All posts by Thomas Witherspoon

Field Reports, Morse Code, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Videos

Pairing the Elecraft K1 and AX1 for low-profile, low-impact portable POTA!

5 Comments

Friday, February 28, 2025, felt like another “rinse and repeat” day—a pattern I’ve grown used to over the past few weeks.

That morning, I woke up early, published a post on QRPer.com, and by 7:30 AM I was outside with my chainsaw, preparing piles of tree debris for the skid steer operator we hired to move it to the roadside.

As you might imagine, he can collect debris much faster than I can cut and prepare it, so my goal has been to stay ahead of him. I worked steadily all morning and, combined with what I had cut the previous day, managed to prepare enough to keep him busy for the rest of the day. That was fortunate because I needed to help my daughters with activities in town all afternoon.

Finding POTA time

I’ll be honest—after grabbing a quick lunch and a shower, I was pretty worn out. Part of me wanted to use any spare time to sneak in a nap. But I also knew I could use a little POTA therapy, and the weather was unseasonably gorgeous—almost spring-like.

Looking at my schedule, I realized I had about an hour to spare, enough time to detour and activate Pisgah National Forest (US-4510) at the Sycamore Flats Picnic Area. It was the most convenient spot along my route that afternoon.

As for radio gear, I already had my Elecraft K1 packed from an earlier activation that week (which I also recorded and will post soon—obviously, out of chronological order!).

For variety, I didn’t want to use the same antenna as the previous activation. Instead, I grabbed one of my favorite compact antennas to see how well it would pair with the K1: the Elecraft AX1.

If you’ve followed QRPer for long, you’ll know I often use the AX1 during both POTA and SOTA activations. Despite its extreme size compromise, it has always performed well for me.

Loaded verticals like the AX1 typically have a high Q (narrow bandwidth) and benefit from an ATU or capacity hat to help with impedance matching. Luckily, my new-to-me Elecraft K1 has the optional built-in ATU, meaning I could attach the AX1 directly to the back of the radio.

I’ll save the full story of how I acquired this particular K1 for my next field report, but let’s just say I’d been hunting one for a long time—and this one showed up locally. It’s a four-band version (40, 30, 20, and 15 meters) with both the ATU and internal AA battery pack options.

Sycamore Flats Picnic Area

I arrived on site around 13:35 local time and had about 45 minutes to play radio.

I started the activation video and walked through the picnic area until I found a good table. Truthfully, though, the beauty of using the AX1 is that almost any flat surface will do—it’s that low-profile and low-impact.

Once I found a table, setup was super quick: I placed the K1 on the table, connected a battery, attached my Palm Mini paddle (its maiden POTA voyage!), and plugged the AX1 directly into the back of the radio. I wasn’t in a hurry–and it truly shows in the video–but I’m confident I could have deployed the entire station in about 60-90 seconds if required. That’s the magic of the AX1—minimal setup time.

With everything connected, it was time to hit the airwaves!

Gear

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

Radio

  • Elecraft K1 (four band version with optional ATU and internal AA battery pack)

Key

  • Palm Mini Paddle with new connection cord

Antenna

Pack and Case

Logging Supplies

Battery

Camera/Audio Gear

On The Air

Once on the air, I was thrilled to have no problem collecting hunters for the logs. Continue reading Pairing the Elecraft K1 and AX1 for low-profile, low-impact portable POTA! →

Accessories, Kits, Morse Code, New Products, News

The New KM4CFT KX2 and KX3 Iambic Paddle Kit

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My friend Jonathan (KM4CFT) recently sent me a neat little prototype paddle he designed for the Elecraft KX2 and KX3 field transceivers.

He wanted my feedback, so he generously sent me a set to evaluate at no charge.

Lately, I’ve been tied up with the final stages of debris cleanup here at the QTH, leaving little time for field activations. While I haven’t had the chance to take these paddles out into the field yet (stay tuned!) I’ve thoroughly tested them on both my Elecraft KX3 and KX2. In the meantime, Jonathan has made the kits available for purchase on the HamGadgets website.

The price? $49.97 — a solid deal for a simple, functional paddle designed to plug directly into the front of the KX2 and KX3.

