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New Kneeboard and AX3 Mount: Park Bench Portable POTA at Domaine de Maizerets in Québec City

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On June 17, 2025—two days after we arrived at our condo in St-Ferréol-les-Neiges—we drove to Québec City to pick up a few provisions.

My wife loves exploring thrift stores and had mentioned on the way into town that she’d enjoy popping by one before we returned that day. My POTA brain immediately pinged because I remembered a thrift store she enjoyed visiting was very close to one of the first parks I ever activated in Québec City.

I pitched the idea of an activation to my wife and daughters, and they readily approved. Fortunately, I already had my Canada Field Radio Backpack loaded with the Elecraft KH1 in the back of the car!

Domaine de Maizerets (CA-5020)

I first activated this park on June 20, 2022—almost exactly three years earlier. Here’s the field report. (I didn’t film that activation.)

Back then, it was an ATNO (All Time New One)—the park had never been activated before.

It was also one of the very first proper urban parks I’d activated. By “urban,” I mean a park that’s located in the city, on the smaller side, and fairly busy with activities and locals who live nearby.

As I posted a couple of days ago, I’m learning to become a better, more adaptive, urban park activator—since I usually activate large state, provincial, and national parks where I have all the space I need to play radio.

Having visited this park several times over the past few years, I already had a good idea of where I’d like to activate and how I’d like to do it.

New Field Gear!

As I mentioned earlier this week, my buddy Mike (KE8PTX) has been hard at work in his top-secret, underground laboratory developing accessories for the Elecraft KH1 and AX3 antenna. I knew this activation would give me a chance to test two of them.

The first is a new kneeboard designed specifically for the KH1. It’s super simple, lightweight, compact—and I love it.

It also includes a steel base that can magnetically lock your key in place.

The board secures the KH1 and paddle, and the adjustable elastic strap keeps the board firmly on your leg. It’s so secure, you can easily stand up and reposition without anything sliding off. That’s a big deal—because during longer activations, I tend to shift positions or stretch. This kneeboard lets me do that without worrying about my rig.

Some of you might be thinking, “But isn’t the KH1 meant to be a pedestrian mobile radio? Why not operate handheld?”

That’s a great point! Pedestrian mobile is absolutely the way to go if you’re using the included 4’ telescoping whip antenna. But if you want to use a different antenna—like the AX3 or a wire antenna—I prefer to sit and operate, since those options limit mobility.

AX3 Strap Mount

Speaking of the AX3, I planned to pair it with the KH1 for this activation—and I had a new secret weapon: a strap mount Mike designed.

It’s a brilliantly simple mount based on the ¼-20 threaded base on the AX3. Just a threaded adapter attached to a Velcro strap. That’s it.

So super simple.

Since the AX3 is so lightweight, this strap mount opens up a variety of mounting possibilities. For this activation, I planned to use it on a park bench.

At time of posting, Mike’s accessories aren’t yet available for purchase. Joshua (N5FY) at Tufteln will produce these for purchase in the coming weeks. When he does, I’ll announce it on QRPer.com.

Setting Up

I found a nice, albeit conspicuous, park bench next to the creek that runs through the middle of the park.

First, I mounted the AX3 to the top slat of the bench’s backrest. It worked brilliantly.

 

My daughter made a short video panning across the park–can you spot me?

From a distance, you can’t tell that the guy in the Tilley hat near the footbridge is a Morse Code and POTA nut!

Time to hit the airwaves!

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On The Air

I suspected this would be a challenging activation—and I was right. Propagation had been in the dumps, and several friends had mentioned struggling with their activations that same day.

Normally, this isn’t when I’d choose to use a compromised antenna, but in this case:

  1. I wanted to keep the setup very low-impact and respectful of other park guests, and
  2. I was eager to test Mike’s new accessories!

After tweaking the antenna position to accommodate the cable length from the AX3 package, I started calling CQ POTA. Continue reading New Kneeboard and AX3 Mount: Park Bench Portable POTA at Domaine de Maizerets in Québec City →

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Adaptive Urban Park Activating (AUPA): A New Personal Challenge

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When we plotted our trip to Canada this year, I mentally set a goal for myself: to get better at Adaptive Urban Park Activating (AUPA).

Yeah, I just made that initiative up. Don’t laugh (too hard).

Let me explain…

Back home in North Carolina—and really, most of the parks I travel to in the eastern half of the U.S.—are large state and national parks. When I set up my field radio gear, I typically have a vast area with many choice sites to choose from. It’s easy to disappear into the void, and park staff have no issue with the antennas I deploy.

That said, I also activate quite a few small state historic sites, but in each case, I know the park staff and they know me. I always ask for permission before activating and describe the antenna I plan to deploy. We’ve built relationships over time, and they allow me to activate with essentially no restrictions. I can deploy wire antennas, verticals, loops—whatever I choose.

But the truth is, I have two conflicting interests when I’m in a park.

