplest fix first and also you will always find things in the last place you look. Kudos to SWMBO for putting up with me. Now I am going to sit here and interact with my katz.

Namaste, y’all and keep your stick on the ice!

Second To Last Weekend Of Summer

September 13, 2026 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Greetings, kidlets. Another great weekend here. Took care of some chores and did an activation.

First, a few words about “the basics”. I started a series of presentations called “Back To The Basics” at my club’s meetings. I did the first presentation this past Thursday about RF Exposure limits and the FCC and ARRL rulings on the subject. My slide presentation will soon be posted on our webpage: https://perrycountyarc.org All interested people are invited to check out the page. My next presentation will be on SWR , what it is and why it seems to be more important now than it was in the past. The purpose of these presentations is to catch up and reinforce basic knowledge about ham radio.

Also, if anyone is interested and in the area, you can pre-register for our next VE session on Sunday, 22 Nov 2026 at 14:00 EST (the clocks get turned back on Nov 1). To register or inquire about more information you can go to perrycountyarc.org or email kb3psn@perrycountyarc.org

This morning, SWMBO and I set off to activate Avondale Wildlife Management Area US-7724 in Westminster, MD. It was dark, misty and drizzle was falling when we departed our house, but we were hopeful for clearing. Luckily, when we arrived in Westminster, it had mostly dissipated, though the ground was still moist. The drive into the park was interesting and it was a good thing I read the directions on the MD parks page as, the second you pulled into the road ascending the hill, you are visually assaulted by signage declaring it a private drive. If you continue up the hill, on a gravel road, of course, you reach the parking lot on top as directed by the DNR page. We got set up and on the air by 12:25 UTC and got immediate contacts. We operated until 13:13 UTC, which I consider to be an auspicious time. We made a total of 53 contacts from as far as Florida and Georgia which is pretty good for 40M during the day. We also heard Bluejays and Gray Catbirds serenading us. Overall, a very successful activation.

We returned home by way of Gettysburg where we stopped and ate sandwiches on top of Barlow’s Knob, right near the peace light. We then took a scenic drive towards home with a quick stop at a local grocery store to get some milk for my Mother-In-Law. All in all, it was a great day.

For now, this is all. Namaste, kids, and as always, keep on keeping on.

A pic from Michaux ATV lot on 8 September

Manual Overdrive

September 8, 2026September 13, 2026 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Hi kids! I had an epiphany the other day. I was reading a ham radio group on a social media page. One person asked a question about doing off-the-air code practice on a Yaesu FT891. The person wanted to know how to practice sending without a signal going out over the air. He received several great answers and they were very helpful for a new ham who was enthusiastic and desired learning. The easiest way to do this is to go to the CW settings menu and disable the Break-in (BK-IN). By doing this your radio doesn’t transmit when the key is pushed but you can hear the side tone through the speakers or over headphones. Just make sure you turn it back on when you want to send over the air.

The above was an example of hams giving good answers and helping a newbie. I have also seen too many cases of the newbie being verbally assaulted by sad hams for not having the knowledge and for not just reading the manual. Have these people forgotten what it is like to be new? No one opens the top of your head and just dumps in knowledge; there is a learning process to everything. One of the worst things you can tell a newbie is “Read The Manual”. Most manuals are clearly written and are easy to understand … if you know what you are looking for. Using the above example, in the FT891 manual there is a section on CW operating. One part of the instructions is to turn the BK-IN on. It doesn’t tell you why or how to use the rig for code practice without transmitting.

My hat is off to those who are patient with newbies and offer good advice and support. I believe the term is mentoring. If you advise someone to RTFM, give them the tools to understand what they are reading. For those sad hams who must make their opinion heard no matter how useless or obnoxious it is, have a nice day.

Ok, I am off the soap box. Today SWMBO and I did an activation (after having to work 4 days in a row, it was my only chance in the past week). We went to Michaux State Forest US-5471. Band conditions were very bad, A 18, K 5. Amazingly I was able to work 16 on 40M and got stations in LA, GA, FL and MO which was a bit surprising for the band and time of day.

