Or, what a difference a day makes.

So I loaded up the truck and moved to…oh wait, that’s another story. I headed to my nearest POTA park, The Illinois Beach State Park, (K-1000 in POTA-speak). The park is right on the shore of Lake Michigan, about an hour north of downtown Chicago. As you may have guessed, the park was pretty empty on December 31, 2021. Overcast, 37 degrees, a light breeze and Lake Mishi-Gami was as calm as a farm pond. Fantastic conditions for January 31 in the Chicago area.

As we closed out 2021 and rang in 2022, I figured I’d do some Parks On The Air.

I chatted for a while with another POTA activator, Arron, who had already begun making contacts on CW. He was set up with a small campfire and a big antenna.

After our chat I moved to a different part of the park and set up shop. I was on the air in no time and made close to 50 contacts in about an hour. Not record setting, but I went and took some of the accompanying pictures while stretching my legs and making New Years Eve dinner plans with the XYL.

On the Great Lakes, conditions can change dramatically in just a short time. Today, January 1, 2022, I decided to go back and activate K-1000 again. Notice anything different about the lake? It has been less than 24 hours since I took the first group of pictures. The skies are still overcast, but the wind is howling, (in Chicago we call it The Hawk), the snow hadn’t started yet, and the temperature is hovering around freezing.

Well I made enough contacts to activate K-1000, (K-K), when, ring-ring-ring. “Are you up at the park again?” I could hear her eyes rolling, but she knows I have a problem. What’s the old idiom, Behind every great man is a great woman…A SEXIST WOULD SAY.

Today I was using a helical whip antenna with a magnet mount on top of the Family Truckster. When I packed-up, the antenna had loosened from the base and the “stinger” had vibrated loose from the main body of the whip because of the wind buffeting. Note to self, 3/8″ spanner wrench.

Watching the spray shoot 20 feet up into the air, I couldn’t help myself from taking a few picture. Right on the shore, with the wind whipping, I wished I’d had some of those gloves that work on a phone screen. I could only take a few pictures at a time before my hand had to get some pocket time. I wouldn’t have taken any if it weren’t for two layers of pants, six layers, (really), on top, neck gaiter, wool hat and gloves.

Did I mention the dissimilarities in atmospheric conditions after the earth makes one rotation on it’s axis, especially when standing at the littoral zone of very large body of fresh water and a weather map displays tightly packed isobars?

73 Everyone, and Happy New Year. I’m glad to have 2021 in the rear view mirror.