Well folks, it's been a week since Winter Field Day. Carla and I camped at Three Rivers State park in Sneads, FL. We weren't alone; several members of the Panama City Amateur Radio club were there. Greg (N4KGL) and his wife, Daniel (K4MDA) and his family, George (W4GHG) and his family, and Ryan (K1OSE) and his family all participated from the campground this year. We also had a couple hams drop by to visit, Frank (KC8VKA) and Adam (KO4KOF).
Due to the ongoing pandemic, WFD 2021 allows for members of a club to combine scores and be grouped together as a club score. This allows us to stay social distanced while still being able to participate as a club. While we all were at the campground, we did maintain social distancing guidelines.
We arrived late Friday afternoon and got camp set up. The first night was quite cool and temperatures were in the 30's F. Saturday I got the IC-705, Solar, and antenna set up. I used a Sotabeams bandhopper 20/30/40 meter antenna and a 80-10 meter endfed antenna as a backup. The solar system I have is a 120 watt Bioenno solar panel, Bioenno solar charge controller for LiFePO4 batteries, and a Bioenno 40 AH LiFePO4 battery. I really can't say enough good things about the Bioenno equipment. Everything works flawlessly. The solar/battery combo kept the IC-705, my 15" Windows 10 Laptop, GoPro camera, and our phones charged and powered for the entire weekend, with no noticable drop in capacity.
Rain rolled in early Sunday morning, but didn't last too long. In the end, I had 33 PSK31 contacts. Not a super high number, but I was QRP, and I am okay with that result.
Scoring:
33 QSOs
33 x 2 (digital) = 66 QSO points x 4 Power multiplier (QRP) x 3 Mode and Band multiplier
= 792 points
Bonus points:
1500 Outdoor station
1500 Away From Home
1500 Non-commercial power
= 4500 bonus points
Total claimed score = 5292
Check out the video below...
Until next time,
73
Bob, KK4DIV
