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This afternoon I walked down to the Pemigewasset River and worked Italy and Germany.

There’s a steep hillside trail leading into the Corps of Engineers flood control area along the river. In the winter the trail is used mostly by snowmobiles. Today the trail is covered with several inches of snow… the remnants from a snow storm last week. It’s sunny with a brilliant blue sky. The temperature is 42F.

At the bottom of the hill, the trail crosses a lovely brook which feeds into the Pemi. Only a couple of weeks ago it was frozen solid. Now it’s flowing again.

I walk about a mile and come to a spot overlooking Shaw Cove. As the trail rounds a sharp corner, the warm sun has
melted the snow along the edge. It’s a good place to sit and there are some tall pine trees lining the trail.

I toss a half wave wire over a branch and set up the HB-1B on 20 meters. The band is active.

Right away I hear IK2CIO, Vini calling CQ. We quickly exchange 599s and send 73. I tell Vini I am running 4W and he confirms the contact.

I tune down the band a bit and hear Holger, DK4LX just finishing a QSO. I call him and he answers giving me a 439. He says he’s in a rush and apologizes for not chatting. I thank him for his answer and tell him I am running 4 watts. He wants to know more… my QTH, the rig… and the antenna. He copies all the information and congratulates me on the setup. He wishes me good luck and I tell him I will send some photos of my location.

I’ve only operated for about 10 minutes, but my tiny signal has reached Europe, and I am thrilled to have a beautiful hike and witness the magic of radio once again. I pack up and hike up the hill.

This afternoon Hanz, W1JSB and I met at the Franklin Falls Dam. Our plan was simple… lift a half wave wire with a kite and work some DX on 20 meters. We managed to work Belgium and the Ukraine… but it wasn’t all clear sailing.

We sat at a picnic table several hundred feet above the river. A stiff breeze lifted the kite about 80 feet into the air. We attached the far end of our 33 foot wire to a loop in the middle of the kite string. We connected the near end to the Par matchbox and then to the rig… an HB-1B running 4 watts. It wasn’t vertical, but it was a respectable sloper.

After a few calls, I worked ON8VP in Belgium. Peter gave me a 559 and we finished a quick exchange. His signal was strong, and I have no doubt that had the wire been vertical, I would have been stronger to him. But I was pretty happy to make a contact.

Next, I heard UY6IM in the Ukraine calling CQ. As the wind faltered and the kite lowered, Roman answered my call and gave me a 559. Then it happened.

The kite dropped below the hillside and most of the wire lay on the ground. Roman couldn’t hear me send his report. Fortunately, he didn’t hear me swear either. Darn it… (OK… Dam it.) Hanz raced down the hillside to recover the fallen kite. Right away it lifted into the sky again. By this time Roman was calling CQ again. I answered… gave him a 599 and called it quits after he acknowledged the report. Right after that, the kite dropped once again. It was frustrating.

Hanz wanted to give it a try, so I ran down and tried to get the kite airborne once again. No luck. We packed up. Of course, as soon as we did, the wind came up again. The experiment was fun, but I think I’ll stick with trees.

Hanz W1JSB and I hiked down to the Pemigewasset River today. It was our first radio outing of the year… and it was fantastic! We worked Germany, Romania, Slovak Republic and Wisconsin.

We walked down the steep hill into the Corps of Engineers flood control area along the road. In the winter it’s used only by snowmobiles, cross-country skiers and sometimes horseback riders. The snow is just starting to melt. We’ve had two days in the mid-40s. The brook is showing signs of life. It’s grand.

We walked in about a mile and turned toward the river into a field. We found a little bare spot of ground near some bushes and decided to set up there. I flung the water bottle with the antenna line into a tree and Hanz pulled it up.

We used the HB-1B at 4 watts on 20 meters with a 33 foot end fed wire. I took the first turn and right away heard OM1ADX calling CQ. Martin in the Slovak Republic had a beautiful signal. He gave me a 559. Hanz made a video of the QSO.

View it here.

After that, Hanz took over. He worked two stations in a row toward the lower end of the band. First he called DL6LBI in Germany. Ingo answered him right away and gave Hanz a 579. The Wisconsin QSO Party was in full swing so there were plenty of WI stations for the asking. Hanz worked K9LGU. The really interesting QSO came next.
Hanz went up to 14.060 and heard a very weak station calling CQ. It was Catalin in Romania… YO8RIX and he was only running 500 mw with a K1 and a loop antenna. Amazing.

It was so much fun to get out in the warm sunshine and operate again. The winter’s been long. On the walk back Hanz and I talked about some of the places we plan to hike to with our radios this summer. There will be lots of good exercise and radio expeditions ahead.

I wrote this short article for our club newsletter in hopes it will encourage some members to upgrade from technician class.

It is a strange privilege we have… this ham radio hobby. This morning while having a quick cup of tea, I travel around the world in under 10 minutes visiting briefly with Israel, Italy, Slovenia and Aruba.

