Where: US-3315, Island Lake Recreation Area (near Brighton, MI)
When: 10:30 am – 1:30 pm (1430 – 1730 UTC)
Who: Paul, KW1L, came with me today.
Weather: It was sunny, but a little cool in the morning. As you can see, I’m wearing a sweatshirt. The temperature eventually got in to the low 70s, with very little humidity.
Rig: Elecraft KX-3, 66-ft. doublet antenna
On Thursday morning, Paul and I decided to set up on a hill overlooking the lake. There were very few people at the park Thursday morning, so we almost had the whole park to ourselves. There were a few swimmers. Brrrrrr. That water must have been cold.
As you can see from the photo at right, the operating position is in the sun. It was a bit cool in the morning, and being in the sun, made it feel just right.
It was just before 11:00 am when I made my first contact. I chose 40 meters to start, and I quickly made the 10 contacts needed for a legal activation. I then moved up to 20 meters, where I had decent success. I even tried 15 meters, but I only worked one station on 15—Russ, K5TUX of Linux in the Ham Shack fame.
We brought our lunches with us, and we broke for lunch about noon. After lunch, we made a couple of 20-meter phone contacts, including KC4DSV, who was operating from a spot that qualified as two parks: US-3924 and US-2935. We decided that that was a great way to end the activation, so we packed up and headed home.
Sounds like q nice activation. we could use a bit of that cool air here in Georgia.