Antennas, Articles, Comparisons, Digital Modes, Guest Posts, News, QRP

Guest Post: Extreme QRP–Testing the AX1 with WSPR and 20mW

10 Comments

Many thanks to Keith (KY4KK) who shares the following report:

Extreme QRP – Testing the AX1 with WSPR and 20mW

by Keith (KY4KK)

Thomas, thanks for all of your activation videos related to the Elecraft AX1 antenna.  I ordered one the day you announced the package deal, and it arrived in less than a week.  I’ve activated a few parks with it already (20m SSB).  Like you and many others, I’m impressed.

I was very interested in Thomas Barris’ (DM1TBE) March 12 QRPer post using WSPR to test his POTA antennas in Germany.  Then I saw Bob’s (K7ZB) post about his ZachTek Flea with 300 milliwatts in CW mode.  To me, extreme QRP represents some of the magic of HAM radio.  I’d like to share one of my most recent WSPR experiments related to the AX1.

About a year ago, a friend (NG4S) loaned me his pair of WSPR transmitters and suggested that I explore building and comparing antennas. I’ve been hooked on antennas of all kinds and WSPR since then.

I began doing WSPR tests on the AX1 the day after it arrived.  With two transmitters set to the same frequency and power output, you can do direct comparisons between two antennas under identical propagation conditions.

I’ve already done a couple of comparisons between the AX1 and other commercial antennas.  But I think the test I just completed might be of particular interest because it pits the AX1 against an antenna I’ve seen you use many times – a 28.5’ end fed with a 28.5’ counterpoise.  I used 24 AWG silicone insulated wire. The end of the radiator was placed on a 19’5” telescoping fishing pole.  This is my preferred POTA mast when I can’t use a tall tree.

I spent some time trying to control other variables so that the only significant difference during the test would be the antennas themselves.

For example, the SOTA Beam WSPRLite Classic transmitters don’t have an ATU.  So, I had to make the antennas resonant on the 20-meter WSPR frequency of 14.097 MHz.  For the AX1, Thomas’ videos helped a lot.  I used a clip-on capacitance hat and adjusted the counterpoise to 15’ 2”.  This gave me an SWR of 1.17:1.  For the end fed, I tried the two UNUN’s I had available and settled on the 49:1, which got me the closest (2.2:1).  I then used a manual tuner to achieve an SWR of 1.29:1.

I also wanted to deal with the difference in power output between the two transmitters.  Although they’re identical, and both set to 20 milliwatts, there is no way to ensure both are actually producing that output level.  Based on tests by NG4S, one of the transmitters runs at 19 milliwatts.  The other actually outputs 27 milliwatts.  So, my plan was to run the test for 48 hours. At the end of 24 hours, I would switch the transmitters (and callsigns) so that both antennas would benefit (relatively equally) from one of the transmitters being stronger.

At the end of Day 1, I reviewed the data from the two transmitters on dxplorer.net/wspr.  The end fed averaged a 5.7 dB gain over the AX1 based on reports from receiving stations that spotted both transmitters in the same 10-minute block (simultaneous spots).

On Day 1, the stronger transmitter was on the end fed.  The maps below are from WSPR.rocks.

AX1 – Day 1

End Fed – Day 1

I was pretty impressed that the AX1 got into Europe and Africa on only .019 Watt!  I always have good luck with end feds, so was not too surprised to see this one perform well. Continue reading Guest Post: Extreme QRP–Testing the AX1 with WSPR and 20mW →

Accessories, News

Truly an amazing portable speaker for your favorite QRP radio

11 Comments

A couple weeks ago, Mike posted an article about his search for the best field-portable amplified speaker.

His top pick was the Anker Soundcore Mini.

I must say: he was spot-on!

I know Mike well enough to trust his evaluation, so I purchased an Anker Soundcore Mini quite literally as I was formatting his article for QRPer.com.

It arrived via Amazon, but I had such a busy week, I didn’t get a chance to truly test it until this weekend when I hooked it up to my Elecraft K2 in the shack. I feel like the K2 has a very decent speaker, but the Anker is even better.

This afternoon, I did a POTA activation at K-6856 and, to properly test the Anker Soundcore Mini, I paired it with my Elecraft KX3.

While the KX3 is one of the finest field radios on the market, its built-in speaker isn’t its strong suit.  The audio is pretty anemic (especially if you’re K4SWL and do real-time, real-life activation videos–!) 🙂 Truth be told, it’s one of the reasons I don’t take the KX3 to the field more often. I’d rather not do a separate audio recording (line-out) then harmonize it in post-production.

