After a rainy and windy Friday, the weather was expected to improve a bit the next day. The temperature was still forecasted with around 0 °C / 32 °F, but no rain was expected. So, my friend Jochen (DG1PSI) and I thought we could operate outside. We have chosen a summit called Bernhardus. The summit is next to “Kaltes Feld” on the opposite side of the valley, where I was a some days before. With an 1.2 km / 0.75 mi trail and an ascent of 124 m / 440 ft, it is not the hardest summit around.
We had an appointment for 10 o’clock. The parking lot was still empty at the time, but the weather seemed a bit more difficult than expected. We have asked some other members of our local ham radio club if they want to join us. But surprisingly, no one wanted to get up early on a Saturday morning, hike and operate a radio in freezing temperatures.
As mentioned, the summit was near “Kaltes Feld”, on the opposite side of the valley. You can see the SOTA activation zone of “Kaltes Feld” on the left, the glider airfield in the middle and some miles in the background another SOTA summit called “Stuifen”.
The peak was easy to reach and invites enjoying the beautiful view.
I wasn’t sure if I should write a report about this activation. It was “average” at best. But I thought it might be worth to share that not all activations are perfect, with stunning views in an enjoyable environment.
Intro
I am a relatively new ham and completed my first exam in mid-2019. It took me a while to get my head around all the things that the new hobby is offering. My first successful portable activation was in May 2021 on the SOTA summit Michelsberg (DM/BW-855) – here is a picture of my most recent activation some weeks ago:
This first activation was in the middle of the Corona pandemic. The good thing during the Corona time was certainly the possibility to work from home. Before Corona, I did commute roughly 65 km / 40 mi (oneway), which took me in total 2–3 hours daily. During the first two years, I was in the office two times. In the third year, I was there more often, maybe once every two months.
Two weeks ago, my employer announced a “return-to-office” policy, so the “sweet life” was coming to an end.
After the first disappointment, I thought that this may offer me the chance to work portable at new locations. The next SOTA summit is around 20 km / 12 mi away, but a POTA park begins 2 km / 1.2 mi from the office at the pin in the map below. The park is basically all the green wood in the center of the map.
That comes in very handy, as POTA, with the possibility to operate next to my car, does make it easier than hiking in suit and tie to a SOTA summit.
The Nature Park Schönbuch, POTA DA-0008, located southwest of Stuttgart, is a wooded area of 156 km² / 38,000 acres. In 1972 in became the first nature park of the federal State of Baden-Wuerttemberg. The park is an important recreational area for the region.
Image by Cactus26 – Wikimedia Commons – CC BY-SA 3.0
Activation
Right at the beginning of the park, when coming from my office, there is a parking place and next to it a clearing with a fireplace. I thought that this would be a perfect spot for my activities. Weather was cold and windy on my first “return to office” day, I did not expect too many people to be there.
After working and reading the article about the 2023 QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo, I decided to leave the office early at around 4pm and started my activation.
The parking place at the park was pretty empty, just one old car with four lads in it and doing whatever lads are doing in the woods. I have a 16-year-old son and have given up trying to understand what boys at that age are doing.
The spot was OK, but not as perfect as I had thought. It was in a trough surrounded by large trees. In addition, it was wet, cold and windy.
Due to the wind, I have decided against the 10 meter / 33 ft pole and used the PAC-12 again.
The actual activation did not go as smoothly as my previous one. It might have been due to the time, and afternoon during the week, or the topographical conditions. With a small foldable seat and a tiny desk made of a trunk and a brick, I operated for 40 minutes.
In total, I made 16 QSOs; 10 on the 30-meter band and 6 QSOs on 20 meters.
Although I made a successful activation of the Nature Park Schoenbuch, DA-0008, I think I need to change my plans. Being in the office and therefore close to this park more often in the future, I will be more picky in terms of weather and location. The park has way more to offer than a wet and cold meadow in the middle of the woods. I will look for better weather and locations, such as the following – I just need to find those places.
Image by Martin Rathgeber – Wikimedia Commons – CC BY 2.5
POTA and I had a very one-side relationship so far.
