VE6AB Mobile Ops
The Southern Alberta Rockies
Over the past several days, southern Alberta received a dump of snow in the 30 to 40 cm range, and it was a given that once the sun came out, the landscape would be dazzling to say the least.
Monday morning finds my mobile on the Wild Cat Hills road northwest of Cochrane AB, and if one likes snow pics, the opportunities for that were everywhere, with sunglasses required to keep from going snow blind!.
Interestingly enough the bands were in decent shape as well, with openings to the southeast US proving to be good on 30 and 40 meters earlier in the morning, followed by 20 meter openings as the day progressed.
In between spinning the VFO on my HF rig, I made multiple stops for photo-ops, and at one location I put on my snow-pants and a heavier coat, along with snow boots, toque, and mitts for a outing away from my mobile.
I was out for about an hour, and knew when it was time to return to my mobile, as guess what.....my camera froze up in the -28 C temperatures that I was subjecting it too!
At least I'll assume it froze up, as I all of a sudden, I could not get a response out of it, although the LCD readout on the top plate was displaying info, but nothing happening when I attempted to change settings.
I changed out the battery with the spare in my inner pocket, and still nothing.
I headed back to my mobile, and within about 5 minutes in the warmth of the truck cab, the camera came back to life.
Nice!, I now know the limitations temperature-wise of my camera, and although I have spent many hours out at -20 C without any problems, -30C seems to be where it begins to protest!
Expand the photo for a closer look......
All in all, I had a fun day out playing in the snow, and will make a repeat performance in the near future.
Here is a photo-op that I took advantage of, typical of my morning out in snow country....
http://www.jerryclement.ca/Outdoor-Pursuits/DawnThreader/i-sN8gch4