I used the Anker Soundcore Mini for the full activation and it worked beautifully. I love the audio, the size, the run time (something like 14 hours per charge, supposedly), and the overall build quality. I’ve never been disappointed with Anker products and I feel like this one is a great value at $24.99 via Amazon (affiliate link!).

Thanks so much for the suggestion, Mike!

FYI: the field report and video of this activation will be posted in three weeks or so!

CW, News, QRPers

From reluctance to devotion: Terry’s journey into the rewarding world of CW

23 Comments

Many thanks to Terry (N7TB) who shares the following article:

My CW Journey

by Terry (N7TB)

For many U.S. hams who were licensed before 2007, we had to learn CW at 5 wpm as a Novice or Tech, 13 wpm for a General license and 20 wpm for Extra.   Many learned CW at a young age and have used CW since then.  It and ham radio are synonymous for them.  For many of them, that is the only mode they have used for years.

For me, my experience is quite different.

In 1982 I decided to get my ham license.   I bought a Kenwood TS-520S, DG-5 digital display, a 45 ft tower, and a large Cushcraft ATB-34 beam even before I had my novice license: all for $350, a bargain even then (my wife wasn’t convinced).  I still had the beam and tower until 7 years ago.  In 1982 I had all the gear to work DX using SSB and it seemed to me to be the way to do it.  So as a result, I stayed with SSB for decades.  Right after I got my license, several ham friends urged me to continue using CW and even invited me to join their weekly CW group to gain confidence and skill.  I had absolutely no interest.  Several kept at me for years!

I don’t know what causes the “spark” that happens for a person to not only want to learn, or relearn CW as I did, but to also do everything necessary to become proficient.  That happened to me when I was 69 years old.

I had tired of SSB and was getting bored with ham radio.  I was looking for a new challenge.  I decided to see if I could relearn the CW that I had largely forgotten 35 years before.  The same friends who urged me to join their group so long ago, welcomed me.  Over the first few years I joined them, my confidence and speed increased.  Unlike the first time I learned CW, they urged me to not write down anything but to listen to the sound and translate the letters in my head.   It was slower than writing it down at first, but it paid dividends later.  They all were patient and slowed down for me and increased speed as my skills improved.  I still join them every week.  They are some of my best friends.  We are spread out in WA and OR.  On Wednesday mornings we have a QRPP net where we operate 1 watt CW and most of the time we can all hear each other.  We never go over 5 watts.

Because I learned CW late in life, I have an appreciation and joy of CW that is hard to describe.  It is the greatest joy in ham radio I have ever experienced.

This week, I activated Willamette Mission State Park in Oregon with a wire in a tree and 5 watts from my KX2.  I worked 44 contacts, most East of the Mississippi.  There are few things that give me as much joy as copying and sending CW.   It represents 99.9 percent of all my ham contacts for the last 6 years.

When that day came almost 3 years ago, when I had finished a CW ragchew and was thinking about what was discussed and realized that I never said anything verbally, that my brain had effortlessly translated dit and dah sounds into language and could not tell the difference between speech and CW, I knew I had finally reached my goal of communicating in CW as effortlessly as talking.  I will never forget that moment!   I was 72 years old.  Three years of almost daily work for at least an hour on CW finally got me there.  I think it takes longer the older one is when they start.

I guess I could say that CW has become my passion.   I don’t know if I would have felt the same way if I had learned it as young man as many hams did in the day.  Because I hated CW for so many years and had such frustrations with it, to find myself loving the mode now is an amazing thing.

In a few weeks, I will get the DXCC wallpaper for over 100 CW DX contacts.  That, in itself, is almost surreal to me given my history of avoiding CW for so many years.  I actually wasn’t working toward it, it just happened because of the ease of confirming contacts through LOTW.  My logging software does it for me automatically.  Nonetheless, I will take great pride in it because of how much effort it took to become proficient in CW.  If someone had told me in 1985 that I would one day achieve DXCC in CW mode, I would have said they were crazy!

I am mentoring several people now as they learn CW.  It is exciting to see them progress.  It is fun to share in their successes and encourage them as they deal with some of the same things I dealt with.

