Many thanks to Micah (N4MJL) who shares the following guest post:
Elecraft KH1 Anytime and Anywhere Adventures
by Micah (N4MJL)
Anywhere and anytime—that’s how I like to describe my Elecraft KH1. This radio goes everywhere I go. As an airline pilot, I bounce from coast to coast and everywhere in between almost daily. Since I’m constantly on the move, my radio gear has to be small and compact.
I’m a third-generation ham radio CW operator. Anyone who’s heard me on the air knows I’m still quite new to CW. I only started running CW activations with POTA/SOTA in the spring of 2024. Here’s the gear that’s been working well for me, along with a few photos from the locations I’ve had the pleasure of activating.
I’ve found that the Pelican M50 micro case is the perfect “shack in a box” for my KH1. This setup goes everywhere with me. Here’s what fits perfectly in the M50:
Packtenna 9:1 random wire
20 ft BNC coax
Panasonic ErgoFit earbuds
SP4 paddles from CW Morse
KH1 (fully loaded with internal battery and tuner)
30 ft throw line
Write-in-the-Rain notebook
High Visibility Orange Cap-O-Matic Fisher Space Pen (with lanyard)
Desiccant silica gel pack
In pedestrian mobile configuration, the KH1 is a solid system. I’ve done several activations this way. That said, after 45 minutes of holding the KH1 in this setup, I’m ready to wrap up! Having a portable shack that lets me deploy a random wire that tunes 40-15m and a more ergonomically designed key drastically improves my capabilities.
In many urban environments where I activate POTA, pedestrian mobile is essential. Unfortunately, the security in urban parks can be unpredictable, and the KH1 allows me to operate on the go and quickly move if needed.
Some of you may be wondering what I did to the inside of my M50 case. Well, in my defense, it’s my wife’s fault. She left me unsupervised with a glue gun and a bit of alcohol. When my KH1 arrived this spring, solar conditions were poor, so I had a few days to think and decided to turn the case into a makeshift Faraday box. I used Polyken aluminum tape, cardboard, and a glue gun to line it. Now, I know what you’re thinking: there’s no electrical bonding between the lid and lower box due to the rubber seal, so will this really work as a Faraday cage? Maybe, maybe not—but it sure looks cool! What do you think?
In addition to the M50 case, I carry a support pouch (Magpul DAKA, size small). This heavy-duty, water-resistant pouch contains:
31 ft counterpoise wire
AXE1 40m antenna extender
Bioenno battery 12V 3Ah (backup battery—“1 is none, and 2 is 1” if you know, you know!)
KH1 power cable
KH1 right-angle antenna mount
These items aren’t essential but are nice to have for longer activations.
When I’m done flying and ready to play radio, I pack all this gear into my Flash 22 day pack. This compact, minimalist pack takes up almost no room in my flight bag and even has a built-in whistle on the chest strap, which is perfect for California!
When conditions allow, I enjoy using the full five watts of power. My go-to antenna is the SOTAbeams Band Hopper III, which is a versatile half-wave linked dipole:
Rated 125 watts
Center-fed with 33 ft RG174 coax
Guying system included
Resonant on 20m, 30m, and 40m (no tuner needed, though the KH1 tuner will also tune up 17m and 15m)
Built-in balun
Weighs only 14 oz
The wire/guying winders are excellent, and I’ve used this system in all kinds of environments, from sandy beaches to mountain tops above the treeline. I replaced the aluminum tent pegs with plastic ones to keep TSA happier.
The SOTAbeams Tactical Mini Mast fits diagonally in my 22″ roller board. I wrap heavy rubber-coated wire around it to secure it to posts or shrubs when needed.
Along with this radio gear, I also manage to pack a change of clothes—usually enough for a five-day trip. I typically fly three trips a month, each lasting four to five days. My roller board carries me and my radio gear from plane to plane all week long.
On a short backpacking trip along the Appalachian Trail (June 3, 2024), I activated SOTA summit W4V/BR-007 Three Ridges and the Three Ridges Wilderness area (POTA US-9959). The mountain in the distance is The Priest (W4V/BR-002), which I activated earlier this year with my LNR Precision MTR4B.
