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Dear Peter – What a wonderful QSO with you from along the riverside! I promised I would send some pictures and here they are. I am also writing you a note with a full account of my radio adventure this afternoon including our QSO. I also worked Columbia and Denmark.

The journey starts when I take the bicycle out of my VW camper on the old road that runs along the river and goes to New Hampton. The road has a gate, so to proceed, one must use a bicycle, a horse, or go on foot.

The road hasn’t been used regularly since the 1940s. It’s beautiful and passes through old farm land. When I first came to this spot nearly 40 years ago, a farmer grazed his cattle in the nearby fields. After cycling for a kilometer or so, I come to a corner with a perfect view of the river.

I continue another 2 km and come to an old bridge abutment. The bridge is no longer there, but there is a small clearing under some tall trees where I like to operate.

I pull the equipment from my bag and heave a line up about 12 meters over an oak branch. Then I pull up a 10 meter wire. It is perfectly vertical, and I sit down directly under it.

Today I am using the KX3 at five watts. The coax runs to a 9:1 unun and then to the antenna. At first I listen on 20 meters and hear HK1R calling CQ from Columbia. We quickly exchange 599s, and I switch to 15 meters. There you are, and I call. You know the rest, but for the sake of other readers, I will say you are 589 and you give me a 569. I tell you that I am QRP and portable near the river. You send, “solid copy from UR QRP DR Jim.” While we are chatting, you find my web page and comment on the pictures. I promise to send you some photos from today. We continue for more than 20 minutes. I am amazed that you can copy my tiny signal so well! Finally the QSB arrives and you drop down to 549… Surely you can not copy much of what I am sending at the end… You send, “So now I have got some QSB x Perhaps conditions are changing.” With that we say goodbye. What a wonderful contact half way around the world.

Before packing up, I go to 17 meters and make a quick contact with OV1CDX on Sjaelland Island in Denmark. Frank is 599 and he gives me a 559. I am overjoyed and walk down to the old bridge site to take a picture.

I drink in the view, being careful to avoid the poison ivy! It’s everywhere here. And I walk back to the operating position and pack everything away for the ride back.

Peter, I hope you can now imagine how much fun I have on these radio outings. What could be better than a ride through glorious countryside… add to that a QSO with DF1LX and a perfect afternoon is guaranteed. Thank you, my friend. 73 Jim W1PID

This afternoon I rode my bicycle to Old Hill Village and worked Cuba, Ukraine, Spain, Belgium and Denmark. It was a fantastic afternoon.

I took the trail south from Needle Shop Brook. It was glorious. The road winds through fields and old farm land. One section close to the river is lined with helianthus flowers.

Hill Village lies on the opposite side of the Pemigewasset River from Sanbornton. The old road runs along the river from Franklin, through Hill Village to Bristol. The road has been closed since the 1940s when the area was abandoned to create a flood control area for the Franklin Falls Dam. It’s a perfect spot for a bike ride.

Today was crystal clear with a good breeze. It was nearly 75F… one of those summer days when kids swing from ropes and do somersaults into the river. After peddling more than two miles, I set up under an old butternut tree across from a field of goldenrod.

I tossed a line 40 feet into the tree and pulled up 30 feet of wire. I sat down in the grass and tuned the Elecraft KX3 on 17 meters. I used a 9:1 unun from the Emergency ARC in Honolulu. I was running five watts.

I only operated for a half an hour. But there were plenty of strong stations
on 17M that heard my weak signal. I had no trouble working into Europe.
Rather than detailing each QSO, here’s a copy of my log:

30 Jul-13 1934 18.078 CO8LY CW 599 599 Cuba
30 Jul-13 1936 18.077 UT7UJ CW 599 599 Ukraine
30 Jul-13 1940 18.085 EA7AJR CW 559 599 Spain
30 Jul-13 1942 18.087 ON7PQ CW 339 579 Belgium
30 Jul-13 1955 18.090 OO8ZL CW 599 599 Belgium
30 Jul-13 2000 18.074 OZ2TF CW 559 599 Denmark

The view from my operating position was refreshing. Ironically, I had more trouble taking down the antenna than I had putting it up. In fact, I left a spool of wire stuck fast in a branch high in the tree. A knot in my line got stuck in a tight spot and wouldn’t come loose. When I tugged hard on the line, it snapped and left the spool of wire high above the road.