First, I enjoy being a public and (hopefully) positive impression of the amateur radio community when I’m approached by park guests and staff. POTA gives me an excuse to talk about the importance—and fun—of amateur radio. Since Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina, I’ve seen even more interest from locals who stop to ask what I’m doing because they heard that amateur radio played an important role in emergency communications during the aftermath.

That said, in general, I try to be as low-impact and inconspicuous as possible when operating in public spaces. I don’t want my antennas to be trip hazards or interfere with others’ enjoyment of the park. And if I’m being honest, I’m naturally introverted—I like to disappear and be left alone.

The balance I try to strike is deploying gear in a way that doesn’t interfere with others, while also not worrying too much if someone notices my setup. If I’m not bothering anyone but I’m visible enough to serve as a sort of radio ambassador, that’s the best of both worlds, right?

Right!

Adaptive Urban Park Activating

Which brings us back to this philosophy I made up five minutes ago…

When I packed for our trip to Canada, I knew most of the parks I’d be activating in and around Québec City would either be urban parks or national wildlife refuges. In both cases, I aim for field setups that are low-impact, sensitive to surroundings, and unlikely to attract negative attention.

I also had to pack compact and light—we maxed out our Subaru for this multi-week trip. So I brought my usual assortment of wire antennas (end-fed half-waves and random wires) and my self-supporting, low-impact verticals: the Elecraft AX1 and the new AX3.

If you watched my recent field radio pack video, you’ll have an idea of my core setup.

I left behind the Chelegance MC-750, the Radioddity HF-009, and the Chameleon MPAS Lite self-supporting verticals.

The POTA20 mast

I did bring my POTA20 Explorer carbon fiber pole, which easily fits in my backpack. While the POTA20 Explorer mast is pretty conspicuous when deployed—no way around that, especially if I’m not backed up against a wooded area—I paired it with very short 4:1 and 9:1 EFRW antennas that are super easy to deploy, giving me a stealthier self-supporting vertical option.

In a sense, I chose my lightest, stealthiest antenna options.

When I feel comfortable hanging a wire in an urban park, I do it in a low-impact way: keeping the wire, throw line, and counterpoise all within view and away from high-traffic areas. I keep the footprint as small as possible.

The Propagation Factor

Of course, all of this depends on propagation…

In these urban activations, I’ve placed more emphasis on compromised antennas—either my 4-foot AX1 and AX3 verticals or 17-foot end-feds. And I knew before leaving that propagation’s been spotty these past few weeks (months?). I expected I’d need more time to activate parks with these setups.

Indeed, the first park I activated in Canada was Fort Wellington National Historic Site (here’s a link to the field report). That day, a festival brought a lot of foot traffic to the park, so I went very low-impact—not just out of respect for the historic site, but also the crowds.

I set up my KX2 and AX1, unsure if I’d manage to activate at all. Fortunately, I did.

Over the next few weeks, you’ll see a common thread in my Canadian field reports: stealth and the challenge of becoming a better, more adaptive urban activator. It’s been great practice.

A Few New Tools

I’ve also added some new tools to my kit.

My friend and mad-scientist 3D-print designer, Mike (KE8PTX), made clamp and strap mounts for the new Elecraft AX3 vertical in addition to a new KH1 knee board.

These have made it ridiculously easy to deploy that antenna pretty much anywhere. So far, I’ve mounted it to a park bench (you’ll see this in an upcoming field report) and clamped it to a picnic table in gusty winds.

In many of the Québec City parks I’ve activated, I rarely see staff—there’s no one to ask for permission. So if I’m using an AX1 or AX3 on a table, I feel like I’m having less impact than the average family picnic. If a park employee were to approach me, I’d like to think there’d be no grounds for complaint.

CW + Earphones = Super Stealthy

I’ve also been using earphones a lot more than usual. I actually enjoy using earphones for activations, but I typically rely on my speaker instead because, frankly, it makes for quicker and easier activation video setups.

But when you’re doing a CW activation with earphones, you’re super stealthy—no sound, no fuss. This is one major benefit of CW over voice modes: we can send without speaking out loud.

For this reason, I’ve been recording my audio directly from the radio for activation videos when I’m in an urban park setting.

To be clear, I actually think the sound of CW can be pleasant and even intriguing to many people. But I can’t assume everyone feels the same way—especially in urban parks, where visitors are often trying to escape noise. A quiet, discreet setup just feels more respectful in that context.

What About You?

The KH1 in Pedestrian Mobile mode is a very low-impact way to do urban POTA.

Do you activate urban parks or low-profile sites where you aim to remain low-impact? What’s your default setup?

I’d love to hear how you approach this—especially if you’re working with limited space, increased visibility, or extra constraints.

You’ll see more on this topic in my upcoming videos.

72,

Thomas (VY2SW / K4SWL)

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

POTA QRP: A Mid-Week Reset with the FT-818 and Spooltenna!

