You may, or may not, know the situation when you are invited for the birthday of your mother-in-law and the whole day is just a chain of meals. As the SOTA activation of the Wasserberg the day before was rather short, I needed to escape and do something outdoors. An antenna test at a nice POTA location would be perfect.
When I started with amateur radio, many fellow hams told me that a real ham must build its own stuff. This is not easy when you have 10 thumbs like me. However, from time to time I try smaller projects. When I am operating portable, I usually have a 10 m / 33 ft mast with me. I have a 30/15-meter- and 12/17-meter band antenna, both with coils and shorter than my mast, and a homemade 10-meter band antenna which I can raise vertically on my mast. A mast with one of these wire antennas can be used on most of the locations I have visited.
However, I was missing something for the 20-meter band. I have a 10 – 80-meter 5 band antenna that covers 20-meters, but raising it as a sloper with a length of app. 24 m / 79 ft is tricky sometimes.
Building
So, I thought it would be a good project for me. As a half-wave for 20-meters is exactly the length of my mast, and I did not want the feed point at or too close to the ground, I wanted to add a short coil. I had a finished 1:49 mini-impedance transformer from K6ARK available from a project I’ve never finished. So, I just needed a screw, a cable and a piece of a PVC electrical conduit.
I have cut the PVC electrical conduit in three parts, one for the coil, one for the upper-end to allow easier mounting at the mast, and one for a simple strain-relief. My wife was a bit nervous when I used her best knife for cutting it, not sure if she worried about me or her knife. The dimension of the coil is based on pure guess. Bringing the whole antenna then into resonance was easy – just cutting step by step. After completing, the antenna still looks a bit makeshift.
Testing
So, I used an opportunity between two meals to leave my mother-in-law’s birthday and drove to the next POTA park, which is the Kaltes Feld (DA-0410). However, this time I did not go to the SOTA southern activation zone for Kaltes Feld (DM/BW-659), but to the opposite direction, where I have not been before.
The weather was nice, and the way was without any ascent. Behind me, a bit higher, was the SOTA summit Kaltes Feld and on the right the SOTA summit Bernhardus (DM/BW-848).
Many thanks to Scott (KK4Z) who shares the following post from his blog KK4Z.com:
Georgia Parks on the Air at FD Roosevelt SP K-2173
Friday evening, Mary K4SEZ and I traveled to FD Roosevelt State Park for a weekend in a very nice cabin. The cabin is located on Pine Mountain with some exceptional views. As you can guess, I brought some radios with me. I went QRV right before 1800 hrs. local to make sure all my equipment worked prior to the contest. Besides, the contest I had a regional HF net that I needed to check into Saturday morning. The contest starts at 0800 hrs local Saturday and the net was also at 0800 and lasted about 20 minutes.
Friday night was amazing! Twenty and forty meters was wide open. Using FT8, I made 223 contacts between 1800 hrs Friday and 0300 hrs Saturday morning. I worked stations as far west as Japan and Australia and as far east as Rwanda, Ukraine, and European Russia. Unfortunately, the rest of the weekend was not near as exciting. Between 0800 hrs Saturday morning and 1230 hrs Sunday, I made an additional 477 contacts. The bands were up and down and the pace was a little slower. I worked 48 States and 34 countries when it was all said and done. Sunday morning had an opening on 10 meters and I made 19 contacts many into Europe. In total, I had 700 contacts.
My antenna was my tried and true homebrew 28.5-foot random wire antenna which I named my K4SWL antenna as the original idea from Tom. It uses one 17-foot counterpoise. On this trip, the wire I used was 14 ga (I think), coated Flexweave I got from The Wireman many years ago. I was using some 20-something gauge I got from SOTABeams but because I use this antenna a lot, I worried about the thin wire breaking. I use a 9:1 UnUn with a 1:1 current BalUn to help with matching. The antenna is matched by an LDG RT/RC 100 matching unit. This is fairly new to and so far I like it. The tuning circuit out by the antenna helps keep stray RF out of the shack. It was also quite windy here Friday night and Saturday. The antenna held up well. The only issues I had were some of the sections on my MFJ push-up pole would collapse affecting the tuning. This pole is probably nearly 20 years old and should be replaced.