Assembly is quick and straightforward, taking around 15-20 minutes. There aren’t many parts, and the mechanics are refreshingly simple. If you’re curious, you can check out the kit assembly manual here (PDF).

My Impressions

I think it’s an excellent little key for the price. The paddle action is light — the 3D printed material keeps them featherweight, making keying effortless.

For field use, they should perform brilliantly. The light touch required keeps things stable on a table, with the KX2 or KX3 providing more than enough weight to prevent the paddles from shifting as you operate.

The operating angle works well for me too. I know Jonathan put a lot of time into getting this right during the design process — and it shows.

Any Downsides?

The biggest drawback, in my opinion, is that the two thumbscrews securing the paddles to the front of the radio aren’t captive.

This means they can be easily lost during transport. I recommend storing the paddles in a thick poly bag to keep everything together in your pack.

Additionally, because the screws aren’t captive, you need to be a little careful when installing the paddle. I’ve found it easiest to place the radio on its back, so you’re screwing the thumbscrews downward.

I lightly plug in the paddle, then start threading both screws before fully tightening either one. This gives me better control and helps avoid dropping the screws — something that could be a real headache in the field, especially if they hit the ground.

Lastly, these paddles don’t have the “precision key” feel of more expensive options. But to be fair, they’re designed as an affordable alternative to Elecraft’s KXPD2 paddles, which retail for $169.95. Even the KXPD2 — while smaller and sturdier — doesn’t feel particularly “precision” in use. The KX3 paddles come closer to that, but they also cost $239.95.

At $49.95, it’s hard to complain — these paddles do exactly what they’re supposed to do without breaking the bank!

If you’ve held off buying front-mounted paddles for your KX2 or KX3 because of the cost, I’d highly recommend giving these KM4CFT paddles a try.

Click here to check out the KM4CFT KX2/KX3 paddles on HamGadgets.

Field Reports, News, Portable, POTA, QRP

Diamond Achievement at Fletcher Creek: VA3EKR’s 50th POTA Activation!

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Many thanks to Scott (VA3EKR) who shares the following field report which was originally posted on his blog:

March 23, 2025, Fletcher Creek Ecological Reserve, Puslinch, ON (CA-5363)

by Scott (VA3EKR)

Today was a nice day to walk around, though still a little chilly at around 0°C. Fletcher Creek Ecological Reserve is part of the Hamilton Conservation Area network, and is in Puslinch Ontario, about 51km from my house.

Activated from the parking lot, that is fairly close to some hydro transmission lines, so I was worried about interference, but I thankfully did not experience any. This is the entrance to the paths from the parking lot.

The bands were quiet but propagation seemed to be pretty good. It took me a while to get 12 QSOs in about an hour. So somewhat slow. This weekend seems to be blessed with propagation to Idaho and Washington!

After the activation, I walked around the trails.

This is a map of the park. It loops around an old abandoned quarry, that has been rehabilitated.

Here’s the audio. Still terrible for the transmitting side. I’m working on it.

Audio Player

Here’s a map of the QSOs, all 20m CW.

This park was my 50th, and so I got a Diamond Activator Certificate from the Parks on the Air website.

Funny, News

My Most Embarrassing Field Radio Fail (What’s Yours?)

18 Comments

Many thanks to Dale (N3HXZ) who writes:

“Thomas, Great response to your post [regarding the toughest CW paddles for field use]. What if we consider another idea: collecting the “Greatest Bloopers while Activating” shared by your readers?

I can think of several I did, but what takes the cake is a buddy of mine who forgot to attach his 50′ coax to the antenna. He worked for over an hour trying to make contacts with the coax just lying on the ground radiating. He ended up with three before he realized his setup error! But in those three contacts was Cristopher (F4WBN) from France.”

That’s funny, Dale! I remember not so long ago, I did something very similar. In my case, I forgot to attach the coax to my radio! I can’t remember if this was captured in an activation video or not.

One blooper, in particular, that stands out in my mind happened during the 2021 W4 SOTA campout.

