It was pouring rain, but I had a respectable three hour window to fit in a park activation while visiting my parents in the foothills of the NC mountains.
I had such an enjoyable experience pairing my Elecraft KX2 and AX1 antenna under a shelter at Tuttle Educational State Forest during a previous rainy day activation, I decided to revisit the same site.
Tuttle Educational State Forest (K-4861)
I knew I would likely be the only visitor at Tuttle that day; it was pretty cold and very wet.
Knowing rangers might not expect visitors on a day like this (keeping in mind this type of park caters to educational groups and are otherwise relatively quiet) I made a courtesy call to the park headquarters. I asked the ranger for permission to use their main shelter for an activation.
I hope your readers in the UK can give me some pointers I’m looking to assemble a very small portable solar set-up something I can easily move between multiple locations that isn’t too heavy to travel with.
I’ve had a look around on a few forums, eBay and Amazon but haven’t got a clue what I need. Fast charge speed isn’t a critical factor for me as long as I can get some charge into my batteries on a sunny day.
I know I need a foldable panel, solar controller and maybe cables to hook up to the battery but with a million options out there I don’t know where to start but I think panels between 60/120W output would give me enough power.
I would be most grateful if your readers particularly in the UK could give me some pointers.
My 12V 12Ah battery uses F2 spade terminals and the 30Ah uses M5 ring terminals but I have no issues using crocodile clips to make the connection.
Thank you.
Anas Patel
Thank you for your question, Anas.
While I know what is needed in theory (a PV panel, a good charge controller, cables, and a battery), I don’t know the charge controller market that well. As with batteries, I assume product availability may vary greatly by region.
I do know this: it’s important that your charge controller is rated for the battery chemistry you have/adopt. In other words, if you’re using LiFePo4 batteries, make sure the charge controller is rated for LiFePo4.
Another thing to keep in mind is that many solar panels are terminated with industry-specific connectors like the MC4. Sometimes you can integrate those connectors into your system, other times you may prefer terminating them with other connectors.
My hope is that readers might chime in with the components they successfully use in their portable charing systems. Please comment!
This is timely because I’m actually plotting a portable PV system for my field kit and will be taking notes. I can’t decide if I should simply piece together a system around existing components I have (I would need to connect a couple small folding panels in parallel a get a LiFePo4 controller) or if I should simply go for an all-in-one system like the PowerFilm Solar Lightsaver Max.
Do you know what it’s like when you have a new radio and you can’t wait to take it to the field?
Yeah, me too!
Even before I received my QCX-Mini in October 2021, I already knew where I’d take this pocket-sized, single-band QRP CW transceiver for its first field activation: Mount Mitchell (W4C/CM-001).
Mitchell is the highest summit east of the Mississippi river and only about 6 miles from my QTH as the crow flies. I had yet to activate Mitchell this year for SOTA although I have activated it for POTA/WWFF several times. As I’ve probably mentioned in the past, Mount Mitchell park is my “happy place.” Our family loves this site and we visit it frequently to hike in the spruce-fir forest.
I say “lately” but in truth I’m always tinkering with something in the shack.
The radio room/office at my QTH is pretty small, though, and I don’t have a dedicated, full-time workbench. I’ve been mentally re-arranging the room and trying to sort out a way to make space for one because it would be so nice to have a spot where my soldering iron could remain hooked up at all times.
For the moment, when I work on kits I use our dining room table so I try to stick with one or two session kits as opposed to the multi-day variety.
I have a lot of field antennas, so I don’t really need another EFHW, but then again I like having a dedicated resonant wire antenna with each of my radios and, (hey hey!) it’s a great excuse to build a kit!
I purchased the KM4ACK kit and received it within a week. Building the antenna was incredibly straight-forward. Jason packaged the components in small bags so finding parts was easy. I really appreciate kits that aren’t one large “bag-o-parts.” Continue reading Putting the KM4ACK End-Fed Half-Wave on the air at Table Rock!→
Here’s the product description from Elecraft’s website:
The AX2 is small enough to take anywhere – just in time for lightweight field ops during the new solar cycle. Use it HT-style with a hand-held, like the KX2; on a picnic table with an AXB1 whip bipod; or with a tripod and AXT1 tripod adapter. The AX2’s rugged, nylon housing is water-resistant, with low wind resistance and our new anti-wobble design.
Experimenters will love the AX2’s versatile design. A snap-off cover provides access to the high-Q inductor. Simply remove turns and re-solder one wire to cover your favorite band. Clip-off tabs are provided for band identification.
The table below shows how the new AX2 20-meter mini-whip compares to our original AX1 multi-band whip. Both are designed for lightweight portable operation. The versatile AX1 covers multiple bands via a selector switch and can handle up to 30 W continuous TX power.
The ultra-compact AX2 has a new anti-tilt base design that minimizes BNC connector wobble – ideal for hand-held (HTstyle) use. While the AX2 covers 20 meters as shipped, it can be modified by the user to cover any single band from 17 through 6 meters. The base unit includes small tabs that can be clipped off to identify the target band.