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by Thomas (K4SWL)

On Wednesday, May 21, 2025, I had another opportunity to squeeze in a POTA activation during a late morning drive back to the mountains after visiting my father, who was in the hospital at the time.

Once again, I chose one of my favorite POTA sites that I don’t get to visit nearly enough these days: Tuttle Educational State Forest.

Tuttle Educational State Forest (US-4861)

The weather that Wednesday was nearly perfect, and I was really looking forward to getting on the air.

One advantage of early-to-late morning activations this time of year is avoiding those unpredictable afternoon pop-up thunderstorms that are so common and can chase one off the air.

I picked out a shady picnic table beneath a canopy of trees, hoping it would provide a few good options for hanging a sloper.

Spooltenna Time!

As I mention in the activation video, I was an early beta tester of the Spooltenna. Just before Hamvention, Rob (KO4HUI) sent me a final production version so mine would match what’s now shipping. This was the first time I’d deployed the production model in a sloper configuration.

Full disclosure: I didn’t pay for this antenna, as I volunteered as a beta tester. Rob and his wife Christi also invited QRPer to join the affiliate program, so QRPer earns a small percentage of any sale made through our link.

When I surveyed the trees around my site, I realized I didn’t immediately see a branch directly over my operating position. That’s really what a sloper needs—especially with this antenna—because the feed point is elevated and a bit heavier than something like the far end of an EFHW radiator. I also wanted to maximize height using my 25′ cable assembly, which meant a more vertical hang would be best.

Eventually, I spotted the perfect branch. It took a couple tosses with the throw line–my window to hit it was narrow–but that’s part of the fun!

Slopers have great performance characteristics, so it was worth the (wee bit of) extra effort. And to be fair, if I deployed slopers more often, I’d probably be a lot better at it!

With the Spooltenna deployed, I simply set up my Yaesu FT-818 and I quickly checked the SWR on 20 meters where I planned to start the activation. Turns out, it was a near perfect match! Woo hoo!

Time to get this activation started!

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I started calling CQ POTA and was pleasantly surprised: 20 meters had some life! Continue reading POTA QRP: A Mid-Week Reset with the FT-818 and Spooltenna! →

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Putting the New Radioddity HF-009 Portable Vertical Antenna on the Air — QRP Style!

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by Thomas (K4SWL)

The day before I left on my week-long FDIM/Hamvention trip, I received a package in the mail from Radioddity containing their soon-to-be-released HF-009 vertical antenna.

In the spirit of full disclosure: Radioddity is not only a sponsor of QRPer, but we’re also an affiliate—meaning that if you purchase items via our affiliate link, we receive a small percentage of the sale, and you get a small discount. Radioddity sent this antenna to me free of charge. I don’t know yet if they want it back after I evaluate it, but let’s assume (for future transparency) that they don’t.

My Bias

When I evaluate gear, I like to take you along for the ride—and that means actually using the gear in the field.

It took me a few weeks to get around to evaluating the HF-009. Not only was I swamped post-Hamvention, but honestly, a part of me wasn’t looking forward to tinkering with this antenna.

The HF-009 is a multi-band vertical that uses a slide‑and‑tap center coil system. I know many operators who love sliding-coil verticals, but I’m just not one of them.

Early on in my POTA days, based on reader recommendations, I purchased the venerable Wolf River Coils vertical antenna. It uses a sliding coil system—like the HF-009—though its coil is located at the base of the antenna.

I immediately saw why these antennas are so popular: they deliver multi-band performance without needing an ATU, and they’re surprisingly effective. I had some fantastic activations with my WRC TIA.

My Wolf River Coils “TIA” vertical antenna on Mount Mitchell

But I eventually sold the TIA after discovering the Chelegance MC-750, which I found much easier to deploy and use.

Sliding coil antennas can be a pain to tune. Most friends who use them also carry an antenna analyzer to help dial in the best SWR before hitting the airwaves. While I eventually learned the “sweet spots” on the WRC coil, I often had to tweak it—especially on lower bands like 30, 40, and 80 meters. The more coil you use, the higher the Q—and the narrower the bandwidth.

Personally, I prefer antennas I can just set and forget (like the MC-750), or those that are non-resonant and rely on an ATU for matching (like the Chameleon MPAS Lite).

To be clear, this is just my preference. Center- and base-loaded coil verticals are very popular for good reason: they work. The more you use them, the easier they get. They’re just not my default go-to.

Getting Started

Normally, I film the “discovery” phase of a new antenna or radio in the field—experiencing the full unboxing and set-up for the first time on video, in real time.

But with the HF-009, I wasn’t comfortable doing that. Given my previous experience and bias, I decided to first test the antenna at the QTH, identify good match points for 40, 30, 20, and 17 meters, and then take it to the field.

