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

The POTA Babe Gets Wet – Day 5

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by Teri (KO4WFP)

Daisy and I awoke the morning of Thursday, July 18, ready to attempt our third SOTA activation of this trip. Today we’d head to Mount Jefferson State Natural Area (US-3846), a short drive from New River State Park. Along the drive, I spied quite a few farms for Christmas trees.

Mount Jefferson (W4C/EM-021) is 4,665 feet in elevation , rises more than 1,600 feet above the valley floor, and was a place for escaped slaves to hide. The mountain is a heath bald featuring dense evergreen shrubs on it which is different from the grassy balds also found in the Appalachian mountains. (Black Balsam Knob I visited earlier in the trip is an example of a grassy bald.)

A road winds up to a parking lot close to the summit. When I arrived on this overcast day, there was only one other vehicle parked. I grabbed my SOTA pack, outfitted Daisy with her harness and leash, and we were ready for the task ahead of us.

The hike up to the summit is an easy one. The trail begins at the parking lot and is easy to identify. To make sure there was no repeat performance of not being sure where the summit is located, I snapped a pic of a posted park map.

Start of the trail

Along the hike, we encountered the weather station near the summit and neat lichens.

The weather station
Neat lichens

It wasn’t long before we arrived at the summit. I could see the weather station back along the ridge as well as the town in the valley below. I had checked the weather forecast before I left our campsite earlier that morning and it looked promising.

The trail at the summit
Ta-da – Mount Jefferson summit

At the summit is a section of rock with a flatish spot in the middle, almost as if it is beckoning one to get comfortable. We settled ourselves on that flatish spot and I began pulling my equipment out of the pack. I opted for the AX1 again as it served me well at the previous two SOTA activations and there wasn’t much room up here.

I love this photo!

I quickly discovered there was no cell service. I’d have to make do, possibly setting up near another POTA station and hoping the RBN would spot me or someone would come across me. I began on 40 meters but after spending 10 minutes on that band, moved to 20 meters. James WA1EDN found me and I asked him to “PSE SPOT ME”. It worked and in the next 15 minutes, I worked  five stations and then…

It started raining! (Noooooo!) I had noticed fog-like clouds moving in; however, I have seen this kind of weather before while on the Blue Ridge Parkway and those clouds don’t always bring rain. I naively believed the weather forecast and didn’t pay them much attention. Until it started raining.

Clouds moving in

I hurriedly covered my KX2 and key, put on my raincoat, and threw what I could into my pack including my notepad. Thankfully, I take with me a Rite in the Rain notebook and pen as a backup. Neither had ever been used. I refused to give up so easily and began calling CQ POTA again. I worked another station – John N7JTT in Washington state – and then…

My wet pack

My key started going bonkers on me! I didn’t think about it but the key is electronic and not mechanical. I can recall only two times I’ve activated in the rain. Both were during my trip to Nova Scotia and both times I activated INSIDE the car. So I and my equipment (except the antenna) were protected from the rain. Electronic keys and rain do NOT mix as I now discovered. I thought I had protected it from the rain but obviously not.

Well, I could deal with that! I always take a small backup key with me which I now pulled out and began to use. However, that key, too, is electrical and crapped out on me in no time. Now I had no choice but to call QRT. Oh, the depth of despair at having to do that when I was so close to a valid activation!

Daisy snoozing in the rain

I consoled myself that at least I got my third SOTA activation and, other than the keys crapping out on me, this activation had been a lot of fun. Also, the AX1 had proven itself a rockstar with two QSOs to the West Coast – John N7JTT in California and WB6POT in Washington state! Way to go AX1!

We dragged our soggy bodies down the mountain to the parking lot where I looked at the keys one more time to see if they would work for me. Nope. Honestly, I felt very, VERY stupid at not thinking about those keys being electrical. I never considered they wouldn’t work in the rain. Sigh. This was another learning opportunity and, when I got back home, I’d make sure to have a mechanical key in my arsenal as a SECOND backup. You know what the SEALs say: two is one and one is none. At this point, I had none!

I had planned on heading back to Georgia tomorrow. But with no working keys, there could be no more activations. (I don’t carry a mic with me as I am a CW-only op these days.) There was no point in staying that extra day.

I headed back to New River State Park, packed everything up, and drove the seven hours back to Savannah, Georgia. Though the keys might have dried out and worked the next day, we had already been through two nights of thunderstorms and much more promised to roll through the area. Enough was enough.

All in all, I considered the trip a success. I finally tackled SOTA and ended up with three valid activations. I added six valid POTA activations to my goal of 60 new-to-me parks for 2024. I survived five days of camping alone with Daisy 500 miles from home. Yes, I made mistakes along the way; however, I viewed those a learning opportunities, mistakes I’d not be likely to make again.