The summit of Three Ridges is a densely wooded area, so I stopped below the summit to enjoy the view, grab a quick snack, and play some radio. I snagged two POTA-only QSOs with W8WZ in Louisiana and KU8T in Indiana using the KH1’s whip antenna. Once I reached the summit, I used the Packtenna 9:1 random wire for my activation. Continue reading Flying High and Keying Low: A Pilot’s QRP Adventures Across the USA→
Many thanks to John Hartzell (W3HN) and Zach Hartzell (NI4K) who share the following guest post:
Activating Grassy Mountain, GA for SOTA and two POTA parks at the same time (all while figuring out what not to do next time)
by John (W3HN) and Zach (NI4K)
Sometime in early 2024, my son Zach contacted me and said, “Dad, the Georgia SOTA and POTA folks are having a campout in October. Why don’t you visit us in Atlanta and we can go camping, meet some fellow hams, and activate a SOTA peak or two?” It made sense, as Zach had become the most active ham in the family, had taught himself CW, loved an excuse to go camping, was a natural organizer, and had been the impetus for my handful of POTA activations. And it was all easier now that I had retired in December 2023.
The “campout” was the W4SOTA campout, planned for Wednesday, October 2 through Sunday, October 6, 2024, at the Lake Rabun Beach Campground at the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Zach got his camping vehicle, Thor the Taco truck, ready for the jaunt. A Taco truck (for the handful of folks out there that don’t know this), is a Toyota Tacoma pick-up.
“Thor” is the name the truck acquired because of its imposing demeanor.
Thor at Wind Cave National Park
It has four-wheel drive, a three-inch lift, the metric equivalent of 33” tires, a Go Fast Camper pop-up camper over the bed, an electric winch, a silly number of extra lights up front, and is equipped for some of Zach’s hobbies. Air compressor for mountain biking? Check. Back-up battery with separate charging system for ham radio and a 12-volt refrigerator? Check. A pullout kitchen with a sink and two-burner stove? Check.
Winter Field Day in Northern New Mexico
Both 2-meter FM and GMRS radios in the cab for communicating with your mountain biking and camping buddies on those weekends on western Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands? Check.
Thor in North Georgia
It even has 12-volt DC available via Anderson power connectors in the cab, because you never know when you might be driving cross country and come to a lonely park in serious need of a POTA activation.
Zach emailed me spreadsheets with gear lists and options. I ignored them, scribbled unintelligible notes on my yellow pads, and ended up bringing everything that might arguably be used for SOTA, POTA, Winter and Summer Field Days, or to run a 1970s era government emergency communications center. Truthfully, that is an exaggeration – I didn’t pack the warm clothes required for a Winter Field Day.
Zach paid for a campsite, and our trip south from Pennsylvania was planned, when everything came to a screeching halt on September 30, 2024. Hurricane Helene had severely damaged areas of Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia. Zach soon learned the original campout was cancelled when he received an electronic refund for the campsite. Some of the original attendees were unable to make it, including Thomas (K4SWL) who was reporting regularly on the devastation and challenges to his family and neighbors from his QTH outside of Swannanoa, North Carolina, just east of Asheville.
We couldn’t confirm if there was a substitute campout. Despite this, we decided to push on with a modified weekend. My wife and I drove south to Atlanta, Zach organized his gear, he helped me “sort” (i.e., drastically cut back) my gear from multiple plastic tubs, and we had use of a cabin near Ellijay, Georgia, within a short drive to the summit and parks Zach had mapped out. We decided we could pull this off, and on Friday, October 4, Zach and I loaded Thor and were soon booming north from Atlanta on US-575.
View from overlook on forest road leading to Conasuaga Lake, GA
Ellijay, Georgia is a nice town. After a lovely rooftop dinner, a good night’s sleep in a cabin in the woods, and a great breakfast at a local restaurant, Zach had Thor headed to our destination, Grassy Mountain, summit W4G/HC-007. In addition to having two hams activating this SOTA summit, Zach had determined that Grassy Mountain was located within two POTA parks, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest (US-4473), and Cohutta Wildlife Management Area (US-7446). So, if we were organized, we could provide a double-triple – two operators and three locations (a SOTA summit and two POTA parks).
