Many due to Tom (VA2NW) for this report on Chillycon, aka Chilicon – Vince.
Canada’s capital, Ottawa, is the house of the Ottawa Valley QRP Society. The group holds an annual weekend camp-out on the Rideau River Provincial Park (POTA CA-0365) in early fall and it’s affectionately known as Chillycon (also called Chillicon). This 12 months’s camp-out ran from September twentieth by means of twenty second with some of us arriving a number of days earlier. It’s a low key gathering which largely consists of informal working, socializing, sharing suggestions and methods, and testing everybody’s moveable radio gear.
On Friday morning I packed up my van with radio gear, tenting tools, and sufficient batteries to get me by means of a weekend of working and cellphone recharging. Somewhat than tent tenting, I made a decision to arrange a sleeping pad in my minivan. The journey from Gatineau Quebec took a bit of beneath an hour, and I arrived simply after 2:00pm native time.
I introduced my new toy with me, the Venus SW-6B (steel case + inner battery configuration). In only a few minutes I used to be on the air with the radio, an AlexLoop Hampack antenna, American Morse Gear Mini-B paddle, and Apple EarPod wired headphones. I made a number of POTA contacts earlier than it was time to start out my shift because the Straight Key Century Membership’s Canadian Straight Key Month particular occasion station VC3Y/VE3. Circumstances weren’t nice and there wasn’t lots of SKCC exercise in the midst of a piece day, so I solely made one SKCC contact that day. After SKCC hour, I joined in on the weekly K1USN Gradual Velocity Take a look at (SST). I contacted a number of regulars, after which I returned to POTA and made one other dozen or so contacts to convey the overall as much as 17 QSOs.
I packed up my gear and took a while to calm down and benefit from the peace and quiet by studying The CW Means of Life by Chris Rutkowski in my camp chair. I extremely advocate that e book to anybody with an curiosity in Morse code. Later within the night we swapped tales and toasted Kieran Shepherd (SK) who was an lively member of the native beginner group and cherished Chillycon. His callsign -VA3KS- seems in lots of POTA park pages.
After an excellent evening’s relaxation, I kicked off Saturday morning with extra straight key work. I operated as VC3Y/VE3 for an additional hour and bagged 3 members. It was nonetheless fairly early within the day, so I went on 40m to see if I might hear any locals within the Ottawa space. I ended up working Eric VE3DN who was on the campsite straight throughout from mine. That was my closest contact of the weekend. Saturday was the Polar Bear QRP Membership’s month-to-month Polar Bear Summer time Picnic Occasion (PBSPE), so Eric and I exchanged GRRRRs. I hopped over to 20m and labored Italy and the W7Y Particular Occasion Station. I additionally labored a number of different POTA activators.
Since 20m was in such good condition, I made a decision to maneuver as much as 15m. I used to be not disenchanted. The Scandinavian Exercise Contest was in full swing. I labored Iceland twice, Sweden twice, and Finland 4 occasions; all with my SW-6B and AlexLoop. Given the great outcomes I bought tuning round, I made a decision to name CQ on 15m and labored a few stations in England. I then chased a bunch of Park-to-Park QSOs. I ended the day with 48 within the log.
That evening, after a small siesta, we gathered collectively to share our experiences. The DX awards have been additionally introduced. There are two awards: one for CW and one for Cellphone. They go to the one that makes the farthest contact in every mode. This 12 months, I received the CW DX award for one among my Finnish contacts. The award is a plaque with a straight key on it. Just like the Stanley Cup, it is going to be handed on to the winner on the subsequent Chillycon. Don VE3MNE received the SSB DX award for his contact with a station in Hungary. The ultimate morning began with a bunch breakfast at a neighborhood eatery the place I had a scrumptious scorching chocolate. It warmed me up because the temperature Sunday morning was 12C (53F).
After consuming, the solar was greater within the sky and issues began warming up, together with the ionosphere. I made one other 15 contacts, together with one with a station in France. I used to be going to do extra straight key work however my arm was simply too sore from the day earlier than; the picnic desk is at an odd top for me. I packed every little thing up and made my means residence.
Stats: 80 QSOs, 77 distinctive callsigns, 22 park-to-parks, 13 DX QSOs, 8 distinctive nations, 26 US States, 3 Canadian Provinces, 4 bands (40m, 20m, 17m, 15m).
I had a blast at Chillycon. It was so good seeing previous pals and assembly folks I’ve solely communicated with over the air or through e-mail. The Venus SW-6B is certainly a keeper. After 80 QSOs, my solely grievance is the dearth of slim filters. It makes an excellent companion to the AlexLoop. I can’t wait till subsequent 12 months!
72, Tom
