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.
This activation took a bit of research to figure out the intersection of the two given that the landscape had been dramatically altered from the time of the Battle of Beaver Dams in 1813. For example, at that time, the Welland Canal did not exist! So the town of Thorold has a park located at the west end of the battle site, and I was able to locate a monument at the east end, thus I was able to extrapolate and see that Lock 7 was in a direct path between the two. Thus I settled at Lock 7 for the activation.
A borrowed grocery cart serves as a mast support given the hard soil. Antenna runs off to the vehicle on the right.
I started off on CW, hunting other friends that were activating (shout-out to Ed W4EMB!) and then switched to SSB QRP where Steve KO4AFL found me and we had a brief chat before we both moved on. I stayed on 20m for this activation.
A quick drive-up activation means operating from the trunk
The Welland Canal is an engineering marvel that allows lake freighters to traverse the 100m/326′ height difference between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
Opened in 1833, it sees an average of 3,275 freighters during the shipping season which runs about 9 months of the year. With that sort of traffic, you can be reasonably assured that you’ll see one of these huge freighters on the day and time that you visit the area.
List of gear used for these activations:
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After my earlier activation with N2MAK, we drove down the Niagara Parkway past Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake before arriving at the Welland Canal. It was a pleasant day and not terribly humid.
VA3ELE, Peter, with an attempt to set a new distance record on 78GHz
One last ham radio related story to the day was running into Peter (VA3ELE) about 1km from our home-away-from-home as he was attempting to set a new distance record with a friend who was well over 100km away.
Peter explained to me that his radio was 3W and the dish yielded 47dB of gain thus his ERP was around 14,000W see below. Needless to say that I did not stand in front of the dish.
[EDIT Sept 26] with gracious thanks to the math wizardry of David VE7EZM, the result of 47dB of gain with 3W of input is approximately 150,356W ERP.
All in all, labour day 2024 was full of beautiful scenery and lots of Ham Radio – exactly how a vacation day should be in my books.
72 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.
As always there are lots of links within the article. Click one! Click them all! Learn all the things! ?
by Vince (VE6LK)
In August and September 2024 I was travelling around Southern Ontario for some family matters and naturally I brought my radio kit with me to squeeze in some radio therapy stops along the way. This is the report of my stop at CA-5367, McQuesten House / Whitehern National Historic Site.
View from the rear of Whitehern showing nearby office tower
This site is located in downtown Hamilton and among the tall building and features a walled rear garden. It is open to all visitors and there is no fee to visit the facility. This two-storey neoclassical house was the home of a prominent family, the McQuestens, and retains many of its original Victorian and Edwardian fittings and furnishings. It is now a museum open to the public.
This activation was strictly by chance and I had less than an hour before I was due to be someplace else. I did not check the solar conditions in advance nor anything about the site. Sometimes just showing up is fun in and of itself, am I right? So I found my way around to the rear garden and found a bench in an out-of-the-way corner and set up for a low impact activation.
I deployed my AX1 on it’s small tripod and placed it on the ground and ran out a 20m counterpoise wire beside the walking path. I set myself and the radio gear on a park bench along the path. It truly felt like a small enclave!
After calling for 10 minutes with zero replies I checked the solar conditions and see that a small flare had just hit. That might explain the soft conditions, and combined with the compromised antenna and its close proximity to me. I moved the antenna away from me as far as the feedline would allow. Only then was I able to log just a few contacts and those were hard-fought. Then I ran out of time.
The author in his temporary enclaveA partial log. Contacts were not obtained by calling out, but by hunting others.
List of gear used for these activations:
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I’ve spoken before about “getting to 10” with a POTA activation. For me, that’s always one of my goals. But it isn’t the only goal. I also enjoy the new scenery, the journey, the research and the challenge. This visit was high on the scenery and the challenge end of the scale for sure.
72 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.
In August and September 2024 I was travelling around Southern Ontario for some family matters and, naturally, I brought my radio kit with me to squeeze in some radio therapy stops along the way. This is the report of my stop at Dundurn Castle National Historic Site, CA-5360.