For those of you who followed these articles and hunted me during the trip, thank you for sharing this journey with me. This POTA Babe learned a lot and had a lot of fun along the way, despite the setbacks. I am already plotting a SOTA trip for spring or summer 2025 and, most certainly, a summer 2025 return to the North Carolina mountains. But well before that, I have 23 more parks to activate for my 2024 POTA activation goal. Where will I show up next? Stay tuned…

Equipment Used

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Everyday Carry, Field Reports, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, QRP Radios

KH1 to the Rescue! A postcard field report from Pisgah National Forest.

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On Friday afternoon (August 16, 2024), after dropping off one daughter at her volunteer job and the other at Shakespeare class, my wife and I had about 90 minutes of free time before the next scheduled activity.

We opted to visit the Sycamore Flats Picnic Area in Pisgah National Forest (US-4510) so that I could fit in a POTA activation while my wife caught up on a project she’d been working on.

The picnic area was bustling with activity–the busiest I’d seen it in a while. No doubt, everyone was out enjoying the beautiful weather and the last hurrah before many local kids head back to school. Nevertheless, we found a nice picnic table to set up and play radio.

I did not have all of my camera gear with me, so opted not to film this activation with my phone.

Since there’d be no video, it meant that I could operate with earphones and a minimal amount of extra gear. It’s nice to do this every so often!

On the way out the door, earlier that day, I grabbed my Mountain Topper MTR-3B field kit. The goal was to put it on the air since it had been a few months since I last used it. I like rotating out radios regularly so I don’t forget nuances of operating them while in the field.

The previous day, I also charged the two Li-Ion rechargeable batteries [affiliate link] that are stored in the MTR-3B Pelican case. At least I thought I charged them!

When I checked the batteries, they were both completely dead. Turns out, the USB charging station I’d connected them to the previous day was not plugged into an AC outlet. Doh!

This presented a little problem because the only other battery I had in my GR1 rucksack was a 3Ah LiFePo4 battery which likely pushed about 13.2VDC. The MTR-3B doesn’t care for voltages much higher than 12VDC–at least, if you are higher than 12V, you need to make darn sure you’ve got a great SWR match.

I was a bit bummed because I hadn’t packed a backup radio in the GR1 and I wasn’t driving the Subaru which has a Venus SW3B headrest field kit.

Hang on…

Then it hit me…I’ve got my EDC (Everyday Carry) radio with me: the Elecraft KH1! Woo hoo!

I went back to the car and grabbed my Trakke EDC bag.

Then pulled out the KH1 packed in my Tufteln-modified Pelican Micro M40 watertight case.

It is such a luxury to have a small, lightweight, and versatile radio always at the ready in the backpack I carry with me everywhere.

Since I’d already deployed my K6ARK 40 meter counterpoise-less end-fed half-wave [affiliate link], this was the antenna I connected to the KH1.

I also grabbed the Bamakey TP-III from my GR1 pack and the 3×5 Rite in the Rain Pad and Zebra mechanical pencil [again, affiliate links] from the MTR-3B kit (don’t worry, I returned these to their respective kits post-activation!).

I had announced this activation on the POTA website, so hypothetically, the RBN should auto-spot me.

I turned on the KH1, moved to the 20 meter band, and was tuning around looking for a clear frequency when I heard a station calling CQ POTA. Continue reading KH1 to the Rescue! A postcard field report from Pisgah National Forest. →

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

Things Pick Back Up for the POTA Babe – Day 4

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by Teri (KO4WFP)

I woke on day four (Wednesday, July 17) of my North Carolina camping and POTA trip, determined for it to be a better day. The three unsuccessful activations were actually a good thing. It put me on notice that I had fallen into my past habit of scheduling to the max. Sometimes I become so focused on whatever I am pursuing that I forget to enjoy the ride getting there. So today would be a day of leisure with some POTA sprinkled in.

I spent the morning drying items wet from the previous night’s rain. It turns out the tent waterproofing was just so-so and that smarted. However, it reminded me of an acronym from Dr. Maika Steinborn – FAIL which stands for First Attempt In Learning. There is a learning curve with any new endeavor and waterproofing a tent is no exception. The rainfly and underside of the tent needed more of the exterior waterproofing spray. That is a project for when I return home.

Drying out

The camping spot across from me was unoccupied. The parking spaces for it were bathed in sunshine so I took advantage of that sunshine to dry items before packing them up as we had reservations at a new park.