The thing that has always amazed me and something that I have tried to communicate to those I am working with is that there comes a magical moment when the difficulty of learning CW melts away and all of a sudden you can copy 25-30+ wpm with little to no more effort.  Many of you can relate to what I am saying.  It’s like a switch is flipped and you will never not be able to effortlessly communicate in CW again.

I will always be grateful to those who helped me on those many weekly hour-long CW chats.  That was the key that opened a world that I never knew existed and one in which I will treasure for the rest of my life.

I share this story with you because I know there are others who read Thomas’s blog, striving to become proficient in CW and wonder if they will ever “get it.”  You will if you keep at it, and when that magic moment arrives for you when CW becomes effortless, you will have the satisfaction of doing something that so few hams are willing to do.  It is worth all the work you put into it!    I wish you the greatest success in achieving CW proficiency!

Very 72 and 73,

Terry, N7TB

CW, Field Reports, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Videos

QRP POTA from 10 to 20 Meters with the Chameleon Tactical Delta Loop and Icom IC-705

5 Comments

I do my best to shake up each field activation I perform. Even if in some small way.

While it would be way more efficient to deploy the same radio and antenna combination at each park and summit I visit, I get a thrill out of trying different radio and antenna combinations.

I should add that I’m fully aware how fortunate I am to have a lot of radios and even more antennas to pair in various combinations. I keep reminding myself that building and buying radios and antennas is still cheaper than restoring a 1940s era Willys CJ-2A.

Recently, a reader reached out and asked my opinion about the Chameleon Tactical Delta Loop (CHA TDL) antenna. I think the TDL is a brilliant antenna system, actually, and the one I recommend the most from Chameleon because of its versatility.

Not only can it be deployed as a multi-band vertical delta loop but it has all of the parts needed to be an MPAS Lite vertical as well, save the counterpoise.

The CHA TDL comes with a 25 foot wire that connects the two 17′ whips into a loop configuration, but the clamps on the end of that wire can’t connect to the ground lug on the MPAS ground spike terminal as-is. That said, you could easily make a short connector cable or connection point that would allow the CHA TDL wire to clamp to the ground spike terminal. Else, of course, you could cut a dedicated 25′ counterpoise from pretty much any wire you might have around the shack.

You can buy the same counterpoise used with the MPAS Lite package, but it’s more affordable just to build your own since there’s no magic in the counterpoise. And, FYI, configured as the delta loop, there’s no need for a separate counterpoise; only if you configure it as a vertical.

This same reader also has an Icom IC-705 and an mAT-705 Plus antenna tuner. He was curious how well that combo might work with the CHA TDL. I knew that the combo would work well, but I thought, “why not try it?”

I realized that it has been ages since I last deployed the CHA TDL in the field.

Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace (K-6856)

Tuesday, February 28, 2023, was a gorgeous day weather-wise, although it was a bit gusty at times.

I arrived at K-6856 and decided to film the full set-up of the CHA-TDL.

For an antenna with a fairly large profile when deployed, it’s actually very compact, albeit a bit heavy (mainly due to the weight of the solid stainless ground spike and TDL hub). That said, I did take this same CHA TDL setup on an 11 mile round-trip SOTA hike once and didn’t find it too heavy.

I placed my Icom IC-705 on the table in the picnic shelter and connected the mAT-705 to it with a 2′ BNC-BCN RG-316 cable and the ATU control cable. Continue reading QRP POTA from 10 to 20 Meters with the Chameleon Tactical Delta Loop and Icom IC-705 →

Articles, Field Reports, Guest Posts, Portable, POTA, QRP, SOTA

A story about a gluttonous dragon, a princess, a knight, and many DX contacts to the US from a volcano in Germany

6 Comments
by Thomas (DM1TBE)

Intro

If you have read my previous activation reports, you may remember that the temperature was more often than not below 0° C / 32° F. I am tired of the winter. So I was very pleased when the weather forecast indicated 18° C / 64° F on a Saturday.

In one of my previous posts (How I found the best antenna for my SOTA/POTA activations) I have outlined, that I like using the 30-meter band for being reliable on short and medium distances – in my case, Central Europe. However, I wanted to try an activation with an antenna that is more appropriate for DX. The wire winder for my 30-meter antenna had plenty of space left, so I decided using a commercial 12/17-meter band wire antenna that I have discussed briefly in the report linked at the beginning of this paragraph.

The day before, I built a 20-meter end-fed with parts that I found in my basement and a tiny 1:49 transformer from K6ARK. I added a short coil, so the feed point wouldn’t be at or too close to the ground when using my 10 m / 33 ft fiberglass mast. I know it needs some polish.