The radio was “The Rock” my IC-7300. I ran FT8 the whole time at 35-45 watts and the temperature gauge on the radio never moved past cool. Now that the FTDX10 has found a home in the shack, it’s nice to have my old friend back in the field with me.
The cabin is located on the ridge line of Pine Mountain, elevation ~1250′ ASL. Besides great views, it also gave my antenna a large aperture which may account for the many DX contacts I made.
I mainly worked FT8 as I also had to listen to a couple of conferences on the Internet and didn’t want to disturb my wife when she was doing things other than radio. We had a nice weekend away and of course, being able to bring radios is a huge bonus. When I get back home and settled, I may send the log to the GA POTA people. I don’t really contest anymore but they might find it useful for cross-checking.
In early February, Jeff (KD4VMI) sent the following message to me:
Good evening. Love your YouTube videos and QRPer posts and, from them, I know you appreciate rugged packs and gear.
I enjoy POTA, although I don’t get out as often as I’d like, but I’ve found Blue Ridge Overland Gear’s various bags and modular systems to be very handy for bundling my radios, batteries, cables, and antennas.
It’s been on my mind for some time to let you know about them (if you don’t know about them already) and I finally decided to take the time to write you. I’m not associated with them in any way, and I didn’t approach them about passing this on to you, or anything like that. I just really appreciate their gear and I think you might, too.
The BROG materials are high quality and stout, the zippers are beefy and smooth, everything is double or triple stitched and everything is modular so it can be used for just about anything, and in pretty much endless combinations with their various bags and gear.
Their products are not overly cheap, but are guaranteed for life. They’re located in Bedford, Virginia and all their things are made in the USA (I think mostly in Bedford).
I often use their tire puncture repair kit bag, for instance, to carry my FT-891, Bioenno battery, cables and mic, and PackTenna, and then strap the coax to the Molle system on the front of the bag.
They posted a YouTube video showing their gadget bag with accessory pouches for HTs, etc.
Anyway, I appreciate all you do for our great hobby and just wanted to share this info.
Take care and all the best to you and yours…
Thank you so much for the kind words, Jeff, and for the tip about Blue Ridge Overland Gear (BROG). You’re obviously a skilled pack enabler because you had my attention by the second paragraph–!
Shortly after my exchange with Jeff, I checked out the BROG website and was really impressed with their line-up of packs and gear–all with a focus on modular organization, especially in-vehicle since it’s for Overlanding. It’s just the icing on the cake that their gear is made in the USA.
I was very curious if their Gadget Bag, in particular, would lend itself to being a modular flied radio kit pack.
Thing is, there are so many options and configurations for the Gadget Bag, I wasn’t entirely sure what to order.
Being a fellow who expects to pay a premium for rugged products, made in the USA–especially ones that carry a lifetime warranty–I was prepared for some sticker shock. Turns out, BROG pricing is pretty reasonable in comparison with other cottage industry pack manufactures.
Still, I wasn’t quite sure how easily some of my radios and gear might fit in their zippered pouches, so I reached out to BROG–mentioning QRPer and my constant search for field radio packs–and asked if I could order some packs and pouches, test them with my radio gear, then pay for what I decided to keep. I didn’t want free gear, I just couldn’t tell based on the product images and posted dimensions what pouches and packs might fit my various radios and accessories. Also, I knew readers might ask if certain pouches and packs might fit certain radios.
The good folks at BROG kindly obliged, so I asked for the following list of items:
– QTY 1 Gadget Bag (shell) in black
– QTY 3 Large Velcro Pouches
– QTY 6 Medium Velcro Pouches
– QTY 1 Velcro Cord Keeper
– QTY 1 Medium GP Pouch
– QTY 1 Velcro Headrest
– QTY 1 Headrest Pouch Kit
Some of these items weren’t in stock, so it was a week or so later when I received notification that the package had shipped. It arrived a couple days later.
Over the past few years, I’ve received numerous requests to check out the Yaesu FT-891 HF transceiver. Almost all of my ham friends have one and they are widely considered one of the best 100 watt HF radios for park activators. Indeed, I bet it is *the* most popular 100W radio among POTA activators.
I’ve been tempted to ask Yaesu for a loaner model and I even came within one button click of ordering a new FT-891 from DX Engineering during a Black Friday sale in 2020.