In about 45 minutes Thor led us to a parking spot deep in the forest near the locked gate to the Grassy Mountain access trail. We donned our GORUCK rucksacks filled with radios, antennas, coax, water, sundry accessories, and a snack or two (we left the steel plates at home). The route up to the top of the summit was a mile and a half hike on rutted double-track, with a switchback a little over half way to the summit.
View from John’s operating position
Once atop the summit Zach and I assessed the site. It consisted of about one acre of cleared land, with what looked like a former fire watch tower in the corner of the cleared area. Zach and I broke out our KX2 Elecraft transceivers. Zach hooked his to a Tufteln 40-10 EFRW, mounted to a SOTA Beams carbon fiber telescopic mast. I deployed a EndFedz EFT-MTR 20/30/40 antenna in a sloper configuration, and tuned it up using the internal Elecraft tuner. Those were the bands I intended to use. I also had my Mountain Topper MTR-3B QRP transceiver, which might get some use, too. We also used some untested QRP bandpass filters found on eBay. They seemed to work, but will undergo more scientific testing to confirm their functionality.
Trying the Tufteln Kneeboard for the activation
Zach was racking up contacts on CW, but I was having difficulty on SSB. I had been trying to operate the antenna on 20 and 40 meters when it was configured for 30 meters – which we only realized when we took a gander at the antenna manual back at the cabin after we regained cell service. The SMA connector is removed to enable 30-meter operation, not installed. Bing! It is a testament to Elecraft that their antenna tuner is robust enough to handle that mismatch. It is also an excellent example of why you should read the equipment manuals for gear you don’t operate very often before your field effort!
Elevation is our friend to reach 42.5 miles (Grassy Mountain, GA to Blood Mountain, GA) on 2m FM
Zach had suggested we use 2 meter FM for the SOTA activation, in addition to HF, so we climbed the tower as far as we could and called on the 2-meter simplex calling frequency, 146.520 MHz. We each got two or three contacts on this frequency, as there were enough folks activating summits from the original plan for the W4SOTA weekend. Interestingly, they included N5FY, the owner of Tufteln, the manufacturer of Zach’s HF Antenna.
John (W3HN) and Zach (NI4K) at Grassy Mountain, GA Summit
Zach was able to use FT8 for a QSO using an Android Application called FT8 Radio on his phone, which was linked to his KX2 through a Digirig Mobile. My CW was still rusty despite some recent practice, so I stayed on HF SSB. We enjoyed the excellent weather, some good radio conditions, and had satisfied the requirements for all three activations after 90 minutes or so. We soon packed up, hiked down, and were soon buckled into Thor and navigating the dirt roads of the national forest.
Lessons Learned:
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, in discussing World War II, is alleged to have said “plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” Ike was a smart man. A bit more planning (at least on my part) would have made things more efficient.
It was a nice day for not just hams, and we had some visitors to the summit. Zach put on his public relations hat and adroitly educated these folks while I continued to try to contact folks on SSB with a 30-meter antenna tuned to 20 meters. We should have foreseen this and been better prepared (note: see item
Zach thought a good approach would be to contact folks on the 2-meter simplex calling frequency (146.520 MHz), and then to QSY to the 2-meter adventure frequency (which is 146.580 MHz). We did not try this, as we quickly had many QSOs on the calling frequency. It was a good idea, as it would keep the calling frequency from being over used for routine communications. However, I think there are two possible bugs in this ointment: (a) I am not sure hams know of the adventure frequency so that they have it in their 2-meter memory bank; and (b) if not in their memory bank, could hams quickly QSY to the frequency? It is not intuitive to change frequency for me on my HT, and I carry a laminated cheat sheet to help me with frequency changes (note: Zach will attest that radios more complicated than an HealthKit HW-16 cause me challenges, including many with dropdown menus, so this could be a personal hardship and not one shared with other hams).