Meanwhile, I endeavored to get the activation for Lake James State Park that the rain prevented last night. To make matters simple, I used the Chelegance MC-750. It was a snap to set up and, while Daisy snoozed under my seat, I set up on 40 meters. The band gave me four contacts in ten minutes. It was a challenge hearing them at times because a park employee was mowing in nearby areas.

Chelegance MC-750 set up on tent pad
Daisy snoozing
My setup at Lake James campsite

I moved to 20 meters and added three more contacts including a park-to-park with Randy N5ILQ at US-11768 in Oklahoma. I’d been on 20 meters for nearly 20 minutes with only three contacts and figured I’d give 40 another try.  Switching to 40 meters, that band gave me three more contacts. Getting antsy, I hopped back to 20 meters. Contacts with Tim VA3UZ, Dave N1CGP, and Brian K3ES gave me the breathing room I needed for a valid activation.

QSO Map for Lake James State Park 7-17-2024 source: http://tools.adventureradio.de/analyzer/

Daisy and I packed up and headed out. The road along Lake James was one fun ride, like an old-time rollercoaster with banked turns and zigzags back and forth. I’ve about decided I need to visit North Carolina once a year just to drive the roads!

Cool bridge inside Lake James State Park
Beach area down by the lake

We drove through Morganton, Lenoir, and then to Blowing Rock, a swanky looking community. We rejoined the Blue Ridge Parkway for a bit before heading north on 221 toward New River State Park. We were in the upper left corner of the state at this point, 357 miles from home.

A funny sign I spied on the drive
Vista at Grandview Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway
Common milkweed
More Queen Anne’s Lace

So far, I’m impressed with the state parks at which I’ve stayed in North Carolina. Lake James offered spacious, well-equipped campsites and one of the nicest bathhouses I’ve seen in a state park. At New River State Park, though, I would live in the lap of luxury as I’d have an electrical hook-up at my site! (To recharge my Jackery Power Station so far, I plugged it into my car while driving.) You appreciate the things we often take for granted in society when you go without them for several days.

source: GIS Geography

Our campsite
Campsite visitor – We saw bunnies at Davidson River Campground also.

After setting up camp and a brief rain shower, I decided to activate New River State Park (US-2748) and, again, use the Chelegance MC-750. Contacts came in spurts. I began with 20 meters and made contact with two stations before moving to 40 meters. Forty meters did not disappoint. Over the course of 25 minutes, I made contact with nine stations including Jeff VE3JZT at park CA-5594 in Ontario province. I had a valid activation by this point with 11 contacts. However, I had the hunger for more QSOs and switched back to 20 meters. That proved to be a good move as I worked four more stations including Scott NB0W in Nebraska before calling QRT.

QSO Map for New River State Park 7-17-2024 source: http://tools.adventureradio.de/analyzer/

At this point in the trip, I reflected on the past four days. I had six valid POTA activations and two SOTA activations. Daisy and I had survived camping by ourselves a long way from home negotiating the challenges that arise from this kind of trip. I had a blast driving the roads in my Crosstrek Kai through bucolic countryside and grand vistas. But truth be told, I missed my partner Glenn and was a little homesick. I decided I would end my trip two days early on Friday instead of Sunday. That still gave me two days for another SOTA attempt and two more parks. The fun wasn’t over yet! What summit would I attempt to activate tomorrow? Stay tuned…

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

Climbing an old hill and struggling to get ten in the logs!

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by Anthony (M7TAW)

Introduction

After the success that was my first ever activations at Devil’s Punch Bowl, I’d earmarked another close by POTA spot for my second activation.

This one had an unusually low number of activations, given the local activity in surrounding parks. I just figured maybe it’s a bit out the way and a smaller area, slightly less popular. There can’t be another reason, right…right?

Only a few activations at this park, but G7SQW (pota.app) had a good one!

Old Winchester Hill National Nature Reserve (GB-0029)

Old Winchester Hill is a 164-acre nature reserve, with an Iron Age hill fort at the summit of its largest hill. Interestingly when checking out the location I did spot the phrase “Some unexploded Ordnance may still remain in ‘fenced-off’ sections of the hill” as the hill was used as target practice back in WW2. Watch where you’re walking then!

History buffs delight. An iron age hill fort!

Gear

The radio gear list was basically the same as my last activation apart from throwing in the Baofeng, so I just had to grab the already filled backpack again, and not have to think about it too much!

The only thing I did check was that the batteries were fully charged. I’ve seen a couple of videos of people mentioning running out of battery on an activation Lee – MØVKR!  Also I decided that I’d also bring a camping chair, which wound up being a bit hefty to carry and not very useful in the end…more on that later.

A full list of gear and links below.

Setting up

The presence of a dedicated car park is a definite plus, especially for visitors who may not be familiar with driving on narrow UK country roads. Finding suitable parking near some parks can be a challenge, so having a designated parking area makes access much easier!