I’ve resisted the FT-891 temptation, though, because I tend to use smaller, more portable QRP radios in heavier POTA rotation. I knew if I purchased an FT-891, it just wouldn’t get a lot of field use. It also demands a beefier field battery due to its current requirements and, frankly, it’s so rare I run more than 5 watts (and 5 watts is the lowest power setting on the ‘891) I would simply have a lot of radio for my needs.
A few weeks ago, however, a friend reached out because he wanted to sell his FT-891 and 30Ah Bioenno battery and downsize to a smaller field portable radio like the Xiegu X5105. Long story short, we worked out a trade/purchase which included the ‘891 and his battery. I had been thinking about a large capacity battery to use as a backup in the shack, so this worked out well for both parties.
Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace (K-6856)
On Tuesday, March 14, 2023, I once again had an hour to fit in an activation at the Vance Birthplace before picking up my daughters at school. I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to play radio at Vance so much during this particular school term; next term, it’s unlikely I’ll have this opening, so I’ll enjoy it while I can!
I deployed the Chelegance MC-750 vertical again. I’ll admit that it’s so convenient keeping an antenna in the car trunk/boot that can be made resonant so easily from 40 meters and higher.
I was going to show the antenna deployment again in my activation video, but received a call and decided to deploy the antenna while finishing up the phone call. It only takes a couple of minutes to set up.
Next, I connected my 15Ah Bioenno battery to the FT-891. Even though I was only using five watts, the ‘891 needs more capacity than the 3Ah packs I normally carry with my QRP rigs.
Many thanks to Dennis (WQ7O) who shares the following article:
POTA – Getting There
by Dennis (WQ7O)
POTA activity seems to be popular and growing. I have been a ham since the 60s and I am excited by how fun POTA hunting and activating this “new” radio sport can be. I have heard it called “Field Day” every day.
Drawing on decades of hamming experience, I contemplated how we got here. I remember my first field day and the effort required. Basically, equipment meant to be used in an indoor and fixed environment was adapted for portable use. Let’s take a look at what that might mean.
Power supplies that operated on DC were available but expensive. Looking at say, a Drake
TR-4, a popular transceiver at the time, the rig cost $700 in 1968 dollars. The power supply and speaker ran another $200 or so. You’ll need a mic and key, which were not included. Few tuners were available. You could go for a Johnson Matchbox. Drake made the MN-4 and
MN-2000 to match your TR-4. Count on another $200 or so. If you are a CW op and you want a keyer, the Hallicrafters TO keyer and a Vibroplex paddle were another $200. The gear described here would just fit on an office sized desk and don’t ask about the weight.
Now just gather that up and take it to the park, right? Well for starters the DC supply was for mobile use not portable use. You won’t operate for long off a battery with the amperage needed to warm all those tubes. So, bring along a generator and that’s what we did. BTW, we used a truck to transport it all because we needed it. Backpacks weren’t useful.
Antennas were all for fixed use as well. We brought a tri-band yagi and lashed it on a mast to the truck. We ran some wire antennas and we were on the air. Antenna analyzers simply did not exist, we tuned around and graphed it by hand.
Image Source: RigReference.com
This may sound much like a modern field day but hardly the “light and fast” deployment of a SOTA/POTA activation. Also, take it from me, running tube gear in the field is tough. I had a Gonset Communicator (2 meters) issued to me by our ARES group. It was about 100 times the displacement of your trusty handheld and many times the weight.
So since the 60s, the microprocessor, large scale integration and SDR technology have reduced the size and power requirements for all the gear we use. Today a radio that fits in a pocket can include a rechargeable power source, an antenna tuner and run from 160 meters through UHF offering all modes.
From lead acid, NiCads, NiMH, Lithium Ion and now LiPO batteries, the availability of reliable and portable power sources to power rigs and accessories is a fairly recent development. The increased efficiency coupled with decreased power demand have set us free. How many of us have quick deployment solar panels to keep those batteries topped off during extended operation? It beats the noise, smell and mess of gas cans and a generator. Also, you do not want to backpack a lead acid battery for a SOTA activation. Too much weight and not enough power.