Located in the city where I was born, Hamilton, Dundurn Castle has been a landmark since 1834, when the land was sold to Sir Allan MacNab. The castle is located on Burlington Heights, the site of a fortified military encampment established by the British during the War of 1812.
MacNab was a railway magnate, lawyer and Premier of the United Canadas (1854-1856). Today Dundurn Castle tells the story of the family who lived above stairs and the servants who lived and worked below stairs. He was a defining figure in so many ways in the local history, and performed the original survey of home lots and land in the Hamilton area. Indeed, the home I was born in (on MacNab Street no less) was on land once deeded to its owner from MacNab.
And Dundurn Castle has a personal tie in for me as my father, a finishing carpenter, worked tirelessly on it’s restoration in the mid 1960’s leading up to Canada’s Confederation Centennial in 1967. As kids we spent a lot of time on the grounds.
As always there are lots of links within the article. Click one! Click them all! Learn all the things! ?
by Vince (VE6LK)
In August and September 2024 I was travelling around Southern Ontario for some family matters and naturally I brought my radio kit with me to squeeze in some radio therapy stops along the way. This is the report of my stop at Hamilton Waterworks National Historic Site (CA-5365).
It was a rainy Friday morning as I departed at 0730h to get in some radio therapy before getting to the fishing store and getting some more of the Fishing Butler bungee straps I’d picked up a week prior. And, as it happens, Fishing World in Hamilton was pretty much around the corner from CA-5365. I’d chosen this site as it had never been activated in CW.
The Hamilton Waterworks National Historic Site is “…a gracious complex of mid 19th-century brick industrial buildings…” located in the North-East end of Hamilton near Lake Ontario. It is part of Hamilton’s original water works complex which sprawls along Woodward Avenue.
And it is delightfully radio quiet, however the noise from the local street was the real challenge for me. Next time I’ll use earbuds.
The original wood shed serves as a covered picnic and teaching area for students that visit the Hamilton Museum of Steam and Technology, part of this NHS.
This is one site I drove to without much research and I was prepared with a backup site were I not able to activate it for whatever reason. Thus I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a large covered area with picnic tables and a small grass area outside to stake down my Carbon Fibre mast. Hoisting/throwing the wire turned out to be a challenge given the shape of the giant support timbers (rounded) as the wire would fall into the narrow end of the crevice, so with some creative use of the CF mast, I was able to essentially fish it into place. Later removal was the reverse process for the same reason.
All set up and ready to go with my 20-30-40m EFHW trapped antenna
I checked the solar conditions and it showed low K and moderate A indicies, and then I verified with a spin of the VFO to see what I could hear. I set my power at 5W and began the activation on 20m. Being located in Ontario, I hear a different set of regular callers than I may otherwise when at home in Alberta. Still a fair number of callsigns are immediately recognizable and they put a smile on my face.
I had planned this to be a CW only activation to exercise my brain. I worked my way from 20m to 40m then to 30m. I was surprised with the short distances on 30m working a couple of stations in Ontario that were less than 75 miles away.
After catching 30 in the log my time was up and the rain had started -along with nearby thunder- so I hastily disconnected the coax and took down my antenna and got on with my day.
List of gear used for these activations:
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It was wonderful to spend time among such elegant buildings that have stood there for 167 years. The park is a peaceful place in an otherwise industrial end of an industrial city and is a delight to visit. I hope to do so again soon.
72 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.
Sunday, July 14 finally arrived, a day for which I prepared the past five weeks. It was time for Daisy and the POTA Babe to head to North Carolina for a week of POTA, SOTA, and camping. The drive was straight-forward and easy – Interstate 95 to Interstate 26.