Roughly a year ago I tried to activate a park, but although I spotted myself, I had not been able to make a single QSO. In April last year, I tried it again, with the same result. Luckily, I was on a SOTA summit and spotting me on SOTA brought me enough QSOs to make it a successful activation for both, POTA and SOTA. So I decided to disregard POTA and my only POTA activity was watching Thomas (K4SWL) nice videos on YouTube.
My bad experience with POTA was probably due to two factors:
I only had an intermediate license previously, which limited me on HF to the 10, 15 and 80 meter bands and
POTA was no as popular in Europe and Germany in particular as it was and is in the US. While SOTA and the Flora & Fauna program already had a very active community in Europe for years, POTA had a hen and egg problem.
However, with the increasing popularity of portable operations, POTA has also gained some traction in Europe. I have the feeling that every time I take a look at the spots on the POTA website, I see more European stations.
Things here in Germany have changed for the better, too. POTA got a German website (parksontheair.de) and a community called “Draussenfunker.de” (“Outdoor ham”) with website + Discord that became very active with those pursuing outdoor activities in general and POTA in particular. Lately, local POTA coordinators have been named, who started to add new parks to the program.
I thought suggesting a recreation area close to my home would be a good idea. A few days later I had the brand new POTA park DA-0410 30 minutes away. The park has a size of 6.3 km² / 1,567 acres and a peak elevation of 780 m / 2559 ft, which is also the SOTA summit Kaltes Feld (DM/BW-659).
My plan was to operate from the clearing on the top plateau, where there is also a mountain hut with restaurant. The 2 km / 1.25 mi trail was not very difficult with an incline of just 105 m / 344ft as the parking area is already at an elevated level.
Although the park extends to the proximity of the parking area at the Hornberg gliding airfield, I wanted to be in the SOTA activation zone due to my bad experiences with POTA activations. The gliding site was founded nearly 100 years ago. After the First World War, the Allies largely banned motor flight sports in Germany, so gliding airfields, such as this one, popped up across Germany. Continue reading Guest Field Report: Germany has a new POTA activator!→
Many thanks to Thomas (DM1TBE) for the following field report:
Shivering with 18 WPM on the ruins of the medieval Hohenstaufen Castle
by Thomas (DM1TBE)
Intro
It had been two weeks since my last field activation and my bad conscience grew, so a friend and I scheduled an activation, even with expected temperatures at -2 °C / 28 °F. The choice fell on the summit Hohenstaufen (DM/BW-102).
The Hohenstaufen is one of the two SOTA summits that I can see from home in Southern Germany and one of the so-called group Drei Kaiserberge – the middle one does not qualify for SOTA, unfortunately.
A Little Bit of History
On top of the summit are still ruins from the medieval Hohenstaufen Castle. The castle was built around 1050 and used until 1525, when it was looted and burned down during the German Peasants’ War. The summit has been populated since at least the 8th century.
The castle (picture from 1470 above), was the seat of the Hohenstaufen dynasty to whom belonged several Kings and three Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, which, at its greatest extent, included the area of Germany, Switzerland and parts of France, Austria, Italy, Czech, Belgium, Netherlands, Slovakia – or easier: almost all of Central Europe.
There is not much left of the castle nowadays, but you can still spot parts of the foundations and walls.
Equipment
Due to the positive experiences during the last two activations, I decided to go with an end-fed half-wave antenna for the 30 meter band along with my Elecraft KX3, a 4Ah LiFePo4 battery, a 10 m / 33 ft fibreglass pole and the BaMaKeY TP-III (a 70 g / 2.5 oz light magnetic paddle). The paddle is too light for me to use, so I usually attach the magnetic base of the paddle to a metallic clamp on a clipboard. Although I studied computer science, I prefer pen and paper for logging. Part of the fun is the guessing of the logged call signs after an activation.
Many thanks to Thomas (DM1TBE / M0KEU) who shares the following SOTA field report he also shared on the excellent SOTA reflector.