Then there is the internet. If you do POTA like I do POTA, you go to the web page and look for spots. How many would you find without the spots and the RBN? When an activation is deployed one of the first actions is to spot it on the POTA app. Thus, as with other digital modes, the internet becomes an integral part. We could do POTA without the internet, but it would be a whole lot harder. And our taken for granted cell phone brings the internet right to the picnic table.
Image Source: Universal Radio
What about the gear? What should we use and how available is it? Early rigs for portable and QRP use were not plentiful or feature rich. The styling of the popular Penntek TR-45 is reminiscent of the Heathkit “Benton Harbor Lunchbox.” At the risk of understatement, the features do not compare.
The manufacturers responded. We weren’t all going to home brew our QRP rigs. So came the Yaesu FT-817. In 2001, Yaesu introduced the 817 which did all modes, 160 through UHF, ran on batteries, fit in your backpack and was affordably priced. Suddenly, portable operation was possible, versatile, affordable, reliable, practical and fun. We were freed from attics, basements and garages and embraced nature.
I recently built a QRPLabs QCX mini. This tiny rig has more features than we ever knew we needed when we were operating that Drake TR-4. If you want more bands the LNR Mountain Toppers are wildly popular. Other manufacturers, large and small, increased the offerings with different form factors and features.
This included antennas. An early entry was the Buddipole. Many cottage industry entrepreneurs followed and today the selection of quick and easy deployment antennas is broad and deep. From a whip antenna to attach to the rig itself to wire antennas for 160, there are a lot from which to choose. Don’t forget that 3D printing also accounts for a lot of our accessories like keys, cages, stands and winders.
Want to add a tuner to your station? The Elecraft T1, I built mine as a kit, is a superb, self contained tuner and offers broad, automatic matching running on a 9 volt battery. Since the T-1, LDG, MAT MFJ, Icom and others have offered great tuner choices that travel easily as part of your kit.
Anyone who owns a Baofeng knows that the Chinese have entered the ham radio market. While the quality and availability of these rigs can be an issue, they are quite affordable. This brings in new users who learn the hobby and progress to greater things. I have heard hams criticize the quality of MFJ products. MFJ makes the accessories the major manufacturers don’t and at popular prices. When there are more licensed operators, the manufacturers can offer more products at better prices as markets expand. Xiegu HF radios have powered many activations with its built-in battery, tuner and microphone. If POTA and QRP were not driving activity would Icom have brought out the IC-705? The Elecraft KX-2 and 3, the Lab 599 TX-500 and these types of boutique radios answer market demands.
The “Prepper” movement evolved from natural disaster “EmComm” and operating “off the grid” has increased the demand and thus the supply of gear. Building a portable kit has gotten easier and more affordable with a broad selection of choices and options. More is better.
Lots of other simple things have come together to bring us to the “10 minute setup” of the QRP SOTA/POTA activation of today. A whole room full of heavy, power hungry gear has been reduced to a device that literally fits in a pocket. Add a wire and you are on the air. My ham career began as a boy with a tube driven Heathkit transmitter with crystal control fixed frequency in the attic of our family home. I don’t think anybody appreciates more than me opening a backpack and in a few minutes setting up a modern station, wherever I am. QSOs around the country and around the world roll in with a few watts and a wire.
On Saturday, February 18, 2023, I had a rare opportunity: a full day to play radio.
Instead of doing a five park POTA rove, I chose instead to do a summit activation followed by a park activation.
I published the summit activation on Moore’s Knob (W4C/EP-001) a couple weeks ago and planned to immediately follow that up with this report from my POTA activation at Pilot Mountain State Park (which I activated the same day).
In the process of moving my videos from the camera, to my laptop, and then to PC where I do my remote uploads (my bandwidth at the QTH is far too poor to upload large videos) I somehow managed to delete this particular video file.
I was quite frustrated, actually, because this particular POTA activation was challenging. Lately, I’ve had so few examples of just how quiet a band can be when propagation is less stable.
The SOTA activation I performed only a few hours earlier had some of the deepest pileups I’ve ever experienced. By the time I started my POTA activation a couple hours later, all of this had changed–at least on the bands above 20 meters and I’d chosen 17 meters (a WARC band) since a contest was in progress on 20 and 40 meters.
I’m incredibly pleased that I stumbled upon the raw video files on my backup drive. I was able to reproduce the video in its entirety. I’m so pleased it wasn’t lost!