The Limburg

The Limburg is a conical summit about a 30-minutes drive from my home. It can be activated for a couple of programs like SOTA (DM/BW-110), POTA (DA-0203), WWFF and COTA.

The Limburg is, or better was, a volcano; technically, a volcanic vent of the Swabian Volcano, a volcanic area of 50 km / 31 mi radius with over 350 volcano vents. Seventeen million years ago, it produced massive gas and dust explosions. Be careful when ramming your antenna groundspike into the ground ;-). So it became a steep summit, elevated around 200 m / 650 ft over its surrounding area.

Earliest traces of population around the summit date to 3000–1800 BC.

Around the year 1050 Duke Berthold I., picture below, built one of the oldest Romanesque castles on the top of the summit. It was the seat of the House of Zähringen, who were related to the House of Hohenstaufen, about whom I wrote in an activation report here earlier: DM1TBE Field Report: Shivering with 18 WPM on the ruins of the medieval Hohenstaufen Castle

Around 50 years later, his son Berthold II. built a new castle some 150 km / 90 mi away and moved the seat of the family. Shortly thereafter, the castle was destroyed (probably, nobody knows exactly). It was rebuilt and destroyed again in 1130 and rebuild again. After the year 1150 a new, larger castle was built not too far away and this castle lost its importance and, eventually, gave up. Continue reading A story about a gluttonous dragon, a princess, a knight, and many DX contacts to the US from a volcano in Germany →

Field Reports, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, SOTA, Videos

Huge 30 Meter Pileups: Beautiful day for a SOTA & POTA Activation at Hanging Rock State Park

1 Comment

There are a few reasons I love Summits On The Air (SOTA):

  1. I love hiking.
  2. I love going truly portable with my radio gear; packing an entire minimalist station in my backpack along with first aid supplies, water, and a bite to eat, then hitting the trail.
  3. I love the views.
  4. I love the sense of accomplishment (hiking to a summit doesn’t happen every day).
  5. I also love that post-hike feeling–my body telling me, “Hey, T, thanks for doing something today!“

No kidding: If I could, I would do a SOTA activation at least twice a week. Maybe when I retire, I will.

Living in the mountains of western North Carolina, I have no shortage of summits to activate–indeed, one is within (strenuous) hiking distance of my QTH.

So why don’t I activate more summits?

It’s because they are much more difficult to fit in my active schedule.

You’ll notice that the bulk of my POTA activations take place within a one hour window of time. This includes set-up, on-the-air, and pack-up time. The brilliant thing about POTA sites is that they’re so accessible in my weekly travels. (Plus, I absolutely love POTA too!)

My average SOTA activation, on the other hand, requires at least a three hour window of time. In fact, it’s usually much closer to four or five hours.

The view from Dogback

Drive-up summits like Anderson Mountain and Dogback Mountain are the exceptions. There’s no hiking time involved, so they are pretty easy to fit into my schedule.

On Saturday, February 18, 2023, a rare thing happened: an entire day opened up for me to play radio. The only real obligation I had was to set-up and participate in a live stream with Josh (KI6NAZ) on the HRCC channel that evening.

At first, I thought about doing a five park POTA rove, hitting four parks and one game land all that eight hour window of time. It was very doable and I knew it would be fun.

But then again, park roves allow very little time for hiking–typically, they’re wham-bam style short activations.  It was also a gorgeous day weather-wise so I scrapped the idea of a POTA rove. (This time!)

Instead, I had a hankering to do a SOTA activation and hike. I took a quick look at SOTL.as and remembered how much I enjoyed my last activation of W4C/EP-001 (Moore’s Knob) at Hanging Rock State Park (K-2753). And hey! It’s both a SOTA and POTA site!

It’s been nearly two years since I’d visited Hanging Rock SP because it’s a two hour drive in a direction I rarely travel.

Hanging Rock  a beautiful park and I truly enjoyed the hike to Moore’s Knob.

As a bonus, Hanging Rock State Park is less than a 30 minute drive to Pilot Mountain State Park. I knew I’d have time in the schedule to do activate both sites! Score!

Hanging Rock State Park (K-2753)

I pulled into Hanging Rock that morning and made my way to the parking area by the lake.