I am transported from my radio room upstairs to places far away. Outside there is fresh snow and it’s 10F. It’s definitely not snowing in Aruba. I stop for a quick visit with Carl, P49V. He’s 2100 miles to my south… at 75F the flowers are blooming. It’s a great place to begin my journey.

I have chatted with Carl before… once in 2010, and again in 2011. We don’t linger for long… just to say a quick hello and exchange signal reports.

I turn the dial and I’m in Israel! 5500 miles away between Egypt and Iraq. Who would imagine. Udi says “Hello,” and wishes me well on my journey.

This strange breakfast navigation is made possible by some modest radio equipment and a simple wire hung from the trees outside. I am using Morse on the 15 meter band. Pure magic to many, rather a common occurrence (though magic none-the-less) for those more practiced in the radio arts.

Between sips of tea I turn north and west to central Italy. It’s somewhat closer to home at 4500 miles. Vanni, I5ECW and I have visited before a few years ago. He sends, “Ciao, Ciao,” and I am on my way to Slovenia to visit with Dan.

Dan, S59N lives south of Austria in central Slovenia. He sits in his shack using mostly homemade equipment. We have chatted nearly 20 times since 2004.

I say “Good Afternoon” to Dan (he’s in a different time zone) and reach again for my tea cup. Barely ten minutes have passed since I turned on the radio set, but already I’ve traveled to the far reaches of the world. I’m ready for some oatmeal.

I’ve been in Hawaii for the last two weeks. I operated QRP with a wire antenna on several occasions.

This is the cottage we stayed at during the first week. There are lots of pictures, but it’s pretty long to post here. To read it, please go to my web page at http://www.w1pid.com/hawaii/hawaii.html

Happy New Year, Jim W1PID

Today Hanz W1JSB and I went out for a hike. We wanted to make a couple of QSOs on 40 meters. We worked New York and Pennsylvania and didn’t even bring a rig with us! Huh? Hanz used his cell phone to operate his FT-817 remotely at home. It was strange and wonderful.

We hiked east from the Sanbornton dump toward Giles Pond. It was about 33F, but sunny. We hiked around the back side of this field and stopped along the trail about a half mile from the pond.

Hanz pulled out his Samsung cell phone and started pressing buttons. First he connected to his Windows box in the shack and fired up Ham Radio Deluxe. Then he established a link using Skype so we’d have audio. Then he got CWType running so he could key the rig. His FT-817 at 5 watts was hooked up to a center fed dipole through an LDG auto tuner.

Hanz had a grin on his face as keyed “KA2KDJ de W1JSB” onto the cell phone keyboard. Gary answered right away from New York. It was magic. Then Hanz told him how he was operating.

For a video of the QSOs see http://www.w1pid.com/strange/strange.html

“FB CPY,” Gary sent back. “UR 579” Gary was a 599 and clear as a bell. They chatted for about 5 minutes. Hanz’s fingers were getting cold, so he sent 73 and TNX. As we started walking back down the trail we heard another station calling Hanz! “W1JSB de AA3OI/QRP” What the heck? we thought. A pileup. So Hanz answered Joe AA3OI and they had a quick QSO.

Pretty cool… what started as a goofy experiment actually worked. Are we going to stop bringing rigs and antennas on our hikes? No way, this was just a proof of concept, and not really very practical. But it sure was a hoot and Hanz demonstrated that he could certainly do a pedestrian mobile operation without lugging radio,  batteries and antennas.

-end-

This afternoon Hanz, W1JSB and I made a quick trip to Knox Mountain. We operated for less than 10 minutes and made one QSO each… with Spain and West Virginia. Then we headed home. Hanz caught a shot of me on the bridge. You’ve got to be careful where you step because there are some large holes that go straight through.

We didn’t get started until after two and already the sun was low. The temperature was in the mid-40s. We hiked along the brook toward the north and east.

About a quarter of a mile from the cabin, we jumped across some rocks because the old bridge at that end is gone. It’s always a treat to catch a glimpse of the pond and the cabin on the opposite shore.

We arrived a little before 3:00 pm. I tossed a line over a 40 foot branch on the old cherry tree at the edge of the pond. I hauled up a 33 foot wire to use on 20 meters. I sat right under the branch so the wire would be vertical. I used the Elecraft T-1 tuner and connected the ATS-4. I powered the rig with 8 AA cells. We were putting out about 4 watts. As soon as I turned on the rig I heard EA3DD calling CQ. Manu in Spain came right back to me. We completed a quick exchange. I was 559, he was 599. I was ecstatic at such a quick contact. Then I handed the Palm Paddle and the earphones to Hanz.

In less than a minute he answered a CQ sent by W8PBO in West Virginia. Art gave Hanz a 569 and he was 599. They chatted for a couple of minutes and signed. We packed up. Already the temperature had dropped almost 5 degrees.