I just returned from a short vacation “up north,” as we say here in Michigan. My wife Silvia and I visited the Tawas City area on Lake Huron. For the first three nights, we stayed at some cottages just south of the city on Lake Huron, and for the final night, we stayed with a friend who has a house up there.
It was a great time. We went to the beach every day, visited several state parks (Michigan has wonderful state parks), and I activated two of them: Tawas Point State Park and Sturgeon Point State Park. The cool thing about these two state parks is that each of them also has a lighthouse. So, I not only activated the parks, I also activated a couple of lighthouses.
I activated the Tawas Point State Park on Thursday. It was kind of hot that day, and being on the beach was so nice, that I wasn’t really motivated to start operating. On top of that, there really wasn’t any shady place to set up. Just before 1 pm, though, I pried myself away from the beach and found a picnic table near the lighthouse (see below). By 1:15 pm, I was ready to roll.
The evening before, I set up my account on the Parks on the Air website. I’m not sure why I didn’t do this before, but it sure was a boon to my operation. I spotted myself, called CQ POTA (I was operating CW), and the calls started to roll in. Over the next hour and 15 minutes, I made 29 contacts, including two park-to-park contacts. The app really makes operating POTA a lot more fun.
As I mentioned, it was pretty hot on Thursday, and the heat actually gave me a bit of a scare. After operating for little over an hour, the KX3 throttled itself down to 5 watts. This had happened to me before, when I was using a smaller battery, but this was the first time I’d had it happen when operating with the BioEnno battery.
Then, I touched the radio. It was verrrrrry hot to the touch. So much so, I was worried that I had damaged the radio, so I discontinued operations. I guess it was a bad idea to operate in direct sunlight. It’s a good thing that the KX3 monitors its internal temperature. I guess that it was safe to use the radio at low power, but since it was so hot in the sun, I decided to call it quits for the day.
Nothing fishy at Sturgeon Point
I didn’t get a chance to operate on Friday, but on Saturday, I dragged my wife up to Sturgeon State Park. This time, I did find a nice, shady spot (see below). The lighthouse there is operated by the Alcona Historical Society (AHS).
Fortunately, the radio worked just fine on Saturday. I spotted myself and made 14 contacts over the next hour or so, including one park-to-park contact on phone, if you can believe that.
In addition to operating, I had a nice chat with Kristin, one of the AHS volunteers. We talked about lighthouses in general, and she explained how this particular lighthouse came to be run by the AHS, and how it is funded entirely proceeds from society memberships and gift shop sales. I’ve already made out my check and will be putting it in the mail today.
Tale of two antennas
I think that perhaps one of the reasons that I didn’t do so well on Saturday is that I was using a different antenna. On Thursday, I was using my 66-ft. doublet fed with twisted pair. On Saturday, I used the antenna that Elecraft recommended for use with my KX-1. It consists of a 28-ft. vertical radiator and three radials that lay on the ground. Both antennas tuned just fine, but the doublet seems to radiate better. Another reason, might just be that band conditions were better on Thursday.
In any case, I’m going to need to experiment more with antennas. I’m thinking about getting a fiberglass pole that I can connect a wire to and operate as a full, quarter-wave vertical. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
Stuff to take next time
Whenever I go on a trip like this, I always forget something. This time, I forgot to bring some headphones. Headphones would have really helped a lot. The speaker in the KX-3 is really pretty bad, and there was at least one station that I couldn’t copy, even with my ear right up next to it.
I also need to bring along a WTH card, i.e. a card or flyer that explains a little bit about what I’m doing. I did a nice one for my operation at the Pointe aux Barques one year during the National Lighthouse and Lightship weekend, but I need a more generic one that I can pass out any time of the year at any place I’m operating.
I’m really hooked on operating from lighthouse now, and in particular, Michigan lighthouses. Summertime in Michigan is just the best, and our state has the most lighthouses of any in the U.S. (129!). They need more promotion, though. So, I’m thinking about offering a Michigan Lighthouse certificate. This is still just a partly-baked idea, but I’m thinking that I would award the certificate to anyone who has operated from at least two lighthouses, with endorsements for 5, 10, 15, and so on.
Stay tuned for another blog post about the Michigan Lighthouses award. If you have any ideas about that, please let me know.
I am so jealous! It’s in the 90’s here in N FL with humidity to match. You just don’t saunter into places like Tate’s Hell Swamp (my usual favorite for portable) in these conditions. Two months to October, I’ll be out there again!
In the meantime, I need to get a WTH card together and get some printed. Really a great idea.
I’ve visited a number of Michigan lighthouses as part of a photography workshop. It was my attempt to ‘shoot local’ instead of going to my favorite locations in the American Southwest. I came away with some really images, and if/when the pandemic subsides, I’ll likely go on some more of those 1- or 2-day workshops again. It’s nice to hang out with fellow photographers and discover new and interesting compositions. Likewise, I attended a Michigan waterfall workshop. There are a couple of hundred waterfalls in Michigan, and all but two of them are in the Upper Peninsula. So that gave me an opportunity to explore the U.P., and bring back some nice images from there.