While I didn’t make a video of that SOTA activation, I did document this mishap in a field report. Here’s the excerpt, starting from when our hiking party finally reached the summit of Standing Indian after a long, exhausting hike:

“By the time we reached the summit, it was about 14:30 local and I didn’t want to hang around for long. We had a decent hike back to the campground on a new-to-us trail.

My hiking friends (Christie and Patricia) wanted to hear me play a little Morse Code, so instead of taking the (much easier) VHF path to activating the summit, I pulled out the Discovery TX-500, Elecraft T1, and my Chameleon CHA TDL.

I’d packed the Chameleon Tactical Delta loop believing we’d be hitting a bald summit and I wanted to test the TDL on 20 meters to see if it could achieve a DX take-off angle.

The true summit, however, was not a bald so I had to set up the TDL among trees.

As I deployed all of my radio gear, I attracted a mini crowd of hikers: three more day hikers, and two AT tru-hikers. I was distracted and made a big error: I assembled the CHA TDL components, and tried to drive the steel spike into the ground while talking with a hiker. But turns out I wasn’t driving the spike into the ground at all, I was driving one of the telescoping antennas into the ground!

I pulled the telescoping antenna out of the ground and discovered the tip broke and the top three sections were damaged–I couldn’t extend them. I was forcing it into rocky ground after all.

Undeterred, I deployed the lop-sided TDL, hit “TUNE” on the T1 ATU and got a 1:1 match on 20 meters.

The 20 band was incredibly quiet. I thought for sure I wasn’t receiving a thing since one side of my loop was completely compromised.

I started calling CQ and within a minute EA2IF answered with a 559 report (bless you, Guru!).

Spain. With a broken antenna and 5 watts of power.

I worked four more stations in rapid succession all in the 1 region of the US, then I powered off the radio before I could hear anyone else calling me. I had achieved a valid activation and packed up quickly: we had more miles to log before sunset!

We hit the return trail…”

Reading through my field notes, though, I’d forgotten that my first contact was my friend Guru (EA2IF). Guru was an amazing member of the SOTA community and a friend to all. He passed away a couple years ago from cancer complications, and our community felt his loss in no small way. It brightened my day to remember that he was the first contact I made that day with my mangled antenna.

Good times. We miss you, Guru!

How about your field bloopers?

What is it they say — “misery loves company?” Let’s all share our mishaps and bloopers in the field!

Please comment!

Field Reports, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Videos

QRP POTA with Vlado: Penntek TR-45L “Skinny” in Pisgah National Forest (Part 2)

1 Comment

On February 9, 2025, my good friend Vlado (N3CZ) and I headed out to Pisgah National Forest (US-4510) near Looking Glass Falls for a joint POTA activation.

This is Part 2 of our activation — if you missed Part 1, you can check it out here!

While I typically write much longer field reports, I’m still in the final days of Hurricane Helene debris removal around our property, which has been my main focus.

As with Part 1, I’ll keep this one short and sweet–a postcard-style field report. I truly appreciate everyone’s understanding!

Pisgah National Forest (US-4510)

After wrapping up Part 1 with the Elecraft KX1, we decided to switch things up for the second half of our activation.

We swapped the KX1 for the Penntek TR-45L skinny and replaced my paddles with the TouchPaddles Model P1. The antenna setup remained the same: the QRPGuys Portable No Tune End Fed Half Wave, which continued to perform like a champ.

The weather, again, was amazing — sunshine, cool air, and the peaceful sounds of the forest surrounding us.

Vlado added more QSOs to his log, making the most of the lively bands.

When it was my turn to jump back in, I logged 18 contacts in 19 minutes before we had to call QRT for the day.

It felt like one of those activations you never want to end. As always, the TR-45L was a pure pleasure to operate.

Gear:

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

Radio

  • Penntek TR-45L “Skinny”

Antenna System and Throw Line

Key

Battery

Camera and Audio

QSO Map

Here’s what this five-watt activation looked like when plotted out on a QSO Map. Please note that all of the orange lines are the QSOs from this part of the activation on 30 meters.Click on the map image to enlarge.

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.

Thank you

Thank you for joining us during this activation and for understanding why I’m keeping the field report portion on the short side! 🙂

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 us! Have a wonderful weekend!

Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)

PS: Consider joining our QRPer.net discussion board! It’s an active community of radio operators who enjoy helping and supporting each other. It’s also the best place to ask any questions you might have about radios, field activities, antennas, or pretty much anything amateur radio. Click here to join.

Field Reports, Guest Posts, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Travel

QSO Party, POTA, and a Touch of Winter: Bob and Alanna’s Radio Adventures on the Outer Banks

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Radio Adventures on the Outer Banks of North Carolina

by Bob K4RLC & Alanna K4AAC     

February 2025

My YL Alanna K4AAC had been advocating for a trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for some time. She had never been there to see its incredible natural beauty, and I had not been in decades. In planning, we needed to go in the off-season, especially when it was a bit chilly, as she is a “bug magnet” and that can ruin her vacation. Not being totally unselfish, I wanted our visit to coincide with a radio event.

We first tried for Winter Field Day at the end of January, but Eastern North Carolina was socked in with five to seven inches of snow in places where it never snows. We rescheduled the trip for a month later at the end of February, to coincide with the North Carolina QSO Party. Just so happens, Eastern North Carolina got another freak snowstorm of several inches, but we only had to put the trip off one day. Even then, parts of the roads going down east were still covered in snow and ice.

1585 Map by Governor White
Current Map of Outer Banks

The drive is only a bit over 3 hours straight down US Highway 64 to the Outer Banks, where it dead ends in a T intersection with infamous North Carolina Hwy 12. Locals call the intersection “Whalebone Junction.” Going either north or south of this intersection, within a few miles one can explore lots of really beautiful natural areas, including six (6) POTA sites! Eight miles south of the intersection is the Oregon Inlet Campground on Bodie Island, part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore (US-0682), where we camped. That time of year, the campground was really deserted with only a few other campers including a few brave souls tent camping. It is a flat area campground that backs up to huge dunes, separating you from some of the most beautiful but austere beaches on the Atlantic coast. A word of caution though, there are no trees or light poles to secure a mast for an antenna.

Alanna K4AAC enjoying the beach
Antenna at Oregon Inlet Campground

We took our Winnebago Solis again. The Solis is a wonderful camper van on a Dodge ProMaster chassis that sleeps three, has a propane powered furnace and two burner stove, and a refrigerator that can be powered either by propane or by the 140 W solar panels on top of the van, loading up two 100 amp hour AGM batteries.  You can boondock for days, or enjoy the luxury of “shore power.”

As the North Carolina QSO Party was Sunday, we wanted to explore the islands Saturday. About 20 miles north of the campground is the incredible Wright Brothers National Memorial, commemorating the first flight ever, and also POTA site: US-0797.  This is part of the National Park Service, on 428 acres with an interactive Visitor Center whose exhibits include a full-scale reproduction of the Wright Brothers 1903 flyer. We particularly enjoyed climbing to the Wright Brothers Monument standing 60-feet tall atop Kill Devil’s Hill, a 90 foot high grass-stabilized sand dune. The original runway is there with First Flight Boulder and Markers charting the short distances of the first four flights. Incredibly, a few yards over and parallel is an actual 3000 foot First Flight Airstrip where pilots from all over the world fly in to celebrate their flying heritage. I decided to take the KH1 up to the top of the Monument, a steep but accessible walk for almost anyone. The day was clear and sunny; the white granite monument was gleaming against the Carolina blue sky.

Wright Brothers Monument
Bob K4RLC & Elecraft KH1 w/AX1

It was a beautiful day to set up on the wall around the monument. Unfortunately, the temperatures were in the 40’s, and I didn’t realize there would be a 20-25 knot wind blowing. The beautiful thing about the KH1 is that it is so easy to deploy. Some have complained about the stock key in cold weather, but for me the problems are not the key but old, cold fingers. To help a little bit, I set up the AX1 on a small camera tripod and threw one 13 ft radial over the wall into the field. This modification worked really well when I operated at a Greek Navy lighthouse in the Aegean Sea. For some reason, the KH1 was fussy that day, and would not hold a tune consistently on 20 CW. Nevertheless, I pounded away until I got the minimum number of contacts about the same time my fingers just wouldn’t work anymore.