I set up the HF-009 at home, grabbed my RigExpert analyzer, and spent about 15 minutes finding match points on the coil. Honestly? It wasn’t as tedious as I’d expected.

Because the coil is mounted at a comfortable height—not at the base like the WRC—adjustments were easier. The coil itself is smooth to adjust; I suspect it uses a finer gauge wire than the WRC, which has a clickier feel. The HF-009 is much more fluid.

To remember the coil positions, I took photos of the slider settings and saved them in the Notes app on my iPhone for quick field reference. That turned out to be a very good idea.

Very First Impressions

Before I get ahead of myself, here are a few things I immediately liked about the HF-009:

  • It comes with everything you need, including a coax cable and an SO-239 to BNC adapter.
  • The included carrying case is well-organized and feels solid.
  • When broken down, it’s compact and easy to pack, with shorter segment sections that fit nicely into a backpack.
  • The slider mechanism is smooth, responsive, and placed at a comfortable height.
  • The loading coil is sealed—unlike my WRC vertical, whose exposed coil was affected by moisture.
  • Overall, build quality feels excellent.

On The Air: Blue Ridge Parkway (US-3378)

Of course, the best way to put the HF-009 through its paces was to take it to a park and put it on the air.

On Monday, June 9, 2025, I dropped my daughter off at a class and had well over an hour to play radio, so the HF-009 came with me to the Folk Art Center picnic area on the Blue Ridge Parkway!

Since I’d set up the HF-009 once before, it came together very quickly. In fact, I think it’s right there with the MC-750 in deployment time, which is very much a good thing.

I decided to pair the HF-009 with my Penntek TR-45L Skinny. Why? To be honest, I didn’t fully trust the SWR to be acceptable using only the photos I’d taken for the coil slider placement. The TR-45L has a beautiful analog SWR meter, which I find much easier to read in situations where I might need to fine-tune an antenna.

I also packed my RigExpert analyzer because it allows me to make adjustments as I read the SWR.

Turns out, though? It wasn’t an issue at all. During the activation (spoiler alert), I moved from band to band and—solely based on the photos I took of the slider switch position—the SWR was spot-on each time!

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I positioned the slider switch to the 20-meter position I had noted using this photo from back home.

My 20 meter setting photo

When I checked the SWR on the TR-45L’s analog meter, it was nearly perfect. I was surprised.

I then hopped on 20 meters and started calling CQ POTA. Continue reading Putting the New Radioddity HF-009 Portable Vertical Antenna on the Air — QRP Style! →

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Build a Linked End-Fed Half-Wave Antenna with Bluetooth-Remote Band Switching!

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A Remote Control Antenna Link

by Dave (KO4YLZ)

Like so many other SOTA activators, I’m constantly tweaking my gear to optimize it for all the variables we encounter in the mountains. One of my main antennas is, of course, an EFHW. Paired with my KX2, I generally get sub-1.6:1 SWR on 40, 20, 15, and 10. However, 30m has an unacceptably high SWR. I considered switching to a multi-link EFHW, but hopping up to change links to chase an inadvertent S2S on another band is inconvenient, especially when the link for low bands is generally well beyond my reach and requires lowering the antenna.

To fully optimize my EFHW I decided I needed to come up with a way to add a “remote” link for 30m. After a couple of design iterations, I came up with the light-weight and compact remote antenna link shown/described below. The version described here is not my final one. While this “pill bottle” version is still quite small, I’d like to reduce the size even further.

Let’s start with the end…

Here’s the final product. It weighs under 1 oz. and is ~2.5” long. I have included a complete parts list at the end of the article.

My design considerations were:

  • Small and light
  • Range of at least 75 ft.
  • Reasonable battery life
  • Waterproof
  • Durable
  • Able to withstand the current at the 30m position on the antenna
  • Doesn’t adversely impact antenna performance on other bands
  • Easy to connect and disconnect from the antenna

Executive Summary

For those in a hurry, here’s a summary description of the remote antenna link. It consists of a very, very small remote control Bluetooth relay powered by two CR2032 batteries (user supplied). A set of contacts (either normally open or closed) lead from the relay to male and female 2mm bullet banana connectors in the cap of the pill bottle. Two matching bullet banana connectors at the antenna plug into the remote control link.

To operate, you simply open the bottle, switch on the batteries, re-install the cap, extend the antenna, and plug the bullet banana connectors at the antenna into the opposite pair embedded in the cap of the pill bottle. When you are ready to operate, you just push the remote button. When the remote button is pushed, the relay opens or closes thereby making or breaking the link and physically shortening or lengthening the antenna. Below is a picture of both sides of the mini-relay (antenna wire not shown)

The relay can run on 3.5-12 volts and can handle 1A. The included 1-button transmitter sends a signal (455mHz) to the relay and either opens or closes a set of contacts depending on how the user programs the relay.

Wiring It Up

I won’t bore you with a detailed written explanation…it’s a pretty simple build. Below are a simple wiring diagram and a series of photos with build details [click images to enlarge].

