This year, we’ve experienced some cold weather and snow at our mountain home—conditions that always seem to arrive on weekends. While we haven’t had any significant snowfall, the 2–4-inch dustings we’ve received have been enough to coat our steep and winding mountain road. Since our road is still undergoing repairs from the damage caused by Hurricane Helene, there are no guardrails, making it feel a bit sketchy to navigate.
Our family’s approach has been simple: we hunker down and avoid heading into town. Honestly, it’s a great excuse to stay cozy at home.
A Near Miss
On Friday, January 10, 2025, I planned to set aside part of the day for a POTA outing but decided against heading down the mountain. Turns out, that was a wise decision. Unbeknownst to me, a contractor working on a neighbor’s house lost control of his one-ton truck on our slick road. The truck veered off into the creek and narrowly avoided plunging all the way in. While it’s hard to tell from the photo, his truck was precariously balanced on the road’s edge, with the rear passenger tire dangling a good two feet off the ground.
The mishap blocked our road for two full days, as no tow truck could make it up the mountain to retrieve the vehicle.
A Hunting We Will Go!
Undeterred by the weather, I was still determined to squeeze in some POTA time—but in relative comfort. So, I decided to do a little portable POTA hunting from one of our porches.
Since Hurricane Helene took down all of my antennas, I’ve kept a line in a tree near the house for quick antenna deployment. When I want to hop on the air, I simply attach a wire antenna for the bands I plan to use.
That Friday, I deployed my PackTenna 20-meter End-Fed Half-Wave. My goal was to work as many POTA activators as possible, especially since those operating north of me were likely facing some serious winter conditions.
Thanks to my KX2’s ATU, I knew I could find matches on 40, 30, 17, and 12 meters if the resonant bands (20, 15, and 10 meters) were quiet. I decided to capture this hunting session on video, so I turned on the camera and got to work!
Gear:
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Radio
Antenna & Cable Assembly
- Packtenna Mini EFHW antenna
- ABR Industries 25’ RG-316 cable assembly with three in-line ferrites (Use Coupon Code ABR10QRPER for 10% Discount!)
Case
Logging
- Field Notes Pad
- Kaweco AL Sport (the Skyline Sport is a plastic version and much better deal)
Camera/Audio Gear
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- DJI OSMO 4 action camera with Joby Telepod Sport Tripod
Portable POTA Hunting
I started scanning for POTA stations within my propagation footprint. Unfortunately, there weren’t many activators on the air. Much of the country was enduring an arctic blast, so I suspect the cold and snow kept many operators indoors.
Still, I managed to log five activators within a 14-minute span:
- VE3KZE, N9QF, KT7RC, and K4KVC on 20 meters
- WG8X on 30 meters
A PSK31 Session
After I worked all the stations I could hear, I wasn’t ready to pack up. Earlier that day, I had reviewed my Elecraft KX2 manual to refresh my memory on using PSK31, a weak-signal digital mode.
Many KX2 and KX3 owners don’t realize that these radios can handle digital modes natively, without the need for an external computer or interface. Out of the box, they support PSK31 and RTTY (with adjustable baud rates). This feature has always fascinated me, though I’d only used it sparingly, such as during Field Day.
I decided to give PSK31 a try, so I moved to 14,071.15 kHz—the PSK31 frequency on 20 meters. Initially, I couldn’t hear any PSK31 signals, and the KX2 decoder wasn’t picking up any QSOs. Then I started calling CQ and nearly fell out of my chair when K9OM in Edgewater, Florida, came back to me with a strong signal!
Dick (K9OM) and I had a short rag chew, and I was thrilled. He mentioned that it had been a couple of years since his last PSK31 contact, and I told him it had been even longer for me. Dick was operating an Elecraft K3S at 50 watts into a vertical antenna.
Admittedly, my paddle-based PSK31 operation was far from flawless. Sending PSK31 with CW paddles doesn’t allow for backspacing, so Dick likely saw a lot of extraneous characters on his end. I even caught myself trying to use CW jargon, like sending a string of dits for corrections—which, of course, just appears as “E E E E E” on the other side!
Despite my clumsy transmission, Dick was patient and understanding. It was such a joy to operate PSK31 natively on the KX2 again!
Thank you, Dick,!
Logs
Video
Here’s my real-time, real-life video of the entire porch session. 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.
Promoting PSK31
If you watched the video, you likely picked up on my excitement about making a PSK31 contact natively with the KX2.
At first glance, this capability might seem like a gimmicky feature, but I don’t think it is at all. When you’re in the field and want to engage in a bit of weak-signal DXing QRP-style, PSK31 is a powerful mode! What makes it especially appealing is that it allows me to connect with operators who don’t know CW, even though my input device is a set of CW paddles.
For many years, PSK31 was the dominant digital mode, but these days, FT8 and FT4 have surged in popularity and largely eclipsed it. It’s easy to forget just how enjoyable PSK31 can be. Unlike FT8 or FT4, which are primarily point-and-shoot modes, PSK31 is a conversational digital mode, making it ideal for those who enjoy a proper rag chew.
One of my personal goals this year is to revisit and promote PSK31, perhaps even encouraging fellow POTA and SOTA activators to use it in the field. My friend James (KE8PZN) recently mentioned his own field use of PSK31, which inspired me to explore this mode again using my KX2 and KX3.
If you have a KX2, KX3, or simply enjoy dabbling in digital modes, keep an ear out for me on PSK31 this year—let’s make a contact!
Thank you
Thank you for joining me during this portable POTA hunting session and thanks for bearing with me as I made my first PSK31 contact in years!
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! Have an amazing week ahead!
Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)
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