So, kidlets, namaste and keep your stick on the ice.

A Month Of Sundaes And Weird Frustrations

August 30, 2026 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Howdy kidlets. Another week gone. I had a bit of a frustrating time this afternoon. I was in the middle of logging a contact and my ketboard stopped working. I changed the batteries and nothing. I removed the device and nothing. I ended up re-adding the keyboard and re-booting and, voila, it works! Gotta love it. Now combine that with trying to navigate government websites looking for information, I was really feeling disgruntled. Now I got the stuff straightened out and got the answers I need so I have been regruntled. 🙂

It has been a nice time since my last update. This weekend was pretty mellow. We did some shopping, we got stuff for my mother-in-law and we did a bit of work around the house. Also, I played radio.

Yesterday we took a drive up to the Hemlock Road Overlook in Western Perry County in Tuscarora State Forest US-5479. It is a nice spot to sit and watch the valley and has a good elevation for working radio. The 40 Meter band was not in good shape, though. Lately the bands have been up and down and this weekend was pretty dismal, but I was able to work 11 stations, including 3 park-to-parks. A few cars rolled past us and we had a courteous motorcyclist drive up. He parked next to us, took some pictures and, seeing what we were doing, he pushed his bike away from us before starting it. Kudos for him. 🙂

Now a few words about band conditions. We have past the peak of the 11-year cycle and for the next few years, conditions will be less good than they have been. The higher frequency bands will seem to diminish, and more and more activity will shift to 14 MHz and below. I would suggest making sure you have capabilities on the 40- and 80-Meter bands as they will really start to shine, especially at night. If you do CW or digital modes, 30-meters might be an option as the antennae are shorter than for lower bands (14.1 meters for 10MHz ad opposed to 19.8 meters for 7.18 MHz or 38.3 meters for 3.725 MHz). The other bands will not go away but there will be fewer openings. One band that might surprise you, though, is 6 Meters. It can open at seemingly random times and stay open for various intervals. I have known people in the past who keep a radio tuned to the 6-meter band on frequencies where beacons are, listening for openings. Some of them have, with patience, achieved the “worked all states” award on 6 from the ARRL, which is a real accomplishment.

Well that is all for now, I guess. Namaste kids and keep your stick on the ice.

A couple of ruminants having a snack at an undisclosed location.

And The Days Toodle On

August 25, 2026 / KB3CVO / Leave a comment

Hi kidlets. It has been a very nice break for the last week, but now I am facing a return to work tomorrow. We spent the day doing chores like beating Satan’s Putting Green into submission with a mower, a weed wacker and some agent orange for the remaining bamboo. Unless you are prepared for a very intrusive plant which is difficult to get rid of, never plant bamboo.

SWMBO and I had a nice day yesterday. We went to Susquehanna State Park US-1601 in Maryland. It was raining when we got there but it soon stopped. It is a nice quiet park and we worked 26 contacts in less than a half hour. When we first pulled in, we had a little cute thing approach the car before trolloping back into the woods. You can find a link to the video of the approach below. On the way back we took the secondary roads and had a very scenic drive before stopping for lunch in Carlisle PA.

One item I carry in my POTA box is an RF Exposure worksheet which details the exposure limits for the frequencies I use. If anyone were to ask, it is available as required by the FCC since 3 May 2021. If any are interested, here is a link to the calculator: https://www.arrl.org/rf-exposure-calculator It is easy to use and understand and I have over-estimated my output and antenna gain to fall well within the limits for safety.

I also have on hand documents which I have printed from the internet detailing what POTA is, what ham radio is and why I am sitting there in a State Park talking on a radio. So far, I have had a few people interested who came over and asked questions. I have done my best to answer them and make a good impression.

Wello, for now I am going to say adieu. Namaste and keep your stick on the ice.

looking downriver from the boat ramp at Susquehanna SP

Hubert the gnome and Ollie the owl look on as I play radio

Our brief encounter

Nature, Radio, and Me

A POTA Explorer's Diary