Chillycon 2013
Chillycon 2013
A weekend of Camping and QRP
Once again the annual Ottawa Valley QRP Society camping weekend at Rideau River Provincial Park has come and gone. As usual we had some wet weather and some cool weather but this year’s night-time low was a balmy 8C. We were blessed with two very nice days on Saturday and Sunday, which really made the weekend.
I showed up a day early along with Ying, VA3YH and braved the rain showers, thanks to a new tarp which kept me very dry.
This year I decided to try some different radio gear so in addition to my G5RV JR, I also brought along my MFJ-1786 Hi-Q Magnetic Loop. I mostly used my Elecraft K1, but I also brought out my very new Flex-1500 on Saturday and made a number of 17m DX QSOs. Looking through the log I worked Iceland, Belgium, Spain, Slovenia, Nicaragua, Cuba and the Canary Islands. Interestingly I switched back and forth between the two antennas on 17m and found the performance to be about the same for the Mag Loop about 3 feet off of the ground and the G5RV Jr. setup as a 30ft high flattop.
Our Saturday night Pizza delivery from Capilano Pizza in Kemptville was also a big hit, with a record number (16) of attendees. This included campers and a few Hams who came by for the day.
This years “Best Chillycon DX” award goes to Bill VE3CLQ/VE3FCT for working Saudi Arabia. (I had previously credited Eric, VA3AMX for working A92IO in Bahrain but apparently he didn’t complete the QSO).
Attendees were too numerous to mention. Chris, VA3CME once again put together an excellent video that captures the spirit of Chillycon and it can be viewed on YouTube .
Thanks to everyone who showed up again this year.
Till next year .. 72
Wednesday, September 18, 2013