Logging is important, evidence of the adage: “if you didn’t write it down, it didn’t happen.” I was a bit flustered when we got started, and my log soon looked like a Bletchley Park cipher sheet. A few more minutes at the beginning would have saved a lot of time at the end when piecing together the logs for upload to our friends at SOTA and POTA.
We were without cell coverage on the summit. We prospectively scheduled the activation with SOTA and POTA sites the night before, but we were off by a few hours when we started operating. Would it have been better to not spot ourselves, and then just start operating? I am not sure. Probably the best solution would have been to provide enough lead time in our plan to ensure the times included in our spots aligned with the actual operating times, even if it meant we had to wait on site before starting our activation.
This was the first time we used some of the gear, predominantly the 20/30/40 antenna. We recommend a practice assembly of all the gear with SWR meters, manuals (cell service to access missing manuals), culminating in QSOs using the equipment and modes desired for the activation (note: see again our friend, item 1). This occurred the day after the activation for the HF kits through “trouble shooting,” but we were able to program our 2 meter radios prior to departure which saved some time and frustration at the summit.
We had fun. Pushing yourself in a new direction can cause a touch of anxiety, but it also develops new ideas on how to handle things in the future and provides a sense of satisfaction once you’ve done it. I’m glad Zach had this idea. Perhaps we’ll try it again next year with all the regional SOTA and POTA folks!
When you have activated the same park nearly 160 times, it starts to get a bit routine. Certainly, any day that you’re alive and able to participate in ham radio is a day to be thankful for, but I have to admit that lately I’ve gotten rather bored with activating from the Presidio of San Francisco US-7889.
Not a bad view from the activation location.
What could I do to spice things up a little bit? Recently, the W6CSN shack welcomed a new member into the QRP radio lineup, the venerable Heathkit HW-8. This got me to thinking about the days when the HW-8 was new, QRP was a niche part of the hobby, and the Internet was something that connected mainframes at universities.
Heathkit HW-8 Front Panel
That’s an idea! Try to activate a park for POTA without using the internet tools on which we’ve come to rely. The rules are: no self spotting on the POTA website and no looking at the POTA spots page to find stations to hunt. If you want to hunt, you’re going to have tune around and listen for stations calling CQ.
The stainless steel vertical mounts to a fence post which provides a good counterpoise.
The HW-8 would not debut on this activation as it’s waiting on a power cord and we haven’t really gotten to know each other yet. Instead, the trusty KH1 would be the radio choice today, coupled to a quarter wave vertical on 20 meters and sending via the Bencher BY-1.
It is only fitting to use the BY-1 on a park bench.
I set up camp on 14.059 MHz and began calling CQ POTA with no prescheduled activation, no spot on pota.app, not even looking at my phone to see what the propagation numbers were saying. In fact, I only used my phone as a camera to take pictures for this field report.
Within a few minutes I got my first call, from Ken VE7HI. The next 40 minutes were spent calling CQ and hunting other stations until I had six contacts in the log. Then came the long, desolate hour of calling with no responses and being unable to break through any of the “pileups” around other activators. The drought ended with a P2P with NR1D/0 at Barr Lake State Park in Colorado and 15 minutes later the activation was complete with K6BBQ coming through for QSO number 11.
Map of “offline” POTA activation QSOs.
While the internet certainly makes it so much easier, this activation proves that the QRPer can be successful in POTA with just a 5 watt radio and a half decent antenna. If you are looking to spice up your POTA routine, why not give an “offline” activation a try?
Many thanks to Bob K4RLC who shares this report on mixing vacation with ham radio with us. If you have an article in your head and want to have it posted here, let’s keep this community going while our friend Thomas continues to help his neighbours in the wake of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina. Draft up your story in an email with reference points to the pictures you want embedded and their captions, attach photos to the note and send it my way to vincedeon at gmail dot com and note QRPer in the subject line to get my attention.
By Bob Conder K4RLC and V4/K4RLC
Our interest in a trip to Saint Kitts began pre COVID, after my buddy Dale W4AUV and I saw an ad in the back of QST magazine by W5JON, John, for his rental villa with a complete ham radio station on this Caribbean island. What could be wrong with this scenario? Being on a beautiful Caribbean island with a complete ham radio station?
