Activated on April 25th, 2024
Albert’s fueled me up with a nice breakfast as it was the start of my trip to Big Bear, CA. Big Bear is the place for the 1st Annual Big Bear Mini-Hamcation. I decided to go up the hill, Big Bear is at 6,700 feet, a day early so I could make an early activation. The trip up the hill was uneventful, that is until I hit fog.
Regulars are used to these conditions, however, when visibility gets down to about 30 feet it is flat-out dangerous. Period. There was a yahoo FedEx driver that would come up to my bumper then back off. He was trying to intimidate me to pull over. Normally I would have done so, but that too was dangerous. Pulling off to let him by was not the problem. Getting back on the road with such low visibility did not give me confidence that, when I got back on, somebody would not touch the rear of KindaNottaJeep (my Jeep Compass) with their front end. I stayed my course and arrived safely.
I was able to check in early, put my things away, grabbed lunch, and went to activate US-10832 Baldwin Park Ecological Reserve. You can’t go into the reserve, so the park itself is on the opposite side of the road, containing one vault toilet, locked, one building, locked, and one bench. All this in an area less than an acre. You can imagine the size of the parking lot! However, it was empty so I parked near the only tree thinking I would use the shade.
It didn’t take long to set up, however while connecting the feedline to the MPAS vertical, a sheriff’s unit came by for a security check of the area. We chatted for a few minutes, I gave the park volunteer, who was with the deputy, one of my patented pamphlets and they were gone.
Once everything was set up, and I turned on the radio, I heard someone sending clearly, but I wanted to start on the 10-meter band. And so, my activation started. I got six contacts in 47 minutes. That’s about one contact every eight minutes. However, I did make a contact with Judy in Louisiana, which was nice. We met in an LICW class. My time on 10 meters was affected by winds I did not expect. I was chilly.
I knew it was going to be in the low fifties, however, the wind underneath the shade of the tree was certainly not helpful. It was hard to key! It was a beautiful, crisp day with barely a cloud, a light blue sky, and a bright sun. The day was gorgeous; however, the wind did knock my camera over! All
The 17-meter band was next. Eventually I swapped my hat for a beanie as I did not want my hat flying across the road. The more practical reason was to keep my ears warm. All told, I got ten contacts on the 17-meter band. Working through them I found some contacts easy and some hard. The road noise made it somewhat difficult at times, then there was the QSB that added a challenge.
That said, I made contact with Spain! Although I’ve made several DX contacts while activating using Morse Code, I am not familiar with European call signs as I am with Japanese, Aussie, and Kiwi calls. So, a call starting with EA made me hesitate even though it was a clear enough signal. Nonetheless, I got Spain in the log. Muchas gracias Sr. Garcia Gonzalez.
Eventually 17 meters dried up on me and I QSYed to the 21-meter band. I was hoping to pick up enough contacts there to break the 20-contact mark. I got three more contacts on this band, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and North Dakota. Although I did not break 20, ending up with nineteen, I was driven to go back to the hotel due to the cold winds. There was actually another reason, as it was close to the registration time for the 1st Annual Big Bear Mini-Hamcation, which was the reason I was in Big Bear in the first place.
I first heard about this Southern California gathering in February, I think, and registered at once. In the 4 ½ years I’ve been a ham; this is my first event of its kind. It is also the first event in Southern California in many years, so it is a welcome sight. Thank you Dede K6DDZ for putting all this together.
This was the first time I activated when it was cold. To be certain, cold weather has its challenges. Of course, this applies to hot weather as well. This was the first time my hands were this cold, at times trembling, which made keying difficult. Still, I enjoyed my chilly mountain activation.
Next time…long johns!
Activation Statistics
| Activation Number | 56 |
| Date | 25 April, 2024 |
| Park | US-10832 Baldwin Lake Ecological Reserve |
| Number of Contacts | 19 |
| DX Contacts | 1 |
| Park Activated? | Yes |
| Previous Attempts | 2 |
| Park to Park Contacts | None |
| Mode | CW |
| Radio | Elecraft KX3 |
| Antenna | MPAS 2.0 in vertical configuration |
| Tuner | Internal |
| Power | 5W using a 3Ah Bioenno battery |
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