My wife and I passed a pleasant afternoon on the Rideau river near Ottawa in the Chapman Mills conservation area. Conditions were good for FT4 on 20m, especially to the EU. Used the IC-705 at 10w and Raspberry Pi 5.
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Ham radio operator VA3RKM in Ottawa, Ontario
A couple of us QRPers( VA3RR and VA3RKM) went to the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa for FD 2025 (and POTA). Always fun! The weather turned warm and sunny. The Raspberry Pi and its new 5V monitor worked well for data. Each was powered by a separate cellphone 10k power bank. They last a long time in this service.
A great spring day Sunday, 15C (60F) and sunny for a POTA CW activation of the Diefenbunker Cold War museum, about 30km (19 mi.) from downtown Ottawa. The building sits on giant shock absorbers and is covered by earth. It was built in the early 60s to house Canadian officials in the event of a nuclear strike by the Soviet Union. Missiles were not accurate at the time and the building could survive a strike that was not too close. Accuracy has improved since then, making it obsolete.
An Easter afternoon POTA outing saw weak conditions for SSB and CW on 20m, but they were good enough for 26 QSOs. The Central Experimental Farm is a research facility that features a large farm in the centre of Ottawa. Children especially love visiting in the spring, when they can view the newborn animals in the barns. The Saunders building, situated amid greenhouses and gardens, houses offices and labs.
A spring day today for a 20m CW POTA activation at Remic Rapids park. The last of the snowbanks were melting and the sun was shining, with a 15C (60F) temperature. Lots of people out biking and walking on the TransCanada Trail.
@K0GDB The monitor is an official 15.6-inch monitor. It is on the Raspberry Pi website, and is sold here in Ottawa for $140 Cdn. at the Pi Shop. It's bright and clear, and can be used with other types of computers via the mini-HDMI cable. There is a 7" touch screen monitor available also, but this one is better for casual outings for POTA, I think. A 12V monitor is pricey.
Today I had my first try at a POTA activation using the Raspberry Pi 5 and its new matching 15-inch 5V monitor. All worked well, using the 2.6 WSJT-X from the R Pi repository for FT8 and 4 on 20m. The Pi and the monitor were powered by a small Iniu low-current-enabled USB power bank (10k). It was only about 1/4 drained in a hour of operating. The IC-705 was on a 12V battery. I operated from the car, since the temperature outdoors was at the freezing mark and it was windy.
It was sunny when Pat VE3EUR and i arrived for an activation at the sprawling Vincent Massey park, near the Rideau river in Ottawa . But soon it began to rain and the temperature fall. Spring weather. It was +11C yesterday and this morning it's fallen to -8C.
My first POTA activation using SSB was fun. The sun was shining and the temperature above freezing, making it feel like spring, in spite of the high piles of snow. My friend Pat VE3EUR and I were at Hogs Back park on the Rideau river in Ottawa. I used a K2 running 15w to a vertical and managed to get as far as Spain and Barbados. I enjoyed talking with ops whom I had worked on data or CW.
The snow had been plowed into small mountains at the Maplelawn historic site so there was room to set up a 20m CW POTA activation. We have had about 70cm (2 ft.) of snow over the last week. The winter has been good for Ottawa's Rideau Canal skateway. About 7km of skating fun for those so inclined.