This is why it’s a little out of sync date-wise with my other reports.
I hope you enjoy this field report:
Pilot Mountain State Park (K-2750)
After capping off a beautiful 4+ mile hike and SOTA/POTA activation at Hanging Rock State Park, I put my SOTA pack in the car and drove 30 minutes to Pilot Mountain State Park.
It being a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, the park was so full of guests the parking lot was completely full. A park ranger had incoming cars form a line and he allowed cars in as guests departed one by one. When I arrived, there were five cars in front of me. I was very tempted to do a three-point turn and head back down the mountain to the visitor’s center to do the activation. There was plenty of parking there. Continue reading Propagation changes make for a relaxed 17 meter POTA activation at Pilot Mountain State Park→
I do my best to shake up each field activation I perform. Even if in some small way.
While it would be way more efficient to deploy the same radio and antenna combination at each park and summit I visit, I get a thrill out of trying different radio and antenna combinations.
I should add that I’m fully aware how fortunate I am to have a lot of radios and even more antennas to pair in various combinations. I keep reminding myself that building and buying radios and antennas is still cheaper than restoring a 1940s era Willys CJ-2A.
Recently, a reader reached out and asked my opinion about the Chameleon Tactical Delta Loop (CHA TDL) antenna. I think the TDL is a brilliant antenna system, actually, and the one I recommend the most from Chameleon because of its versatility.
Not only can it be deployed as a multi-band vertical delta loop but it has all of the parts needed to be an MPAS Lite vertical as well, save the counterpoise.
The CHA TDL comes with a 25 foot wire that connects the two 17′ whips into a loop configuration, but the clamps on the end of that wire can’t connect to the ground lug on the MPAS ground spike terminal as-is. That said, you could easily make a short connector cable or connection point that would allow the CHA TDL wire to clamp to the ground spike terminal. Else, of course, you could cut a dedicated 25′ counterpoise from pretty much any wire you might have around the shack.
You can buy the same counterpoise used with the MPAS Lite package, but it’s more affordable just to build your own since there’s no magic in the counterpoise. And, FYI, configured as the delta loop, there’s no need for a separate counterpoise; only if you configure it as a vertical.
This same reader also has an Icom IC-705 and an mAT-705 Plus antenna tuner. He was curious how well that combo might work with the CHA TDL. I knew that the combo would work well, but I thought, “why not try it?”
I realized that it has been ages since I last deployed the CHA TDL in the field.
Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace (K-6856)
Tuesday, February 28, 2023, was a gorgeous day weather-wise, although it was a bit gusty at times.
I arrived at K-6856 and decided to film the full set-up of the CHA-TDL.
For an antenna with a fairly large profile when deployed, it’s actually very compact, albeit a bit heavy (mainly due to the weight of the solid stainless ground spike and TDL hub). That said, I did take this same CHA TDL setup on an 11 mile round-trip SOTA hike once and didn’t find it too heavy.
If you have read my previous activation reports, you may remember that the temperature was more often than not below 0° C / 32° F. I am tired of the winter. So I was very pleased when the weather forecast indicated 18° C / 64° F on a Saturday.
In one of my previous posts (How I found the best antenna for my SOTA/POTA activations) I have outlined, that I like using the 30-meter band for being reliable on short and medium distances – in my case, Central Europe. However, I wanted to try an activation with an antenna that is more appropriate for DX. The wire winder for my 30-meter antenna had plenty of space left, so I decided using a commercial 12/17-meter band wire antenna that I have discussed briefly in the report linked at the beginning of this paragraph.
The day before, I built a 20-meter end-fed with parts that I found in my basement and a tiny 1:49 transformer from K6ARK. I added a short coil, so the feed point wouldn’t be at or too close to the ground when using my 10 m / 33 ft fiberglass mast. I know it needs some polish.
The Limburg
The Limburg is a conical summit about a 30-minutes drive from my home. It can be activated for a couple of programs like SOTA (DM/BW-110), POTA (DA-0203), WWFF and COTA.
The Limburg is, or better was, a volcano; technically, a volcanic vent of the Swabian Volcano, a volcanic area of 50 km / 31 mi radius with over 350 volcano vents. Seventeen million years ago, it produced massive gas and dust explosions. Be careful when ramming your antenna groundspike into the ground ;-). So it became a steep summit, elevated around 200 m / 650 ft over its surrounding area.