Making It work

The relay has three operating modes: latched, momentary, and toggle. Because I wanted the 30m link to be normally connected when the relay is in standby waiting for a signal from the remote control and open and stay open when I pressed the remote button, I had to reprogram the relay. Programming is accomplished by turning the unit on, then putting a 22ga wire jumper between the two “programming dots” and then pressing the remote button until the LED on the relay board flashes the number of times specified in the instructions for the operating mode you want.  The instructions are not very clear, so I recommend connecting the unit to your VOM in continuity mode to figure out the button/LED flashing sequence that corresponds to how you want the relay to behave.

Testing

The unit is rated for 1A so, to be sure I wasn’t going to blow it up when I transmitted with 10 watts, I used ChatGPT to produce a very nice graph showing the current at the 30m position on the antenna for each band when transmitting with 10W. Here’s the graph. Luckily, the maximum current at the 30m position (~43’) is .6A at 7.062 MHz.

I tested the unit on my KX2 by setting my operating frequency and then putting the KX2 tuner in bypass mode and pressing the button on the remote control; Ding…the SWR jumped immediately to the expected pre-determined (and acceptable) SWR value for the 30m band!

The unit draws 7mA when in standby and 32mA when the relay is energized. Assuming 40 minutes of operating off of the 30m band (relay not energized) and 20 minutes on the 30m band (relay energized), I calculated that approximately 17mA would be drawn from the two CR2032 batteries. Given that a CR2032 battery has a capacity of 220mAh, they should provide about 12 hours of operation.

Any questions, please comment.
Dave – KO4YLZ

Parts List

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From Box to POTA: First Activation with the New Elecraft AX3!

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by Thomas (K4SWL)

If you’ve been a QRPer.com reader or subscriber to my YouTube channel for long, you’ll know I’m quite the fan of super-compact, low-profile antennas like the Elecraft AX1 and AX2.

In fact, I just checked, and my Elecraft AX1 activation video playlist alone includes 36 videos as of this post.

Although AX antennas are certainly a compromise in terms of performance, I find them surprisingly effective for on-the-air programs like SOTA, POTA, and WWFF. While they’re not high-gain, they’re also far from the “dummy load” some make them out to be. In fact, the best DX I’ve ever worked in the field was with my Elecraft AX2 and just 5 watts of power—check out the field report.

The New AX3

A couple of weeks ago, Wayne Burdick of Elecraft announced the new Elecraft AX3 portable antenna, the latest addition to the AX line.

Unlike the AX1 and AX2—which attach directly to the radio—the AX3 is fully self-supporting, thanks to its detachable tripod legs and 1/4-20 base mount. This adds next-level mounting versatility, making it ideal for tabletop or ground deployment. (Check out how Conrad so easily mounted it to two different tripod options in his recent field report.)

It covers 30 through 10 meters and uses a 4-position band selector plug, which I personally find more rugged than the AX1’s band switch. Like its siblings, the AX3 is designed to pair with an ATU, but unlike the AX1/AX2, it doesn’t need to physically mount to the transceiver—so it’s compatible with virtually any rig and tuner combo. The AX3 also supports up to 30 watts.

Despite the added versatility, the AX3 still packs incredibly small: the whip, base, and tripod legs collapse to just 6 inches, yet the whip extends to 45 inches in the field. The side-mounted BNC connector avoids awkward cable bends or adapters.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m in the testing group for the Elecraft KH1 and, as such, I was aware the new AX3 was on the horizon, but I had not yet tested it in the field until I ordered one and it was delivered on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.

From Unboxing to Activation

Since Hurricane Helene wiped out our local post office, my buddy Vlado (N3CZ) has kindly allowed me to have parcels delivered to his house. When he told me that “a small box” had arrived from Elecraft, I knew exactly what it was.

I had an errand in town that afternoon, so I swung by Vlado’s, picked up the package, and then stopped at the Blue Ridge Parkway Folk Art Center to perform the AX3’s debut activation.

Of course, I packed my Elecraft KX2, thinking it would only be right to pair the AX3 with an Elecraft radio for its first outing!

In my activation video (below), you’ll see that assembling the AX3 was incredibly simple right out of the box. I ordered the full AX3 package, which includes the antenna, mini banana plug, counterpoise wire, tripod legs, BNC-to-BNC cable assembly, and a small nylon storage bag.

I attached the tripod legs, screwed on the whip antenna, clipped the counterpoise to the ground lug, and connected the BNC cable. In less than a minute, the antenna was fully deployed and ready to go!