After having parked up, I donned my cap and grabbed my back and the chair. The day was warm, and the sun was out. It was a glorious day, but I’d forgotten one thing…it wasn’t radio related but you’ll see the consequences of that later.

I set off down the path and was greeted by a lovely view, and a fork in the path. Do I go left or right?

In a poor choose your own adventure, I chose right and realised about half way down a huge hill that I’d chosen incorrectly. What is this SOTA?!

I was carrying my backpack, a camping chair, and a huge bottle of water. The amount of vegetation and the incline of where I was walking meant I didn’t particularly feel good about setting up anywhere. So on I trod.

The heat was exhausting and the terrain was a little tricky. I then had to get through a pretty overgrown forested area.

The route so far.

What goes down…must also come up? Whatever…I was panting and I broke through the forested area to be greeted with this hill.

Deceptively tiring.

I have to say, looking at the image now it doesn’t look that bad, but at the time it felt horrendous. There were other people struggling getting up, and the heat didn’t help! I calculated the incline afterwards using google earth and it turns out it’s about 16 degrees, or roughly 25% grade.

In either case, I can see why this park has so few activations. It’s a bit of a slog to get up and down, and there aren’t many great spots to activate.

Thankfully, after I got to the top of the hill, I found a nice looking bench, which turned out to be a fairly precariously balanced bit of wood on top of some sort of water trough. I didn’t care though, I’d found a spot to sit down.

The spot for the day.

I’d spent a bit of time practicing setting up the antenna for both 20m and 40m at home using a wider range display on the NanoVNA which really helped. I could setup quickly, and boy after the walk that was helpful!

I’m loving this antenna for it’s quick setup and ease of being pretty discreet.

I found that for 20m I really needed to spread the radials out to get a good SWR. 40m tended to find a low SWR with just the radials lengthened out together. Not really that much trouble!

All setup and ready to go!

On The Air

Before I started, I actually pulled out my Baofeng this time, and tried to give a few calls out to no avail. I coordinated with a fellow Online Amateur Radio Community (oarc.uk) member over on Discord, and whilst we couldn’t make a straight line QSO, we did manage to chat via a repeater (which doesn’t count for POTA).

This time, I prioritised CW, and with my low SWR and nice spot high up on a hill, I thought I’d be getting out and getting calls in in no time. That great ball in the sky had other ideas though.

After setting my spot on the website, I called CQ on 40m for about 10 mins and noticed I wasn’t even getting heard on the RBN. I gave it another 5 minutes of trying and thought, “damn, maybe I’ll switch to 20m.”

A quick slide on the coil and adjustment of the whip and I’m on 20m. Okay, CQ again…nothing still. I tried moving about the frequencies a little but still nothing on the RBN and no calls coming in. That’s frustrating, I was really looking forward to some CW.

Okay let’s change tact, and go with FT8. Again, the (tr)uSDX is pretty handy for this as I can just plug directly into my phone via USB and boot up FT8CN and that’s that…I’m working FT8.

I tried on 40m first, and I found HB9XQH (pota.app) who was also POTA at that time! My first P2P, that seems like a good start!

It was another 6 minutes to get the next QSO with PA3CPS, immediately followed by M6BLV (pota.app). Then nothing for a good 15 minutes on 40m. Drat!

I then switched to 20m. My friend from the first activation came back this time DK5UR (pota.app), then followed EA7HTE (pota.app), and quickly SP1JQJ, and also OH1NOA (pota.app). Phew! At least it looks like I’ll be getting my 10 (foreshadowing).

At least there were some nice views to pass the time.

I then spent another hour working both 20m and 40m, FT8 and CW to no avail. I didn’t seem to either be getting out much, or anybody coming in. I had a couple of sniffs of a QSO on FT8 but they didn’t complete.

Finally, I got M0PTZ (pota.app) after this hour, but the day had gone on about 3 hours now, and I was starting to get too hot and tired. That was only 8 in the log, and it felt super frustrating to only be 2 away, but I needed to get back and I had to come up with the energy to make my way back up the hill!

After the high of the first activation, to go to a low of not being successful was disheartening, but it shall not dissuade me from future attempts! Just maybe I’ll give this old hill a miss for a while.

Oh, and also that thing that I forgot? Sunscreen…don’t forget that or you’ll end up looking like I did.

A British confectionary representation of my skin colour palette the next day.

Where are those last 2 hiding?