Alanna, with freezing extremities after fully exploring the monument and taking pictures of me operating, hiked off to explore a bronze sculpture garden which recreates the scene of the historic 1903 flight. This included a sandy plot with a life-size bronze replica of the original Wright Brothers airplane (being piloted by Orville laying on his stomach), along with bronze sculptures depicting the guys from the Hatteras Life Saving Station who were there to support Orville and Wilbur, help them launch their flyer, and capture a photo of the First Flight. The memorial was gifted by the State of North Carolina to the NPS,  and dedicated at the Centennial of the First Flight in 2003, by then Governor Mike Easley. Alanna and I were both really cold and tired after hiking in the chilly weather at the park, so we sought out one of the few open seafood restaurants there and were treated to an incredibly tasty buffet.

Full size replica of original aircraft
Full size bronze replica of aircraft

Weather Sunday morning was milder so with a strong cup of coffee from the French press coffee maker our daughter gave us, I set up on the picnic table with my trusty old ICOM IC – 706MkIIG at about 60 watts on 20 CW. I do have a trailer hitch mount for the Solis that can hold a 30 foot fiberglass mast, but I knew we were going to be traveling that day. So I set up my trustee default of a 17 foot whip on a 4 x 7′ piece of aluminum screen wire from Lowe’s. With one CQ, the calls started coming in, with the first one being from HA9RE in Hungary. Continue reading QSO Party, POTA, and a Touch of Winter: Bob and Alanna’s Radio Adventures on the Outer Banks →

Events, News

2025 Charlotte Hamfest Recap: Radios, Bargains, and Good Friends

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On Friday, March 7, 2025, Vlado (N3CZ) and I made our way to the Charlotte Hamfest — and what a fantastic trip it was!

We hit the road Friday morning and arrived in Concord around lunchtime, where we met up with our dear friend Phil (W9IXX) at Captain Steve’s Family Seafood Restaurant. The food was outstanding — honestly, it must be the best bargain in seafood in all of North Carolina. If you’re ever in the area, it’s worth a stop.

After lunch, we headed over to the Cabarrus Arena & Events Center – Gold Hall to set up our tables. The doors opened at 3:00 PM, and much to our delight, the Friday crowd was lively and active. It was great to see so many people there early, checking out the gear and chatting with fellow hams.

That evening, Vlado and I treated ourselves to some authentic Cuban cuisine at Havana Carolina Restaurant & Bar in downtown Concord. The food was phenomenal — a perfect way to cap off the first day of the hamfest.

Saturday morning came quickly, and we were back at the arena bright and early. The event was incredibly well attended. I had the pleasure of meeting a number of QRPer.com readers, YouTube subscribers, and supporters. Many folks also mentioned they’re listeners of the Ham Radio Workbench podcast — it’s always a treat to connect with so many amazing people. Thank you all for stopping by to say hello!

By the time things started winding down around noon, I had sold or given away about two-thirds of the items I brought along — definitely a success in my book.

After packing up, Phil, Vlado, and I grabbed lunch at Johnny Roger’s BBQ & Burgers in Concord. We all went for one of their specialty burgers — absolutely worth it.

All in all, it was an incredibly successful trip. More than anything, it was wonderful to spend time with friends and meet so many amazing people in the community.

Below is a gallery of photos showcasing some of the gear that was available at the hamfest. Many of these were taken before the doors opened on Friday and Saturday. Enjoy!

Click on the following link to view the photo gallery: Continue reading 2025 Charlotte Hamfest Recap: Radios, Bargains, and Good Friends →

News

Join Me for Ham Radio Workbenches On The Air — Sunday, March 16th!

2 Comments

Tomorrow (Sunday, March 16th, 2025), I’ll be participating in the Ham Radio Workbenches On The Air (HRWBOTA) event from 1800 to 2200 UTC (2 PM to 6 PM Eastern).

I’ll be operating QRP and portable, weather permitting, from a POTA site. I’ll mostly be using CW from 10 to 40 meters.