Fast forward almost five years later, when Dale and I, along with our spouses, leave Raleigh for St. Kitts. The timing was really bad for me, as at the same time Western North Carolina was devastated from Hurricane Helene. In the past, I worked with the American Red Cross Disaster Services after hurricanes and tornadoes in my home state, as well as being deployed to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Louisiana immediately after Hurricane Katrina. We have friends and family who live in upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina Including my best friend from high school and his family. All we could do was reach out to them with support, and donate money through reputable organizations such as Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Relief and the American Red Cross.
St. Kitts only has three POTA sites and no SOTA sites. I had hoped to activate at least two of the POTA sites. CW is my preferred modality. These POTA sites had only been activated by phone and dubious digital.
Saint Kitts is an unquestionably beautiful tropical island, but it is still a third world nation. The driving is British style, further complicated by having only three stoplights on the island and roundabouts every few miles. We rented a Honda CRV from Bullseye Rentals, recommended by John W5JON, the owner of the villa. Given the ancient small roads where everybody drives like your drunken old aunt with dementia, this was a good vehicle choice. Since my first and primary activation was to be Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, a UNESCO site built starting in 1690 with guarded entryways made to fit horse drawn wagons in the 1700’s, we were relieved to have passed up the large Ford Explorer rental in favor of our little Honda SUV that barely made the entryway.
Brimstone Hill Fortress“Stairway to Heaven” at Brimstone Fortress
Brimstone Hill Fortress, also known as the Gibraltar of the Caribbean, is an expansive stone fort originally built by the British in 1690 with African slaves. It has been through many modifications over the years, and different owners, but is essentially British. In fact, its construction reminded me of Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. (I was later told that Brimstone was designed and built by the Royal Engineers from the UK). Now, it is a National Park, a POTA site (KN-0003), and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Gee, the title almost tells the whole story. But not really. The title is where I ended up; how I got there, is the story.
Here’s the story.
Today, I hope to activate Fintry Protected Area CA-3505 in southern British Columbia.
One of my objectives since I started POTA last year is to try to activate as many parks as I can in the Okanagan region of BC that have not yet been activated by anyone. Nothing like a good challenge. I expect that most of them haven’t been activated because they are quite remote and difficult to access unless one has a true off-road all-terrain vehicle. Even at that, sometimes it still requires backpacking-in, to boot (no pun intended). This is in part because many of the Protected Areas and Ecological Reserves are not always directly accessible by vehicle. The roads often do not enter the park boundaries at all. They get you close, and then you need to hoof-it in to be POTA legit inside the park boundaries.
Fintry Protected Area has never been activated before, by anyone. I’m wondering why? Compared to many of my past activations, it isn’t nearly as difficult to access as some others I’ve been to.
The location in Fintry CA-3505 that I will be activating today is located about a 1-hour drive north of Kelowna, BC (where I live) via West Kelowna. The last section of travel is via rough gravel roads.
Many thanks to Rod VA3MZD who shares this five park POTA bicycle rove report with us. If you have an article in your head and want to have it posted here, let’s keep this community going while our friend Thomas continues to help his neighbours in the wake of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina. Draft up your story in an email with reference points to the pictures you want embedded and their captions, attach photos to the note and send it my way to vincedeon at gmail dot com and note QRPer in the subject line to get my attention.
By Rod Murray VA3MZD
Last year I reported, in a guest post here on QRPer, on the five POTA parks near my QTH that are linked by the Elora-Cataract Trailway, a rail trail that runs east from the quaint tourist village of Elora, Ontario, through the town of Fergus, where I live, through Belwood Lake Conservation Area and continues for approximately 45 km to the village of Cataract, on the Niagara Escarpment, well to the east. The trail passes through or near four POTA parks in my immediate vicinity, made easily accessible by foot, bicycle or vehicle, as one chooses. The Trailway is also part of the Great Trail of Canada CA-5082. In one of these nearby parks, Belwood Lake, it’s a 2-fer, making 5 parks in total.
