by Vince (VE6LK)

On Sunday July 28 I needed some shortwave therapy. I headed west from Longview Alberta to find a location on Highway 541 where I could have the perfect convergence of having cell service and be within a POTA entity and near to the mountains. This would allow me to receive any updates about a family member (none happened) while getting a break from home and to play radio.

Along the drive I took time to listen to the IARU beacons and was pleased to hear bits of VK and ZL on 15m so I was hopeful that my plan for two QRP activations -one CW and one SSB- would be successful.

I would discover just how difficult it was at the second activation … but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Activation One: Sentinel PRA

After some driving around and testing cell service at a few roadside points, I landed up at the Sentinel Provincial Recreation Area which is just inside the boundary of Kananaskis Country. This would offer me the luxuries of a bench or table along with a stunning view. While it’s not a unique entity itself in the POTA system, it is part of the larger CA-6112 that is K-Country.

Sentinel PRA is at the confluence of the Highwood River and Cataract Creek and is, like many in this area, an equestrian-focused facility. Unlike many, it’s mixed-use so day-users like me are also welcome here. Upon my arrival I was fortunate to see a few equestrian users heading out of the backcountry. What was unusual to this city-raised kid was the covered wagon a small team was pulling. Perhaps the team was training for a future cattle drive?

I set up my cameras and my radio gear and got to work at a park bench overlooking the river. I released a video of the river suitable for background white noise and to practise your Zen and/or Yoga.

I secured my carbon-fibre mast to the bench, used a small weight to hold down the 17′ counterpoise, and deployed the 41′ main segment out to a 10′ fishing pole lashed to a sign nearby. I used my carrying totes (sometimes used for groceries) as a makeshift desk. It all worked out well enough. I began my CW activation at 5 watts.

I did a basic video of the activation which you can see here:

Thirteen contacts and about 20 minutes later at 1930UTC, I called it a wrap and packed everything down to head to my next site. I wouldn’t say that conditions were stunningly good or anything, and some were downright hard to copy while others were incredibly loud. Given what I heard of the IARU Beacons on 20, 17 and 15m I wasn’t too surprised. I would later on learn that meant some solar action had happened as you’ll see in this chart.

Activation Two: Bar-U Ranch NHS

About an hour’s drive from my last stop and just south of Longview is the Bar-U Ranch National Historic Site (CA-4774). It’s a working ranch and it takes you back to the late 1800s once you set foot beyond the gate. As I’m fairly certain the Ranch would take a dim view to radio technology beyond the gate, I operated in the visitor parking lot. Once again, I set up my cameras and gear and got to work.

For this activation, I used my drive-on mast support and 28′ Flagpole-to-go for a centre support, the fishing rod and rod holder for the far end of the 41′ segment, and the 17′ segment was simple fastened tethered to the headache rack on my truck. A brightly coloured oversized umbrella totally complimented the look of everything as I operated off the tailgate of my truck. One person in the parking lot asked me what vegetables I was selling! I set the radio to 10 watts, plugged in the mic, checked for existing spots and began calling.

You can see a full video of the activation here, but to be truthful there was a lot of editing in the video where I got rid of me calling CQ for minutes and minutes on end with no responses. If you’ve never experienced solar storm conditions, take a listen to the video and you’ll hear it yourself.

So I received my first caller at 2111UTC. Now look at the chart up above and compare the times … yes, dear reader, another flare had hit half an hour before I began. I did not realize this when I began calling, however I certainly noticed the total lack of atmospheric noise in my receiver. This is one of the hallmarks of a flare event that you’ll think your antenna is disconnected. You can hear it in the video plain as day too. For me it was a stark comparison to the activation only two hours earlier.

Another hallmark was that several callers reported me as loud but they were barely above the noise floor to me. Or they were so loud it made me jump when they called. This activation was a lot of work as I took to hunting more than calling to get my 11 in the log. Still, 40 minutes after starting I ended it, packed up and headed home. For a 10 watt SSB activation, this overall outcome was ridiculously good.

It would not be nearly as good as the activation I did on August 5 … but that will be another story for sure.

What I learned along the way

Poor solar conditions make for challenging times but ultimately make you a more experienced operator. N4JAW’s “Ham on a Bike” blog lists many websites that he uses to determine his plan for his activation that day, and there are some excellent resources listed there we all can use. A bit of active listening while en route -or before departing- along with a good look at conditions can help you to plan for success.

Or do it as I did this day and wing it. Either way you are out in the field playing radio – and that beats a day in the office at any time!

List of gear used for these activations:

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

• Elecraft KX3
• Charmast 100W battery
• Jimisha rubber anti-slip mats to put under the CW key
• Seadream headphone cable for the keys
• Begali Traveler light Key
• 35′ RG-174 feedline
• Tufteln 41’/17′ random wire antenna
• 7.1m carbon fibre “crappie” fishing rod
• 28′ Flagpole-To-Go Fibreglass mast paired with their extra large tire mount (drive-on base) Flagpole-To-Go can be found on Amazon as well.

Summary

Don’t sweat the poor forecast, just get out and play radio!

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.