I passed the test for Amateur Extra: 40/50 correct. I needed 37 correct.
I got in W1JMA’s log when they were activating US-7545. on 7047.5kHz. They looked me up in QRZ, so knew my name and location. I sent 599 and received 599. It was a super-minimal exchange, because I fumbled a lot.
I had to read a bit about how to correct errors, and I soon stumbled into AF3Z on 7036kHz, and I saw a funny series of attempted corrections: “a littr eee a littr eee a bit”
Later, I Got a second contact, KV4UD.
I used the EFHW for everything. I activated 4 park entities:
I ran some errands and wandered off to Susquehannock State Park, US-1425 to play. I started with SSB phone, and immediately heard Hawaii. The bands were busy with QSO Parties for Hawaii, Kansas, and Ohio, so I kept hunting people and easily got my 13 contacts. I never switched to the computer for digital modes!
In addition to the QSO parties, I caught a contact from Italy and K8MRD of Ham Radio Tube in a park in Texas. I bothered one last operator with a little CW, but I failed pretty badly. The radio was decoding for me, but my keying wasn’t up to the job.
I setup camp at Marietta Riverfront Park with the EFHW stretched from the pavilion to the nearby tree. I was expecting to get rained out, but it never came.
I got 23 FT8 contacts on 20m and 3 SSB contacts on 40m and 20m at 10W. I also spoke to a nuclear ship in Baltimore, and I heard some light house special event stations. It was so quiet there at the park compared to my desk full of computers that I thought the NR was stuck on.
W3FIS, Dr. Paul Ross, stopped by to activate, so we chatted a while after nearly 25 years since I last saw him when I was in college.
Ben and I grabbed dinner and headed to the Columbia Riverfront Park to activate US-4567, Capt John Smith Trail.
Since there were more people around, I setup the simple GRA-1900T next to our picnic table instead of throwing wires. 20m was very busy, so I was getting a bit lost in all the traffic. I moved to 40m and re-tuned to rack up my more local contacts. As the sun set, our reach got better on 40m. Of course, I accidentally crossed 0000UTC again into the next day, so it was 2 activations: one (incomplete) with 5 QSOs, and the other with 14 QSOs. I operated all digital, since it got dark, and we were looking to pack up soon.
I headed back to US-1418, Sam Lewis to tried a quick activation on my way to my parents’ house, but I got sidetracked. KN3A, Scott, was already there, so I chatted with him for a few minutes, and then setup my station on the other side of the park. I used my GRA-1900T for a quick setup on 20m. I saw Scott hunting up the band with his big, very local, signal, and then set out to do some FT8. The band was busy, but then just shut off nearing 1900UTC.
I heard about a storm coming from the local repeaters. I tried a bit on 15m, but decided to pack up as I heard more thunder. I only got a few contacts, since I didn’t give myself near enough time.
At US-1418, Sam Lewis, I tried setting up down near the low playground on the corner near the road. There were no trees with good spots. All the viable branches were very high, and I couldn’t quite get a line over them.
I resorted to an inverted-v supported by fishing pole in the middle at 9ft or so. I operated mostly FT8 on 15m, 20m, and 40m, and I did a little SSB on 40m. I got Canada, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, etc.
It was good to chat radio with everyone, and Luke talked about restoring his antique loose coupler radio.
After breakfast, Vic KC3TYX, and I made our way to US-1380 Marsh Creek for a park activation and to compare notes on how we operate.
The weather was pleasant, and Vic started on 20m with a vertical ham stick and faraday cloth for a ground plane.
I tossed a EFHW to slope from the picnic table up into a tree. I got it in a good spot with the first try. I was on 40m to give him some room, but the band was pretty dead in the middle of the day. I still had a little interference, since Vic was running 100W. I eventually switched to 20m when Vic had enough contacts, so I could finish my activation. Only 15m and 20m really worked for much. I did all digital + 1 phone to another park in Tennessee.
We headed to Caledonia State Park for the Arts & Craft Fair for a couple hours. I threw the 12.5m EFRW into a nearby tree. 40m was dead. 20m and 15m were very busy with SSB contesters for the IARU HF World Championship. Via FT8 and SSB, I could hear lots of EU on 15m, 17m, and 20m, but not much in local signals. Not many people were hearing me, so I only made 4 contacts in the hour or so that I tried.
