Category Archives: Morse Code

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

Postcard Field Report: Pairing the Mission RGO One with the Elecraft AX1 at Lake James for some QRP DX

12 Comments

Welcome to my first Postcard Field Report!

If you’ve been following QRPer.com and my YouTube channel for long, you’ll notice that I typically post two field reports with videos per week when my free time allows. Each report takes about four hours to produce along with a video. I’ve currently got a small backlog of videos I need to post, so in order to squeeze them into my schedule, I’m going to use a slightly more abbreviated field report format: a “postcard” format!

My Postcard Field Reports will still be information-packed, just slightly more concise and distilled than my average field report. I’ll primarily post these for sites I visit frequently.

Speaking of which….

Lake James State Park (K-2739)

Thursday, February 2, 2023, was a rainy, dreary day so the perfect time to play a little POTA, right?  I made time in my morning to visit Lake James State Park (K-2739).

When I arrived at the Catawba River Access, the parking lot was empty. Not too surprising considering it was a Thursday morning on a chilly, rainy day.

Of course, I had the picnic shelter all to myself, so why not use it to stay dry? Continue reading Postcard Field Report: Pairing the Mission RGO One with the Elecraft AX1 at Lake James for some QRP DX →

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

Taking the Xiegu G106 on its maiden POTA activation!

12 Comments

Last year (May, 2022), Xiegu announced a new compact field radio that would be added to their line of transceivers: the Xiegu G106.

As I was capping off my summer in Canada (August, 2022), Radioddity started shipping the G106. Radioddity had me on their list of folks to send a loaner G106 to, but I didn’t have time to even look at the radio I was so busy upon my return, so didn’t immediately request it.

I did watch, however, K8MRD’s initial review and updated review of the G106. It was less than stellar [understatement alert!] but more than relevant to me because Mike shipped his second unit to me on behalf of Radioddity.

I connected that G106 to a dummy load, checked the transmitted signal, and it simply didn’t look very clean. It looked worse than it did when Mike checked it only a couple weeks prior.

I shared my results with Radioddity, told them I didn’t feel comfortable putting it on the air for testing in the field, and they asked to have that unit returned and checked out.

Updated G106

Fast-forward to January 2023 when I was once again contacted by Radioddity to see if I would like to field test an updated G106. I was happy to do so, in fact, because I was curious if the whole G106 experience had improved.

In the spirit of full disclosure: keep in mind that Radioddity is a Xiegu retailer/distributor–they are not the manufacturer nor are they owned by Xiegu. They are a sponsor of QRPer.com, but have no say in what I post nor any sort of editorial input. Indeed, this is always a condition of sponsorship from day one.

To Radioddity’s credit, some of my most critical reviews have been of products they’ve sent me on loan (especially the GSOC).  They take criticism on the chin and keep on moving forward. This is why they are still a sponsor and I like working with them. They understand that I call it like it is and stand by what I publish.

This G106 has been sent to me on loan for a few weeks to review. I plan to take this unit on a number of activations and pair it with a variety of antennas and accessories.

Very early impressions

I will eventually publish a full review of the G106 (likely in The Spectrum Monitor magazine first) once I’ve put in a lot more field and shack hours with the G106. In the activation video, below, I do make a lot of comments about the radio–thinking out-loud–so if you’re considering purchasing the G106, you might at least listen to a few of my initial impressions.

I will say this: for a modern SDR-based transceiver, it’s pretty bare-bones. It lacks a number of features I assumed it might have despite the incredibly affordable $320 US price point:

  • No SWR meter
  • No Power meter
  • No CW or Voice message memories
  • No RF gain control
  • No AGC control
  • No dedicated headphone audio output

But, again, it has more features than many of the bare-bones CW-only QRP transceivers out there, so for the price perhaps expectations should simply be in check–?

Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace (K-6856)

On Tuesday, January 31, 2023, I took the G106 on its maiden POTA activation to K-6856.

