Time on the air has been pretty scant lately, mostly because of being busy with other things and partly because of not having a permanent antenna (aside from the ones in the attic).
The 10m dipole up in the attic got some use in the ARRL 10m contest a few weeks ago. I was only operating casually in between working on other things, but managed about 5 contacts or so. Seemed to work reasonably well. That, Field Day and the NC and SC QSO parties have been about the only times I’ve been on the air this year.
For 2024, I think I need to spend more time getting back on the air. To that end, I’ve decided to make learning about and developing skills for portable operations one of my 2024 ham radio goals.
While walking out to one of the mailboxes in the subdivision, I noticed one of the common areas around the mailboxes had a few trees that managed to survive the home construction. Seemed like it would make a good spot to practice setting up portable operations. No tables or chairs to sit at though unfortunately.