Category Archives: POTA

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

Activating on the Road:  The Last Park

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by Brian (K3ES)

In case you haven’t seen previous Field Reports in this series, let me set the stage.  In September and October of 2024, my wife, Becky, and I set out with our dog, Molly, for a great cross-country driving adventure.

We left from our home in northwest Pennsylvania on September 18, driving west to spend some time with my parents at their home in California’s Bay Area.  We returned home on October 31, after driving through most of the states of the American West.  One of the goals for this trip was to activate Parks on the Air (POTA) entities in as many new states as possible along the way (it turns out that with good planning and good weather, it is possible to activate a LOT of states).  An overview of our trip can be found in the following Field Report (linked) on QRPer.com:  Six Weeks and 7300 Miles:  Activating on the Road.

On the westward leg of our trip, we zipped through Ohio and Indiana in a single marathon day of driving, without stopping to activate a park.  There was no intent to diminish these fine states of our union, but I had previously activated parks there.

On the return leg of the trip, our priorities and our perspectives had changed a bit, so we made up for our previous inattention by activating new parks in both states on the way home.  The change in priority came with the realization that we had succeeded in activating every state that I had planned to complete.  I have now activated every lower 48 state west of the Mississippi River, save Arkansas and Louisiana (we intentionally left them for a future trip through the southern states).  The change in perspective came from the realization that activating a park made for a nice break during a day of driving.

We planned for a modest 3-1/2 hour drive on our final day of the trip, so that we could arrive home before dark.

We spent the night near Mansfield, OH, and took our time getting breakfast and checking out in the morning.  We had also looked over our maps and found an Ohio park to activate during the drive:  Lake Milton State Park, US-3515.

Lake Milton State Park

Seen from the park, this bridge carries Interstate 76 across Lake Milton

As I-76 runs east-to-west across northern Ohio, it crosses over the middle of Lake Milton.  For radio amateurs familiar with other attractions along the I-76 corridor, Lake Milton is about 20 miles east of the DX Engineering store.

Lake Milton State Park incorporates the lake itself, as well as selected land around the lake-shore.    We decided to head for one of the park’s picnic areas, located on the eastern shore of the lake near the I-76 bridge.  We found a parking lot, a large grassy area running down to the lake, picnic shelters, and comfort facilities.  As Becky took Molly for a walk around the grounds, I set up to operate from a table in a picnic shelter.

A view of the picnic area beside Lake Milton shows me activating from the shelter at left.  I threw a line over a branch on the tree to the right, and used it to hold my antenna as a sloper.
The gull in this picture was riding the wind, but going nowhere fast.
Standing straight out from its flagpole, this flag spoke eloquently of the wind.

It was a nice afternoon at the park.  The weather was warm and sunny, but a stiff breeze was blowing across the lake.  An American flag stood straight out from flagpole, and soaring gulls hung near-motionless in the sky.  Both provided evidence of the wind’s power.  The warmth of the day and the winds cooling effect were in perfect balance to produce a comfortable environment for activating, even though the breeze provided a bit of audio spectrum QRN.

The Activation

Caught from behind, while focused on incoming code…

I tossed a throw-line over a branch on one of the large trees near the shelter, and quickly hoisted up my Tufteln 35 ft end-fed random wire (EFRW) antenna.  With the antenna set up, I connected the rest of the station.  Moments later, my log was ready, and I was on the air.

I was able to spend an hour on the air, and with the EFRW and the KX2’s amazing internal tuner, I was able to rapidly transition between HF bands.  Operating CW mode at 5 watts, I was successful in making contacts on the 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, and 10m Amateur bands.  In total, I logged 30 contacts, including 3 DX stations from Europe, a thoroughly satisfying activation experience.

This map shows the contacts made from Lake Milton.  It was gratifying to get some DX during the last activation of our trip.

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Conclusion

Becky takes amazing pictures.  Here, another view of Lake Milton.

Packing up the station went quickly, and we were back in the truck and ready for the final leg of our trip.  In about 2 hours of driving, we were pulling into our own driveway for the first time in a month and a half.  It is difficult to fully describe the feeling.  It was really nice to be back home.  The prospects of sleeping in my own bed and relaxing in my own chair were really welcome.

But, at the same time, this adventure was over, and we would soon be back to our old routines.  After 6 weeks together, Becky, Molly and I would again be headed in the different directions occasioned by our day-to-day activities.  So, there was gladness of a return to the familiar, combined with the bittersweet feeling of the end of our travel adventure.

