Kev's Radio Adventures

Years ago I made a roll up J-Pole antenna for 2m. I had never used this one in particular as it was a spare for a kit I was going to make (I never did). I recently, however, got a storage bin to keep some radio bits and bobs in my car so I don't need to keep them rolling around in the boot or lugging them in and out of the house whenever I want to operate. I figured that it was the perfect place for this antenna. Saturday morning I took my youngest with me to Thetford Warren Lodge to test out a 6m rubber duck antenna and this J-Pole. The lodge is an English Castles reference and within a World Wide Flora and Fauna reference. I had no luck on 6m but was not surprised with 6 watts and a rubber duck antenna. I hoisted up the J-Pole on my Sotabeams mast and managed 5 contacts on 2m simplex. I even checked into my club net using it and I usually can't get into the repeater from this area. Height is might. I logged the contacts for the 2 programs and packed up. There was another ques...

I had taken some time off from work to knock out some schoolwork but found that I had taken an extra day… shucks. I looked into a place where I could be relatively close to home to set up for a few hours and activate. I found Bury St Edmunds Abbey and Morton Hall, two castle references in Bury St Edmunds which is a town just 25 minutes from my house. Side note: I had found Morton Hall and sent it into the coordinator at ECA to get it added late last year. The two reference areas had a small part where they overlapped. Checking out some maps, it looked like most of that area was a public space. I packed up my Xiegu X6100 the night before and was ready go. In the morning, I dropped my kids off at school and made the 40 minute drive from the school to the park. I generally will park and walk the area to find a good spot to setup before I get my things out. It usually helps me get the lay of the land and keep myself from walking aimlessly with all of my gear (in this case just a small ...

I knew it was going to be cold and windy on the beach, but the sun would be shining. I wouldn't make the same mistake I made on New Year's Day; I wore a warmer coat, brought a scarf (that I knitted last weekend), and had some thick socks on. Nothing was going to stop me from activating from the beach. I drove about an hour to Cley Next The Sea to activate Black Joy Fort. It's a reference with no part of it standing but it is in the reference area for Norfolk Coast AONB. I took a short walk down the beach so that I was within the Blakeney NNR, Norfolk Coast AONB, and within 1 kilometer of the ECA reference. I set up the M1ECC Slidewinder DX with my Xiegu X6100. As I've mentioned, I'm getting more into the QRP game, so I figured no time like the present.  I started on 40m CW and after about 30 minutes and 23 contacts, I realized that I was only working with 3 watts. I guess I'm getting more into QRP than I thought! I did get the power up to 5 watts but I'm not...

English Castles Awards & World Wide Flora and Fauna:  Winter has been tough for finding time to get on the air. I activated 3 castles and 1 WWFF reference in January. It has been a goal of mine last year and this year to get out an operate portable at least twice per month. Some people may find this simple, but with my busy life I really have to try to fit it in. ECA: I activated Castle Acre Castle, Castle Acre Priory, and Castle Acre Town Defenses for English Castles Awards winter activities. This 3-in-1 got me the first level of Winter Activity award which was great. I had to visit the location twice to get them activated.  For the first attempt, I set up in a field just off from the priory. I had brought my FT-817 and KM4ACK end fed antenna. I strapped my telescoping pole to a tree stake and strung the antenna up just fine. I had gotten about 30 contacts between SSB and CW but after about 2 hours, my fingers were frozen from the wind and cold. I was seriously concerned ...