Lions Park

Ralph was away but I still wanted to visit a new park this week. Rather than drive to North Vancouver, I decided to return to the PoCo area and finish off one more park in that area. Today I chose Lions Park. It is close to the downtown core of the city and would likely have a higher level of RF noise, but it was on the list and so I want to activate it. One reason I chose this park was due to my back still being strained from my last outing and Lions Park had a number of picnic tables so it would be easier on my back than a bench only or sitting on my carry case.

I left about the regular time I have been heading out, 11 am and set off for the Starbucks in Cloverdale. The store was quite busy and it took longer than normal to get my drink but soon I was back on the road with the car driving to the park. Traffic wasn’t bad until I got into the core of Port Coquitlam. Fortunately, I didn’t have much further to travel. I pulled into the parking lot and selected a stall close to the grassy area of the park, it was almost empty. I then set out to explore the area. The park has a good number of amenities for kids, the play area was one of the largest I have seen and it was being used by groups of pre-schoolers. I wandered past the covered picnic area and reviewed the various tables scattered among the trees. I found one that would work well. I continued a loop around the area and returned to the car.

Having loaded my gear into the cart I set out for the table I had seen earlier. It was still available and so I claimed it and checked my compass for the best orientation of my antenna. I then set up the mast and raised the antenna. Finishing off with the setup I reviewed the band conditions. They weren’t looking that good and I learned that we were expecting a solar flare any time. I decided to try the 15m to start calling on. There had been a few other activators on it but I couldn’t hear any of them. I started my calling but after ten minutes I had nothing in the log. I moved down to the 17m band and started over. Again, I got not takers after calling for quite awhile.

I reluctantly moved to the 20m band. This band was picking up a lot more of the ambient noise in the area being so close to the city core. But I did hear an activator in Idaho and was able to contact him. He was the only one I could reach. I picked a frequency and began calling. It was slow but I did get another station and then a big gap until the third one came in – a station in Ontario. It took almost ten more minutes of calling to get my fourth contact and then 12 more for my fifth! A very slow day. After my 6th contact, I decided to scan the band again and this time I managed to reach a station in California.

After another 20 minutes of calling with no takers I scanned the bands again and found a second California activator who was quite loud and I was able to get him in my log. I was up to 8 out of the required 10. I tried calling Carolyn at home but she was not available so I decided to try the 17m band again. This time I managed a quick two more contacts one of which was another park activator. I finally reached my needed ten. Having been calling for over two hours I decided I had enough. The sun was bearing down on my table and I think I was getting a bit sunburned so I decided to pack up.

Gear loaded into the cart I made my way back to the car, and set off for home. The navcom was showing serious congestion right around the park but things cleaned up once on the highways. I was too tired to bother with a coffee so I just directed the car to drive home. Which it did fairly well, it still needs over-rides from time to time but generally does a good job.

It had been a slow activation. The bands didn’t look too bad on the charts but in practice it was a tough day out there. Activations are so much easier when you bring your own ten pack with you. Fortunately, I did get the minimum needed to mark off that location. There are only a couple more in the PoCo area that I haven’t completed. So, I will be back at some point to finish the last of them. I sure hope the bands are better on my next adventure