As I think about our trip from the distance of almost 6 months, and a long, cold winter, I realize that I am ready to start thinking seriously about our next driving (and radio) adventure!

Home.  After 6 weeks and 7300 miles, it was nice to get back…

Best 73 de Brian, Becky es Molly

Antennas, Field Reports, Morse Code, New Products, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Videos

From Box to POTA: First Activation with the New Elecraft AX3!

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by Thomas (K4SWL)

If you’ve been a QRPer.com reader or subscriber to my YouTube channel for long, you’ll know I’m quite the fan of super-compact, low-profile antennas like the Elecraft AX1 and AX2.

In fact, I just checked, and my Elecraft AX1 activation video playlist alone includes 36 videos as of this post.

Although AX antennas are certainly a compromise in terms of performance, I find them surprisingly effective for on-the-air programs like SOTA, POTA, and WWFF. While they’re not high-gain, they’re also far from the “dummy load” some make them out to be. In fact, the best DX I’ve ever worked in the field was with my Elecraft AX2 and just 5 watts of power—check out the field report.

The New AX3

A couple of weeks ago, Wayne Burdick of Elecraft announced the new Elecraft AX3 portable antenna, the latest addition to the AX line.

Unlike the AX1 and AX2—which attach directly to the radio—the AX3 is fully self-supporting, thanks to its detachable tripod legs and 1/4-20 base mount. This adds next-level mounting versatility, making it ideal for tabletop or ground deployment. (Check out how Conrad so easily mounted it to two different tripod options in his recent field report.)

It covers 30 through 10 meters and uses a 4-position band selector plug, which I personally find more rugged than the AX1’s band switch. Like its siblings, the AX3 is designed to pair with an ATU, but unlike the AX1/AX2, it doesn’t need to physically mount to the transceiver—so it’s compatible with virtually any rig and tuner combo. The AX3 also supports up to 30 watts.

Despite the added versatility, the AX3 still packs incredibly small: the whip, base, and tripod legs collapse to just 6 inches, yet the whip extends to 45 inches in the field. The side-mounted BNC connector avoids awkward cable bends or adapters.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m in the testing group for the Elecraft KH1 and, as such, I was aware the new AX3 was on the horizon, but I had not yet tested it in the field until I ordered one and it was delivered on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.

From Unboxing to Activation

Since Hurricane Helene wiped out our local post office, my buddy Vlado (N3CZ) has kindly allowed me to have parcels delivered to his house. When he told me that “a small box” had arrived from Elecraft, I knew exactly what it was.

I had an errand in town that afternoon, so I swung by Vlado’s, picked up the package, and then stopped at the Blue Ridge Parkway Folk Art Center to perform the AX3’s debut activation.

Of course, I packed my Elecraft KX2, thinking it would only be right to pair the AX3 with an Elecraft radio for its first outing!

In my activation video (below), you’ll see that assembling the AX3 was incredibly simple right out of the box. I ordered the full AX3 package, which includes the antenna, mini banana plug, counterpoise wire, tripod legs, BNC-to-BNC cable assembly, and a small nylon storage bag.

I attached the tripod legs, screwed on the whip antenna, clipped the counterpoise to the ground lug, and connected the BNC cable. In less than a minute, the antenna was fully deployed and ready to go!

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Key

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On The Air

The first thing I did was make sure the band plug was set to 14 MHz, then pressed the ATU button to find a match on 20 meters. Continue reading From Box to POTA: First Activation with the New Elecraft AX3! →

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Conrad Tests the Elecraft AX3 at Silver Sands State Park

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Elecraft AX3 Field Report

By: Conrad Trautmann (N2YCH)

My new Elecraft AX3 antenna arrived in the mail. The weather when it arrived was 73° F and sunny with a slight breeze. Space weather was calm.  It seemed like the perfect recipe for a POTA expedition to the unofficial antenna testing range at Silver Sands State Park (US-1716) here in Connecticut on the Northern shoreline of Long Island Sound to try out the AX3. Given that this antenna is specifically designed to be light and portable, I chose my Elecraft KX2 to pair it with, which is also light and portable.

