Yesterday morning, around 12:00, I picked up a DHL parcel containing the Venus SW-6B. I was so eager to test it in the field that I dropped my lunch plans, took the SW-6B home, opened the box, and quickly attached Anderson Powerpole connectors to the supplied power cable.

I didn’t have time to do anything else, not even turning on the radio.

After doing some back-of-the-envelope calculations, I realized that if I skipped catching up on my email backlog (sorry!), and instead jumped in the car, I could fit in a one-hour activation on the way to visit my dad in Hickory, NC, that afternoon.

Not wanting to compete for the one picnic table at the South Mountains State Park Clear Creek access (the fastest detour), I decided to head instead to the Lake James State Park Catawba River Access en route. There are plenty of site options at Lake James, and mid-afternoon on a Tuesday, I knew it wouldn’t be crowded.

Lake James State Park (US-2739)

The weather was absolutely beautiful, and I was right: there were very few people at Lake James.

I left the QTH in such a hurry that I didn’t have time to gather all the components for the SW-6B field setup. Instead, I grabbed my SOTA backpack (which should, in theory, have an antenna, cable assembly, throw line/weight, key, and other necessary adapters and accessories).

I found a picnic table with plenty of antenna deployment options (i.e., trees!).

Luck was on my side, too: my first throw of the throw line made a perfect arc into a tree, giving my 40-meter end-fed half-wave an ideal configuration.

While deploying the antenna, a groundskeeper nearby started mowing a patch of grass with possibly the noisiest mower I’ve ever heard. 🙂 It was so loud I actually had to wait for him to move on because I found myself shouting at the camera mic. Ha ha!

As I mention in the video, this is just the kind of QRM you should expect at a good park. The grounds at NC parks are truly outstanding, which takes a lot of work, and I’m very appreciative. It was just a minor inconvenience.

SW-6B Setup

After deploying the antenna, I set up the SW-6B and spent some time in the video (below) explaining the front panel controls.

I noted in the video that I purchased one of the very first production models listed on the Venus website.

There are a few options available: a metal case, a plastic case, and with or without an internal battery pack.

At the time, Dale (BA4TB) only had the metal case version built, so that’s what I ordered, with an internal battery. It’s the priciest option. The total cost, including DHL shipping to the US, was $344.30.

The metal case is very basic. One downside is that it doesn’t have a positive latch—there’s no easy way to secure the lid. For example, if you turn it upside down, it will open. The plastic version has latches—knowing this, I would have much preferred the plastic case.

That said, the metal case has a lot of charm. I plan to secure it with an elastic band or see if I can adapt mine to a plastic case later.

The internal battery didn’t come fully charged, of course, but it showed 11.3V, which is well within the SW-6B’s voltage range. Knowing this would be a short activation, I opted to use the internal battery instead of grabbing my (comically large, compared to the SW-6B) 15Ah battery from the car.

After turning on the radio, I was pleased to find that the internal speaker provided plenty of amplification for field operations.

It was time to get the SW-6B on the air!

Gear:

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

• Venus SW-6B metal case version with internal battery
• ABR Industries 25’ RG-316 cable assembly with three in-line ferrites (Use Coupon Code ABR10QRPER for 10% Discount!)
  
• ABR Industries Cable Assembly Builder (Use Coupon Code ABR10QRPER for 10% Discount!)
  
• Koh-I-Noor 2.0 mm Mechanical Pencil
• MW0SAW end-fed half-wave
• K6ARK 3D Printed Paddles
• Key cable: Cable Matters 2-Pack Gold-Plated Retractable Aux Cable – 2.5 Feet
  
• NEMO Resolve 25L backpack (my SOTA pack)
• Red Oxx Hound
• Weaver arborist throw line/weight and storage bag
• Rite In The Rain Top Spiral Notebook
• Camera: DJI OSMO 4 action camera with Joby Telepod Sport Tripod
• Nemo Chipper Foam Seat

On the Air

I started calling CQ POTA on the 20-meter band and quickly discovered that propagation was unstable.

That said, for the first time ever, my first three contacts were all Canadians: VA3NU, VA2CT, and VA2IDX. Nice!

Next, I hunted and, to my surprise, worked my friend and supporter, Dick (K7ULM), in Montana.

He was activating Tower Rock State Park (US-2601) QRP from his truck with the KX2 and his awesome dog, Reagan. (See Dick’s photos above and below.)

Dick told me, “When Reagan gets tired of me playing radio she will take my hand away from the paddle or put her paw on the paddle.”

I love it and understand, Dick! Hazel has been known to bop me with her snoot or climb on top of the picnic table.

Now where we? Oh yes…

I did some more hunting and calling CQ, logging nine contacts. I was chuffed to work Forest (KI7QCF) in Utah, also QRP and activating a park. Utah (and Montana) aren’t the easiest states to hit from NC on 20 meters.

Next, I moved to 40 meters, which turned out to have better conditions than 20 meters.

I quickly racked up ten more contacts, ending with 19 total. It was a brilliant short activation, working so many friends.

QSO Map

Here’s what this five-watt activation looked like when plotted out on a QSO Map:

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.

SW-6B First Impressions

I do like the SW-6B.

It has a bit of a modern, mini-Paraset vibe, almost like a little spy radio housed in a Bento box.

I sent Dale (BA4TB) some detailed notes about a few areas for improvement:

• The metal box really needs some form of positive latch.
• At times, strong signals overloaded the internal speaker. I plan to test further to ensure this is only an audio issue and not something else. I had to ride the RF gain control when encountering strong signals.
• I noticed keying anomalies on the 40M band when sending strings of dits (e.g., the letter V or number 4). The dit spacing sounded uneven. I’ll test with other paddles, but I suspect it’s related to the electronic keyer. My cable assembly has an in-line RF choke, so I doubt it’s an RF issue at 5 watts.

Dale is looking into these points, but overall, I’m pleased. The SW-6B has good audio (when not overloading) and a sensitive receiver with a low noise floor. Of course, I’ll need more activations to fully assess it in RF-dense environments.

In a couple of months, I’ll produce a full review.

Of course, I’ll be spending much more time with the SW-6B and will share any news or updates from Dale at Venus.

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 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 makes 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)