Returning to Needle Shop Brook was a treat. I didn’t just ride the bike back, I soared, seemingly several feet above the road. The fragrance of the summer air caressed my whole being and my eyes absorbed the richness of the wild growth along the riverside. I thoroughly enjoy these outings.

Hanz and I went canoeing on Hermit Lake this morning. We made a QSO with NC while /mm and then we stopped on an island and made a few more… it was all makeshift because I forgot a tuner!

It was 85 degrees on Hermit Lake… hot and humid, but with a nice breeze. We set out about 10:30 with an FT-817, a bit of wire and hopes for a great adventure. That’s when things started going wrong…

As I began to raise the 14 foot fiberglass pole, I broke off the tip and had to rethink my strategy for attaching a wire. I knotted the wire around the tip and pretended everything was fine. I reached for the tuner, only to discover I had left it behind in a last minute gear switch. I thought the adventure was over… but recovered quickly. Oh well… who needs a tuner? We’ll just find the band with the lowest SWR and hope for the best.

After putting up the antenna, I stuffed the wire into the center conductor of the SO239 on the back of the rig. I didn’t even use a counterpoise. I turned the rig on 17 meters and there was K2J, the 13 Colonies Special Event Station from North Carolina, calling CQ with an S9 signal. I called him signing /MM. He came right back to me. Hanz and I grinned from ear to ear. I told the operator I was on a lake in New Hampshire and thanks for the contact! Then I realized I had forgotten to switch on the external battery. I was running with 2 1/2 watts on the internal AAs with no tuner. And all that with a few feet of wire wrapped around a 14 foot pole lashed to the canoe with rubber bands… and no counterpoise. To make things worse, the bands were clearly very poor. Geepers!

We floated around for a while but there wasn’t a lot of activity. At one point we heard KG4TO in Guantanamo Bay. He heard us and tried coming back to the /MM, but he couldn’t quite get our call. We headed for an island to get
out of the wind a bit.

Once there, we decided to land and set up a dipole cut to frequency. We grabbed the gear, and headed up a short but steep hill. At the top was a clearing with some tall trees. We heaved a wire over a branch and pulled up 33 feet of wire and laid a counterpoise over the tops of some bushes, and listened around. 20 meters sounded like the best bet. We had to shorten the wires a bit to lower the SWR, but quickly made contact with Paul, KW7D in NM. Paul gave me a 579 and we were thrilled. Hanz took the key.

Hanz worked K2G, the 13 Colonies station in Georgia. Tim gave us a 599. We figured we’d beaten the odds of an outing with no tuner and called it quits.

This afternoon I took the kayak out on Hermit Lake. I worked Orlando, Florida and Worcester, Mass with an Icom 51AD d-star handie talkie.

The setup was pretty simple. I parked the camper at the edge of the lake. On the front seat I used a Raspberry Pi computer (credit card sized) connected to a DVAP. A DVAP is a tiny repeater. It’s about 1 by 2 inches and runs a few milliwatts for local access. I also had a mifi card supplying an internet connection in the camper. This setup gave me a range of about a half a mile from the camper. I was connected to reflector 30 which is like a conference room comprising 50 local repeaters. One of the advantages of d-star is that there’s a lot of activity and it’s always easy to reach someone to chat with.

Out on the water, I talked with Dave KB1PVH in Worcester, Ma for a few minutes and headed over to an island to check out some wild irises.

This lake is also known for two varieties of carnivorous plants… the pitcher plant and the sundew plant. They aren’t in bloom yet.

As I headed back toward the shore, I said hello to Mike KA9ZRZ in Orlando, Florida. He was also using a Raspberry Pi and DVAP. Suddenly, as I passed a quiet cove on one of the islands, a huge gray heron swoshed right across the bow of the kayak a few feet above the water. I think we were both startled.

I put the kayak back in the camper and listened to VK4TUX from Australia chatting with another station. International contacts on d-star are common.