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The first thing I did was make sure the band plug was set to 14 MHz, then pressed the ATU button to find a match on 20 meters. Continue reading From Box to POTA: First Activation with the New Elecraft AX3! →

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Conrad Tests the Elecraft AX3 at Silver Sands State Park

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Elecraft AX3 Field Report

By: Conrad Trautmann (N2YCH)

My new Elecraft AX3 antenna arrived in the mail. The weather when it arrived was 73° F and sunny with a slight breeze. Space weather was calm.  It seemed like the perfect recipe for a POTA expedition to the unofficial antenna testing range at Silver Sands State Park (US-1716) here in Connecticut on the Northern shoreline of Long Island Sound to try out the AX3. Given that this antenna is specifically designed to be light and portable, I chose my Elecraft KX2 to pair it with, which is also light and portable.

Conrad, N2YCH testing the new Elecraft AX3 at Silver Sands State Park, Connecticut

The AX3 operates on six bands. Out of the box, it can do 30,20,17,15,12 and 10 meters. With the optional AXE1 adapter, you can add 40 meters as well. Elecraft says an ATU is required, which I have built into my KX2. I tested using FT8 on 30/20/17 & 15 meters, the four positions labeled on the front “jumper block.” Using FT8, I was able to use the PSKreporter.info website to get a sense of where my signals were being received. This antenna is capable of handling 30 watts, which is amazing for its size. I ran 10 watts from the KX2.

Unlike the AX1, which needs something to hold it in place such as a tripod or the optional bipod, the AX3 comes with three legs to turn the base into a tripod.

AX3 integrated Tripod

At the park, I tried using the legs which lasted all of 30 seconds before the Long Island Sound breeze blew it right over on its side. Anticipating that it might be too breezy down at the shoreline, I brought a slightly heavier tripod along. The good news is that the bottom of the antenna is tapped with a ¼-20 hole to connect to any standard camera tripod. The heavier tripod did the trick.

Elecraft KX2 with new AX3 antenna

I used a three foot piece of coax as recommended and I had no problem with RFI into the radio or the computer. The KX2 was able to tune to 1.0:1 SWR on all bands except for 17 meters, which was right around 2.0:1. I should note that I had the 13’ counterpoise laying on the ground for this test.

KX2 1.0:1 SWR on 20 meters

I began on 20 meters and in 20 minutes, I had the 10 QSO’s needed to activate the park.

Map showing spots on 20 meters.

Next I QSY’d up to 17 meters.

PSKreporter.info spots on 17 meters

Here, I had plenty of spots, yet I struggled to get two in the log before I gave up and QSY’d to 15 meters. Changing frequency is as simple as pulling the jumper block out and moving the arrow to the correct frequency.

Jumper Block used to change bands

Thankfully, 15 was open and my first QSO was with a station in Ukraine and my second was in California.

QSO Map – Dark Blue are 20 meter contacts, Light Blue are 15 meters and Purple are 17 meters
Completing a QSO with the Ukraine on 15 meters

I made contacts on 20, 17 and 15 meters. Could I manage something on 30? I tried but to no avail. I was spotted by stations on PSKreporter, but after calling for some time, I figured that midday in Connecticut was just not the best time for that band. Before I packed up for the day, I went back to 17 meters which was definitely better than earlier and I logged three more for a total of five on the band.

PSKReporter spots on 15 meters using the AX3 antenna

I took the opportunity to go back to Silver Sands a few days later to try the antenna on 12 and 10 meters, which I did not do on the first trip out. I also wanted to see how elevating the counterpoise might affect the performance. It was downright windy, so I brought along a camera tripod this time to provide more stability. Obviously, the extra weight carrying a full size tripod wouldn’t be ideal for a SOTA activation, but for my test, I brought it along.

AX3 on camera tripod

The high band propagation was miserable when I went out, I was wondering if I’d be able to make any contacts at all. I was pleased to see that elevating the counterpoise allowed 17 meters to easily match to the antenna with a 1.0:1 SWR. I then tried 15, 12 and 10 meters which also tuned right up and I made contacts on all bands.  10 and 12 meters were open to my south. I made QSO’s with Belize, Mexico, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

QSO Map Day 2 – Purple is 17m, Light Blue is 15m, Pink is 12m and Yellow is 10m (click image to enlarge)
AX3 on camera tripod with elevated counterpoise

The AX3 did not disappoint.

Making QSO’s from California to the Ukraine and down into South America while sitting at a picnic table in a park in Connecticut with just 10 watts using such a small antenna is simply amazing to me. I like the AX1, which I used primarily on 20 meters. Having the multi-band flexibility of the AX3 is very nice, especially now that the upper bands are active, and it provides more flexibility for operating portable and being able to change bands on the spot to adapt to the ever changing band conditions.

Click here to check out the AX3 product page.

Antennas, Field Reports, Guest Posts, Homebrew, How To, Portable, POTA, QRP, SOTA

Experimenting My Way to the POTA Kilo Award

8 Comments

by Thomas (DM1TBE)

Some time before Easter I noticed that I am close to 1000 QSOs at my favourite place at the “Kalte Feld”, a POTA and SOTA activation zone and would soon qualify for the POTA Kilo Award. I like the Kalte Feld for the quiet, spacious area with a hut that is vending traditional basic food and beverages – which in Germany usually means good beer and different sausage types (and other stuff – to be fair). I already wrote some articles about the history of the area and my activations.