POTA Map showing the location of the four nearby POTA parks near my QTHThe All Trails Map of the Elora-Cataract Trail/Great Trail of Canada from Elora to Belwood Lake
In my original report I had also set a goal of one day activating the one nearby park I had yet to visit, and also to activate all five local parks in one day. With the summer quickly coming to a close here in South Western Ontario, and the fact that the one park I had yet to visit would close for the season in just a few days, it was time to attack my two goals with a rove! So I made plans to rise early, hope for cooperative weather and complete my 5 park cycle trip. Could I do it?
It’s another beautiful cloudless day in southern British Columbia (16 Sept, 2024). My goal for today is to activate Buse Hill Lookout, located in Buse Lake Protected Area CA-3287, before the weather turns too cold and wet to venture into the area.
Buse Hill is about a 2.5-hour drive NW from Kelowna, BC where I live. The last ¾ hour of the drive is on gravel range roads. My wife Alexis (VE7LXE) is accompanying me on this trip, as always.
While planning for the activation, I closely studied Google Maps Satellite view, as well as Garmin GPS Birds Eye views of the activation area. This helps me evaluate the terrain and access routes. I also study the Gov’t of BC Mineral Titles online maps which give both satellite views and topographic views (before POTA, gold panning was my summer hobby and the BC Mineral Titles online maps were essential for knowing where to legally pan).
Access to Buse Hill Lookout, CA-3287. Ecological Reserve south-end access route. Tip: Click on images to enlarge view.
From these maps I can see that the last 1.5 Km is an undefined off-road access route. From the satellite views, it’s very difficult to assess the viability of a route that my Forester can handle. So, I knew there was a 50-50 chance I may be able to drive all the way up that last 1.5 Km. With this in mind, we came prepared for two eventualities: 4-wheel it up, or backpack it up if necessary.
That means having two prepared POTA back packs; one with the KX3 for near car activations, and my KX2 backpack for hiking situations.
Many thanks to Jonathan KM4CFT who shares this article with us. If you have an article in your head and want to have it posted here, let’s keep this community going while our friend Thomas continues to help his neighbours. Draft up your story in an email with reference points to the pictures you want embedded and their captions, attach photos to the note and send it my way to vincedeon at gmail dot com and note QRPer in the subject line to get my attention.
By: Jonathan Kayne, KM4CFT
About 10 months ago, I took the plunge to design my own Morse Code transceiver. It was a crazy idea, and this was certainly a massive undertaking, but somehow, I managed to pull off this monumental task. The result of the project was the CFT1, a 5 Band CW Field Transceiver specifically tailored for POTA and SOTA operations. Doing this project was a great learning experience and despite the monumental effort and work I put into it, I really enjoyed getting to design a new product. There is something special when you see something you love and put effort into appear in the hands of others and seeing them enjoy using said product.
The purpose of this article is to outline some of the thoughts I put into when I designed the CFT1. It is not meant to go into the meat and potatoes of RF design work as there are plenty of resources out there that go over that stuff. I have yet to see much discussed on design philosophy of a transceiver so I thought it prudent to document these things. That is; what I took into consideration when putting together the radio. And as I learned in this project, when pulled off correctly, can result in a great product.
Editor note – Please enjoy this guest post from Jeff Bourgeois VE7EFF.
Sometimes the elements just aren’t in my favor. I knew activating Echo Lake Provincial Park CA-3459 would be a propagation challenge. This POTA Park has never been fully activated before. Last year one operator attempted it and was only able to log four contacts. Today, I not only had mountains to contend with, but apparently significant solar storms in action as well.
What initially made this activation so challenging is that Echo Lake is located on a valley floor and that it is surrounded by mountains on almost all sides. I picked this particular spot to operate because it is the only location in the park that has a small window of opening to the South or South-South-East. I was hoping I could hit enough stations in the USA to make a successful activation of 10 contacts.
Echo Lakes is about a 2-hour drive NE from my home in Kelowna, BC, and about 45 minutes ESE of Lumby, BC. The last half-hour or so is on gravel roads. Now that we have arrived, my wife Alexis, VE7LXE, helps with unloading the gear,
This photo shows my narrow window of opportunity for southerly HF propagation. Mountains on the left, mountains on the right, and mountains behind me.
