Bike Ride to East Andover
October 2013

Judy and I rode our bicycles in East Andover this afternoon.
It was gorgeous. I worked Cuba, St. Kitts, Portugal, Ukraine
and Belgium.



We rode on the old Northern Rail right of way. The tracks are gone now, and
it's a bicycle and walking path. We sailed along through tunnels of gold and
orange. Really beautiful. We stopped at a beach along Highland Lake. I
operated at a picnic table there for about 20 minutes.



I tossed a line over a branch and pulled up a 30 foot wire. I used the earchi.org
9:1 unun and my KX3. I made one QSO on each band... 10M, 15M, 17M,
and 20 meters. First I had a quick exchange with Eduardo in Cuba... CO8LY
and I traded 599s. On 15 meters I worked V44KAI, Joel in St. Kitts. We
gave each other 559s and I answered CT7AEQ in Portugal on 17 meters.
Ted was a 599 and gave me the same report. Finally I worked Boris in
the Ukraine. RU3ZC gave me a 569 and he was 589. Before leaving the
spot, Judy took a quick photo by the lake.



Then we jumped on our bikes and rode about 3 miles to the east toward
Franklin. We stopped at a beaver pond along the Sucker Brook.



Just below the bridge the beavers had built a small dam. But it was big
enough to turn a large swamp into a small pond. I threw a wire over a
tall pine tree along the pond and set up the KX3 on 20 meters. Someone
had placed a small picnic table at the spot.



I heard Jean, ON4AEF from Belgium signing with another station and I
called him. He gave me a 559. He was a very strong 599. "UR QRP FB,"
he sent. "Great signal. Rig HR K2 10W X QRP like you!" It was a wonderful
QSO and a perfect finale to our bike ride.

We turned around and headed back to the car. Cold weather is coming
Wednesday.