Conrad, N2YCH testing the new Elecraft AX3 at Silver Sands State Park, Connecticut

The AX3 operates on six bands. Out of the box, it can do 30,20,17,15,12 and 10 meters. With the optional AXE1 adapter, you can add 40 meters as well. Elecraft says an ATU is required, which I have built into my KX2. I tested using FT8 on 30/20/17 & 15 meters, the four positions labeled on the front “jumper block.” Using FT8, I was able to use the PSKreporter.info website to get a sense of where my signals were being received. This antenna is capable of handling 30 watts, which is amazing for its size. I ran 10 watts from the KX2.

Unlike the AX1, which needs something to hold it in place such as a tripod or the optional bipod, the AX3 comes with three legs to turn the base into a tripod.

AX3 integrated Tripod

At the park, I tried using the legs which lasted all of 30 seconds before the Long Island Sound breeze blew it right over on its side. Anticipating that it might be too breezy down at the shoreline, I brought a slightly heavier tripod along. The good news is that the bottom of the antenna is tapped with a ¼-20 hole to connect to any standard camera tripod. The heavier tripod did the trick.

Elecraft KX2 with new AX3 antenna

I used a three foot piece of coax as recommended and I had no problem with RFI into the radio or the computer. The KX2 was able to tune to 1.0:1 SWR on all bands except for 17 meters, which was right around 2.0:1. I should note that I had the 13’ counterpoise laying on the ground for this test.

KX2 1.0:1 SWR on 20 meters

I began on 20 meters and in 20 minutes, I had the 10 QSO’s needed to activate the park.

Map showing spots on 20 meters.

Next I QSY’d up to 17 meters.

PSKreporter.info spots on 17 meters

Here, I had plenty of spots, yet I struggled to get two in the log before I gave up and QSY’d to 15 meters. Changing frequency is as simple as pulling the jumper block out and moving the arrow to the correct frequency.

Jumper Block used to change bands

Thankfully, 15 was open and my first QSO was with a station in Ukraine and my second was in California.

QSO Map – Dark Blue are 20 meter contacts, Light Blue are 15 meters and Purple are 17 meters
Completing a QSO with the Ukraine on 15 meters

I made contacts on 20, 17 and 15 meters. Could I manage something on 30? I tried but to no avail. I was spotted by stations on PSKreporter, but after calling for some time, I figured that midday in Connecticut was just not the best time for that band. Before I packed up for the day, I went back to 17 meters which was definitely better than earlier and I logged three more for a total of five on the band.

PSKReporter spots on 15 meters using the AX3 antenna

I took the opportunity to go back to Silver Sands a few days later to try the antenna on 12 and 10 meters, which I did not do on the first trip out. I also wanted to see how elevating the counterpoise might affect the performance. It was downright windy, so I brought along a camera tripod this time to provide more stability. Obviously, the extra weight carrying a full size tripod wouldn’t be ideal for a SOTA activation, but for my test, I brought it along.

AX3 on camera tripod

The high band propagation was miserable when I went out, I was wondering if I’d be able to make any contacts at all. I was pleased to see that elevating the counterpoise allowed 17 meters to easily match to the antenna with a 1.0:1 SWR. I then tried 15, 12 and 10 meters which also tuned right up and I made contacts on all bands.  10 and 12 meters were open to my south. I made QSO’s with Belize, Mexico, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

QSO Map Day 2 – Purple is 17m, Light Blue is 15m, Pink is 12m and Yellow is 10m (click image to enlarge)
AX3 on camera tripod with elevated counterpoise

The AX3 did not disappoint.

Making QSO’s from California to the Ukraine and down into South America while sitting at a picnic table in a park in Connecticut with just 10 watts using such a small antenna is simply amazing to me. I like the AX1, which I used primarily on 20 meters. Having the multi-band flexibility of the AX3 is very nice, especially now that the upper bands are active, and it provides more flexibility for operating portable and being able to change bands on the spot to adapt to the ever changing band conditions.

Click here to check out the AX3 product page.

Articles, News, People, POTA, Travel

Three Generations of CW Ops: Battleship North Carolina Activation and a Family Legacy

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by Micah (N4MJL)

It’s not every day that I get the chance to do a POTA activation from the radio room of a battleship. But thanks to the Azalea Coast Amateur Radio Club, I was able to do a POTA activation of US-6831 from the radio room of (BB-55) USS North Carolina in Wilmington, NC.

If you would like the chance to be a guest radio operator for the BB-55, check out http://ac4rc.org to set up your activation.