If you’re learning CW and feeling a little shy about getting on the air, this is an absolutely wonderful opportunity! As long as you can send your callsign, and recognize your callsign when I call you back, just send me a signal report, and we’ll be all set! I’ll happily adjust my pace to match yours, giving you all the time you need. It’s totally okay if you want to pre-program your CW message memories with your call and signal report. The key thing is to give it a try! I truly believe you can do it!

Note that I may not share my POTA location on the POTA.app spots page so that Ham Radio Workbench listeners don’t have to compete with the weekend POTA hunters. Plus, if my plans change, I might operate from a site that isn’t POTA, so there’s that too.

HRWBOTA on December 3, 2023

The HRWBOTA exchange is a little unconventional (and fun):

  • Hosts give a serial number or standard POTA-style exchange.
  • Listeners can optionally share the number and brand of their favorite soldering iron, plus their state/province/country.

For example: “0 Weller, North Carolina”

That said, again, it’s perfectly fine to simply give a short exchange with signal report and state, province or country. This is all about the fun factor, so a simple contact is fine (in fact, you’l find we hosts often forget to give the serial number in our part of the exchange!).

You can find all event details — including a live host tracker showing frequencies and modes — at https://hrwbota.com/

Field Reports, Morse Code, News, Portable, QRP, Videos

QRP POTA with Vlado: Elecraft KX1 in Pisgah National Forest (Part 1)

7 Comments

On February 9, 2025, my good friend Vlado (N3CZ) and I headed out to Pisgah National Forest (US-4510) near Looking Glass Falls for a joint POTA activation.

This is Part 1 of our activation — and while I typically write much longer field reports, I’m still in the final stages of Hurricane Helene debris removal around our property.

To keep things moving, I’ll keep this one short and sweet–a postcard field report length. I truly appreciate everyone’s understanding!

Pisgah National Forest (US-4510)

The weather couldn’t have been better for our outing — crisp, cool air with bright sunshine filtering through the trees. It was one of those perfect days where you feel lucky just to be outside, let alone playing radio with a great friend.

Our activation video below captures the entire activation from Vlado deploying the antenna, to setting up the radio gear and both of our activations.

Vlado kicked things off with his trusty Elecraft KX1 hooked up to an end-fed half-wave he built himself.

After he wrapped up his activation, he handed the controls over to me. I logged 41 contacts in 39 minutes — the bands were lively, and the little KX1 was working like a charm. (Golly I love this radio!)

We stopped the video there to wrap up Part 1, but we weren’t quite finished yet. We switched to a different radio and kept the POTA fun going for a while longer — stay tuned for Part 2 next week, where we dive into a new setup and share more of the adventure!

Gear:

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

Radio

  • Elecraft KX1

Antenna System and Throw Line

Key

Battery

Accessories

Camera and Audio

Logs

QSO Map

Here’s what this five-watt activation looked like when plotted out on a QSO Map. Please note that all of the blue lines are the QSOs from this activation on 20 meters.Click on the map image to enlarge.

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.

Thank you

Thank you for joining me during this activation and for understanding why I’m keeping the field report portion on the short side! 🙂

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 us! Have a wonderful weekend!

Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)

PS: Consider joining our QRPer.net discussion board! It’s an active community of radio operators who enjoy helping and supporting each other. It’s also the best place to ask any questions you might have about radios, field activities, antennas, or pretty much anything amateur radio. Click here to join.

Field Reports, Guest Posts, News, Portable, POTA

Christian’s 100th POTA Activation at Tsatelet Nature Reserve

12 Comments

My 100th POTA Activation at the Place It All Began

by Christian (IX1CKN)

Mathematics is a finite science. So, for a while, I knew that my 100th POTA activation was coming. The only thing left was to decide how to organize and experience it. Initially, I considered activating a new reference (paradoxically, I still have quite a few left to do in Valle d’Aosta). However, with snow covering everything above 1500–1600 meters, I reconsidered my plan.

In the end, I asked myself—what’s the beauty of this program? It’s in the experiences it awards. From discovering forgotten places or ones you’ve never visited to the strong sense of community among participants—friends who, even on your 20th activation at the same park, are still happy to log you. So, I thought it was only natural that this activation would be from IT-0120, the Tsatelet Nature Reserve. It’s the closest to home, the place where I’ve learned the most about field operating, and also where it all began for me (back in November 2022).

