An Eclipse Clean Sweep

by Brian (K3ES)

My home QTH is located near Tionesta, PA, and the path of the 2024 eclipse put us near, but not in, the path for totality.  At home we would have more than 99.5% of the sun’s disc obscured.  I will confess that the distinction between 99.5% and totality was lost on me, but Becky was insistent that she wanted to be in the path of totality, because it gives a unique view when the sun’s disc is completely obscured by the moon.  At that point, only a halo of the sun’s corona remains visible.  Becky was right.  It was well worth the effort to get in the path of totality.

My contribution was to find a public area within the path of totality that would not be swarmed by traffic, cars, and people.

The Eclipse Plan

It turned out that we could be within the totality path by driving less than 20 miles from home.  We could also do this by driving away from population centers, rather than driving toward them.  Places like Erie, PA were expecting tens of thousands of people to visit.  I later heard stories of miles-long traffic jams, and hours of delay experienced by Erie pilgrims.  I hoped to, and thankfully managed to, avoid that fate.

I found that portions of Pennsylvania State Game Land 086 (coincidentally also POTA entity US-8785) lay within the totality zone.  Using a variety of on-line maps, I was able to find a parking area near the start of a gated Game Land road.

The road passed next to a series of small fields (satellite images are definitely helpful!).  Such fields are not uncommon at Game Lands, because it provides the opportunity for hunters to cross paths with rabbits and pheasants, both of which were out-of-season in April.  But, those same fields should have an unobstructed view of the sky.  So, we headed hopefully toward our selected parking lot, with plans to set up folding chairs (and a portable radio station) in one of the fields, as long as a parking space remained.

The POTA Plan

I had previously activated US-8785, making contacts on only the 40m band.  At that time, the goal had been a quick activation during a rove.  Lately, I have been working hard to accumulate contacts on 10 bands at multiple parks, inching my way closer to POTA’s N1CC award for making contacts on 10 bands from 10 different parks.

Prior to eclipse day, I had completed contacts on 10 bands from each of seven different parks.  While two or three of those contacts were made using VHF FM mode, my preferred method for achieving my goal at a park is to use CW mode and QRP power levels to make contacts on high frequency (HF) bands from 10m to 80m, and to also make CW QRP contacts on 160m (which is technically a medium frequency band).

The challenge with the 160m band (and the 80m band, to some extent) is that it generally works best after sunset.  Given that there would be an abnormal sunset occurring at 3:20 pm EDT, might it be possible to get a 160m contact during or near the period of totality?  That would be my quest.

So, I picked my equipment to give me the ability to rapidly move between bands.  I paired my KX3, with its excellent tuner and 160m to 6m coverage, with my VK160 homebrew 9:1 end-fed random wire (EFRW) antenna.  The story of VK160 design and construction and VK160 testing during Winter Field Day 2022 has previously been told in these pages (links provided), but suffice it to say that the radiating wire is 144 ft long.

If the crowds were sparse enough, I hoped to set it up as a shallow inverted V (I normally get a throw line up 30 to 40 ft, which is small in comparison to the antenna’s total length) along the wood line bordering the field.  I also brought two Bioenno LiFePO4 batteries that would normally be able to power my station for the large part of a day.  I chose battery redundancy, because there would be no opportunity for a re-do.

My operating plan was to make contacts on as many bands as possible.  I would start with 10m before the start of the eclipse, and work my way down in frequency, hopefully after making one or more contacts on each successive band.  I also needed to manage my time, so that I would get some time on each of the low bands – 60m, 80m, and 160m as the eclipse neared totality.  Since I already had contacts from a prior activation, I would not work 40m unless I had completed contacts on the other 9 bands.

Gear

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• Elecraft KX3
• SideKX end-panels and cover for the KX3
• Bioenno 4.5 Ah LiFePO4 battery
• VK160 homebrew 9:1 random wire antenna with 144 ft radiator
• 15 ft RG-316 feedline (BNC male to BNC male)
• Arborist kit with 2mm Marlow Excel line and Petzel 9 oz (250g) throw bag
• N0SA-designed and built SP-X paddles
• VK3IL-design homebrew pressure paddles
• Generic earbuds
• Rite in the Rain No. 946 notepad
• Pentel Twist-Erase mechanical pencil in 0.9mm
• Legal-size clipboard
• NEBO MYCRO headlamp
• High Sierra Pathway 30 internal frame pack
• CGI Outdoor EAZY CHAIR XL folding chair
• Eclipse viewing glasses conforming to ISO 12312-2 for direct solar observation

Eclipse Day

My cousin joined Becky and I for the outing to see the eclipse.  We all hoped that the afternoon would be memorable.  As we drove to our selected location, traffic was unexpectedly light, but the sky was overcast. There had been rain earlier in the morning, but the clouds seemed to be thinning as the day progressed, and we remained hopeful during the drive, particularly as glimpses of blue sky became apparent.

