30 Meters on the Hudson River

I’ve been near New York City this week to attend a granddaughters graduation ceremony at Suny Albany and I've got into the habit of taking the QRP rig along on trips with the hopes of getting a few hours "free time" to spend on the air. This afternoon I was able to set up my little station at a city park on the Hudson River in the town of Haverstraw NY.

I had originally planned to hang the dipole as an inverted Vee but after pulling the center portion over a low tree limb, it was easy to arrange flat and oriented East and West.

Today’s solar flux was 68 (terrible for 30 meters) but after listening for just a few moments, I found a “special event station” in Italy (IU3AC) pounding out CQ’s and a vast swarm of bees trying to work him. I didn’t waste much time with this because I could tell the band was unstable and I didn’t hear any strong US stations attempting a contact. (Lets face reality, I’m only running 5 watts of power).

Soon afterwards, I heard KA4KSB in New Bern, NC (and was able to briefly work him) but the band shifted and we were not able to continue the QSO.

Another strong signal came from N4QLB in Anniston Alabama but I couldn’t make the contact.

I was beginning to think the band “just wasn’t there” when I heard K9JQ in Chicago Illinois call CQ with a very strong signal. We chatted for several minutes as I explained my operating location on the Hudson River.

I love operating like this and look forward to more of the same as the summer season approaches. I’ll again make up a special card for this contact since Jim has a current e-mail address.

It was really enjoyable to chat with others from this location. It’s a beautiful spot on the river where I can see sail boats and freighters as they enter the channel towards New York City.

This, to me, is what portable radio is all about.