Europe from the Winnipesaukee River
March 2013

Today I hiked along the Winnipesaukee River. I worked
Sweden, Slovenia and Russia. What a great hike!



It's a perfect spring day... 45F and the snow is melting! I hiked
on the old rail right-of-way along the Winnipesaukee River. The
river flows from Lake Winnipesaukee in Laconia to the Merrimack
River in Franklin. The trail passes through some beautiful farm land.



After about a mile I turned north toward the river. A piece of land juts out into
the river. I setup on a large rock with a fantastic view. I'm using an HB-1B on
20 meters with a half-wave wire.



I'm looking toward the east...  that seems to be where the signals are coming from too. My
first contact is with Steve SM4OTI in Sweden. He gives me a 599 and sends "HI" when I tell
him I am running 4 watts. He's running a KW to a 4 element beam. "UR doing FB WID 4W,"
he sends. Of course, he is very strong to me. I've worked Steve nearly a dozen times over the
years.

I move up the band a bit and answer S57KW. Jure in Slovenia doesn't get my call sign on the first
try, but he gives me a 559 report. "UR 4W QRP doing good job," he sends.

Finally, I work Vlad RU6AV near Moscow. He gives me a 579. When I tell him I am running 4W /P,
he asks about my antenna. I tell him it's a 10 meter wire. "FB CONDX HI... UR 4W FB Jim." Then
he tells me he is running 200 watts to a 3 element yagi.

I have been operating for only 10 minutes. It's exhilarating! A beautiful spring day...  glorious
river scenery and some nice DX for icing on the cake.



My view to the west is perfect. Hopefully we're seeing the last of the snow. I'll hike more often
now that the days are getting warmer.