Since it had been nearly two years, I consulted the hiking trail map at the trail head to confirm I was taking the correct loop (Moore’s Wall Loop). Continue reading Huge 30 Meter Pileups: Beautiful day for a SOTA & POTA Activation at Hanging Rock State Park →

News

CW Morse N0SA SP4 Mini Paddles in stock again!

12 Comments

Many of you have been asking about the SP4 paddle and when it might be in stock once again.

I’m happy to not that CW Morse is working on a large production run of SP4s right now and have inventory at time of posting. I spoke with CW Morse and they noted that if you find that they’re out of stock, check back again soon as they’re finishing batches of them every few days.

Click here to check out the SP4 at CW Morse.

Note that CW Morse is a proud supporter of QRPer.com and the link above is an affiliate link that helps QRPer at no cost to you. Thank you!

Articles, Field Reports, Guest Posts, Portable, QRP, SOTA

Pilgrimage to Summits on the Air

6 Comments

by Thomas (DM1TBE)

After a rainy and windy Friday, the weather was expected to improve a bit the next day. The temperature was still forecasted with around 0 °C / 32 °F, but no rain was expected. So, my friend Jochen (DG1PSI) and I thought we could operate outside. We have chosen a summit called Bernhardus. The summit is next to “Kaltes Feld” on the opposite side of the valley, where I was a some days before. With an 1.2 km / 0.75 mi trail and an ascent of 124 m / 440 ft, it is not the hardest summit around.

We had an appointment for 10 o’clock. The parking lot was still empty at the time, but the weather seemed a bit more difficult than expected. We have asked some other members of our local ham radio club if they want to join us. But surprisingly, no one wanted to get up early on a Saturday morning, hike and operate a radio in freezing temperatures.

As mentioned, the summit was near “Kaltes Feld”, on the opposite side of the valley. You can see the SOTA activation zone of “Kaltes Feld” on the left, the glider airfield in the middle and some miles in the background another SOTA summit called “Stuifen”.

The peak was easy to reach and invites enjoying the beautiful view.

On the actual summit there is a small chapel. Continue reading Pilgrimage to Summits on the Air →

CW, Guest Posts, Hacks and Hints, How To, News, QRP

Bob pairs his ATS-20 with the Zachtek “Flea” CW transmitter

4 Comments

Many thanks to Bob (K7ZB) who shares the following guest post:

ATS-20 configured with Zachtek “Flea” CW transmitter

The ATS-20 in HF CW Transceiver Mode

by Bob Houf (K7ZB)

I picked up an ATS-20 last summer and played with it on SWBC and the ham bands but found the telescoping whip antenna to be marginal.

The unit I purchased from Amazon turned out to be solid: no problems have surfaced after 9 months of intermittent listening. By default, I have enjoyed it primarily listening to FM in my office.

When I used my long wire antenna, the performance on shortwave greatly improved – easy copy of DX and the value of the receiver began to impress me.

Recently I came across a Swedish ham who co-developed a line of radios covering a broad range of WSPR and associated designs built to a very high standard.

Already having a WSPR setup I was intrigued by a very low power CW transmitter that Zach co-developed with KB9RLW which puts out 300mW on 40, 30 and 20 meters at a price point that is less than the ATS-20, and – most interestingly – the design of the radio allows it to work in transceive mode with the receiver by providing a T/R switch when used with the proper SMA-BNC cable arrangement.

I bought a “Flea” and configured it with my ATS-20 then used an external antenna tuner to make sure the transmitter had close to a 1:1 SWR.  The “Flea” advertises that it is robust to high SWR and looking over the schematic that is evident, but for the sake of a trial I went with the ATU. Continue reading Bob pairs his ATS-20 with the Zachtek “Flea” CW transmitter →

Announcements, News

Thank you, QST!

26 Comments

Many of you have reached out this week congratulating me on the article that features my work in the April 2023 issue of QST. Thank you all for the kind words.

I’m truly honored that QST would feature my work here on QRPer.com and my YouTube channel in their pages. Steve (K5ATA) wrote a very gracious article, and frankly, I don’t know what to say other than thank you!

I’d like to thank all of you, readers, for making QRPer.com what it is today with your contributions, guest posts, field reports, hints & tips, and words of encouragement to others in the comments section. I’m honored to have even played a modest role in your radio journey, and your feedback and contributions have taught me so much, which, I feel, has made me a better field operator.

So…Thank you!

QRP radios, product announcements, reviews, news and more. Low power amateur radio fun!