As promised, here’s Part 2 of my extended HRWBOTA activation report from March 16, 2025!

As I mentioned in Part 1 of this activation, I’d planned to operate for the full four-hour window of the March 16th Ham Radio Workbenches On The Air (HRWBOTA) event—a rare luxury for me. Most of my field activations typically last anywhere from 30 to maybe 90 minutes at most. So, sitting in one spot and operating for four full hours definitely stretched me a bit—but in a good way!

After two hours of non-stop CW with the Elecraft KX3, I took a brief break, swapped radios, and continued the activation with my Penntek TR-45L.

This portable rig is one of my favorite minimalist CW transceivers, and I thought it was a perfect fit for the second half of the HRWBOTA event. I used it to work 20, 30, and 40 meters in CW (in that order).

One nice bonus of using the TR-45L is that mine has a built-in Z-match ATU, which allowed me to easily find a match on 30 meters, even though the Spooltenna EFHW isn’t resonant on that band. The antenna was the same excellent 40-meter EFHW prototype from Rob (KO4HUI) that I featured in Part 1.

The only other minor change during this segment of the activation was behind the camera. Since I was filming in real-time for four straight hours, I had to pause at one point to connect my action camera to a portable battery pack which then limited my ability to use wireless microphones with wind screens. The gusty wind will be more noticeable in this portion of the activation video as a result—but, hey, it’s all part of the field experience!

Now, let’s dive into Part 2 of the gear and activation details…

Gear

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Radio

• Penntek TR-45L with built-in rechargeable battery and Z-Match antenna tuner (discontinued)

Antenna System

• Spooltenna 40 Meter End-Fed Half-Wave
• Spooltenna 25′ RG-316 Coax With 5 Ferrites
  • Please note: Spooltenna is now offering QRPer.com readers free shipping by using the coupon code “qrpswl” at checkout!

Battery

• Bioenno 15 Ah LiFePo Battery (Model BLF-1215A) please note that while I used a 15 Ah battery, a 3 or 4.5 Ah battery would have sufficed.

Key and Accessories

• CW Morse Outdoor Double Paddle With Steel Base
• Key cable: Cable Matters 2-Pack Gold-Plated Retractable Aux Cable – 2.5 Feet

Logging

• N3FJP AC Log
• Microsoft Surface Go

Packs/Cases

• GoRuck GR1 USA

Camera and Audio Gear

• DJI OSMO 4 action camera with Sensyne Phone Tripod
• DJI Wireless Microphones

On the Air

As I mentioned in Part 1, this was a longer activation, and since I needed to submit electronic logs to HRWBOTA admin Mark (N6MTS), I skipped paper logging—a true rarity for me.

Instead, I logged directly into AC Log on my Microsoft Surface Go, just as I would during Field Day.

During this second part of the event, I started on 20 meters and spent a little over an hour working a steady stream of contacts.

Next, I moved down to 30 meters and spent about 20 minutes there. It wasn’t as active as 20 meters, but it still provided some much-needed listener contacts.

Then I moved to 40 meters, where I logged contacts for about 25 minutes. While it didn’t have the same level of activity as 20 meters, like 30M, it opened the door to more local and regional stations I wouldn’t have otherwise worked.

With a bit of time left, I decided to try 17 meters—no takers there—then returned to 20 meters, where I picked up six more contacts who hadn’t been able to work me earlier.

I capped off the activation by working my good friend Ara (N6ARA), who pulled off the radio equivalent of sliding into home base—making it into the log at the very last minute of the HRWBOTA event. Well done, Ara!

QSO Map

Here’s what this five-watt activation looked like when plotted out on a QSO Map. Click on the maps image to enlarge:

Since this map is so contact-dense, here are details of each region. Note that the color of the polyline represents the band. Here’s the color key:

Europe:

Northeast Canada and US:

Southeast US:

Midwest:

Western Canada and US:

North America:

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 YouTube monetization turned off, 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.

Insanely fun!

For me, it was a real treat to have such a long period of time set aside to work the HRWB community across the bands.

One of the most rewarding parts of this activation, though, came after the event. Several newer CW operators reached out to let me know they made a special effort to work me during HRWBOTA. For a few, it was even their very first CW activation. I was incredibly honored by that and absolutely thrilled to make those contacts. It’s exactly the kind of community-building the HRWBOTA event is all about.

I feel like my decision not to spot myself on the POTA.app network was a good move. While I would have certainly logged more contacts—especially on the higher bands—it likely would have made it more difficult to work the intended audience: Ham Radio Workbench podcast listeners.

The number of contacts I logged really speaks volumes about the size and enthusiasm of the Ham Radio Workbench podcast community.

One QRPer reader pointed out something I’ll likely propose for next year: shortening the CQ call from “CQ HRWBOTA” to something a bit more concise since I operate CW.

Those extra characters really start to add up after 100+ contacts! Also, during this activation, I only sent out a contact’s serial number if they provided their soldering iron information—another optional part of the exchange. Next year, I think I’ll keep my part of the exchange short unless the other operator sends their soldering iron info; then I’ll know they want the full HRWBOTA exchange.

With SSB, it’s easy to include the full exchange in each contact since the pace is naturally faster than 20 WPM.

HRWBOTA is becoming one of my favorite (mostly) annual events! It’s a bit goofy, and a whole lot of fun. Next year, we’re even considering moving HRWBOTA to April to make it easier for Mike (VA3MW) to join the fun again.

Thank you!

Thank you for joining me for Part 2 of this HRWBOTA activation!

I hope you enjoyed the field report and my  extra-long 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!

I hope you have an amazing weekend filled with radio-activity!

Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)

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