NOTE: Both whips are intended to be used with an ATU to compensate for terrain, body capacitance, height, etc.
A reader recently asked if I’d be selling my AX1 after learning about the AX2, but that isn’t going to happen. The AX2 is a 20 meters and up antenna and I see it as being a brilliant SOTA companion since its lightweight, stable design should do well on windy summits.
For POTA and WWFF, however, I really rely on the 40 meter band for most of my contacts. The AX1 covers 40 meters brilliantly (and 20M and 17M) so I’ll still rely on it quite heavily.
I think you had said you were going to test the MFJ-1899T at some point.
I remembered I had one in a bin so I pulled it out, went to the local park and did some FT8 as my radiation test. All of the PSK reporter screen shots (below) are using the 1899T at 8 watts from my IC-703. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it did plus I was able to work several POTA folks from Texas to NY on voice still at 8 watts.
Because I receive so many tips from readers here on QRPer, I wanted way to share them in a concise newsletter format. To that end, welcome to QRPer Notes, a collection of links to interesting stories and tips making waves in the world of radio!
VU3HZW’s News blog primarily for South Asian Amateurs
Many thanks to Saquib (VU3HZW) who writes:
Hello Thomas,
My name is Saquib VU3HZW from North Eastern India. Your blog is a trove of knowledge for any QRP operator. Your style of writing is awesome!
Now, here’s the story. I’ve started a Amateur Radio News & Blog – itshamradio.com. As a QRPer, you must be familiar with VU3SUA (Sunil Lakhani) from https://amateurradiokits.in.
We would be pleased if you [and your readers] could read some of the articles and give us some valuable feedback. This is just an honest attempt by us to create a vibrant amateur radio news blog primarily for South Asian Amateurs.
Good luck with the new site and thank you for sharing it with us, Saquib!
IC-705 Mic A/B button CW Keyer Challenge
Many thanks to Keith (GW4OKT) who points out that the Icom IC-705’s A/B buttons can be set up to send dits and dashes. It doesn’t allow for proper iambic keying and, as Keith admitted, isn’t terribly easy in practice. Nevertheless, he gave it a go and provided these short videos operating the IC-705 at 20WPM CW:
You might have noticed that normally I’m a good 2-4 weeks behind posting activation videos and field reports. This is due to the fact that I typically record an activation video one week, upload it sometime within the following two weeks, then write up the field report, add photos, and put it all together when the stars align.
Much of my workflow is dictated by the fact that it can (literally) take 2-3 days for a video to upload from my rural QTH. Therefore, I never upload from home, only when I have proper bandwidth.
I love this pack, Scott! I’ve never owned a proper waxed canvas bag, but I’ve heard so many good comments about them in terms of comfort and longevity. Like Red Oxx, the Filson brand is well known for quality products.
I like how you mounted your N0SA SOTA paddles to the clipboard so that they can be easily pivoted for transport.
I also like those POTA/QRP cheat sheets. I have those in my KX1 kit, but none of the others. I need to make some with QRP calling frequencies and the 60M channels (which I always forget in the field). Thank you for the tip!
Cutting an exercise mat to make a padded seat for the field is incredibly practical. That would also serve to pad the back of the pack and, as you point out, make sitting on wet ground much more comfortable!
KK4Z’s Discovery TX-500 Pack List
At my request, Scott very kindly provided links to the gear in his field kit:
Would you like to share a video or photo tour of your field pack? Please contact me. I absolutely love seeing how others pack out their kits as I always learn a trick or two myself!
Many thanks to Susan (WB2UQP) who shared this piece by Anthony (K8ZT) which was originally posted to the Elecraft KX forum. Anthony kindly gave us permission to re-post it here on QRPer.com:
AX1 Success Story
All year I have been taking part in State QSO Party Challenge with the goal of working all 45 events.
The problem was I would be on an Amtrak trip on the California Zephyr during the entire California QSO Party (ironically arriving at my destination in Emeryville, CA just after CAQP ended).
So my opportunities to get the two required contacts would be on one of the platforms during one of the Zephyr stops (usually around 5 minutes, but with a few 10-minute stops) so there would be no way to set up an antenna. I was using my Elecraft KX2 and purchased an AX1 for the trip.
My first opportunity was 10 minutes at Glenwood Springs, Colorado Station.
Using the KX2 and AX1 with counterpoise I was able to work three stations in CA on 20 Meter CW: K6XX, W6FRU, and N6TV.
During my next opportunity, now as an in-state station, from the Sacramento platform I worked two stations on 20 Meters:
W0BH in KS on CW, and K2KR in CO on SSB
-Anthony Luscre (K8ZT)
I love this, Anthony! Combining rail travel and radio? It can’t get better than that!
I also love this because it points out the advantage of compact radio setups like the KX2/AX1 pairing: they allow you the flexibility to operate in time frames and conditions other setups might not easily accommodate.
To think that you met your goal of working the State QSO Party from Amtrak platforms in 5 to 10 minute windows of time? Wow!
And it doesn’t even look like you’re breaking a sweat!
QRP radios, product announcements, reviews, news and more. Low power amateur radio fun!
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