The G106 doesn’t have a built-in ATU (which I would never expect at this price point) so I decided to pair it with a resonant antenna. Since it was a very rainy day and the area/ground where I tend to deploy my wire antennas at Vance was squishy and soft, I opted to deploy my Chelegance MC-750 next to the picnic shelter. Continue reading Taking the Xiegu G106 on its maiden POTA activation! →

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

KX2/AX1: Second quick activation of the day at Lake James State Park!

2 Comments

As I mentioned in my previous field report, on Saturday, January 21, 2023, I had just enough time to activate two parks in short order on the way back to my QTH

I thought it might be fun to perform both of these activations with the Elecraft KX2 and AX1 combo because they’re so speedy to deploy.

Once again, I wanted to show the whole KX2/AX1 set-up and pack-up process in my activation video.

Lake James State Park (K-2739)

As I pulled into the Lake James Catawba River access, I discovered that there were few other guests there that day. I was expecting more people on a Saturday especially since the weather was so pleasant and South Mountains had been so busy earlier that morning.

Then again, the Catawba River access always has less visitors than the Paddy’s Creek area (which is really the main public access point for Lake James).

I pulled into a parking space, found one of the closest picnic tables, and set up the station in short order.

At South Mountains State Park, an hour earlier, I performed the entire activation on 20 meters. To shake things up a bit, I decided to perform the one at Lake James on 17 meters (note here that the AX1 only works on 20 and 17 meters unless you have the coil which adds 40 meters). Continue reading KX2/AX1: Second quick activation of the day at Lake James State Park! →

Morse Code, News

Limited openings for a free intermediate CW class via CW Innovations

1 Comment

Many thanks to Andrew (K0AWG) who shares the following news about an upcoming intermediate CW class via CW Innovations.

Andrew writes:

The class will be 10 weeks starting March 13. There are a limited number of seats for this round, but we hope to have many more classes in the future too.

The class is currently free of charge. It will be held on Monday and Thursday from 7-8pm central time. We’re looking for ops currently operating from about 10-15 wpm and having a simple on-air presence. If you are making POTA and SOTA contacts that’s perfect!

This class is a great way to really nail the characters down so that you can start to build speed with head copy in mind. One perk for POTA and SOTA is this skill will really contribute to being able to go “off script” when activating. It will help ops follow along when things aren’t quite what you expect.

Here’s the full press release:

CW Innovations presents The Comprehensive ICR Course

Dated Jan 25, 2023

Imagine being able to advance your present CW proficiency without facing the prospect of getting stuck on a plateau. Imagine too that the characters you hear become easily familiar to copy and send, as familiar as the alphabet itself when you were first learning language.
There’s no need to imagine any of this: An independent, new Comprehensive Instant Character Recognition Course delivers this as a reality, delivering the best of CW training techniques while helping operators understand their own best way to learn, progress and further challenge themselves.

Announcing CW Innovations. This is an independently run course that is module-based. It is built on scaffolding in which each successive module provides a gentle ramp upward through the learning process. This methodical process is created to address the mental and emotional roadblocks that have typically halted learners’ progress via other teaching methods.

Introduced to students in October 2022, CW Innovations has been further refined by a highly skilled and experienced team of operator educators. While there is no “magic pill,” CW Innovations provides a breakthrough process that is unique. Students have gained proficiency beyond their expectations. These results are unprecedented.

The 10-week course is designed for those currently operating with 10-15wpm proficiency, at least a simple presence on the air, and eager to improve both.

See w4yes.com for details.

A few students have shared these thoughts with us:

“I almost gave up. Stuck on a plateau for a frustrating stretch of forever, I had very little proficiency and even less confidence or hope that I could be a decent operator. After receiving 10 weeks of coaching and support from this terrific team, I have all the tools I need in order to teach myself. I can help myself make progress, sharpen both my listening and copying skills and most of all, I can have fun. Being able to do head copy was an unexpected bonus. Plateau? What’s a plateau??”
Licensed Operator since 2014 – New York

“It’s no longer learning dits and dahs…. It’s allowing yourself to hear and comprehend the sound of the characters subconsciously that will allow you to move forward in your CW skills and goals. You’re learning how to learn CW all over again. I’ve made more CW progress in the past 2.5 months than in the previous 6 years.”
Licensed Operator since 2017 – Missouri

