by Vince (VE6LK)
All I wanna know is howcome our local star decides to throw in a monkey wrench when I go to activate? Huh? Huh?
Monday August 5 was a statutory holiday for me and I decided to get out early at a popular picnic area in south Calgary and get some radio therapy. I listened to the IARU beacons while driving and even 15m sounded promising.
I’m not nearly as adept as Thomas at using an arborist throw line as I famously exclaimed once and had to be beeped out, so it took me close to a half hour to get my VE6VID OCF antenna how I wanted it with one end supported by the tree and the opposite my carbon-fibre mast. Given I was also setting up video equipment, It was an hour before I made my first contact from when I had arrived.
I started off very optimistic that I’d be able to get 10 contacts as I was hearing all kinds of DX on 20m FT8. I connected my iPad with iFTx software along with some cables I heard about via KD7DTS and I started working it off at 1 watt (just to be cocky) and it took me a while to get 2 contacts. This simply won’t do as I don’t have all day!
So I switched to CW. 10 minutes of calling and only one spot on RBN at 5 watts. So I did what any reasonable person would do and I moved to 10 watts because more is better, right?
I then had a couple of contacts. At one point I did a visual check to ensure my antenna wasn’t on the ground (it wasn’t). So I proceeded with my logical thinking and moved to SSB at 10 watts, because after all, I was there to experiment! Clearly I was delirious to think that SSB would be better than CW – that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
This got me nowhere, slowly. Me, I prefer nowhere fast, but beggars should not be choosers. After 20 minutes of calling on SSB I decided it was time for more powah! and thus I took down my gear and moved into my truck with the trusty FT-857D and the ATAS-120A antenna with the lengthened whip. By this point I had zero hesitation to run 100 watts as I’d been at the park for close to two hours.
I posted a spot and began calling. I even turned my spotting into something humourous in an attempt to woo callers:
Along the way I attracted at least one bystander and spoke with them about the hobby for a bit, and I worked 4 contacts between being hunted and being the hunter. At least those 4 “only” took 15 minutes. But they were getting progressively harder. Can you spot why in the image below?
I’ll give you a clue: it starts with the letter A. I had noticed some small M-class flares over the past couple of hours and they were adding up fast. Conditions were deteriorating for me. I must have been damn near a direct hit to those flares, as others in the southern USA were making 50 contacts an hour at the same time as I wasn’t. So I finally did the right thing and moved to CW at 100 watts. I felt like Scotty “I’m givin’ ‘er all I can Cap’n!” …
…and I was met with mediocre results. Nobody answered my calls so the remaining contacts I obtained were found by hunting. Some that were calling were super loud to me and giving out 72s -indicating they were QRP- but could not hear me after my callsign was given 4 times. My final contact was with my friend VE3JO who has just returned to CW and was at a slower pace which helped to bring my blood pressure down a notch 🙂
Summary
Yes, there is a video with plenty of wise-cracking with myself to reduce tension, one of my coping mechanisms.
It’s not a race, sometimes it is a marathon that you didn’t plan on and only takes patience to have whatever you define as success finally fulfilled.
Still, how bad is it to be out in a park for a bunch of hours? It’s not too bad at all if you ask me!
72, 73 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.
A-index is average so it’s slower than K. In this case dunno if it is actually telling the truth?
Could you have just got hit by radio blackout / very high absorption by D-layer?
Anyway, stop chasing arbitraty numbers 🙂 Who cares if you make 10 or something else, it’s just a number in the database.
Hi Jouni, thank you for your comment. There is a LOT info out there about propagation indicies and what you really see from me is attempting to learn what’s what.
72, Vince
Haha! I know, how dare old Sol wreck your plans!
Good on you for following procedure and working up power and pushing through it- in hindsight the challenging activations are the best!
Vince
You are not a real POTA ham unless you have at least one failed activation due to bad propagation, equipment failure or just bad luck ( did I not bring my coax?)
There is still fun times and good times with 9 in the log after 2 hours……..
Sometimes the journey experience is the activation experience to cherish
I know the joy of going QRP but having to go to 50 watts then cranking up to 100 watts and then dreaming if generators and kilowatt amplifiers make sense….nahhhhh I will try again tomorrow or just give up and move on and get back to steaming stamps off envelopes for my stamp collection. Then I can enjoy reading about POTA fun in blogs and realize I am not alone in failed activations. Portable ops is best in rain, sleet and snow and burnt steaks taste better than no steak at all.
How does one recover of this trauma I asked the ghost of Marconi? The reply came as my shack lights flickered …..flick…flick….flick…….OMG, I grabbed my Icom 705 ruckshack and went out and did a 3-fer and on the way home my emergency emotional support stuffed toy fell off my shoulder and bounced out the window. I was horrified but I knew I had the strength to carry-on solo for my next out and about. I was not alone
3s es tks for hunting me
VE3ItalianPizzaSlice
Vince
It was a pleasure to have you call me and have a P2P QSO. It was not too bad here and as a QRP operator I’m lucky to be in the east. Even when conditions are bad 40m seems to have enough ops. I have several failed activations and they are still great fun and allow me to use the outdoor shack. 72 see you down the log.
Randy
VE3JO
Vince
Hey when all else fails, just whip out the DMR & rubber duck, and have some quality chats any where in the world. I love HF and all modes, and even on field day besides HF I use DMR simplex… which is legal & made 16 5/9 contacts on 441 mhz. yes there is simplex on DMR when my HF partners were crowded out with the east coast KW’s from our San Diego light house during a light house event hi… age 72, not too old to learn a easy code plug. Bring along a MFJ voice keyer so you don’t get horse calling CQ, or CW memory contest keyer with memory so when the mosquitoes come around so you can push a button without getting thrown off. Here’s is a low weight antenna, just get a 8 foot Delta Kite and 200 foot of light weight RG174 rated at 600 watts !!!hi… and let that thing fly at 200′ as a vertical dipole on 20 or 40 etc. with a 6 knot wind. Yes it works… worked Italy from San Diego 5/8 one time at 2PM. A 200′ omni balanced efficient dipole with a 1:1 antenna beats some semi-directional lower elevation wire. If your on some high elevation mountain top it’s a good bet you always have wind…. It’s all good.
Great sense of humor Vince! I saw that QRPp 1w spot and listened. Nada. Same for the rest of the time you were showing on the POTA spotting page. Granted, my compromised antenna way down in FL is a long way from Calgary, but I should have heard your 1500W blasts.
…next time… 72
I’m so with you – those times where you’re checking if the antenna is attached . . . is the switch to the dummy load . . . and why oh why do those CMEs hate me so much!
Vince, I missed your comment about Chip and the backyard wet string experiments in a previous post. He was all about “improvise, adapt, overcome . . . but Murphy will still win some days” so I’m sure he would applaud your fortitude in the face of solar adversity.
73, David W7CDT