Best wishes in your endeavors.  As a former Philly resident, I  spent plenty of time in Jersey, from  the Cape, up to  Middlesex Co, and out to the PA line.  It would be fun chasing all the NJ counties and hearing familiar names again.

So I look forward to  your success.

Well, another  OSPOTA is in the books.  BRUTAL  conditions this year, compared to 2010!  That Class X2.1 flare  really affected  80-10m Sat afternoon and early evening here in central Ohio.   Sigs were ok for the first 2-3 hours, with plenty of them.  But too often I could hear 3-4 in there calling but just too weak to pull thru. ( Often  during past contests, 40m has  a plethora of weak sigs during the afternoon, but about 2-3-4 S units stronger than yesterday. )

Then 40m really tanked, until the end.  A few spurts from time to time but  not as many sigs - or parks -  as hoped for.  40 SSB especially was disrupted by WAE contestors right up to 7.200 and the foreign broadcast sigs  dominated 7.200 up.  It forced me to go to CW for the final hour and a half where I worked maybe 12 stations, but at least I got away from the  QRM.

80m was slower going, with fewer parks heard than last year.

And the boys on 20-15-10  worked almost nothing stateside until around 7 pm when the west coast started coming in on 20 SSB.  Thank heavens for the Europeans and their WAE contest, on these bands.  10 was dead.  15 had a few short runs.  And 20 was poor, but the best all around higher band.

Our new 6m dipole at 20 ft, right by the lake  encountered S-7 noise and made zero Qsos, despite the VHF Contest that was underway.  Disappointing!

The 40m station  had about 140 qsos.  80m station had about 90 qsos.  And the 20-15-10 station had about 90 qsos.
And 6m had zippo. 

We also lost the 40m station for about  1.5 hours due to an intermittant  balun short on the 2 wavelength 40m horizontal loop.  After ruling out rig problems, and checking the coax back to the balun, I cut out the balun and replaced it with a spare.  Presto!  The wild SWR gyrations were " history."   But I lost 90 mins of the best 40m propagation and perhaps 60-80 qsos.

The planning for 2012 is underway.

Also, the decision to hold the Indiana State Parks on the Air on the same day, on the same frequencies  caused periodic log jams on the few available  kilohz on 40m.  It was   tough sledding on 40 for a couple of hours  with the strong IN stations.
I think both parites would be better served by  changing the date or the frequencies.   

As things wound down, and fewer sigs were heard, it gave the ops  a chance to reflect on where they were, and how pleasant the various state parks really are.  Many comments were heard about how nice the weather was, and how great the view.  So all is not lost on those who venture to the state parks for this contest.  Even when the propagation tanks, being in the park environment is there to be enjoyed by all.

Thanks to the Park staffs, and especially to the first aid lady who came to the rescue of one of our operators who cut his hand putting up his antennas.  She cleaned it up and bandaged it, then went on her way!  And our op finished the day with no further problems.

WW8OH - BUCKEYE LAKE SP - Ohio State Parks on the Air Contest:

It's firm!  We will be operating THREE stations, mostly SSB, but some CW.

Station #1:  75m  SSB -   100w to low windom (NVIS) hanging along edge of Buckeye Lake.
Station #2:  40m SSB -    100w to  35 ft high 2 wavelength hoirzontal loop 30 ft from Buckeye Lake.
                     6m SSB-     100w to  20 ft high rotatable dipole, 20 ft from Buckeye Lake.
Station #3:  20-15-10m - 100w to  30 ft high dipole 50 ft from Buckeye Lake.

While  MOST operating will be on SSB, we will take looks  on the CW OSPOTA frequencies from time to time, especially for other Ohio State Parks.

Local QRN/M consists of ducks, geese, fishing boats, visiting club members and guests,  knives/forks/plates/foods/drinks and celebrations over each new  state park.  Here's hoping  the VHF Contest guys take a look for us on 6m ssb.

a low dipole is a very good antenna for NVIS- ie things like your state, and nearby states QSO Parties, and emergency communications on such bands as 160, 80 and 40m.  Up to  1000 miles out.  The vertical  will do nicely from  1000 miles out and more.   So they should make a nice combination.  Im not worried about interaction. You should be able to tune it out.  With different polarizations, that should help, also.

Single band  qtr wave verticals are easy to put up and  tune.   40 or 20m would be my choice for th emost active bands, followed by 80 and 160M for winter time operating, or 30 or 17m for less crowded fun.