“Why should anyone take the Comprehensive ICR course? Because if you put in the time and effort, your CW skills WILL improve. This course enabled me to go from 10 to 15 wpm copy speed as well as begin head copying my QSOs. I also, now, have the tools I need to reach any of my CW goals including listening to books in morse code, something which I never dreamed would be possible for me. The icing on the cake? The friendships I formed with facilitators and team members alike as we shared our successes and difficulties and helped one another find solutions. This course is a game changer for the world of CW.”
Licensed Operator since 2022 – Georgia

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

A quick two park KX2/AX1 POTA run starting at South Mountains State Park!

5 Comments

You might have noticed that I’ve been taking the Elecraft AX1 antenna out quite a lot recently. At time of posting, I’ve almost used it for a month’s worth of activations.

In December, I thought it might be fun to only use the AX1 for one 2023 calendar month–say, the month of March–but since I evaluate and review radios and antennas, it’s just not realistic to make that kind of commitment.

That said, I did decide to simply start using the AX1 as my primary field antenna for roughly a 30-ish day period and, so far, that’s working out very nicely. I thought it might give some real-world context and usage for those who still believe I’ve just been lucky the days I use the AX1 in the field. No better way to test that theory than to just do it!

Mini rove!

It’s been a while since I’ve had time to do a proper park rove. I hope to do a five park rove within the next month or so, if I can clear out space in the schedule. I find roves so much fun and a nice change of pace.

On Saturday, January 21, 2023, on the way back to my QTH in the mountains of WNC, I had just enough time to activate two parks in short order. Having just been challenged by a short activation window at the Vance Birthplace (which, turned into a normal length activation due to a schedule change in my favor) I thought it might be fun to once again, show the whole KX2/AX1 set-up and pack-up process in my activation video.

South Mountains State Park (K-2753)

I chose South Mountains State Park as my first stop.

South Mountains has a number of public access points. I decided to drive to the main park entrance and set up at the equestrian picnic area. Choosing the main park entrance added about 15 minutes to my overall driving time; the Clear Creek access would have been quicker, but I’d been there only recently. Continue reading A quick two park KX2/AX1 POTA run starting at South Mountains State Park! →

Antennas, Field Reports, Guest Posts, Morse Code, News, Portable, POTA, QRP

Alan’s window-mounted Elecraft AX1 POTA activation!

23 Comments

Many thanks to Alan (W2AEW) who shares the following guest post:

New AX1 POTA Activation

by Alan (W2AEW)

I have to admit, I have been bitten “hard” by the POTA bug!  (I blame Thomas!) It started for me in August 2022 while I was on vacation at the Jersey shore.  Since that time, I have completed 48 activations at 19 different parks.  All of these have been QRP, and almost exclusively on CW. This story is about one of my recent activations, which was unique for a couple of reasons.  Read on…

The Park

My job puts me on the road, covering a large portion of the northeastern United States.  When my schedule permits, I’ll hit the road earlier than needed in order to potentially stop for a quick activation along the way (usually giving up a lunch-on-the-road stop in favor of a bit of QRP CW operation at a park).

This particular park was not your typical state park.  It wasn’t a nature preserve, or a mountain lake, or a hiking or picnic paradise.  No, this park is decidedly urban, occupying 2 blocks in the city of Holyoke, MA.  This is K-2439, Holyoke Heritage State Park. According to the state park website, this park celebrates the rich industrial heritage of the city of Holyoke.  The park also includes a Children’s Museum, a Volleyball Hall of Fame and a restored antique Merry-Go-Round.

The park is situated along a canal that once powered some of the mills that were located on the property.

It certainly is not like any other state park that I’ve been to!

One of the reasons I chose to stop at this park is that it had only been activated 4 times in the past.  In retrospect, I suppose this could’ve been because of the city/industrial setting.  Was it going to be noisy? Maybe this was a bad idea.. Thankfully, it wasn’t… Another thing that appealed to me is that it had not been activated on CW before.  So, my activation would be a CW ATNO (All Time New One) for this park, which is kind of cool.