How two Scottish SOTA activations encouraged me to upgrade my German license
by Thomas (DM1TBE / M0KEU)
I just wanted to tell someone this story. Not sure if you want to hear it, but I will tell you anyway
During June last year, my boss asked me if I could step in for an ill colleague and visit a business partner in Frankfurt and Edinburgh. As a SOTA activator, I first checked the map and have happily spotted a summit within walking distance of the hotel in Edinburgh.
Unfortunately, there were three issues to solve:
The UK does not accept my German “Klasse E” (CEPT novice/intermediate) license;
operating a radio on the summit requires written permission and
as the duration of the trip was planned with just 2 overnight stays, only hand luggage was possible.
At the Ham Radio in Friedrichshafen, I asked an RSGB representative if it is possible to get a British license as a German. Mark, M1MPA, explained to me how the process worked, so I started the online course provided by GM6DX. It was not too difficult, and I soon passed every mock exam. Roughly, two weeks before the trip, I passed the RSGB operated online exam and got my UK foundation license, so I could operate in Scotland as MM7TBE.
Regarding the issue with the permission to operate on the summit, I first chose to ignore and pretend being a stupid foreign tourist until I was told that it is really enforced, and my activation could be deleted. So, I asked the Ranger Service at Historic Environment Scotland for permission less than two weeks before my activation and received it just one day later with a comment that it is usually expected to ask one month in advance. Many thanks to the Ranger Service, next time I will come earlier – I promise!
The last issue was the size of the equipment.
There is no tree on top of the summit Arthur’s Seat GM/SS-272, and I had very little space left. So I went with a KX3 with an AX1 antenna and a FT2D for 2m FM.
Now the journey could begin.
On the first day, I was at a very high place in Frankfurt but unfortunately, it did not qualify for SOTA. That evening I arrived in Edinburgh.
The next day, late afternoon, the fun could start.
Many thanks to Skip (K4EAK) who shares the following guest post:
The QRPguys DS-1 Portable Antenna Kit
by Skip (K4EAK)
There have been several videos and extended comments lately about the Elecraft AX1 and AX2 antennas, both of which function remarkably well for a small, highly compromised antenna.
For those interested in other, similar designs, especially those hams who find that building the equipment is half the fun, another option to consider is the QRPguys DS-1 antenna.
The DS-1 is similar in concept and design to the AX2. It consists of a base-loading coil, a 46.5-inch collapsible whip, and a plate to attach the antenna to a small tripod. One can also purchase an add-on 40-meter coil. The can be deployed in just a couple minutes and, when collapsed, the longest portion is only 6.5” long, easily fitting in the palm of one’s hand. QRPguys recommends a 16.5′ counterpoise; I use two such wires, usually spread out at a 180-degree angle. I’ve also used it with a clamp-on mount and a car window mount.
Building the antenna is simple and took me less than an hour. After installing a BNC connector into a brass plug and inserting the plug onto a length of PEX tubing, one simply runs the supplied 22AWG wire from inside the tubing, out and around making 22 turns, and then sealing it with a length of heat shrink tubing.
There are really only two aspects of assembly that are slightly more difficult. The first is that it’s necessary to drill and tap two holes for 4-40 screws, which obviously means that (1) one needs a 4-40 tap and (2) one needs to be careful tapping the threads to assure a clean cut. The second is that the heat shrink tubing, at least as supplied in my kit, was grossly oversized, which required some finesse in getting a final product that was at least reasonably aesthetic, to say nothing of accomplishing that without dry roasting my fingertips.
Field testing of the DS-1 shows that it works surprisingly well. The SWR is well below 2.0 across almost all of the 20-meter band and where it is higher than that (the upper end of the voice portion), the KX2 internal tuner can tune it easily. As one would expect, on 40 meters the antenna has a somewhat narrower range, although the KX2 tuner has handled it on all of the frequencies I’ve tested so far (all CW). And it appears to be efficient enough.
I have used it on numerous activations and consistently get to the requisite 10 contacts within 20 minutes or so after getting spotted. After that, the number of contacts depends on the time available, but for those occasions when I have only a 30-minute window for an activation, the antenna is a convenient and practical alternative.