As you can see below, the eastern direction is mostly blocked by a mountain and SE is the direction where I typically have the best success of traversing the USA. I generally can’t rely on NVIS propagation; there just aren’t enough Canadian POTA chasers within NVIS range for me to make a successful activation.
Today, I’m using my recently acquired Chameleon CHA Porta-Mount to support the 34’ (really only ~ 32’) carbon fiber telescopic mast.
Once again, I’m also testing my homebrew coaxial sleeve dipole, now cut for the 17m band. I constructed it with RG-8X coax and terminated with a Fair Rite #31, 2.5” core as the RF block choke. My KX3 antenna tuner will take care of any SWR issues on all bands that I operate on.
Because I’m using a carbon fiber telescopic mast, I’ve previously noted that the mast has “significant” detuning effect on the antenna. Thus, I operate it as a slanted coaxial sleeve dipole. This moves the antenna away from much of the mast influence. The slant should also help with raising the propagation angle to hopefully clear the mountain tops (but not enough to make it NVIS).
The weather report was supposed to be mostly sunny. However, it turned out to be just the opposite and was cloudy, threatening to rain, and somewhat cold. It’s colder outside than I care for and the fact that it is threatening to rain, I decide to operate from inside my 2016 Subaru Forester. I only operate from inside my car when it isn’t viable to operate outside. Besides, I don’t want to risk getting wet today.
Now that my KX3 is fired-up and connected to the Bioenno 4.5 Ah battery and the antenna, I’m all set to see if anyone can hear me. I should mention that I’m operating at 10W today so I guess that disqualifies me as a QRP operator. 😊
Here is the play-by-play report:
I started calling CQ on 20m at 16:55 UTC (09:55 PDT). My first contact came 15 minutes later with KN7D in Utah. It took another 15 minutes to snag my next contact with WM2V in Arizona.
There’s not much happening for me on 20m, so I switch up to 17m. At 17:40 UTC I log N5RLH in NM. That’s it for 17m. Moving up to 15m, I snag a contact in NC with N4EX at 17:52. That was my only 15m contact of the day.
I went on to try 12m, 10m, and even 30m. Absolutely nothing over the next hour of calling CQ on those 3-bands. Back down to 20m. One contact with KE4KE in Minnesota. It took an hour and 15 minutes more to land just one more contact on 17m with KB6FPW/P in California at 21:00.
I’m definitely not breaking any speed records today. A tortoise could probably log more contacts than this.
Another hour passes until I land a contact with K0SX in Colorado on 20m. Suddenly, 20m picks-up steam and I land 4 more contacts on 20m – two in California and two in Colorado between 22:00 and 22:47. I’m almost at the end of the POTA UTC day for this park, but I’m determined to try to pick up more contacts before 00:00 UTC.
Last crack at 17m band. At 23:13 I land KJ7BS in Arizona. As my final contact of the UTC day, I snag KD7DUG in California at 23:15. I keep calling CQ for the next 45 minutes with no more results. It is now 00:00 UTC and the POTA day is over.
But something drives me on to keep calling CQ. I keep thinking propagation will get better.
At 00:05 I log my last contact of the day on 20m – a P2P QSO with AF0E in Colorado. I realize that this contact will have to go into the next day’s POTA log, but a contact is a contact. At the end of the day, I logged 13 valid POTA contacts, plus 1 into the next UTC day.
Tip: Click on the map for a larger image view.
The Contacts Map above does seem to confirm that my narrow corridor of propagation was primarily due-south or SSE – squeezing through the mountains opening. Some magic of propagation handed me North Carolina and Minnesota.
This is by far the hardest I’ve ever had to work to get sufficient contacts to activate a new park. I was determined to get this park activated, though. It took 7 hours of calling CQ to log 13 contacts. That’s a record 1.8 contacts/hour!
I don’t think the antenna is the real culprit for today’s weak results, especially considering that 6-days earlier I logged 68 contacts including 8 DX stations in Europe via Inonoaklin Provincial Park CA-3626 using this same antenna configuration. I wont get any awards for logging the most contacts per hour – but perhaps I qualify for an award for the least number of contacts per hour! They could call it the Snail Award. 😊
Between being surrounded by mountains and muffled by solar storms, it was a challenging day. Time to pack-up and make the 2-hour drive back home before it gets dark.