73s

Anthony (M7TAW)

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

Quarter-Wave Conquers: Christian and Andrea’s POTA Success Despite Solar Slumber

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Many thanks to Christian (IX1CKN) who shares the following field report:

POTA Friends Meet to Activate IT-0737

by Christian (IX1CKN)

With Andrea (IW0HK) in Turin for a few days, it would have been a shame not to use Sunday for a POTA activation, recreating the “Multicountry Rove” team that participated in the Friedrichshafen Fair.

Our chosen destination, as a halfway point for both of us, was (again) Canavese in Piedmont, where we had identified Lake Candia (IT-0737), a Natura 2000 reserve we had been eyeing for some time but had never activated.

We reached the reserve (exit on the A5 for both of us at San Giorgio Canavese, then towards Caluso, and finally the Provincial Road 84, which runs right along the lake’s edge). We soon realized that on Sundays, the area is quite popular with locals seeking a cool spot (the lake is also suitable for swimming). A restaurant and a beach are the first things you encounter, but we had something less crowded in mind.

We stopped by a patch of vegetation, with tall trees that offered much-needed shade on a 30°C Sunday (though with some insects as a price to pay, but we brought repellent spray). For the antenna, we used the tried and tested quarter-wave Chinese whip, which had proven crucial in our recent German activations.

We started the activation on 20 meters, and it was clear from the beginning that propagation was only partially favorable (a minor solar flare in progress, but we’ve lost count at this point).

Many signals started strong but faded quickly, almost disappearing after the second pass. Almost all contacts were POTA enthusiasts, recognizable by their calls, a testament to the program’s growing popularity.

We managed two “park to park” contacts: one in Germany and the other in the UK. Other stations appeared on the cluster, but we couldn’t hear them. After about half an hour, we reached the milestone of 10 QSOs, making the activation valid. The rate indicated a challenging Sunday, as it seemed right from the start: few stations responded, but curiously, those that did came in with solid signals.

We attributed this to well-set-up home stations and decided to switch bands. 10 and 12 meters were closed, but we heard some QSOs on 15 meters and started calling. The response that made the activation worthwhile came from Marvin Ward “Lee” KI5MM (who, we later discovered, was transmitting from a place in Texas called Italy—perhaps it was fate). He gave us a 3/3 report, but we couldn’t have been happier: we were using a KX-3 at 10 watts with a ground-planted vertical antenna.

Another colleague from Sweden also came in on 15 meters, but nothing else in the next ten minutes. We wrapped up with fourteen contacts and headed back to the initial restaurant for a refreshing beer by the lake.

If every activation has a lesson, this one was that while propagation may be poor, taking care of your antenna setup (the quarter-wave being the most natural form) guarantees results. There’s already a lot of talk about this antenna, but I’m sure the more people try it, the more it will be discussed.

Thanks to everyone who connected with us, and until next time!

Ciao, 73!
Chris, IX1CKN

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

The POTA Babe Strikes Out – Day 3

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by Teri (KO4WFP)

As my friend Jon KC1FUU says “Some days are diamonds, some are stone.” The third day (Tuesday, July 16) of my North Carolina trip definitely fell into the “stone” category.

The day began nice enough with a slow but steady pace. As our next overnight stay was at Lake James State Park, it was time to break camp and set out northward for Linville Gorge Wilderness Area (US-10262). According to the US Forest Service website, “the gorge is formed by the Jonas Ridge on the east and Linville Mountain on the west and is bisected by the Linville River which drops 2,000 feet into the valleys below.” The gorge is also known as the “Grand Canyon of Eastern USA”.

source: GIS Geography

When you activate parks out of the state and with which you are unfamiliar, you never know what the actual conditions will be until you arrive. In case we didn’t want to hike into the gorge, I figured there would a parking lot at which we could set up as is typical of many parks. However, that is NOT the case here. The roads that run along the gorge are also not in the park boundary. All the trails to hike are rated difficult except for one which doesn’t go into the gorge.

After the previous day, I was loathe to do any major hiking, especially for Daisy. The weather didn’t help either as it was sunny and warm.

There was one hike – Spencer Ridge Trail – whose description said there was a moderate section. Plan B was to ride to the other side of the gorge and hike enough to be in the park boundary and try an activation on Spencer Ridge Trail.

Spencer Trail circled in black on Linville Gorge map

Have you ever ridden any forest service roads? Whew! They are a rough bunch of characters. This one – Table Rock Road – was no different. Roads like this is why I drive my Crosstrek Kai, as he is made for these kinds of adventures.

This photo doesn’t begin to convey the bumpy condition of this road!
A huge rock along the forest service road

We parked in the lot for Spencer Ridge Trail, geared up, and began the hike. A little ways down the trail, we stopped and I set up for an activation. There was no way to put up an antenna in the trees as this was a  narrow trail and likely there would be hikers coming along at some point. I opted for the AX1 and hopped onto 20 meters. After 10 minutes of calling CQ with no answers, I thought about moving to 40 meters. However, there was no room for that long of a counterpoise and, by this time, I was ready to admit “uncle” to the gorge. Sometimes, as another acquaintance says, “the juice ain’t worth the squeeze,” and it wasn’t by this point.

