Edging Into The Late Shift

Published by

w6csn

on

September 28, 2023

A later arrival at my usual spot and an hour and a half of available operating time meant that if propagation cooperated I could get some “late shift” activator QSOs into my POTA stats.

Last vestiges of light in the western sky.

Late shift at K-7889 starts at 0200Z and my first contact of the evening was a quick park-to-park with WB0RLJ at 01:22Z. I continued at a steady, but not torrid pace, working nine more stations before the end of the hour.

The QSO rate picked up a little and I was able to make eight Late Shift contacts in 12 minutes. Since I was just working from a picnic table the rapid onset of darkness signaled my time to wrap up.

Many thanks to all the hunters and fellow activators for a successful “Late Shift” POTA outing.

73 de W6CSN

2 responses to “Edging Into The Late Shift”

dolphus

October 3, 2023

I made it to the neighboring area of Golden Gate Recreation Area on Sunday. I had a blast! The station was set up on the opposite side of the bridge just a bit north of the Legion of Honor. I was there earlier in the afternoon. I was wondering, have you been running into a hard stop on 20 meter propagation at the Rockies during the day from here? The 12 year old kid and I built a Tuna Topper amplifier for the Rockmite, so now we’re running on the order of 5 Watts. During the day the signal is 30 dB into one Utah RBN station, but it doesn’t get any further east. Are you seeing that at all with your radio?

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply
1. w6csn
  
  October 3, 2023
  
  That’s great!
  
  I regularly get east of the Rockies with my 3.5 to 4 watts. But I suspect that performance has a lot to do with time of day and location. I usually activate from the East Bluffs Picnic area and more often than not I am operating after 00z so I don’t have to race the clock for POTA.
  
  I’ve tried other locations and times of day in the Presidio but none have ever been as productive for me as East Beach. With a vertical antenna and what I suspect is excellent ground conductivity adjacent to the salty Bay waters gives me enhanced takeoff to the east.
  
  The propagation “numbers” on qrz.com usually report 20 meters as “Fair” during the day and “Good” at night. This roughly comports with my experience at the end of the day when I will get a lot of QSB with occasional openings where stations from PA, NY, and other northeast states will come hammering in 599 while giving my QRP signal a strength report of 4 or 5.
  
  If you are able, I’d suggest trying an operation down close to the Bay waters and see how you get out.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply

w6csn’s outdoor amateur radio