A New Antenna

Largely due to Thomas extolling the virtues of the Elecraft AX1 compact vertical antenna, I “had to” purchase one for myself.  This activation would be its maiden deployment. Continue reading Alan’s window-mounted Elecraft AX1 POTA activation! →

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

POTA Field Report: The Elecraft AX1’s secret power? Speed of deployment.

19 Comments

I believe I mentioned in the past that when I first purchased my Elecraft AX1, I assumed it would be a bit if a toy or novelty item. I thought it was a fun concept–and that’s why I bought it–but I remember the first time I took it out to the field on an activation, I thought I’d be demonstrating that a compromised antenna delivers compromised performance.

In short? I was wrong.

The AX1 has instead become one of the most valuable tools in my antenna arsenal.

When you are the DX–activating a park or summit–the AX1 is more than capable as long as you live in an area with a reasonable amount of hunters/chasers within your normal propagation footprint.

Speed

The AX1’s secret power, as I mention in the title, is speed of deployment.

Although I can launch a line into a tree and deploy an end-fed half-wave pretty quickly–I’ve literally done this hundreds of times–I can deploy the AX1 even more quickly without breaking a sweat.

Case in Point: Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace (K-6856)

On Tuesday, January 17, 2023, I had a day full of errands and projects in town, but needed to pick up my daughters at a school function around 15:00 local. There were too many variables to accurately predict where I would be at what time, so I didn’t schedule an activation that morning.

As the day progressed, though, I realized I had a very short window and K-6856 was practically en route to the pickup point. After I finished my last errand in south Asheville, I made my way north and based on Google Maps, I had no more than a 25 minute window to fit in a full activation from deployment to pack up.

I stopped in a parking lot en route, pulled out my iPhone, and scheduled an activation at K-6856 on POTA.app.

Keep in mind that my activations are typically short, but 25 minutes for set-up, on-the-air time, and pack-up leaves very little margin for error.

The AX1 is perfect for this type of activation.

A little time math

It takes me two easy minutes to set up the AX1 and maybe one minute to pack it up.  If I wanted to, I could speed that up a bit (I take much longer on camera talking my way through the process). So that’s roughly three minutes to both deploy and pack-up the AX1.

My speaker wire antenna, on the other hand, is also very quick to deploy. With my arborist throw line, I can easily prepare that antenna in four minutes and pack it up in three minutes. Thus, I need to allow roughly 7 minutes to both deploy and pack-up the speaker wire antenna (we have to assume it might take 2 launches of the throw line to snag a branch).

Since it has a built-in ATU and battery the Elecraft KX2 takes maybe 20 seconds to set up. Seriously: pull it out of the pack, connect a key, turn it on. Continue reading POTA Field Report: The Elecraft AX1’s secret power? Speed of deployment. →

Antennas, Field Reports, Guest Posts, Morse Code, News, POTA, QRP, QRP Radios

Jonathan takes the Yaesu FT-818ND on an inaugural POTA activation!

9 Comments

Many thanks to Jonathan (KM4CFT) who shares the following guest field report and video:

Chatfield State Park (K-1212)

January 20, 2022

by Jonathan Kayne (KM4CFT)

The honorable Yaesu FT-817/818. You all know it and love it. I had been wanting to get myself one for a while but after just buying myself a shiny new ICOM IC-705, I had been planning on getting myself an 818 in the spring to play around with. December came and I find out that Yaesu was going to discontinue the 818, so I went and bit the bullet and bought one from Ham Radio Outlet.

I had been getting into CW for portable operations lately after wanting to learn CW for a while and my friend Zach Thompson (KM4BLG) had pushed me to learn it. I learned it over the course of two months through an app called “Morse Machine” and listening to Thomas’s YouTube videos while working so as to get used to the exchanges and pick up words. Then I activated and all the rest is history! (If you want to see my 3rd time activating see this video here.)

Why is this important? Because the FT-818ND does not have a narrow 500 Hz filter for CW operation by default, and since I consider myself to be still a newbie I wanted to install a Collins Filter before I take my new 818 into the field. Since these filters are hard to obtain, I went with the build your own route. The method I used has been outlined in this blog and I have made a video of it here.

