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by Vince (VE6LK)

In August and September 2024 I was travelling around Southern Ontario for some family matters and, naturally, I brought my radio kit with me to squeeze in some radio therapy stops along the way. This is the report of my stop at Dundurn Castle National Historic Site, CA-5360.

Located in the city where I was born, Hamilton, Dundurn Castle has been a landmark since 1834, when the land was sold to Sir Allan MacNab. The castle is located on Burlington Heights, the site of a fortified military encampment established by the British during the War of 1812.

MacNab was a railway magnate, lawyer and Premier of the United Canadas (1854-1856). Today Dundurn Castle tells the story of the family who lived above stairs and the servants who lived and worked below stairs. He was a defining figure in so many ways in the local history, and performed the original survey of home lots and land in the Hamilton area. Indeed, the home I was born in (on MacNab Street no less) was on land once deeded to its owner from MacNab.

And Dundurn Castle has a personal tie in for me as my father, a finishing carpenter, worked tirelessly on it’s restoration in the mid 1960’s leading up to Canada’s Confederation Centennial in 1967. As kids we spent a lot of time on the grounds.

So on this day and needing a break from the family business that is the core of this trip, I diverted to Dundurn to set up for a short activation.

The grounds are sprawling and adjacent to Burlington Heights (CA-5354) which was the site of a fierce battle in the War of 1812. It is also located immediately above the Canadian National railway shunting yard, thus the sounds and smells of diesel locomotives doing their things are never too far away.

For the Rail Fans among you, it’s above the Hamilton CN Rail Yard where loads can be heard being shunted around, and is also adjacent to the Bayview Junction which is a popular spot for trainspotting as it is one of the busiest wye junction points in Canada. [It’s amazing the facts one accrues when they grow up so close to a major rail yard, eh?]

Back to the activation .. I located myself in one of the covered pavilions and set to work getting my antenna up in the air. I partially extended my Carbon Fibre mast and hooked my feedline through the clip on top and gently fished my coax through the opening. This takes a bit of doing to get it right, but I attached some adapters to the end to as a weight and, with the weight at the end of the CF mast, I held onto the feedline with my hand and gently placed it through the 1′ round ornate opening where the post met the beam below the roof. I then released the line from my hand and gravity did the rest.

I disconnected the feedline from the weight, attached the antenna and hoisted it all back into place with a gentle pull on the feedline, and wrapped one end around the picnic table board to secure it.

Then I set the mast out at the appropriate distance and my antenna was a clear 20′ in the air. With this configuration, the antenna is flat-topped at 20′. As a side note, I’m really happy when I have enough on hand to flat-top my antenna!

Wanting to work a different set of hunters than I otherwise would, I focused on 40m and 30m for this activation. With others using the pavilion, I felt it best to use my earbuds and not disturb others. Besides that, when the locomotives revved up their engines, I was able to hear better – win-win!

I was pleasantly surprised at the “local” contacts I made within 100 miles as I thought that I would not land anyone that close. Conditions were good that day and I put many contacts in the log despite only running at 5W.

List of gear used for these activations:

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• Elecraft KX3
• Charmast 100W battery
• Palm Pico Paddle
• 35′ RG-174 feedline with a FT-140-43 toroid at one end
• Spark Plug Gear EFHW Transformer paired with N7KOM Microlight Traps
• Chameleon wire winders
• Spark Plug gear wire winders
• Leadsound 3W portable speaker
• 7.1m carbon fibre “crappie” fishing rod
• 3pc fishing rod holder as a mast bottom support
• Bass Pro Shops Extreme tackle bag 3600 size

Summary

I’ve not been to Dundurn for quite some time despite driving by it many times when I visit this area. It was relaxing and I must visit here more often! Perhaps next time I’ll move a little northwards and activate CA-5354 the Burlington Heights NHS and then go do a bit of trainspotting.

Masthead image of Dundurn Castle from Wikipedia, credit: By Nhl4hamilton (Rick Cordeiro) – Own work, Public Domain, Link

72 and dit dit,
…Vince

First introduced to the magic of radio by a family member in 1969, Vince has been active in the hobby since 2002. He is an Accredited examiner in Canada and the USA, operates on almost all of the modes, and is continually working on making his CW proficiency suck less. He participates in public service events around Western Canada and is active on the air while glamping, mobile, at home or doing a POTA activation. You can hear him on the Ham Radio Workbench podcast, follow him on Twitter @VE6LK, check out his YouTube channel, and view the projects and articles on his website.