I started early in the morning of Sunday 9th March 2025, following my wife’s advice (she knows me too well): “Have breakfast at McDonald’s”—because while she may not like their burgers, those croissants and coffee do make sense.

It was just after sunrise, but not too cold—3°C in the air suggested that once I reached the reserve, I wouldn’t be freezing. And so it was when I arrived at about 800 meters, on the promontory between Aosta and Saint-Christophe.

I decided to take things slow and fully appreciate the memories that these two years of POTA have given me.

I had my G90, a 15Ah battery (thankfully, the hike wasn’t endless, and my back thanked me), and a 40m half-wave end-fed antenna (by Ricky IU1PZC). I didn’t bring my vertical—I wanted nearby Italian operators to have a better chance of making contact.

I started on 7 MHz at 08:32 local time. The band was responsive, and by the time I switched to 20m, I already had over 30 QSOs in the log. 20 meters weren’t performing as usual, likely due to the K-index at 5, which signaled less-than-ideal propagation. It came in waves, though—not entirely bad. In one of these, I logged Don G0RQL. As strong as ever, he told me, “I wish I had logged you all 100 times, but I was there for quite a few of them”.

He was right—if I had to guess, I’d say at least 30–40 times. Funny enough, I saw his QTH in Devonshire on vacation before I even joined the POTA family. The band continued its ups and downs, but I logged several park-to-park contacts, including an eclectic group from IT-0135 (I ended up logging three of them). Shoutout to Austrian colleagues OE3BIY, OE4JHW, and OE4ENU, who were even live on YouTube.

I also took the time to enjoy the scenery and the moment—especially when a lively group of Scouts arrived. After all, this is their place, and I’m the guest. Tsatelet is known as Quota BP, named after Sir Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, who is honored with a plaque in the reserve.

Back on 40m, I managed a somewhat challenging QSO with Dario IZ3QFG (sadly, no luck with Andrea IW0HK today). But something special happened—I heard a female voice calling me, and I almost couldn’t believe my ears: Helga IN3FHE, had picked up the microphone again. She said, “I know you’re having fun, but this morning, have the most fun, okay?” Mission accomplished! You can’t hear hugs on the radio, but I swear today’s felt real.

Back on 20m, the conditions remained unpredictable, but the QSO flow continued. I logged several French stations (mainly from the north), two new YL hunters (one in Wales, the other in England), and a mobile operator in Richmond Park, London—we had a laugh about how it’s Mick Jagger’s neighborhood (another “Sir”…).

A couple of local IX1 stations called in—there aren’t many of us with this prefix, but we do exist, and sometimes there’s more than just two of us in HF at the same time! Looking at my log pages, I suspected this might be one of my most productive activations ever—but in that moment, the numbers didn’t matter. I kept going because the thrill was in communicating, answering, and finding other people out in the middle of nowhere with just a radio and an antenna, sometimes barely holding together.

Spanish stations stood out—some of them are regulars in my log (EA2DT, EA5W, EA2CPG, EA6FM, and many others), and they always have a strong presence. Their enthusiasm is infectious, and they always deserve the “abrazo” and “suerte” that close every QSO with them. 15m wasn’t too promising, but on 10m, some stations from the South America contest came through. I called them, skeptical about my 15 watts, but I still logged two Brazilians, one Argentinian, and two Turkish stations. There it was—the DX!

At 12:03 local time, after 3 hours and 31 minutes, I had relived practically all the highlights of my time as an operator. It was enough—but what a fantastic activation. I packed up, hiked down, and headed home.

Then came the logbook surprise:

  • 136 QSOs
  • 21 park-to-park contacts
  • ODX: LT3E (Argentina) at 11,454 km—a new personal best from Tsatelet! (My previous record was 135 QSOs.)

If someone had asked me how I wanted my 100th activation to be, my answer wouldn’t have been far from this.

Now, onwards to the next 100! But not before saying thank you to everyone who makes this program so special.

Chris Diemoz

IX1CKN