The below-deck self-guided tour takes you through Radio Central. The radio room that the radio club utilizes can be seen from Radio Central; however, it is separated from public access by a clear plexiglass bulkhead door. Because the public can watch from the other side of the glass, be aware that it can be very noisy.

To make things more distracting, there is a loudspeaker in the radio room central playing pre-recorded Morse code for ambiance.

Radio Central is located a couple of floors down in the belly of the iron-armored beast, so be sure to schedule your activation on the POTA page. There is no cell phone reception below decks.

The radio club has an IC-756 Pro III available for use. I am not sure about the status of the other WWII vintage radios. I definitely recommend you bring your own key! They had a Bencher paddle thrown in the filing cabinet; it was not usable due to the contacts being bent way out of position. Fortunately, I brought my BaMakey TP-III key with me. If you are using a 3.5mm stereo plug, make sure to bring a 1/4” plug adapter for use with the IC-756 key/headset jacks.

The radio club has the IC-756 and external tuner hooked up to one of the battleship’s original long wire antennas. During the activation, I only operated on 20M. I did attempt to tune 17m and 15m, but I was unsuccessful in getting a match. However, that may have been operator error on my end since I was unfamiliar with the radio and that particular external tuner.

After a minute or so of calling CQ, the Reverse Beacon Network did its magic, and I was blown away by an insane pileup. I realized that I am used to operating QRP with somewhat compromised antennas. In sheer panic, I started looking to see how to turn the power down from 100 watts to, say, 2 watts!!!!

In that moment, I saw a vision of a seasoned Navy Radio OP sitting beside me. He reached over and smacked me on the back of my head and said, “Listen, kid, you’re not some hippie tree hugger operating QRP on some windswept mountaintop. You are operating from the battleship USS North Carolina. She has participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific area of operation during WWII. Now stand tall, run full power, and work ’em all!”

With that old-school counseling session complete, I began to work the pileup. After being on the air for one hour and fifty-three minutes, I worked 67 stations, with two duplicates and one busted call sign (that I know about). Eventually, no one responded back to my CQ, and I sent “Last call fer POTA de N4MJL” twice. After no one responded to my second message, I quickly sent QRT and started breathing again!!!!!!

In addition to working SA4BLM from Sweden, one of the coolest contacts I got that day was from my dad, AC0UT, located in Missouri.

It’s not every ham that can say that their dad called them using CW while on a battleship.

CW actually runs in my family. I am a third-generation CW op. Continue reading Three Generations of CW Ops: Battleship North Carolina Activation and a Family Legacy →

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QRP with Friends: Brian (K3ES) Joins Me for a Two-Fer POTA Activation!

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On the activator side of things, Parks On The Air is often a solitary pursuit for me. I typically squeeze in activations as my schedule allows—usually at random times during the day in parks that happen to be along my daily route.

But every once in a while, the stars align and I get the chance to activate with a friend. When that happens, it only amplifies the radio fun. Saturday, March 22, 2025, was one of those special days. My dear friend—and frequent field report contributor—Brian (K3ES), along with his amazing wife and photographer, Becky, stopped by Asheville en route to the Outer Banks.

I was so happy everything came together and we were able to meet up for a short, relaxed, and thoroughly enjoyable activation.

Two-Fer Time!

When out-of-state activators come through the area, I always try to offer them the option of a two-fer—activating two parks at once—to maximize their POTA opportunities. I’m not sure Brian had strong feelings about this either way, but it was simply too easy to pair the Blue Ridge Parkway (US-3378) with the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (US-8313). Since we were meeting at the Folk Art Center, all it took was picking the right picnic table near the MST.

In my rush to leave the QTH that morning, I realized halfway down the driveway that I’d forgotten to pack my antenna. I could’ve turned around, but I knew Brian would have a few antenna options stowed in his field kit—and of course, he did!

He chose to deploy a homebrew end-fed random wire with a 29.5’ radiator and 17’ counterpoise. We paired it with my Elecraft K1 transceiver–a radio I knew Brian had never operated.

The only drawback of this particular picnic table is its proximity to the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. When deploying a wire antenna, you have to be careful not to obstruct the path for hikers. We positioned the wire in a near-vertical configuration above the table and kept the throw line tucked away on the opposite side from the trail.