Earliest traces of population around the summit date to 3000–1800 BC.
Around 50 years later, his son Berthold II. built a new castle some 150 km / 90 mi away and moved the seat of the family. Shortly thereafter, the castle was destroyed (probably, nobody knows exactly). It was rebuilt and destroyed again in 1130 and rebuild again. After the year 1150 a new, larger castle was built not too far away and this castle lost its importance and, eventually, gave up. Continue reading A story about a gluttonous dragon, a princess, a knight, and many DX contacts to the US from a volcano in Germany→
I love going truly portable with my radio gear; packing an entire minimalist station in my backpack along with first aid supplies, water, and a bite to eat, then hitting the trail.
I love the views.
I love the sense of accomplishment (hiking to a summit doesn’t happen every day).
I also love that post-hike feeling–my body telling me, “Hey, T, thanks for doing something today!“
No kidding: If I could, I would do a SOTA activation at least twice a week. Maybe when I retire, I will.
It’s because they are much more difficult to fit in my active schedule.
You’ll notice that the bulk of my POTA activations take place within a one hour window of time. This includes set-up, on-the-air, and pack-up time. The brilliant thing about POTA sites is that they’re so accessible in my weekly travels. (Plus, I absolutely love POTA too!)
My average SOTA activation, on the other hand, requires at least a three hour window of time. In fact, it’s usually much closer to four or five hours.
The view from Dogback
Drive-up summits like Anderson Mountain and Dogback Mountain are the exceptions. There’s no hiking time involved, so they are pretty easy to fit into my schedule.
On Saturday, February 18, 2023, a rare thing happened: an entire day opened up for me to play radio. The only real obligation I had was to set-up and participate in a live stream with Josh (KI6NAZ) on the HRCC channel that evening.
At first, I thought about doing a five park POTA rove, hitting four parks and one game land all that eight hour window of time. It was very doable and I knew it would be fun.
But then again, park roves allow very little time for hiking–typically, they’re wham-bam style short activations. It was also a gorgeous day weather-wise so I scrapped the idea of a POTA rove. (This time!)
It’s been nearly two years since I’d visited Hanging Rock SP because it’s a two hour drive in a direction I rarely travel.
Hanging Rock a beautiful park and I truly enjoyed the hike to Moore’s Knob.
As a bonus, Hanging Rock State Park is less than a 30 minute drive to Pilot Mountain State Park. I knew I’d have time in the schedule to do activate both sites! Score!
Hanging Rock State Park (K-2753)
I pulled into Hanging Rock that morning and made my way to the parking area by the lake.
On Sunday, February 19, 2023, I felt like I was moving in slow motion.
The previous day started early and I fit in a long hike, a SOTA/POTA activation, and a second park activation. Round trip driving time was about four hours, but it was worth it. I had an amazing time. Those field reports will be posted in the upcoming week.
The previous evening, I also participated in a live stream and after hours chat with Josh (KI6NAZ) on his amazing Ham Radio Crash Course channel. It was loads of fun, but I was up pretty late after a long day.
Sunday morning, I was feeling it and couldn’t decide if I wanted to do a POTA activation on the drive back to the QTH. In case I decided to, early that morning, I scheduled an activation at Table Rock Fish Hatchery with a very wide activation window. I often don’t have enough mobile phone service to self-spot at that particular site, so I decided that if I was able to make the activation, it would cover me.
I wasn’t even ten minutes into the drive home when I decided to go for the Table Rock activation, of course! I seem to never be too tired for some POTA!
I did make up my mind in advance to try to activate the park on 17 meters because 1.) there was a CW contest that weekend, and 2.) I wanted a more laid-back activation instead of a pileup. I figured 17 meters would have some activity, but not to the degree of the non-WARC bands.
Table Rock State Fish Hatchery (K-8012)
I decided to record the entire activation from set-up to pack-up so I grabbed the action camera from my radio bag in the passenger’s seat and started recording as I pulled into the site.
I had a lot of gear in the trunk/boot of my car–more than normal–because I brought along quite a few radio packs to show on the HRCC live stream for this trip.
I grabbed the Penntek TR-45L and PackTenna random wire. I thought they would pair nicely for a casual POTA activation.
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