New Park: Big Muddy National Wildlife Refuge US-0374
Unusually pleasant weather we've been having, and this morning was a great example. Sara and the dogs and I hopped in the car pretty early and headed to Chesterfield Valley. A quick short hike over the levee brought us to one of the many tracts of land which make up Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. As the girls headed out on the mile-long loop through some woods, I'd set up my antenna...
Oh! Waitaminute! I'd left the antenna mast in the car. D'oh!
So I got my own hiking in, with an extra trip back to the car for the forgotten item. I shed my fleece jacket and was almost regretting wearing a flannel shirt.
Back at the spot I'd chosen I started setting up. I knew I'd be operating away from the car and needed to carry everything. Today I'd brought a folding camp chair which was a little heavy. But I also decided I would not need a table -- I'd just put the radio and battery on the ground. But I did decide to grab the plastic steering wheel "desk" I usually used in the car. It had a small steel sheet stuck in the corner that provides magnetic mounting for my most-used paddles. All in all this setup worked great!
I started out calling CQ on 40 -- hoping to net some fellow SLQS members or other Midwesterners. I was the only one in the 40 spots list... and there were no takers. Too bad -- RBN showed I was being heard with pretty strong signals. But I guess at that hour folks have given up on 40. So I moved to 20 and quickly started getting calls. After the initial rush died down I moved to 15 and netted a few more.
My extended setup time meant the girls had finished their hike and I'd only worked 17 stations. But this was a new park for me so I call it a win.
Summary: 17 QSOs in 18 minutes; 20m: 12 CW; 15m - 5 CW 10 states; Canada; Mexico