Now that I had my radio all ready to go with a filter, side rails, and Windcamp Battery, I wanted to get it in the field as soon as possible. Unfortunately due to a snow storm, the temperature in the Denver area was quite cold.

I can handle myself pretty well in the cold if I put on enough layers, but my fingers are another story. I have found that I cannot write properly unless my fingertips are exposed. The solution: do the activation in the car! Continue reading Jonathan takes the Yaesu FT-818ND on an inaugural POTA activation! →

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

Pairing the Elecraft KX2 with a 28.5′ random wire for a rapid POTA activation

1 Comment

On Wednesday, January 11, 2023, I was on my way back to the QTH after a brief trip to Raleigh, NC.

Later in the afternoon, I needed to take my daughters to a class, thus I had a strict deadline to meet. Still, it was a beautiful day so I decided to pop by Tuttle Educational State Forest for a nice walk and possibly an activation if I time allowed.  I’d spent so much time in my car the previous couple of days, I really wanted to stretch my legs.

Tuttle Educational State Forest (K-4861)

As I drove to Tuttle, I made a decision to film a Hike & Talk session–I had a topic on my mind and thought the timing was right to make a recording. You can check out that (previously published) Hike & Talk session here.

After that casual walk, I found that I had a good 45 minute window–no more–to fit in a full activation including set-up/take-down. Very doable!

The radio I had packed away for this road trip was my Elecraft KX2 field kit which included a Tufteln no-transformer random wire antenna (compact equivalent of my 28.5′ speaker wire antenna) and my AX1 portable antenna. I had this particular kit because I’d hoped to do an urban park activation in Raleigh, but simply didn’t have the time to fit it in.

Setting up the KX2 is a swift process.

I chose a picnic table, deployed the Tufteln antenna and was on the air in no time! Continue reading Pairing the Elecraft KX2 with a 28.5′ random wire for a rapid POTA activation →

Guest Posts, Morse Code, News, POTA

Guest Post: Dan’s first straight key POTA activation

3 Comments

Many thanks to Dan (W9SAU) who shares the following field report:

My first Straight Key POTA Activation

Dan (W9SAU)

1/22/2023

After 3 weeks of working Straight Key for SKCC, SST, and POTA QSOs, and a lot of practice, I wanted to try a Straight Key POTA Activation, using a Cootie paddle.

My Cootie/Sideswiper is a modified Vibroplex Single paddle, with a switch installed. Converting a paddle to a Cootie is done by jumpering the dot and dash wire connections. Then turn the Electronic Keyer off. The switch allows for Cootie or Keyer operation.

Pullman National Monument (K-7917) is only 10 minutes from my QTH. Pullman is unique, with the National Park borders surrounding a portion of the Pullman factory and neighborhood. You can operate from anywhere within these borders. I operated from the parking lot of the Pullman National Monument Exhibit Hall.

In this busy area in the City of Chicago, the noise floor was near S-Zero. There is occasional interference from a passing Illinois Central Electric Train, with QRN that obliterates everything. Not many trains on a Sunday morning.

With snow falling, my operating position was inside the vehicle, using a Yaesu FT-891 set to 5W for QRP, with a Shark 20 meter Hamstick on the roof.

Some anxiety, starting at 13wpm, but I quickly became  comfortable with 15wpm. My goal was to complete the Activation with 13 or 14 contacts.

I finished with 22 in the log in 35 minutes. I appreciate the patience of all who slowed down for me.

I had plenty of protection from Chicago’s Finest!  Across the street are the Pullman Horse Stables. All employee and visitor horses were housed and cared for here, in the late 1800’s.

Working the Cootie is a lot of fun! I find it easier than the traditional up/down key. But each character still has to be formed manually. I will be doing more of this type of POTA Activation.

A bonus is Ops who sometimes initiate a SKCC QSO when I work them for POTA. I was happy to accommodate them, but using a Keyer, I could not take SKCC credit. With the Cootie, I can use the credit to work towards the next SKCC achievement level. All while working Parks On The Air!