About four hours after leaving Savannah, we arrived at my first POTA location: the Carl Sandburg National Historic Site (US-0804) in Flat Rock, NC.
map source: GIS Geography
I LOVE visiting North Carolina. Nearly everywhere you look in the countryside you see green, green, GREEN. There are ferns (one of my favorite plants) in the understory. There are wildflowers in the fields I don’t see back home. There is a certain earthy smell when one walks trails. And the roads! Don’t get me started on how much fun I have driving the winding mountain roads with their banked curves! (Can you tell I love visiting North Carolina?)
Ferns in the woods of the Carl Sandburg site
Back to the story at hand, the Carl Sandburg National Historic Site is 264 acres and contains the home of Carl Sandburg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and poet. He and his family moved to the site in 1945. It suited his need for seclusion and his wife’s needs for raising her prize-winning goats. In fact, the park service actually maintains roughly fifteen goats in a historic herd on site today.
Property map with my notes
The Sandburg home sits atop a hill and one gets glimpses of the house as you walk along the lengthy driveway winding up the hill toward it. The drive is shaded and benches dot the pathway beckoning one to sit and enjoy the quiet. I longingly looked at them as an activation site but the intermittent presence of pedestrians nixed that idea.
Daisy is ready to go!The trail around the lake was necessary as a pedestrian bridge was under constructionView of the house from the driveway looking up the hillPath along the driveway
Both Daisy and I were surprised by the heat of the day. The temperature was 91 degrees! Thankfully, outside the house I spied some trees with shade beneath them. Their orientation would allow me to run my antenna toward the northwest and their shade was a welcome respite from the heat.
The Sandburg homeOur QTH in the shade
Given I saw no restrictions on antennas in the trees when reading the rules of using the property, I promptly set about getting the EFRW up. Trust this hobby to keep you humble, though. On my last activation at Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area, it took just one perfect throw to snag the branch I wanted. Today, it took four! Some days you have it and others you don’t.
Creatively displaying the POTA flag!
The activation proceeded slowly, I think mostly due to the inconsistent band conditions. It took an hour to log twelve stations. There were several stations I heard but they were too faint or they disappeared on me. Continue reading The POTA Babe Goes North – Day 1→
I did not know if you are aware, but Digikey has in stock about 67 HRWB 5-port dc power strip kits. I ordered one last night, they are $49.94 plus tax/shipping. Apparently these have been out of stock for some time, I am glad to see them available.
72 and God bless,
Mike Serio
KG4MTN
Thanks for the tip, Mike! These will sell out quickly, so grab one while you can, I say! I love mine.
You might recall from my previous field report that I took the family on a camping trip at New River State Park in April 2022. During that trip, I made an activation of New River each day and also fit in a very fun SOTA activation (click here to read an overview).
Note that anytime you’re performing an activation over multiple days at any one park, you can only have one activation per UTC day.
I’m often asked if I ever charge my LiFePo4 batteries in the field via solar energy.
Truth is, I’m a big fan of solar, but I’m rarely in the field long enough to need to recharge my batteries via solar when performing SOTA and POTA field activations. It’s easier to charge them at home in advance (often via the solar system at our QTH).
In fact, one of my 3 Ah LiFePo4 Bioenno batteries can easily take me though 3-5 activations or possibly more, depending on the length of the activation and the rig I’m using.
Photo by K4TLI
For longer forays into the field, however, I love going solar.
Indeed, every few years, my family will stay in an off-grid cabin on Prince Edward Island (Canada) for up to 6 weeks at a time. Solar is the only practical way to stay on the air that length of time.
Of course, I also like having a solar option, when doing proper primitive/off-grid tent camping.
In the past, I’ve used a very simple portable solar charging system based on a variety of rigid and folding panels, a Micro M+ charge controller, and sealed lead acid batteries. The batteries are of course heavy, but they work brilliantly for fixed operations.
These days, I’m fully invested in LiFePo4 batteries and my Micro M+ charge controller is not really designed to pair with the BMS (battery management system) in my Bioenno packs.
I contacted Buddipole with a few questions about the unit and to find out when they would be in stock again (at the time, they were on back-order and indeed they are at time posting this report).
