Amateur Radio Log 2023-01-12 Mid-day (Fairbanks, AK, US)

I went on another lunch-break HF adventure, this time trying out the parking lot at Fire Station 42, which is on one of the peaks of Chena Ridge. Most of the parking lot is not very helpful, since the fire station blocks most of the view to the south, but there was a little area off the left side which gave a better view. There were several vehicles there and a large metal trailer so it wasn't quite ideal, but I think better than any of the other spots I have tried so far.

As far as RX only contacts, starting around 21:29 UTC I was able to hear a lot of traffic 14.240 MHz. I had trouble getting the callsigns written down accurately, but it seemed to be someone in Australia making lots of North-American contacts. The Australian signal was very loud while the others were coming in quiet. I monitored this for about 15 minutes.

I also caught some one calling out for a minute or two at 21:43 UTC on 14.260 Mhz. I wrote the callsign down as JAKUUA, but I think it was actually JA0UUA, which is a valid Japanese call-sign.

As far as interactive contacts, at about 21:18 UTC I was able to hear local operator KL1WL loudly, and he was able to hear me well once I turned up the power and turned down the mic gain a bit. I could also hear KL7R trying to make contact with me, but he couldn't hear me. Later discussion on the club list indicated that KL7R is 2 miles south of Cripple Creek rd and so I might have been shooting down to him through the mountain.

Radio was ICOM IC-746PRO with the 3-foot 20-meter antenna on my SUV.