On Friday, February 9, 2024, I had an opportunity to do an extended Late-Shift POTA activation in Pisgah National Forest. I couldn’t pass that up!

Once again, one of my daughters had a casting call and a Shakespeare performance that opened up an activation window from about 17:00 – 20:00 local (22:00 UTC – 01:00 UTC).

If you’ve followed my POTA activities for a while, you’ll note that multi-hour activation windows are very much a rarity. More often than not, I’m squeezing activations into 30-60 minute windows of time as I go about my work and family duties.

Pisgah National Forest and Game Lands

The closest POTA site, once again, was Pisgah National Forest (K-4510) and Pisgah Game Lands (K-6937). There are so many sites to choose from within Pisgah; it’s always a difficult decision in terms of picking a location.

In this case, I decided to stay a little closer to mobile phone service just in case my family needed to reach me during that time. I chose the Sycamore Flats picnic area and was happy to see that the picnic shelter was available.

I thought it might be fun to set up two antennas since I had so much time. For the first part of the activation, on 20 meters, I would deploy the Chameleon MPAS Lite vertical.

For the second part (the following UTC day), I would deploy my MM0OPX 40-meter end-fed half-wave as I knew 40 meters would be much more active after sunset.

EFHW Deployment

Since sunset was approaching, I deployed my MM0OPX EFHW first because it’s much easier to deploy a wire antenna in a tree when it’s still light outside.

Side note: I mention in the activation video that a good headlamp (like my Fenix) makes working in the dark quite easy. I’ve deployed wire antennas after sunset with headlamps before–it’s quite doable–but I still prefer using a throw line when there’s still sunlight. It’s just easier (for me, at least) to judge distance.

I deployed the EFHW in a tree and in the brush between two pathways. While it would have been easier to deploy it on a path, I always try to deploy my wire antennas in a way that hikers and other park guests wouldn’t easily walk into them–especially at dusk when even high-visibility line colors are difficult to see.

Chameleon Carbon Fiber Tripod

The second antenna deployment was my Chameleon MPAS Lite vertical, and this activation gave me an excuse to test the new Chameleon carbon fiber portable tripod.

In January, Chameleon sent me a box with a few of their smaller accessories/promotional items. I plan to give away everything, save the tripod, in an upcoming QRPer giveaway.

I’ve been eager to test the tripod because it’s lighter and easier to transport (in my SOTA pack) than the stainless spike that comes with the MPAS Lite antenna system. This tripod will also come in handy when operating at parks that don’t allow stakes in the ground.

The tripod looks a lot like the popular GRA-ULT01, which I bought last year and have never used, but unlike the GRA-ULT01, there’s no SO-239 connection, just a threaded mounting point for the Chameleon Micro Hybrid transformer and whip.

Deployment was super easy, of course. Chameleon included a threaded adapter that connects the tripod to the Hybrid Micro (or Mini) transformer.

The tripod legs expand to provide the antenna with a decent base, but I feel that the center of gravity on a stainless whip that expands 17′ is still narrow enough that this would topple in gusty winds. In those conditions, I’d consider placing something heavy on the tripod to hold it secure.

New Paddles!

Next, I set up my Elecraft KX2 and retrieved a set of 3D-printed paddles that my buddy Jonathan (KM4CFT) gave me. To my knowledge, these aren’t paddles he’s selling, they’re just ones he decided to build for himself. (Correct me if I’m wrong, Jonathan!)

They work like a charm, and the action reminds me very much of my beloved CW Morse Pocket Paddles!

Thanks, OM!

Gear:

Note: All Amazon, CW Morse, ABR, Chelegance, eBay, and Radioddity links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.

• Elecraft KX2 with Windcamp X2 Side Rails and Cover
• Tufteln KX2 Protective Cover
• Elecraft KXBT2 Li-Ion Battery Pack
• LowePro CS60 Hard Side Case
• Chameleon CHA MPAS Lite
• Chameleon Carbon Fiber Tripod
• MM0OPX QRP EFHW (Contact Colin for Availability)
• ABR Industries 25’ RG-316 cable assembly with three in-line ferrites (Use Coupon Code ABR10QRPER for 10% Discount!)
  
