Field Day 2012

John and Vicky on PSK

K3LMR on the Fred Box

K3VOX on the Swan 500 working them on 40!

K3PG operating CW

Shooting the tree

I did field day with the local club and got some good antenna comparisons too this weekend.  We had two OCF doublets.  One 150ft overall length up in some tall trees at 45 ft or so.  It played well and was good on 75/80M  Another one was a kludge OCF that started out as a QRP port kit for 30M as a dipole but the guy also had a 50ft or so wire so we added that to one side and put the center on a large tripod with some fiberglass poles added to it to maybe 25 ft and the ends coming down to some 9ft step ladders.  This was still pretty decent on 40 and 20 but would not 'talk' on 80 at all.  S9 signals would not answer.  Another station had a nice QRP portable inverted "L" of maybe 65 ft or so and a single (poor) grnd rod.  Surprising to me how well it did on 80 and it worked well on 40 and 'OK' on 20.  Other antennas were a low G5RV at 20 ft and a low B&W folded broadband dipole which were both poor on 80 but were OK NVIS on 40 and 20.  Only a few stations were worked on 15 and NONE on 10M .  So much for the sunspots on this cycle I guess!

Trish's New Bike

1973 Raleigh for Trish

Nice '73 Raleigh from local Craigslist.  Was owned by a lady who had several 'Rod Brake' bikes and worked as a bike mechanic while in college.  Rides perfect and has a nice original patina about it.
The best thing was seeing the smile on the new owner!

Flying down the Corsica River

Had a nice 45 min flight today.  Flew up the Corsica River towards the Cheasapeake Bay and saw this jet skier on the river.    This is from about 100 feet up.  I was trying to get closer but the skier heard me and shut it down a few secs after the last pix...

Friday Group Ride

Pix of me on the late 70's Roberts criterium bike set up as a road bike with new to me Spinergy Wheels and Shimano Ultegra 8 speed.  This was after a 32 mile ride with the Sr. Cycling group of the Baltimore Bike Club.  We cycled from Church Hill MD, through Barclay, Templeville then Sudlersville for a lunch stop at Parkside Family Restaurant and back to Church Hill.