We were also quite conspicuous—another reason I usually avoid this picnic table when activating solo. On a busy day, it’s not unusual to have a dozen people stop by to ask what you’re up to. It’s a great outreach opportunity, but a string of interruptions can make it difficult to complete exchanges—especially while sending CW. Sadly, my internal CPU isn’t optimized for multitasking!

Right to Left: Brian (K3ES) and Thomas (K4SWL)

But when there are two of you taking turns at the key, it works beautifully—one person can handle the questions while the other shows just how cool Morse code still is in the 21st century.

It was a fairly quiet day at the Folk Art Center, but one curious family did stop by to chat with us during Brian’s turn at the key—and I really enjoyed the interaction.

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  • Elecraft K1 (four band version with optional ATU and internal AA battery pack)

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On The Air

Brian kicked things off, knowing that band conditions had been flaky of late. He tuned up on 20 meters using the K1’s ATU and started calling CQ POTA. Continue reading QRP with Friends: Brian (K3ES) Joins Me for a Two-Fer POTA Activation! →

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Philip’s Field Impressions of the Xiegu G106

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Many thanks to Philip (KA4KOE) who shares the following report:

Xiegu G106 Report

by Philip (KA4KOE)

Recent developments and other drivers pushed me to purchase a Xiegu G106.

This radio has dropped significantly in price recently. I figured, “Why not?!” given the paltry sum Radioddity was asking.

I will not delve deeply into the technical aspects of this radio, as others have covered this subject in great detail. In my opinion, the G106 is a viable QRP radio and excels at CW and FT8. I also made contacts using SSB, but given the lack of speech processing, I found the effort, shall we say, challenging. The firmware on my particular radio is Version 1.3.

I checked the spectral purity using the panadapter on my Flex 6300. I realize the Flex is not a lab-quality instrument, but the serious spurs and other trash around the carrier, noted by others, on a 5-watt CW signal appear to be minimal now and compliant with current FCC regulations.

Some get all caught up in demanding the absolute best specifications, performance, looks, etc., or whatever you find important in your personal metrics for a radio. As an engineer, I approach this philosophy from a different mindset. Often, striving for those final few percentage points of improvement is only noticeable under the most stringent of band conditions. The situation is essentially a cost/benefits analysis. So, my personal rationale is “good enough.”

Indeed, the Xiegu G106 is “good enough” for QRP field activations, provided one also deploys a good antenna. Here’s an analogy: will a steel sledgehammer or solid gold one (ignore gold’s softness in this example), of the same mass, both do the same job? The answer is “yes.”

The only issue I have noted, as have others, is that the radio’s AGC recovery isn’t quite correct. Occasionally, the audio will “pop” when switching from transmit to receive. Hopefully, the G106 will improve if Xiegu issues firmware updates beyond Version 1.3. The radio doesn’t exhibit this annoying behavior every time one switches from TX to RX.

I recently activated US-2190, Magnolia Springs State Park, near Augusta, Georgia.

Band conditions degraded over the course of the day due to coronal holes present on the earthward-facing side of the sun. I did manage to make 25 CW and 8 SSB contacts on 40 and 20 meters using a sloping 40–10 meter N9SAB End Fed Half Wave, supported on one end from a 32’ carbon fiber pole. See the QSO map below:

Here’s my activation video:

Bottom line: I like the G106.

Thank you for your kind consideration and attention.

73

Philip Neidlinger, PE

KA4KOE

Gailey (WV2P) and Frank (NM9X), pictured above, also accompanied me on this activation.

Check out their QSL cars below:

Antennas, Field Reports, Guest Posts, Homebrew, How To, Portable, POTA, QRP, SOTA

Experimenting My Way to the POTA Kilo Award

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by Thomas (DM1TBE)

Some time before Easter I noticed that I am close to 1000 QSOs at my favourite place at the “Kalte Feld”, a POTA and SOTA activation zone and would soon qualify for the POTA Kilo Award. I like the Kalte Feld for the quiet, spacious area with a hut that is vending traditional basic food and beverages – which in Germany usually means good beer and different sausage types (and other stuff – to be fair). I already wrote some articles about the history of the area and my activations.

The conditions at the activation zone are quite good. I have made 2 activations there with more than 100 QSOs (and many smaller), so I thought it should not be too difficult to complete the required QSOs in one day.

DAY 1

The weather for the Easter weekend was expected to be one of the first warm and sunny days this year. So, on Easter Sunday, I headed to the area to get the last missing 49 QSOs for my POTA Kilo Award. Easter hiking has a centuries long history in Germany. This and the nice weather made the area quite crowded. The close airfield for gliders was busy and the whole time while operating there they were in the air above.

