When traveling, we set aside a little time to explore and activate some parks. It gives me a reason to leave the house and see other places.
We stayed a night on Otsego Lake in Cooperstown, NY, so I had easy access to Hyde Hall (US-10044) in Glimmerglass State Park (US-2062), a 2-fer!
My picnic table outside the house was closer to the nearby tree than I usually like, so I deployed the 41-foot (12.5M) EFRW. Within about an hour, I only had 3 FT8 contacts. The bands seemed sort of quiet: I’d only see about 3 signals per cycle on 17M.
I figured it was a good time to compare antennas, so I setup the telescoping whip with the sliding coil. Immediately, that antenna showed me about 12 (4x) signals per cycle. I completed my 10 contacts for the activation with the new antenna and packed up, since we had to get the rest of the way to Vermont.
I checked PSK Reporter when I later got better internet access, and I was being heard, but I wasn’t hearing others. That EFRW was tuning just fine, but not hearing well. I used to struggle with activations with this 41-foot antenna being my main antenna. I may have been making it harder for myself than necessary when I started with the EFRW. The EFHW is pretty convenient enough, so I often use that these days.
