The Park
Today’s outing was to a Winter favorite of mine, Hillsdale State Park, US-2340. I like coming here in the winter because there are no bugs, which is true everywhere around here. The difference at Hillsdale however, is that they have two great shelters, with lots of room for different types of antennas. Outside of Winter though, these shelters are occupied by countless Mud Daubers.
The Weather
The temps around this area were in the lower 50’s today, but it was pretty windy at the park, especially if you favor the shade as I do. It was clear as a bell though, and the lake being partially covered in ice made it very pretty.
The Gear
I used my QMX today along with the INIU Mini for power. The QMX displays 11v when using the INIU. At home, this setup produces about 4 watts. The antenna was the CHAMELEON 25 ft stainless steel whip tuned to 20m. I use six 12-foot radials with this setup. For logging, I use an iPad connected to the web via my iPhone hotspot. My CW key is a BamaKey TPII.
The Activation
Setup was fine, though the wind made deploying my table-mat a bit of a challenge. Once spotted, I only had to call CQ about three times before I started making contacts. I made 27 total contacts in a little less than a half-hour. Conditions were very good with good signal reports all around. With the wind being what it was, I went QRT after calling CQ three times with no answer.
The Photos