The conditions at the activation zone are quite good. I have made 2 activations there with more than 100 QSOs (and many smaller), so I thought it should not be too difficult to complete the required QSOs in one day.

DAY 1

The weather for the Easter weekend was expected to be one of the first warm and sunny days this year. So, on Easter Sunday, I headed to the area to get the last missing 49 QSOs for my POTA Kilo Award. Easter hiking has a centuries long history in Germany. This and the nice weather made the area quite crowded. The close airfield for gliders was busy and the whole time while operating there they were in the air above.

The barbecue places and outdoor seating around the mountain hut were busy but happily the bench some meters away that I am normally using, was still available.

I wanted to start with an end-fed half-wave antenna for the 20m band, tied to a 10 meter (33 ft) fiberglass mast. This is a very easy and quick to deploy antenna and I like it, especially if there is not too much space for antennas with a larger footprint. Since it’s a straight vertical, it also has a higher chance for DX contacts – when the conditions allow that. The antenna is Open Hardware and you can find further details on GitHub.

The mast was tied to the bench and the antenna was raised. Besides the comfort, the possibility to tie a mast to it is the second reason why I am always looking for benches.

The conditions were far from being perfect, and it took me 40 minutes to get 18 CW QSOs on the 20-meter band. Switching to SSB wasn’t a big help either, and I soon gave up with only 3 additional SSB QSOs in the log.

I had brought another antenna with me that I wanted to try. The 10 meter (33 Ft) fiberglass mast also has the perfect height for a ¼ wave vertical on the 40-meter band. So I cut 5 wires to a length of about 10 meters (33 ft) and connected 4 of them together at one end with a cable lug and attached another cable lug to the vertical element.

I then used the basis of the JPC-7 antenna for the coax plug and for connecting the vertical element and the radials. There are a lot of articles and videos about ¼ wave vertical antennas. But the information is usually about either elevated and resonant radials or random length ground radials. I wanted to have resonant radials, but I could not be bothered with carrying all the stuff nearly 2 miles to a summit for elevating 4 x 10m (33 ft) wires, so I simply left them on the ground.

My idea was to try a full size vertical for the 40 meters band with resonant radials that still is portable and fits to my existing equipment.

The SWR was quite nice being close to 1.0 : 1 at the CW portion of the band, so I started operating.

The conditions were similarly difficult as on the 20-meter band. It took me 25 minutes for another 18 QSOs.

As it became increasingly cloudy, I checked on my mobile and saw that rain was approaching fast. Since I had roughly 2km or 1.5 miles descent ahead of me, I stopped abruptly with just 10 QSOs short of the POTA Kilo Award.

A bit disappointed, I called it a day.

DAY 2

I could not leave the missing 10 QSOs for long. The very next day, Easter Monday, was a public holiday in Germany. And as the weather started nice, I again made my way to the activation zone. Continue reading Experimenting My Way to the POTA Kilo Award →

Antennas, Field Reports, FT8, Guest Posts, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Reviews

Field Report: N2YCH’s POTA Activation with a Magnetic Loop Antenna

17 Comments

By Conrad Trautmann (N2YCH)

I tried using an Alpha Antenna 100w 10-40m mag-loop antenna for a POTA activation. I operated on FT8 so I could monitor where my signal was being received by using the PSKreporter.info real-time signal reports from stations that spotted my transmission. I really didn’t know what to expect or how a loop antenna would perform in the park compared to a vertical or wire antenna. Did it work? You bet. Would I recommend it? I’ll share my observations and results below and let you know at the end.

I bought this antenna used on QRZ.com’s swapmeet. It was clear to me upon receiving it that the prior owner had taken very good care of the antenna. I set it up on my patio for a quick test before heading to a park.

Mag Loop Test from the N2YCH QTH

It sets up quickly. The tuning is a little challenging to learn at first but there’s no doubt when you get it right, since the received signal is easy to peak once you find resonance. The tuning knob has three turns from 40m up to 10m. Moving it slowly from the bottom of the HF band up to the top, you’ll find the sweet spot and you can peak the received signal on your radio’s S-meter. I checked it with my RigExpert antenna analyzer and as you’d expect, the bandwidth was very narrow, but it was resonant and the SWR was 1.4:1.

The Alpha mag loop can do 100 watts SSB but only 5 watts on digital modes. I fired up my KX3, set it for 5 watts and called CQ. I made three quick contacts and was satisfied that the antenna was working. I checked the spots on pskreporter,info and found it interesting to see a narrow band of stations from Minnesota and Wisconsin down to Florida spotting me.