A final stretch on a dirt road brought us to the Game Land parking lot, a cleared patch of gravel, which was… empty!!!  It seemed that I had either planned well, or guessed right.  Either way, I was happy with the starting point!

We passed out the folding chairs from the back of the truck, shouldered our bags, and started the half-mile walk back the road to find our field.  We saw no vehicles and no people on the way in.  We did hear a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers drumming on branches near the side of the road, and we saw a Red-tailed Hawk and some Turkey Vultures soaring overhead.  It all made for an enjoyable walk, and the clouds continued to thin, with patches of blue emerging as the clouds continued their journey overhead.

Setting Up the Station

When we arrived at the field, I scouted out a location for my antenna.  A tall tree at the woodline seemed to have a number of great branches high above the ground.  I broke out my arborist line, made my throw, and missed.  I repeated the process a couple more times, then snagged a light branch just a bit lower than I had hoped, but it would be sufficient.

Unwrapping the antenna (it takes a while to spool out 144 ft of wire) I found that it would stretch across the width of the field, and a bit further along one edge, so up it went in a bent inverted V.  A length of 550 cord secured it to a tree branch on the far side of the field, and a bit of light cord held the feed point to a tree branch near my chair.  This done, I connected and stretched out three counterpoise wires, connected the RG316 feed line, and started assembling the station.

On the Air

I was quickly ready to hit the air.  Having scheduled the activation in advance, I was not worried about cell service, but found that I had enough to verify my initial spot, as well as subsequent band changes.  As planned, I started on  the 10m band.  It took some time before my CQ call was returned.  After logging it, I called for a bit longer, then switched over to the 12m band, where things took a different turn.

European stations were coming in a pileup.  It took a while to sort out a complete call and respond to it, but the callers kept stepping all over me and all over each other.  Finally, I logged a station from Spain, but the pileup was so unruly that it did not take long before I gave up in exasperation.  On 15m I got a quick call from an Italian station that I recognized from the 12m pileup, and I was easily able to complete the contact.  A second call on 15 was in the log a few minutes later, and I moved on to 17m, which was more productive, yielding four contacts.  On moving to 20m, I logged three contacts, validating the activation, then moved to 30m.

After making four contacts on 30m, totality was approaching, and it was time to try the lower bands.  I set up on 60m, got one contact in 10 minutes, then moved on to 80m.  After three quick 80m contacts, I moved to 160m.  With 20 minutes until totality, I would spend the next half hour on 160m.

After 10 minutes of calling CQ, Joe – N3XLS came through with a call.  The signal reports were 559 on my end, and 339 on his.  Nine bands were complete, but I kept trying for another contact on 160m.  It was not to be.

About 10 minutes on the back side of totality, I switched over to 40m to try for the clean sweep of 10 bands in an afternoon.  There was a lot of band noise (QRN) on 40m, but contacts came quickly.  As time progressed, the noise got worse.  For my final contact, I got every second character from a familiar call sign.  I was finally able to piece it together after several tries, but immediately decided it was time to move to a different band.  I switched back to 20m and finished the afternoon there.  The band was much less noisy, and just as productive as 40m had been.

POTA Results

Getting a total of 38 QRP CW contacts during a 2-1/2 hour activation is respectable, but does not tell the full story.  Intentionally spending much of the on-air time to make contacts on less-productive bands, yielded amazing results.  With the help of  a terrific group of POTA hunters, and the last local eclipse that I am likely to see in my lifetime, I was able to activate a park with QRP CW contacts on 10 bands in part of an afternoon.

Before I ever prepared my gear for the trip, I started with a question:  Is it possible to make contacts on lower frequency amateur radio bands during the period of time when an eclipse blocks solar radiation?

I have my answer:  “Absolutely!”

This answer is supported by success in making contacts on the 60m and 80m bands during the early part of the eclipse, and on the 160m band during the period of near-totality.  My unexpected bonus is that I also completed activation contacts on a total of 10 bands at an eighth park, so I am one step closer to my N1CC goal.

Eclipse Final Analysis

While the amateur radio results did not depend at all on cloud conditions, our desire to directly see the sun’s progressive disappearance, and final totality, certainly did.  In our location, sky conditions could best be described as mostly cloudy.  With that said, breaks in the clouds of varying duration gave us a great opportunity for direct viewing with eclipse-rated eyewear.  At other times, cloud cover was thin enough to enable us to see the incomplete solar disc through the clouds.

The three of us were unanimous in concluding that the experience was amazing.  While our location at the edge of the totality zone made for a shorter period of totality than some other locations, our view of the solar corona was amazing.  Moreover, we had to contend with no traffic jams, no crowds, and I was able to set up a long wire antenna without inconveniencing anyone.

Amateur radio, like life experiences in general, can create unexpected moments of awe and astonishment.  I wish each of you the opportunity to go out and do something amazing!

Best 73 de Brian – K3ES