The barbecue places and outdoor seating around the mountain hut were busy but happily the bench some meters away that I am normally using, was still available.

I wanted to start with an end-fed half-wave antenna for the 20m band, tied to a 10 meter (33 ft) fiberglass mast. This is a very easy and quick to deploy antenna and I like it, especially if there is not too much space for antennas with a larger footprint. Since it’s a straight vertical, it also has a higher chance for DX contacts – when the conditions allow that. The antenna is Open Hardware and you can find further details on GitHub.

The mast was tied to the bench and the antenna was raised. Besides the comfort, the possibility to tie a mast to it is the second reason why I am always looking for benches.

The conditions were far from being perfect, and it took me 40 minutes to get 18 CW QSOs on the 20-meter band. Switching to SSB wasn’t a big help either, and I soon gave up with only 3 additional SSB QSOs in the log.

I had brought another antenna with me that I wanted to try. The 10 meter (33 Ft) fiberglass mast also has the perfect height for a ¼ wave vertical on the 40-meter band. So I cut 5 wires to a length of about 10 meters (33 ft) and connected 4 of them together at one end with a cable lug and attached another cable lug to the vertical element.

I then used the basis of the JPC-7 antenna for the coax plug and for connecting the vertical element and the radials. There are a lot of articles and videos about ¼ wave vertical antennas. But the information is usually about either elevated and resonant radials or random length ground radials. I wanted to have resonant radials, but I could not be bothered with carrying all the stuff nearly 2 miles to a summit for elevating 4 x 10m (33 ft) wires, so I simply left them on the ground.

My idea was to try a full size vertical for the 40 meters band with resonant radials that still is portable and fits to my existing equipment.

The SWR was quite nice being close to 1.0 : 1 at the CW portion of the band, so I started operating.

The conditions were similarly difficult as on the 20-meter band. It took me 25 minutes for another 18 QSOs.

As it became increasingly cloudy, I checked on my mobile and saw that rain was approaching fast. Since I had roughly 2km or 1.5 miles descent ahead of me, I stopped abruptly with just 10 QSOs short of the POTA Kilo Award.

A bit disappointed, I called it a day.

DAY 2

I could not leave the missing 10 QSOs for long. The very next day, Easter Monday, was a public holiday in Germany. And as the weather started nice, I again made my way to the activation zone. Continue reading Experimenting My Way to the POTA Kilo Award →

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From the Badlands to Mesa Verde: QRP Across America’s National Parks

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Activating on the Road:  National Parks

by Brian (K3ES)

This article continues my series from our 2024 road trip across the United States (Six Weeks and 7300 Miles:  Activating on the Road).  I hope to wrap up the series with one last article soon.  In this report, I will cover the six National Parks (NPs) that we visited during our trip.  I activated five of them for the Parks on the Air (POTA) program using CW mode at 5 watts.  A previous report on Stealth Activating with the KX1 Antenna System provided activation details for three of the parks (Badlands NP, Yellowstone NP, and Grand Canyon NP), so I will not reproduce activation details here, but I will include more of Becky’s pictures.

Each of these NPs is spectacular in its own right, and also distinctly different from each of the others.  We were able to see some of the sights, but by no means had enough time to do them justice.  In fact, as we completed our drive through Yellowstone NP, Becky and I committed ourselves to going back again and spending much more time to see its wonders.

As I reflect on our visits to NPs on our trip, it occurs to me how beneficial it was to buy an Annual America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass before we left on our trip.

The pass costs $80 for a year, and generally covers the admission of one vehicle and its occupants.  We were able to save on admission costs several times over, making this one of the best NP values going.  Having now completed 62 trips around the sun, when we next visit NPs, I am eligible for an even better value, the $80 Senior Lifetime America the Beautiful Pass.

Badlands NP

The first NP we visited on our trip was Badlands NP in South Dakota.  We spent a couple of nights and days based nearby in the town of Wall, so we were able to take two drives through the park.  There is a stark transition from rolling plateau north of the park to the spectacular peaks and canyons of the badlands.  Rapid erosion has been shaping the terrain for about 500,000 years with the Cheyenne and White Rivers cutting their way through the terrain.  The resulting landscape is both beautiful and severe.