The trail
My view – looking straight into the foliage with the trail behind me

We rehydrated, loaded ourselves back into the car for the bumpy, crazy service road ride, and went on our way to the next activation – Table Rock Fish Hatchery (US-8012).

The hatchery, built in 1946, has 17 ponds as well as a flowing water flume for holding trout. Its water supply is nearby Irish Creek. It is the only coolwater hatchery in the state due to its location which  raises fingerling smallmouth bass, walleye, and muskallunge as well as channel catfish.

Maybe I should have taken the rain I encountered as an omen this activation was not to be. It poured on the drive to the hatchery and for about 15 minutes at the site. There was blue sky in the distance and the clouds seemed to be clearing when all of sudden, the sun was out! However, with the sun came intense humidity, almost south-Georgia level humidity.

I set up in a picnic area outside the hatchery gates but still on hatchery property. I found a spot I could park Kai under branches for shade. As there were dogs loose on the property and the ground was soggy, I left Daisy in the car with the windows down and the Koonie fan on high to keep her cool.

Picnic area
Kai in the shade
Daisy keeping cool in the car

Due to the rain, there was no lack of wildlife. As I set up, I disturbed a bunch of tiny (and I mean tiny) frogs. During the activation, I kept an eye on the ground while calling CQ over and over and spied a little beetle crawling nearby.

One of the frogs I inadvertantly disturbed

I deployed the EFRW antenna and hopped on the air. I’m not sure if it was the location or bad propagation or both but I had only one nibble. (Thank you Tim VA3UZ for that single contact!) I tried 20 meters for two periods as well as five minutes each on 40 and 30 meters. It was hot and humid. While setting up, the feed-end of my EFRW had dropped out of my pocket unbeknownst to me and I tore my hair out for over 20 minutes trying to locate it. Between the weather, the frustration from temporarily losing the antenna feed-end, and the lack of contacts, I had had enough and called QRT.

Throwing the arbor line to snag my branch
The creek at the hatchery
My QTH

We drove onto Lake James State Park to set up camp for the night. What a pretty and open landscape this park has. I booked a spot in the Paddy campground, spot #1 right near the bathhouse. Given the rainy weather we encountered, this proved to be a good spot.

Lake James campsite

I planned for an evening activation at Lake James; however, the weather had a different idea. It rained several times over the course of the evening. So, the POTA Babe struck out – zero successful activations of the three parks planned for the day.

Yes, it was a stone kind of day. The good thing about stone days is they don’t stick around. At some point, the diamond days show up again. Was day four of my North Carolina  trip a diamond day? Stay tuned…

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Introducing the New CFT1 Five Band Portable CW Transceiver Kit!

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My buddy Jonathan (KM4CFT) made a big announcement this morning.

He’s been working tirelessly since the start of the year, designing and testing a brand-new field-portable CW transceiver he’s dubbed the CFT1.

As of this morning, you can purchase the transceiver kit on HamGadgets.com.

A little backstory

Jonathan first mentioned his plans to design a CW transceiver back when we were doing a joint POTA activation at the end of December 2023. At the time, it was just an idea. When he said he planned to have it ready for sale in 2024, I was skeptical. I mean, he had a day job and had never designed a radio before. How could he pull that off in such a short timeframe?

Fast forward to Four Days in May/Hamvention in May 2024, and wouldn’t you know it, Jonathan had a working prototype on display! I was blown away. Within a couple of weeks, he was contacting us beta testers, eager to get revision one units into our hands.

I got my CFT1 in June and immediately put it through its paces in the shack. Even in beta, this little radio was rock solid – I was seriously impressed!

I thoroughly tested the CFT1 in the shack, both on a dummy load and with my QTH antenna. If you’re into SOTA or POTA and I worked you in June, chances are it was with the CFT1.

Vlado (N3CZ) making field day contacts.

I even took the CFT1 out for a spin on Field Day. Vlado (N3CZ) and I were both impressed with how well it performed in that crazy RF environment. Remember, this isn’t a contest radio, but it didn’t seem to overload at all. Impressive!

When I heard Jonathan was launching the CFT1 today, I figured I’d do a quick POTA activation to showcase this awesome little radio.

The Blue Ridge Parkway (US-3378)

Yesterday morning, I was heading to Mission Hospital in Asheville to visit a family member who had just been admitted. I realized I had enough time for a quick activation at the Folk Art Center on the way.