I keep the antenna, the tabletop tripod, and the counterpoise wires in the water bottle pocket of my pack, ready for use whenever I have a few moments for a quick activation.
Many thanks to Conrad (N2YCH) who shares the following field report:
AX1 Test using American Radio Supply AM-801 Window Mount: POTA Activation at Stuart B. McKinney Wildlife Refuge, K-0228
February 19, 2023
By: Conrad Trautmann (N2YCH)
If you’ve been reading the posts here on QRPer.com lately, you probably already know that the Elecraft AX1 has proven to be an excellent antenna for POTA activations for CW, SSB and Digital modes.
Personally, I used it for a New York City POTA rove I did at the end of 2022 and was able to activate four parks in one day all over Manhattan.
Recently, Alan, W2AEW contributed a story to QRPer.com detailing how he used a window bracket he constructed with an AX1 to do a CW park activation from his car. I’ve actually done a few digital activations from the car using the AX1, however, I used the tripod with the Elecraft tripod adapter and ran coax to it out the window and draped the counterpoise down the hood or trunk. This has worked well except for windy days where it would blow over. I was intrigued by the possibility of using the window mount and a number of the commenters to Alan’s post suggested sources for these types of mounts. I ended up ordering an AM-801 from American Radio Supply.
Since the AX1 depends on a counterpoise wire to operate properly, the first thing I did after receiving the AM-801 mount was to drill a hole in the base for a screw and a wing nut. The base is painted black, so I got my continuity meter out to double check that the screw was making a good ground, which it was. I had to bend the mount up slightly for the antenna to be vertical, since my Jeep windows don’t have much of an angle to them. I’m sure it would be just right for most cars.
Many thanks to Brian (K3ES) who shares the following guest post:
The VK160 Antenna packed on its Winder/Feedpoint for storage, transport, and deployment.
Building and Testing the VK160 Antenna
by Brian (K3ES)
The ability to set and achieve long- and short-term goals keeps me interested and active in the Parks on the Air (POTA) program. Often these goals are associated with POTA awards. Currently, I am working slowly to complete the activator version of the James F. LaPorta N1CC award, which requires an activator to make QSOs on 10 amateur bands from 10 different parks. With my operating style, I have found it achievable to make QSOs on the 9 available HF bands (80m, 60m, 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, and 10m), and this has become easier with the rising solar cycle. I have completed QSOs on non-HF bands using 2m and 70cm simplex. The other options to pick up 10th band QSOs include the 6m band and the 160m band.
I have found it difficult to make unscheduled POTA contacts on 2m and 70cm, and scheduled contacts can be difficult to arrange in parks that are remote from population centers. I have built a 6m antenna, but contacts are seasonal (and for me very elusive). So I started looking for a way to add 160m capability to my portable station. Ultimately that resulted in homebrewing a new antenna that I now call the VK160, and here is its story.
Objective
I needed a field-deployable 160m antenna. My operating style requires that the antenna system be both light and compact. QRP power levels are sufficient for my purposes. I am very comfortable deploying wire antennas in the Pennsylvania woods, and QRP wire antennas can be both light and compact. I have found that end-fed antennas are simpler to deploy in the field, because they can be configured as an inverted V or as a sloper, using only one point of support.
An end-fed half wave (EFHW) antenna would be naturally resonant, but would need to be over 250 ft (76m) long. A wire antenna of that length would be challenging to deploy, even in more open areas. So, I decided to pursue a 9:1 unun-based end-fed “random wire” (EFRW) antenna. In fact, I have two commercial EFRW antennas available, but have never been successful in tuning them for 160m using the ZM-2 tuner in my field kit. So, I concluded (probably incorrectly, but more on that later) that I needed to build a 9:1 random wire antenna with a longer radiating element than the 71 ft wire built into my largest existing EFRW. I also wanted to build this antenna myself, using available components, so that it would be both inexpensive and customized to my needs.