GOM:  its not something I hear on a signal, it's a separate signal  slowly sweeping up and down  several ham bands including 40m.  With its own  cw like tone  wobbling about its slowly changing frequency.  Quite annoying.

Thanks to all who participated.  WW8OH  set up three field-day-like stations operating CW and SSB on 80-15M,  from a private hilltop park in Licking County.

Final Results:
nearly 220k points
809 QSOs
81 of 88 Ohio Counties worked
45 US states
4 Canadian Provinces
5 DX countries
0 mosquito bites ( the most amazing stat of all!)
The most challenging part of all this?  midnight tear down in near total darkness, except for a couple pairs of headlights and a flashlight.

Cant wait til next year.

Nope.  It's not any power supply in my shack, excluding the  IC7600 external supply.

Im sitting on the other side of the wall from our HDTV/cable TV/receiver though.

Well, thats fairly close, and has the general sound of what Im getting.   Hmm.  Let me try shutting off my CalRad 6Amp regulated supply here on the desk and see if it goes away next time I hear it.

I'll let you know.

Thanks.

I hear it during the daytime  most anywhere  between 7.125 and 7.250.  It sounds like somebody is  jiggling their  tuning knob while in cw mode.  But its  varying so quickly I dont think thats possible.  And it slowly moves up and down the band, as if drifting, but at a much faster rate than normal drifting.

Anyone know what it is???

Man, Id like to see it go away.

A fun new contest  honors the Ohio State Park system, and features  awards for working all 75 of Ohio's  state parks.  Each year, Ohio amateurs  endeavor to  man them all  for this contest. 

WW8OH will be on SSB from Buckeye Lake (BKL) with separate stations on 40m and 75m.  We will also be on, to a lesser extent,   20-15-10-6.

see www.portcars.org for full details

MODES:   SSB - CW - FM - AM - PSK31 - RTTY

FREQS:   
SSB  3.825 - 7.200 - 14.250 - 21.300 - 28.450 - 50.145 - 144.250
CW:  3.545 - 7.045 - 14.045 - 21-045 - 28.045 - 50.045 - 144.055

EXCHANGE:
Stations located in any Ohio State Park will give :  CALLSIGN - OHIO - state park identifier ( ie Buckeye Lake=BKL).
Stations NOT in  an Ohio State Park give:  CALLSIGN- plus your US state or Candian province. ( All DX stations  say "DX". )

For example:  WW8OH located in Buckeye Lake State Park will give out:  WW8OH - OHIO - BKL(Buckeye Lake State Park)


Hope to work you  from BKL-Ohio!

Nice going Bellbrook.   Here in Licking Co., WW8OH  has a growing turnout and was up to three statiions on the air continuously from 12-12.  Something like 750 qsos.  80/40 were the  anchors but 20-15  allowed  us about 50 qsos as well.  Around 12  members made it to  Four Churches Farm Park, along with 2,000,000 moths and  a dozen or so coyotes.  Thankfully, mosquitos were nearly invisible.

Have received several comments to the effect that "WW8OH was everywhere!"  Nice to hear.  Thanks guys.

We will be  heavy on 80/75 and 40m  with looks on 20 and 15 around 2200z-2400z.   On 80-40-20  will use an 80m horizontal loop  tilted west....with triangle corners  at 70 ft, 50 ft and 30 ft.   

Good luck!   

Bob

Looks like I'll be on the WW8OH CW station.... and we'll have a WW8OH SSB station as well. So I got to wondering...Which mode(s) will you guys be operating?

SSB
CW
BOTH
?

LOW-Rain County...that's a new one!   So I'll be looking for your Linn!  Thanks!


Bob

W8OH - COOKEN ARC - Licking County, OH:

At least two stations will be manned for the Ohio QSO Party on Aug 27th  from noon til midnight  EDST, on 80 through 10M.

One CW station  concentrating on 40-80-20, with looks on 15 and 10 as conditions permit. 
One SSB station  doing likewise.
And a possible third  station.

Recent  years have shown 40 and 80/75 to be the main bands.  Rigs will run 100w to  horizontal loop  or off center fed dipole antennas up around 30-45 ft. 

All 88 Ohio counties will be on the air.  Look around  the following frequencies:
CW:  3545 - 7045 - 14045 - 21045 - 28045
SSB: 3825 - 7200 - 14250 - 21300 - 28450

See you in the OH QSO Party!