I arrived at the parking lot around 8:30 AM. It was pretty empty except for the grounds crew. I set up at my usual picnic table.

I paired the CFT1 with my KM4CFT End-Fed Half-Wave, trimmed for 30M with a 40M linked extension. I was hoping for some 40-meter action early in the morning. Setup was a breeze. My throw line cooperated beautifully – the 40M EFHW was practically vertical!

Naturally, I filmed the whole process: setup, activation, and pack-up. Before I started the activation, I spent a few minutes talking about the CFT1 – its design philosophy and what I like about it. Hopefully, this will help you decide if it’s the right radio for you.

Gear:

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On The Air

I spotted myself on 40 meters and started calling CQ using the CW message memory I’d already programmed with “CQ POTA DE K4SWL.”

Fortunately, the band was healthy–at least, healthy enough to reply to a number of hunters. Continue reading Introducing the New CFT1 Five Band Portable CW Transceiver Kit! →

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

Field Report: POTA Energy Boost at Tuttle Educational State Forest

3 Comments

Somedays, I just need a little POTA and radio-active therapy to energize the day. And this was one of those days.

On Thursday, July 18, 2024, I woke up still feeling quite tired because I had been out the entire day before helping my sister with a move–my wife and I didn’t get back home until midnight.

I was exhausted!

That Thursday, though, I still needed to hit the road again fairly early to help my sister with her home closing and then bring my dad home (finally) from the skilled nursing facility where he’d spent the previous 2.5 months!

It was a big day, and I was feeling pretty low on the energy reserves even after the morning coffee. We’ve all been there, right?

I didn’t think I would have time to fit in a POTA activation, but my father’s nursing facility contacted me and asked if I could pick him up after lunch instead of before. All of a sudden, I had a two-hour chunk of time, so, of course, I was going to get radio-active!

Fortunately, I had my GoRuck GR1 in the car, after my trip to the NC coast, packed with the KX2 and a few antenna options!

Looking at the time, I knew Tuttle Educational State Forest would be my best bet for a quick activation. Accounting for travel time and lunch, I would have about a one-hour window to operate.

Tuttle Educational State Forest (US-4861)

I arrived at Tuttle and wasn’t surprised to find the place nearly empty. Tuttle caters to school groups, and since schools were still in summer break, I didn’t expect to see any school buses or large groups.

My plan was to attempt this activation using the AX1 antenna–just to keep things simple.

I chose a picnic table in the shade and set up my gear in short order!

Gear

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On The Air

I hopped on the air hoping that propagation wouldn’t be too rough, but turns out, it was not in the greatest of shape. Anyone active in POTA lately knows this struggle! Continue reading Field Report: POTA Energy Boost at Tuttle Educational State Forest →

Field Reports, Funny, Guest Posts, News, POTA, QRO, QRP, Videos

Fish Creek Provincial Park: My most frustrating activation to date

8 Comments

by Vince (VE6LK)

All I wanna know is howcome our local star decides to throw in a monkey wrench when I go to activate? Huh? Huh?

Monday August 5 was a statutory holiday for me and I decided to get out early at a popular picnic area in south Calgary and get some radio therapy. I listened to the IARU beacons while driving and even 15m sounded promising.

I’m not nearly as adept as Thomas at using an arborist throw line as I famously exclaimed once and had to be beeped out, so it took me close to a half hour to get my VE6VID OCF antenna how I wanted it with one end supported by the tree and the opposite my carbon-fibre mast. Given I was also setting up video equipment, It was an hour before I made my first contact from when I had arrived.

I started off very optimistic that I’d be able to get 10 contacts as I was hearing all kinds of DX on 20m FT8. I connected my iPad with iFTx software along with some cables I heard about via KD7DTS and I started working it off at 1 watt (just to be cocky) and it took me a while to get 2 contacts. This simply won’t do as I don’t have all day!

So I switched to CW. 10 minutes of calling and only one spot on RBN at 5 watts. So I did what any reasonable person would do and I moved to 10 watts because more is better, right?

Two entries in RBN, one for 5W and the other for 10W.

I then had a couple of contacts. At one point I did a visual check to ensure my antenna wasn’t on the ground (it wasn’t). So I proceeded with my logical thinking and moved to SSB at 10 watts, because after all, I was there to experiment! Clearly I was delirious to think that SSB would be better than CW – that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

This got me nowhere, slowly. Me, I prefer nowhere fast, but beggars should not be choosers. After 20 minutes of calling on SSB I decided it was time for more powah! and thus I took down my gear and moved into my truck with the trusty FT-857D and the ATAS-120A antenna with the lengthened whip. By this point I had zero hesitation to run 100 watts as I’d been at the park for close to two hours.