• High Visibility Jacket ABR240-UF with PL-259s and 5 Ferrites (Use Coupon Code ABR10QRPER for 10% Discount!)
• KM4CFT 3D-Printed Paddles (Thanks, Jonathan!)
• Key cable: Cable Matters 2-Pack Gold-Plated Retractable Aux Cable – 2.5 Feet
  
• Weaver arborist throw line/weight and storage bag
• GraphGear 0.9mm 1000 Automatic Drafting Pencil
• Rite In The Rain Top Spiral Notebook
• My fingerless gloves
• Camera: DJI OSMO 4 action camera with Sensyne Phone Tripod
• Goal Zero Lighthouse 600 Camping Lantern
• Fenix HM65R-T Headlamp

Camping Stove Gear

• Snow Peak Giga Power 2.0 Stove
• Snow Peak GigaPower 110 Gold Fuel Canister – 110g
• TOAKS 750ml pot
• Solo Stove Alcohol Burner (which saved the day!)
• HEET Gas-Line Antifreeze And Water Remover (this is the actual alcohol fuel for the stove)
• TOAKS Titanium Windscreen (a necessity if there’s even a breeze)
• Lite My Fire Ti Spork

On The Air

I began my activation on 20 meters with the MPAS Lite. I had a comfortable hour to collect my ten contacts before the end of the UTC day.

As I began calling CQ POTA, fortunately, there was no shortage of hunters!

I logged a total of 25 contacts in 23 minutes!

I signed off (QRT) with nearly 30 minutes to spare before the UTC day change. I turned off the radio (and the camera) and fired up my camp stove to boil some soup (Chicken Soup with Gnocchi–tasty).

Turns out, the gas canister on my stove fizzled out before the soup warmed up at all. I sat there looking at cold soup and thought, “well…this isn’t going to be fun!”

Then I remembered that, of course, I had also packed my alcohol-burning backpacking stove and coffee kit. The stove had enough alcohol to finish boiling the soup! Woo hoo!

Next, I hopped back on the air, this time using my MM0OPX 40-meter EFHW.

I began calling CQ POTA at 00:17 UTC (while still eating my steaming hot soup), and the hunters did not disappoint.

It was pileup city! I ended up working a total of 35 contacts in 38 minutes. What fun!

Here are my logs:

QSO Map

Here’s what this five-watt activation looked like when plotted out on a QSO Map. Note that the green lines are my 20M contacts on Feb 9, and the blue lines are my 40M contacts on Feb 10. Of course, not all of the pins are correct because these are based on the hunter’s QTH:

Activation Video

Here’s my real-time, real-life video of the entire activation.  As with all of my videos, I don’t edit out any parts of the on-air activation time. In addition, I have monetization turned off on YouTube, although that doesn’t stop them from inserting ads before and after my videos.

Note that Patreon supporters can watch and even download this video 100% ad-free through Vimeo on my Patreon page:

Click here to view on YouTube.

Late-Shift Fun!

I enjoyed using two different antenna options for the late-shift POTA activation. Combining that with some camp stove soup made for a very memorable activation indeed.

Thank you

Thank you for joining me during this activation!

I hope you enjoyed the field report and my activation video as much as I enjoyed creating them!

Of course, I’d also like to send a special thanks to those of you who have been supporting the site and channel through Patreon, and the Coffee Fund. While certainly not a requirement, as my content will always be free, I really appreciate the support.

As I mentioned before, the Patreon platform connected to Vimeo make it possible for me to share videos that are not only 100% ad-free, but also downloadable for offline viewing. The Vimeo account also serves as a third backup for my video files.

Thanks for spending part of your day with me!

Cheers & 72,

Thomas (K4SWL)