17 Meters, UK to Fiji - Free Floating and Trail Building
25 April 2025
Cloud Watching Over Wake Island
Yesterday at work, I had a moment that allowed me to pause and watch a beautiful set of clouds, gliding through the Pacific and over Wake Island. Standing still, I could sense its steady and smooth traverse from east west and I could tell it was billowing up and into cells that would produce some rain. Just doing their own thing cruising across the ocean, no cares in the world, just demonstrating thermodynamics and the cycling of water. Just going with the flow.
Riding the Airwaves on 17 Meters
That brings me to today’s post about going with the flow. A few months ago, my new favorite ham radio bands were 10 and 12 metes. They continually provided me great opportunities to reach Europe and other parts of the world that I had not reached before. Fast forward a few months, and now those bands are not performing like before as the northern hemisphere tilts toward the sun, changing propagation conditions on the HF bands. There’s a whole bunch of science that goes into all of that and I’m not here to weigh in on it, just observe that the seasons offer different opportunities and we need to adapt. So last night I got back on 17 meters, a band I had not been on for a while, and was pleasantly surprised to hear many EU stations once again.
DX Dreams from Costa Rica to Ireland
For amteur radio operators, 17 meters was alive with DX opportunities last night. My log filled up quickly with calls from Costa Rica, Fiji, Australia, Brunei, India, China, Korea, Japan, Russia, Italy, Finland, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, France, England, Ireland, and many more. A ham radio dream come true. Thanks for all the contacts. I logged over 230 QSOs in just over two hours.
Trailblazing Through the Trees
In an unrelated topic from ham, but an insight to my level of motivation and inability to sit still, I have been working on a walking/running trail through a section of forest here on Wake Island to supplement and change up my usual running routes. It started when I went and checked out the old communications building on my Wake Island Walk About and walked around the surrounding area, looking for evidence of the old antenna towers. While doing so I thought a trail through the understory of the trees would be nice. In the shade of the trees it feels a little bit cooler on a hot day. An idea was born, and my spare time was gone. The last several weekends, and any time I had spare time after work or on my lunch break, I would be working on trail building. Effectively, all I did was rake the thick layer of pine needles out of the way and utilized a machete to clear out some small branches. For the most part, I let the forest guide me to chart the path of least resistance as it weaves through the forest for about 2 km of now usable trail. This section of the island was once the location of many housing buildings and other structures. Most are all gone but there are occasional signs of a foundation here and there, and some abandoned buildings on the demolition list, hints to Wake Island’s history.
Forest Bathing, Island Style
I miss having mountains to climb, so, I made a trail to scratch the itch. Also, I appreciate the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku that translates to “forest bathing.” I agree there is just something about immersing yourself in a green, nature-dense environment that is just good for your soul. So, when I’m not at work, or on the radio, you can probably find me on the new trail, forest bathing while I get my run on. 73, Allen