While visiting the park, we were privileged to see a variety of wildlife.  We saw a number of bison, ranging from small herds grazing in fields along the road, to an individualist who took a liking to the taste of grass beside one of the overlook parking areas.  There were also bighorn sheep and pronghorn antelope wandering other parts of the park.  There was abundant bird life, from a disoriented prairie chicken that accepted water from concerned visitors, to birds of prey soaring high above.  Becky particularly enjoyed the frenetic activity of the residents of Roberts Prairie Dog Town.

This bison had no problem napping in the middle of the Prairie Dog Town
This prairie chicken appreciated shade and water in the parking lot

During our visit, we stopped at an overlook parking area for Becky to take pictures of the spectacular scenery, including the aforementioned bison.  While she was doing this, I took the opportunity to do a stealth activation of the park, which is documented in an earlier Field Report here on QRPer.com, linked as K3ES:  Stealth activating with the AX1 Antenna System.

I managed to catch the photographer in action during a lull in my activation
Of course, Becky caught me in action, too

Yellowstone NP

We knew when planning our trip, that we would not have time for a proper visit to Yellowstone NP.  In fact, we intended to hold off on visiting until we had time for a dedicated trip.  But throughout our drive, Becky kept searching the available maps for opportunities and possibilities.  As we traveled through Montana, she noticed that we could fit in an abbreviated trip through Yellowstone and Grand Teton NPs if we adjusted our route.  Consequently, we found ourselves spending the next night in Gardiner, MT, just outside the north entrance to the park. Continue reading From the Badlands to Mesa Verde: QRP Across America’s National Parks →

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First Field Outing with My New-to-Me Elecraft K1!

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In the chaos of the past two months, I managed to post a few field reports out of chronological order. I’m probably the only one who notices—these aren’t sequential stories, after all—but since I was there for each activation, it feels odd when the timeline’s off.

Case in point: you might recall this recent post where I shared how I finally landed an Elecraft K1 field-portable transceiver. I’d been hunting for a K1 for years, so I was thrilled when this one popped up locally in North Carolina.

Last month, I published this field report where I paired the K1 with my AX1 antenna for a low-profile (but high-performance) activation in Pisgah National Forest.

But here’s the thing: that was actually my second activation with the venerable K1. The first one? It took place along the Blue Ridge Parkway on February 24, 2025.

Taking the K1 to the Field!

It’s always exciting to take a new radio to the field—especially one I’d been chasing for so long. I purchased the K1 back in August of last year. As soon as it arrived, I tested it and realized it was in serious need of alignment.

I brought it over to my friend Vlado (N3CZ), hoping to use his signal generator to sort it out. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time that day, so I left the rig at his QTH. Then Hurricane Helene hit, and… well, suddenly it was 2025.

We finally got around to the alignment in February. As soon as it was dialed in, I hit the field.

Blue Ridge Parkway (US-3378)

I made my way to a familiar spot along the Blue Ridge Parkway—the Folk Art Center—and set up the K1.

Mine is a four-bander (40, 30, 20, and 15 meters) with both the optional internal ATU and AA battery pack. To give the internal tuner a little workout, I paired it with my trusty Tufteln 9:1 End-Fed Random Wire antenna.

Once deployed, I hit the ATU button, and the K1 quickly found a solid 1:1 match. With logs at the ready, it was time to hit the airwaves!

Gear

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Radio

  • Elecraft K1 (four band version with optional ATU and internal AA battery pack)

Key

Antenna

Pack and Case

Logging Supplies

Battery

Camera/Audio Gear

On The Air

I started calling CQ POTA on 20 meters, thinking I’d eventually migrate to 30 meters if things slowed down. Continue reading First Field Outing with My New-to-Me Elecraft K1! →

Antennas, Field Reports, FT8, Guest Posts, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Reviews

Field Report: N2YCH’s POTA Activation with a Magnetic Loop Antenna

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By Conrad Trautmann (N2YCH)

I tried using an Alpha Antenna 100w 10-40m mag-loop antenna for a POTA activation. I operated on FT8 so I could monitor where my signal was being received by using the PSKreporter.info real-time signal reports from stations that spotted my transmission. I really didn’t know what to expect or how a loop antenna would perform in the park compared to a vertical or wire antenna. Did it work? You bet. Would I recommend it? I’ll share my observations and results below and let you know at the end.