I broke the task into four parts:
First, I needed to build a 9:1 unun suitable for use at QRP power levels. The 9:1 unun is an autotransformer that reduces antenna feedpoint impedance by a factor of 9, hopefully a level that a wide-range tuner can match to the 50 ohm transceiver impedance.
Second, I had to design and build mechanical elements of the antenna system, incorporating the electrical components needed for the feedpoint.
Third, I needed to select a suitable non-resonant wire length for the radiator.
Finally, I needed to deploy and test the finished antenna on the air. If successful, testing would culminate in completing an on-air QSO with the antenna being driven at 5 watts or less.
Building the 9:1 Unun
While I have built successful 49:1 ununs as the basis for EFHW antennas, I had no experience building 9:1 ununs. Accordingly, I started with the ARRL Antenna Book, then a web search. VK6YSF’s excellent web page provided very detailed instructions for 9:1 unun construction. His 9:1 Unun design was based on a FT140-43 toroid wrapped with heavy gauge magnet wire, with design power rating around 100 watts. My application was focused on 10 watts maximum, and I wanted a lighter-weight solution to the unun design.
Looking at the components I had available, I found FT50-43 toroids and 24 AWG magnet wire in my inventory. I had used those during construction of successful 49:1 EFHW antennas. The VK6YSF design, built with the smaller toroids and lighter magnet wire, seemed to be a good (and cheap) starting point.
The “50” portion of the FT50-43 toroid designation specifies its 0.50 inch (1.27 cm) outside diameter. The “43” portion designates nickel/zinc composition that is suitable for high frequency inductive applications.
The next problem that presented itself was a problem with translating the winding technique to smaller wire and a smaller toroid. Put simply, my fingers do not have the dexterity to wrap three parallel 24 AWG wires around a ½ inch OD toroid without getting them crossed, twisted, or worse. So, why not twist the three conductors from the start, and wrap the toroid with “trifilar” windings? It would be simple enough to identify the mating wire ends after wrapping, just with a set of continuity tests. That would facilitate proper connection of the wires to yield the final auto-transformer configuration.
FT50-43 toroid with three-10 inch (25.4 cm) segments of 24 AWG enameled magnet wire staged for construction of the 9:1 unun.
I posed the “trifilar” winding question to my friends over on the QRPer.net discussion board. Nobody identified a significant flaw with the proposed method, but neither did anyone have experience that would assure success. So, I decided to use the “trifilar” winding technique to construct my 9:1 unun, with the full recognition that its success would be uncertain, and only proven by testing the finished product. Continue reading In Pursuit of the Top Band: Brian describes how he built and tested a field-portable 160 meter EFRW antenna→
Many thanks to Michael (N7CCD) for sharing the following guest post:
Flying With Ham Gear
by Michael (N7CCD)
I often get asked “how hard is it to fly with ….”, or “what does TSA say about …” as my job has me flying a fair amount throughout the year. In fact, I’m writing this now while waiting to board my flight for a week in Georgia and Alabama, after having just gone through TSA.
In a recent QRPer post by Thomas, I posted a comment about my frequent travel with ham gear and Thomas gave me a gentle “hint hint” nudge to write up my experiences on the matter. I thought this trip would be a good time to share my experiences in traveling with ham gear in my check-on baggage, as well as my carry-on baggage and my process for each. I’m always interested in learning from other’s experiences, so if you have some ideas for the good of the community, please share them in the comments below!
Before starting this article, and out of curiosity, I checked my past calendar and figured out that I passed through TSA screening about 26 times in 2022. I would say that, since starting my current role four years ago, I have at a minimum hit that number each year.
To address the main question I get about ham gear (antennas, radios, batteries, etc.) and TSA, surprisingly TSA has very little interest in any of it.
In all of my trips through the x-ray machine, TSA has never once pulled my bag out to further investigate what was inside. They have asked about my thermal camera, but never my ham gear. Full disclosure, I am TSA Pre-Check which does exclude me from having to remove laptops, iPads, etc. However, on a recent non-business trip with my wife and kids to visit family in Mexico, I wasn’t pre-check and they still didn’t care about any of my radio gear.
