July in Hill 2011
Judy and I rode our bicycles along the Pemigewasset
River in Old Hill Village. It was gorgeous this evening.
I set up my antenna under an old butternut tree and
worked some nice dx... Russia, Bulgaria, Spain, Germany
and a station in Atlanta Georgia.
We left around 5:30 pm and rode for a half an hour or so.
The old dirt road goes along the river. It was a perfect July
evening... nearly 80F and as green as could ever be. The
reflections were dazzling off the water. Along the way we
could hear Veeries and doves in the woods alongside the
road. A small quail darted from the dust of the lane and into
the underbrush. I stopped and watched him for 30 seconds
before he flew.
We stopped our bicycles underneath an old butternut tree
alongside a field filled with milkweed in flower and blue vetch. The
fragrance was overpowering. I tossed a wire over a branch and
tuned it with the Elecraft T-1. I was running the KD1JV ATS-4 on 20
meters with 8-AA cells. It produces about 4 watts with 10.5 volts.
My first contact was was with Oleg, RN3QN. He gave me a 559. He
was a solid 599. We signed after a quick exchange. Next I answered
a CQ from LZ1YE in Bulgaria. Another quick exchange. After these
two QSOs, I went up the band to the QRP frequency. There I found
Jorge, EA2LU calling CQ. Jorge and I have had several QRP-to-QRP
QSOs during QRP sprints. It's always a treat. We exchanged 559
signal reports and had a solid 2-way chat for several minutes. Jorge
was curious about my antenna when I told him I was on a bicycle trip.
As soon as I signed with Jorge, DL5AA in Dresden called me. We moved
up 2 Khz. Jorge told us to stay, but it was too late... Al had already
moved up 2. He came right back when I called him. I was 539 and he
was 559 to me. Al was running a K2 with 5W to a 53 mtr long wire. "Your
antenna is doing a nice job for you," he sent. We had a solid QSO
for several minutes.
No sooner had we signed than WA4FNG called from Atlanta. Milt was
QRP also and we exchanged 559s. Another nice 2-way QRP QSO. With
that I called it quits and packed up the gear. We were back at the car
by
7:15 pm after an exhilerating ride back through the warm evening air.
Thanks to all for the great QSOs. VY 73, Jim W1PID