I bought this antenna used on QRZ.com’s swapmeet. It was clear to me upon receiving it that the prior owner had taken very good care of the antenna. I set it up on my patio for a quick test before heading to a park.

Mag Loop Test from the N2YCH QTH

It sets up quickly. The tuning is a little challenging to learn at first but there’s no doubt when you get it right, since the received signal is easy to peak once you find resonance. The tuning knob has three turns from 40m up to 10m. Moving it slowly from the bottom of the HF band up to the top, you’ll find the sweet spot and you can peak the received signal on your radio’s S-meter. I checked it with my RigExpert antenna analyzer and as you’d expect, the bandwidth was very narrow, but it was resonant and the SWR was 1.4:1.

The Alpha mag loop can do 100 watts SSB but only 5 watts on digital modes. I fired up my KX3, set it for 5 watts and called CQ. I made three quick contacts and was satisfied that the antenna was working. I checked the spots on pskreporter,info and found it interesting to see a narrow band of stations from Minnesota and Wisconsin down to Florida spotting me.

Pskreporter.info map of spots from Mag Loop

On to the park: Indian Well, US-1684 in Shelton, Connecticut

Knowing that the antenna was working, I brought it out to one of my favorite places to activate, Indian Well State Park (US-1684). Again, set up was fast and I was able to tune up on 20 meters pretty easily.

Alpha Magnetic Loop Antenna at Indian Well State Park in Connecticut

The antenna was receiving the FT8 signals at S-9 with the KX3’s pre-amp off and you can see below that I was decoding nearly 50 stations per FT8 cycle. If you look closely at the JTAlert screenshot below, you can see I was receiving stations from all over the US as well as Canada, South America and Europe. There’s no doubt the mag-loop can hear very well.

Forty-seven stations are being received and decoded. POTA stations in the bottom right pane

I called CQ and had a few responses right away. However, I was finding it challenging to get stations to reply. It took almost an hour for me to get my 10 contacts to activate the park, which is unusual. I should mention that the space weather was acceptable, sitting just below Kp3, so that wasn’t the reason.

Once again, I checked Pskreporter.info. Interestingly, it had the same pattern of spots that I saw when testing the antenna at home, a band from Minnesota to Georgia. Of the first 10 contacts I made, four were in North Carolina, two in Florida and the rest were coming from within that narrow band who could hear me.

Spots from US-1684 using the Mag Loop

I understand that a mag loop is directional, so I tried moving it 90 degrees to see if it made a difference. Not really. The spot map looked the same after the change in direction. I was able to receive a few more EU stations after I moved it. I did have to re-tune the antenna after I turned it, the SWR had gone through the roof.

For comparison, after struggling to make contacts on the loop, I decided to set up my “go-to” antenna of a 17’ telescoping whip on a 10’ mast with a counterpoise.

Buddipole with 17’ telescoping whip and elevated counterpoise

I unplugged the mag loop and plugged in the vertical using the same transceiver set at 5 watts. Take a look at the stations who could spot me on PSKreporter now…

PSKReporter Spots with vertical antenna on 20m QRP

Clearly, that same 5 watts from the KX3 had better coverage on the vertical than using the mag loop.

Here’s a screenshot of WSJT-X on the vertical (click image to enlarge):

WSJT-X and JTAlert reception using 17’ vertical with counterpoise

Once I switched to the vertical, I knocked out 10 more contacts in just 20 minutes.

So, after all that, what do I think?

The Mag Loop sets up quickly, uses very little space and finding resonance isn’t difficult to do. It receives very well, of course this is one of the true advantages of mag loops, is their inherent ability to receive well in noisy environments.

As an antenna to use for transmission? Well, I think this is where the challenge lies, for me anyway. It was certainly hearing stations way down in the noise from far away. However, as you can see by my real-time reception reports, it did not give me the wide transmission coverage that I’m used to with the vertical. Maybe this would be different on SSB with 100 watts, but it’s a difficult to measure SSB reception like you can with digital.

Can you activate a park with it?  Yes, indeed. Would it be my first choice for POTA? Probably not. If you were using this on SSB, the antenna itself (not the radio) would need to be re-tuned for every frequency change (if you were hunting), which is not convenient. If you are the activator, then you could tune up for the frequency you selected and it would be good to go.

My next test with this antenna is to try tuning it to a WSPR frequency and comparing spots it receives to my other antennas. I suspect this it where it will shine.

Stay tuned!