Since I’m limited on the amount of stuff I can physically carry on the plane, and my work gear requires me to check a bag anyway, I have divided my radio gear between what I want with me on the plane, and what I’ll just pick up when I collect my bag at baggage claim.
I have settled on a hard sided suitcase after having to replace some of my work arc flash PPE (personal protective equipment) when baggage handlers cracked my arc flash face shield. After upgrading to a hard sided suitcase, I started adding more ham equipment I would otherwise worry about getting damaged. In the image below you can see what, at this point, I’ve included in my checked bag.
From top left to bottom right: Raspberry Pi kit (more photos on that below), CWMorse paddle in a dollar store container with cable, Buddipole PowerMini, charging cradle for HT, SignalStuff mag mount for HT in rental car, hand mic for HT for use in rental car, throw line and weight, AlexLoop w/ Amazon Basics tripod, US Road Atlas
The idea behind the Pi and AlexLoop antenna is I can work HF digital no matter where I am. This is more fun than watching TV in a hotel, but also gives me digital capabilities to send emails or texts over HF if I am stranded without service of any kind. The mag mount and HT hand mic allow me to use my HT in my rental car as a mobile radio. The same SignalStuff antenna on my HT can be transferred to the mag mount easily once I step into the car. Continue reading Flying With Ham Gear and Navigating TSA→
I wanted it for full-duplex satellite work (funny: many satellite enthusiasts call a pair of 817s the “Yaesu FT-1634”)
The unit I purchased was like-new with all original accessories and side rails for $350 shipped.
Although my first FT-817ND has a Collins narrow CW filter installed, I decided to build one for this second unit as well. That way, I could grab either radio on the way out the door to activate a park or summit.
So why the new FT-818ND?
It was always my plan to eventually replace out one of my FT-817NDs with an FT-818ND. Here are the reasons:
I was having difficulty finding a TXCO. The FT-818ND has a TCXO-9 high-stability oscillator built-in.
I wanted one of my two radios to be a late model.
I had planned to buy a Yaesu FT-818ND sometime in 2023. Possibly at the 2023 Hamvention.
When Gavin (GM0WDD) informed me that Yaesu was discontinuing the FT-818ND on December 28, 2022–only moments after the announcement was made–I immediately hopped over to DX Engineering and purchased one. I realized that the remaining inventory of new radios would be depleted in short order and I was right. By the following day, all major US retailers were out of stock.
Are FT-818ND prices going to soar?
No. I don’t think so.
The FT-817 and FT-818 have been on the market since 2001. In that time, Yaesu has sold bazillions of them. Seriously. These pop up in the classifieds and at hamfests all the time because there are so many floating around out there in the wild.
The FT-818/817 is sort of the opposite of a rare, limited-production-run radio. If you’re looking for a used ‘818, I think you’ll find that the prices are relatively stable.
I would discourage you from paying a premium for an FT-818ND.
Next steps with my ‘818ND
I am going to set this unit up for POTA and SOTA activations; it can do double duty for satellite work.
I’ll remove the Portable Zero side rails from one of my other 817s and attach them to the FT-818.
I initially planned to yank the narrow CW filter out of my 2nd Yaesu FT-817, but that just seemed cruel. If/when I sell that radio, I would like to give the buyer a narrow CW filter option.
I also purchased RT System’s programming software and cable for the FT-817/818. I’ve adopted RT systems for all of my other VHF/UHF radios, so it’ll be easy to load, change, and clone all of the frequency memories. I’ll be nice having both SOTA calling frequencies and repeaters pre-loaded on my radios.
I’ve thought about actually making a no-edit video of building/installing the CW filter and side rails.
While the announcement by Yaesu may have prompted me to pull the ‘818 trigger a few months early, I have no regrets whatsoever.
The only challenge I’m going to face down the road is trying to sell the “extra” FT-817ND.
Then again, I’ve thought about keeping the third one decked out in the TPA-817 pack frame (see photo above) and lending it out to local POTA/SOTA newbies who want to test out the healing waters of QRP.
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