Pskreporter.info map of spots from Mag Loop

On to the park: Indian Well, US-1684 in Shelton, Connecticut

Knowing that the antenna was working, I brought it out to one of my favorite places to activate, Indian Well State Park (US-1684). Again, set up was fast and I was able to tune up on 20 meters pretty easily.

Alpha Magnetic Loop Antenna at Indian Well State Park in Connecticut

The antenna was receiving the FT8 signals at S-9 with the KX3’s pre-amp off and you can see below that I was decoding nearly 50 stations per FT8 cycle. If you look closely at the JTAlert screenshot below, you can see I was receiving stations from all over the US as well as Canada, South America and Europe. There’s no doubt the mag-loop can hear very well.

Forty-seven stations are being received and decoded. POTA stations in the bottom right pane

I called CQ and had a few responses right away. However, I was finding it challenging to get stations to reply. It took almost an hour for me to get my 10 contacts to activate the park, which is unusual. I should mention that the space weather was acceptable, sitting just below Kp3, so that wasn’t the reason.

Once again, I checked Pskreporter.info. Interestingly, it had the same pattern of spots that I saw when testing the antenna at home, a band from Minnesota to Georgia. Of the first 10 contacts I made, four were in North Carolina, two in Florida and the rest were coming from within that narrow band who could hear me.

Spots from US-1684 using the Mag Loop

I understand that a mag loop is directional, so I tried moving it 90 degrees to see if it made a difference. Not really. The spot map looked the same after the change in direction. I was able to receive a few more EU stations after I moved it. I did have to re-tune the antenna after I turned it, the SWR had gone through the roof.

For comparison, after struggling to make contacts on the loop, I decided to set up my “go-to” antenna of a 17’ telescoping whip on a 10’ mast with a counterpoise.

Buddipole with 17’ telescoping whip and elevated counterpoise

I unplugged the mag loop and plugged in the vertical using the same transceiver set at 5 watts. Take a look at the stations who could spot me on PSKreporter now…

PSKReporter Spots with vertical antenna on 20m QRP

Clearly, that same 5 watts from the KX3 had better coverage on the vertical than using the mag loop.

Here’s a screenshot of WSJT-X on the vertical (click image to enlarge):

WSJT-X and JTAlert reception using 17’ vertical with counterpoise

Once I switched to the vertical, I knocked out 10 more contacts in just 20 minutes.

So, after all that, what do I think?

The Mag Loop sets up quickly, uses very little space and finding resonance isn’t difficult to do. It receives very well, of course this is one of the true advantages of mag loops, is their inherent ability to receive well in noisy environments.

As an antenna to use for transmission? Well, I think this is where the challenge lies, for me anyway. It was certainly hearing stations way down in the noise from far away. However, as you can see by my real-time reception reports, it did not give me the wide transmission coverage that I’m used to with the vertical. Maybe this would be different on SSB with 100 watts, but it’s a difficult to measure SSB reception like you can with digital.

Can you activate a park with it?  Yes, indeed. Would it be my first choice for POTA? Probably not. If you were using this on SSB, the antenna itself (not the radio) would need to be re-tuned for every frequency change (if you were hunting), which is not convenient. If you are the activator, then you could tune up for the frequency you selected and it would be good to go.

My next test with this antenna is to try tuning it to a WSPR frequency and comparing spots it receives to my other antennas. I suspect this it where it will shine.

Stay tuned!

Antennas, New Products, News, QRP

New Antenna: Elecraft announces the AX3 compact vertical antenna

7 Comments

Check out the following announcement posted to the QRP-L discussion group by Wayne (N6KR) at Elecraft:

We’re pleased to announce the AX3 whip antenna.

This highly integrated antenna covers six HF bands, handles up to 30 W, and has many features to facilitate quick-deployment POTA/SOTA and general QRP field operation:

    • Coverage of 30/20/17/15/12/10 meters (+ 40 meters with AXE1 adapter)
    • Right-angle BNC connector for direct coax attachment
    • Unique low-loss, plug-in contact block simplifies band switching
    • Built-in tabletop tripod
    • Housing, whip and removable tripod legs quickly disassemble into 6″ (15 cm) pieces
    • 1/4-20 threaded mount in base for use with taller tripods and hiking poles
    • Two counterpoise attachment points (mini-banana jack and binding post)
    • Supplied with waterproof nylon bag and counterpoise wire

Please click on the link below for details:

https://elecraft.com/collections/antennas/products/ax3_ax3-30-10-meter-whip-antenna

Note that the link name incorrectly refers to the AX1. We were in a hurry 🙂 This will be corrected tomorrow.

We’ll have a few dozen of these at the DX convention in Visalia, California tomorrow. If you’re at the show, please drop by for a demo.

73,
Wayne
N6KR

Those who own radios like the Xiegu G90 will appreciate the 30 watt power handling of the AX3.

Of course, regulars here will know I’m a big fan of the Elecraft AX1 and AX2 antennas, so I will certainly test the AX3 as well!