If you were hunting POTA contacts last week, you might have seen my callsign pop up in the spots quite a few times at New River State Park (K-2748).
Morning reading along with a proper brew in my C.R.A.Q. coffee mug!
Our family decided to take a little break from everything–including the internet–and simply enjoy the great outdoors and a little camping in our small travel trailer (caravan).
Our ferocious guard dog protecting the camp site from hostile invaders. Note that she’s actually awake and alert. A rarity indeed!
It was amazing fun.
In terms of radios, I limited myself to two. While we had room for more, I decided in advance I wanted to spend some proper bonding time with my Yaesu FT-817ND.
I’m so glad I did.
I also brought the Elecraft KX2 but primarily planned to use it when operating off-site. This way, I could keep the FT-817ND system hooked up and ready for action at our camp site.
In fact, the KX2 remained in my SOTA pack for the duration of the trip as a grab-and-go. I had an absolute blast with it activating the summit of Mount Jefferson.
Solar power
This camping trip gave me an excuse to use a station accessory I purchased last year: my Buddipole Powermini 2.
The Powermini 2 is a very compact and capable charge controller with an input for solar panels, a battery, two DC outputs, and even a USB power output. A genius little device.
I’ve been asked a number of times why I don’t do solar charging in the field during my activations. There are a few reasons, actually:
First of all, my activations tend to be short in duration–perhaps 45 to 75 minutes. I could easily operate for a few hours on one battery charge with most of my QRP radios. In other words, I rarely need to recharge in the field.
Often, my field activation sites are shaded by choice. Since I like to hang wires in trees, those same trees would block sunlight from ever hitting my panels.
Finally, unless I’m testing a new radio, I tend to take the least amount of accessories necessary to complete the activation. This is especially the case with SOTA activations. Since I’m unlikely to use solar panels, I leave them in the car or at the QTH. I do, however, keep them packed and at-the-ready should the need arise.
I paired the Powermini 2 with PowerFilm Solar folding panels I purchased many moons ago at Hamvention (I’m guessing in 2012 or so–?). These were blemished units and I snagged them for a brilliant price. Looking back, I wish I would have purchased a few more.
They’re only 5 watts each, but I run them in parallel to feed the charge controller with the equivalent of 10 watts.
QRP gear is so efficient, these modest panels actually do a respectable job keeping the battery topped off. At New River State Park it helped that our picnic table was in full sunlight most of the day.
Sure, we had shore power at the site, but where’s the fun in that?
QRM
During the week, the site had low levels of RFI/QRM. That all changed during the weekend when new campers moved in along with their leaky switching power supplies and noisy inverters.
On Saturday, I found it too frustrating to try making contacts from the campsite–the noise floor was a steady S7 with peaks around S9 simply washing over all but the strongest signals. I regretted not packing my Chameleon loop antenna.
Instead of fighting the QRM, I abandoned it. I drove to a large isolated picnic shelter at New River and set up the KX2 and CHA MPAS Lite antenna.
The site was noise-free and I had amazing fun.
Videos
I made quite a few activation videos, so I’ll eventually post them with abbreviated field reports.
Frankly, I am still catching up from having been offline so long.
Thank you
Massive thanks to my good friend Eric (WD8RIF) who took care of QRPer.com while I was gone. He’s been moderating comments and making sure scheduled posts published properly. In fact, my friend Robert Gulley (K4PKM) was holding down the fort over on the SWLing Post too. I’m so thankful to both of them.
Also, many thanks to all of the hunters who worked me on multiple bands and in multiple modes. A special shot out to NE4TN who was a life saver and spotted me on several occasions when the connection between the POTA site and Reverse Beacon Network were down. Many thanks, OM!
Of course, I’d also like to send a special thanks to those of you who have been supporting the site and channel through Patreon and the Coffee Fund. While certainly not a requirement as my content will always be free, I really appreciate the support. Your support actually helps to make radio fun like this possible.
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