I rode my bike to the Pemigewasset River today. I worked Mexico City, New Jersey and Maryland.

I stopped about half way down to the old bridge abutment and snapped a quick shot up-river. It’s rained every day for a week and the river is about 6 feet higher than normal. Today is gorgeous… 70 degrees with a stiff breeze to keep the bugs at bay.

I left my bike under some huge pine trees and walked down to the bridge abutment.

The old bridge used to cross to Hill Village. It was removed in the late 1940s. I stood on the edge of the old concrete support and looked upstream.

I found a sunny spot with some nice grass and heaved a line about 40 feet up into a maple tree. I was using a 33 foot wire straight up with the Elecraft T-1 tuner and the ATS-4 at a bit more than 3 watts. I started out on 20 meters and worked XE1RK in Mexico City. Ralph gave me a 569 and we completed the exchange before the QSB got us. 20 meters was pretty poor, and I only heard a few stations there so I switched to 40 meters.

I re-tuned the same wire on 40 meters without a counterpoise. Signals were stronger here. Right away I heard W2WSC/100 calling CQ. This is a special event station honoring the old Tuckerton WSC shore station in New Jersey.
We exchanged 599s and I called N3WT in Maryland as he was finishing up another QSO. John said he had to run, but he gave me a 579. He was 599. When I told him I was running 3 watts, he sent back,” VY GUD JIM UR 3W IS TRUE 579.”

With this I packed up and headed south along the river. I stopped at a favorite spot to take one more photo.

It was great to get out for a while after being stuck indoors for so long. Today was really well worth the wait… it doesn’t get much better than this.

Today was fantastic. About 72F, sunny, with a stiff breeze. I hiked cross-country from Shute Hill to the Range Road running parallel to Hunkins Pond. The black flies were biting when I set up my gear, so I only made one quick contact with W5ZR in Louisiana before heading back.

Not far from the cemetery at the top of Shute Hill is a 5 acre beaver pond. I brought my APRS handie and transmitted my position as I hiked. You can see the beaver pond just above my call sign on the APRS map below.

After crossing the brook, the trail climbs steadily to the top of the hill. The trees along the trail radiate the yellow-green of new spring foliage.

This is an old logging trail, used mostly by snowmobiles now. I hiked about three miles to a spot where it runs into the old range road. Just across the old road is Swain’s north pasture. I set up under some maple trees along the stone wall. I thought I was going to operate on 15 meters, so I put up a 22 foot wire for that band. But 15 was dead and I switched to 20, even though the wire was a bit short. I was running about 4 watts with the ATS-4 and an Elecraft T-1 tuner. I called Bert, W5ZR in Louisiana when he called CQ. He was a strong 599, and he gave me a 559. The black flies were chewing on my ears and arms in spite of the repellent I put on. But who cares when the view looks like this…

After the quick QSO I packed up the gear and headed back up the trail. I reached my car in just about an hour. It was a perfect afternoon outing.

This afternoon I hiked to Knox Mountain. It was a beautiful spring day. I worked Croatia, Minnesota, the UK and Spain.

It’s been in the 70s for a more than a week. The trees are leafing out and the grass is high. Today the weather changed. It was 50F and windy. No matter, the trail was beautiful.

I crossed the first bridge and took a couple of snapshots of the brook.

Viburnum with its white flowers decorated the trail along the brook. The cool breeze kept the black flies away.

The second bridge has been removed. I placed a board between some rocks to facilitate a dry crossing a few weeks ago. I was glad it was still there.

The pond was full. It looks like the beaver have maintained their small dam at the near end. I tossed a line over a high branch on the cherry tree next to the cabin and pulled up a half wave wire for 15 meters. I used the ATS-4 by KD1JV with the Elecraft T-1 tuner. Here’s my log.

13 May-13 1916 21.018 9A4KW CW 599 599 Croatia
13 May-13 1922 21.013 KW7D CW 559 589 MN
13 May-13 1934 21.005 MI0VKO CW 449 579 UK
13 May-13 1951 21.011 EA8TL CW 599 599 Spain

This is the view of the pond from my operating position. After packing up, I made a quick trip back to the car. I was cold and ready for a cup of tea. Thank goodness spring is here.