I posted a spot and began calling. I even turned my spotting into something humourous in an attempt to woo callers:

I got creative when posting spots 🙂

Along the way I attracted at least one bystander and spoke with them about the hobby for a bit, and I worked 4 contacts between being hunted and being the hunter. At least those 4 “only” took 15 minutes. But they were getting progressively harder. Can you spot why in the image below?

A=46

I’ll give you a clue: it starts with the letter A. I had noticed some small M-class flares over the past couple of hours and they were adding up fast. Conditions were deteriorating for me. I must have been damn near a direct hit to those flares, as others in the southern USA were making 50 contacts an hour at the same time as I wasn’t. So I finally did the right thing and moved to CW at 100 watts. I felt like Scotty “I’m givin’ ‘er all I can Cap’n!” …

…and I was met with mediocre results. Nobody answered my calls so the remaining contacts I obtained were found by hunting. Some that were calling were super loud to me and giving out 72s -indicating they were QRP- but could not hear me after my callsign was given 4 times. My final contact was with my friend VE3JO who has just returned to CW and was at a slower pace which helped to bring my blood pressure down a notch 🙂

Summary

Yes, there is a video with plenty of wise-cracking with myself to reduce tension, one of my coping mechanisms.

It’s not a race, sometimes it is a marathon that you didn’t plan on and only takes patience to have whatever you define as success finally fulfilled.

Still, how bad is it to be out in a park for a bunch of hours? It’s not too bad at all if you ask me!

72, 73 and dit dit,
…Vince

First introduced to the magic of radio by a family member in 1969, Vince has been active in the hobby since 2002. He is an Accredited examiner in Canada and the USA, operates on almost all of the modes, and is continually working on making his CW proficiency suck less. He participates in public service events around Western Canada and is active on the air while glamping, mobile, at home or doing a POTA activation. You can hear him on the Ham Radio Workbench podcast, follow him on Twitter @VE6LK, check out his YouTube channel, and view the projects and articles on his website.

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

A tale of two back to back activations

8 Comments

by Vince (VE6LK)

On Sunday July 28 I needed some shortwave therapy. I headed west from Longview Alberta to find a location on Highway 541 where I could have the perfect convergence of having cell service and be within a POTA entity and near to the mountains. This would allow me to receive any updates about a family member (none happened) while getting a break from home and to play radio.

Along the drive I took time to listen to the IARU beacons and was pleased to hear bits of VK and ZL on 15m so I was hopeful that my plan for two QRP activations -one CW and one SSB- would be successful.

I would discover just how difficult it was at the second activation … but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Activation One: Sentinel PRA

After some driving around and testing cell service at a few roadside points, I landed up at the Sentinel Provincial Recreation Area which is just inside the boundary of Kananaskis Country. This would offer me the luxuries of a bench or table along with a stunning view. While it’s not a unique entity itself in the POTA system, it is part of the larger CA-6112 that is K-Country.

Sentinel PRA is at the confluence of the Highwood River and Cataract Creek and is, like many in this area, an equestrian-focused facility. Unlike many, it’s mixed-use so day-users like me are also welcome here. Upon my arrival I was fortunate to see a few equestrian users heading out of the backcountry. What was unusual to this city-raised kid was the covered wagon a small team was pulling. Perhaps the team was training for a future cattle drive?

I set up my cameras and my radio gear and got to work at a park bench overlooking the river. I released a video of the river suitable for background white noise and to practise your Zen and/or Yoga.

I secured my carbon-fibre mast to the bench, used a small weight to hold down the 17′ counterpoise, and deployed the 41′ main segment out to a 10′ fishing pole lashed to a sign nearby. I used my carrying totes (sometimes used for groceries) as a makeshift desk. It all worked out well enough. I began my CW activation at 5 watts.

The author logging a contact

I did a basic video of the activation which you can see here:

Thirteen contacts and about 20 minutes later at 1930UTC, I called it a wrap and packed everything down to head to my next site. I wouldn’t say that conditions were stunningly good or anything, and some were downright hard to copy while others were incredibly loud. Given what I heard of the IARU Beacons on 20, 17 and 15m I wasn’t too surprised. I would later on learn that meant some solar action had happened as you’ll see in this chart.

Activation Two: Bar-U Ranch NHS

About an hour’s drive from my last stop and just south of Longview is the Bar-U Ranch National Historic Site (CA-4774). It’s a working ranch and it takes you back to the late 1800s once you set foot beyond the gate. As I’m fairly certain the Ranch would take a dim view to radio technology beyond the gate, I operated in the visitor parking lot. Once again, I set up my cameras and gear and got to work. Continue reading A tale of two back to back activations →