Editor note – Please enjoy this guest post from Conrad Troutmann N2YCH.
Thank you “deputy” Vince, VE6LK, for assisting in managing some guest contributor posts for QRPer.com. I’m so happy to hear Thomas and his family rode the storm out safely and send him my best wishes and hope things return to normal soon. Here’s my contribution to help keep QRPer.com going while Thomas gets his house back in order. 73, Conrad, N2YCH
September 22, 2024
Lately, the high frequency bands (15/12/10 meters) have been hit or miss, largely due to recent space weather events. Today, taking a look at WSPR beacon reception at my QTH on the Top Spotters web site, I noticed that 10 meters was open and I was spotting quite a few stations on the band.
Top Spotters Ranker – https://wspr.rocks/topspotters/
The weather here was sunny and beautiful and my batteries were all charged up, so it seemed like all signs were pointing to a POTA activation at Silver Sands State Park, US-1716. I usually activate on 20 meters, however with 10 open, I thought I’d try for some DX and give hunters that don’t normally hear me on 20 a chance to get the park. When I was trying for my Worked All States POTA award, I appreciated it when the Hawaii and Alaska activators activated on the higher bands so I had a chance to get them all the way from the East Coast. I like to return the favor when I can.
I decided to give my Elecraft KX2 a workout as well. Paired with my Buddipole vertical up 10’, I figured I would do well.
Buddipole Vertical with Elevated Counterpoise using Electric Fence PostKX3, Samsung Computer and Bioenno Battery with a view looking towards Long Island Sound at Silver Sands State Park in Connecticut
I got set up, checked and adjusted my computer time using JTSync and started calling CQ POTA on FT8. I called and called and no one answered. I checked PSKReporter and I was being spotted, but still, no answers. I was receiving well, in fact, I was picking up stations as far away as South Africa. “Hello, is this thing working? Can you hear me now?”
Just to be sure my equipment was working, I shifted to “hunt and pounce” mode. Rather than call CQ, I started answering stations who were calling CQ. It’s not my preferred way to get the QSO’s needed to officially activate the park, but sometimes that’s what you need to do. I have JTAlert set to sort received stations from strongest received signals to weakest. I’ve found based on prior experience that my chances of completing a QSO are much higher with stations that I’m receiving with strong signals. So, I answered a CQ for a station in Texas coming in at +19 and he answered right away. One in the log.
I did this for the next 30 minutes or so and managed to get six stations, about half I called and the other half answered my CQ. I moved around the waterfall looking for openings, but it was busy and challenging. Just for grins, I decided to see if FT4 was active. Sure enough, I was receiving many stations there as well. I called CQ and immediately had stations answering. I did the rest of the activation on FT4 and had a steady stream of callers. I completed the activation with 17 total QSO’s, my map is below. I make these maps using the Adventure Radio log analyzer. You can import the same log you upload to the POTA page and put the grid square in and it generates the map.
Activation QSO Map made with the Adventure Radio Log analyzer
Interestingly, all of the USA contacts were on FT8 and when I moved to FT4, I picked up all of the EU ones. I was happy to see after I uploaded my log to the POTA site that almost all of the hunters who got me were active POTA hunters and had accounts at the POTA web site. In fact, one was actually a park-to-park QSO. PA4PA was at the Sluiswaai Nature Reserve, NL-0219 in the Netherlands.
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Some of you may be wondering what I did to the inside of my M50 case. Well, in my defense, it’s my wife’s fault. She left me unsupervised with a glue gun and a bit of alcohol. When my KH1 arrived this spring, solar conditions were poor, so I had a few days to think and decided to turn the case into a makeshift Faraday box. I used Polyken aluminum tape, cardboard, and a glue gun to line it. Now, I know what you’re thinking: there’s no electrical bonding between the lid and lower box due to the rubber seal, so will this really work as a Faraday cage? Maybe, maybe not—but it sure looks cool! What do you think?
