Pocomoke River State Forest and Park July-August 2000 Craig LaBarge, WB3GCK |
This summer, my family and I spent a week camping in the beautiful woods of Pocomoke River State Forest and Park near Snow Hill, Maryland. Being the earliest riser in our family, I managed to get some time on 40 meters each morning.
During this trip, I used my trusty Small Wonders SW-40 transceiver running 950mW into a 24-foot homebrew vertical mounted on my pop-up camper. I used a 7 A-H gel cell battery for power. Since we had an electric hookup at the campground, I was able to top off the charge each day.
Band conditions on 40 meters were pretty good. I managed 2 or 3 QSOs each morning. Fellow EPA-QRP Club member, Ken Newman, N2CQ, gave me a call one morning from his daughter's house in Baltimore. Worcester County, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, didn't appear to have much local Amateur Radio activity and seemed to be somewhat rare, as far as counties go. When I arrived back home, I had a few QSL cards waiting for me from county hunters for whom Worcester County was a "new one."
Thanks to all who managed to hear me. Here is my log from the trip:
BAND: 40M MODE: CW DATE UTC CALL RST-S RST-R QTH NAME 7-31-00 1304 W0EHP/3/QRP 589 569 Telford, PA Rich 1429 N2CQ/3/QRP 579 579 Baltimore, MD Ken 8-1-00 1050 K9WYP 569 339 Buffalo Grove, IL Rick 1151 K1YAN 579 549 Plymouth, MA Gary 1225 VE3KQN/QRP 559 459 Minden, ONT Jim 8-2-00 1138 N3NHX 579 599 Erie, PA Al 1210 WB3HLG 599 579 Manheim, PA Pete 1326 N2NTS 589 579 East Brunswick, NJ ED 1515 VE3AR 589 559 Toronto, ONT Bill 8-3-00 1152 N2VDF 599 579 Oakdale, NY Bob 1212 ND3G 599 589 Greensburg, MD Dick 1537 W5GJ 599 599 Newton, NJ Bob 8-4-00 1235 KO1C --- --- Plainton, NH Bob 1454 AB8EL 579 459 Hilliard, OH Don 8-5-00 1257 NR1C/QRP 579 449 Watertown, CT Mike 1325 N3OO 599 239 Tidioute, PA Bob 1433 KD3OR 569 529 Somerset, PA Rod 8-6-00 1115 K8JRO 579 539 Nr Flint, MI Jerry 1201 W1KX 579 559 Livermore, ME Bill