Category Archives: SOTA

Field Reports, FT8, Guest Posts, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, SOTA

Master of the Black Dog: Conrad’s POTA/SOTA activation leads to a new quest!

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Many thanks to Conrad (N2YCH) who shares the following field report:

Connecticut POTA/SOTA combined activation

By: Conrad Trautmann, N2YCH

November 24, 2023

The author, Conrad, N2YCH at POTA K-1717, Sleeping Giant State Park & SOTA Mt. Carmel, W1/HH-002

Looking for my next activation challenge, I wondered if there were any overlapping POTA parks with SOTA summits in the state of Connecticut. I’ve only done two SOTA activations to date, one in Maine and the other in New Hampshire. I thought, there must be a few in Connecticut.

On my home computer, I brought up both the POTA map and the SOTA mapping page and quickly realized that it would take too much time to try and compare the two maps. Instead, both sites offer KML exports, so I exported all of the Connecticut parks from the POTA site and the summits from the SOTA mapping page and imported both files into Google Earth Pro. A yellow push pin represented the POTA locations and a blue triangle the SOTA locations. It was easy to spot the overlapping sites. Mt. Carmel and Talcott Mountain are both POTA parks and Summits for SOTA. There are a few other SOTA sites that have POTA trails that cross over as well.

I decided to tackle Mt. Carmel, SOTA W1/HH-002 also POTA K-1717, Sleeping Giant State Park. I’d already activated Sleeping Giant for POTA before, but not from the summit. For a SOTA activation to count, the operator must be within the “Activation Zone” as defined by the SOTA rules.

The Connecticut state web site has good maps and information about the park and showed that the trail to get to the summit is an “easy” 1.6 mile hike. I thought that sounded like a reasonable distance. What they don’t tell you on the web site that it’s also a 600’ climb up in elevation from the trailhead to the summit. I knew it would require a climb, but I didn’t expect that. I made the trip up, but it was challenging, especially carrying my backpack with the radio, a VHF handheld, antenna, batteries, computer, water, etc. I plan to travel lighter the next time.

The Mt. Carmel trailhead

Before I get to the activation, a little about the park. It’s called Sleeping Giant because from a distance, the ridge looks like a person laying on their back.

From the CT DEEP site

It’s located in a mountain range called Hanging Hills which extends North from Long Island Sound through Connecticut and Massachusetts up to the Vermont border. Quinnipiac University is across from the entrance to the park and the Quinnipiac Indian Tribe once inhabited the area. Please indulge me as I also share the ghost story of “The Legend of the Black Dog of the Hanging Hills.”

“If a man shall meet the Black Dog once it shall be for joy; and if twice, it shall be for sorrow; and the third time he shall die.”

As the legend has it, the Hanging Hills area is haunted by the Black Dog. You don’t want him to cross your path three times. It’s this story that is the basis for the SOTA “Master of the Black Dog” certificate. “An activator must have entered valid activation logs from each and every summit in the Hanging Hills Region and must have survived all of the activations.” There are currently four summits in the Hanging Hills Region. I need this award.

So far, I have completed activating one of the four summits and did NOT see the black dog. Wish me luck on the remaining three.

The view about half way up
The Lookout Tower

The lookout tower at the summit is the main attraction of the park. Built in 1936, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It stands four stories tall and is 739’ above sea level, providing a 360 degree view in all directions and a clear view over New Haven to Long Island sound. According to the Sleeping Giant Park Association, over 100,000 people visit it each year.

I’ll admit, after hiking the trail up, the last thing I wanted to do was climb four stories more. I did go up before I left to get some photos.

For the activation, I found a bench to set up on with space behind me to set up the Chelegance MC-750 antenna. I ran FT8 on 20 meters beginning around 10 am ET and after roughly 30 minutes, moved up to 10 meters. My experience running QRP on digital modes is that I will cover the Eastern half of the US and some Europe on 20 meters. I can usually make contacts out to the West Coast and into Europe on 10 meters especially later in the day. By activating on both frequencies, I tried to cover as much area as I could to provide the best opportunity for hunters and chasers to reach me.

Setup: MC-750 vertical antenna in grass behind bench and KX3 and computer on bench

Equipment List

Coverage from the summit: Yellow pins are 20 meters, Green pins are 10 meters

Looking at the map, you can see that I covered the Eastern portion of the US on 20 meters. It was also 10 am local time and still pretty early on the West coast. When I shortened up the antenna and retuned the KX3 for 10 meters, I started making contacts with Germany, Italy and other EU stations.

The hike down from the summit was much easier, the temperature had warmed up a bit and I stuffed my coat into the backpack for the trip down. When I got to my Jeep, I noticed a number of empty picnic tables nearby and decided to set up and get a few more POTA contacts while I was there. I ended up with 48 total for the day.

The summit I was at was an easy one (worth 1 point) compared to many and it was challenging to me. I came away from the experience with a new appreciation for the challenges SOTA activators face. I also came away with a new goal, to get the Master of the Black Dog certificate!

Field Reports, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, SOTA, Videos

SOTA DX with a 20 Meter Delta Loop on beautiful Yonah Mountain!

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I’ve taken a wide variety of antennas on SOTA (Summits On The Air) activations, but one wire antenna I’ve always wanted to deploy is a simple vertical delta loop.

This summer, I mentioned to my friend Joshua (N5FY) that I planned to build a delta loop antenna and next thing I know, he built one. I suppose he’d been thinking about adding it to his line of portable wire antennas at Tufteln.

I was planning to build a 20M delta loop fed with twin lead, but Joshua’s choice is better for multi-band operating. His 20M delta loop features a 4:1 transformer so it can be fed with 50 Ohm coax like my RG-316 (which is also easier to pack than twin lead).

You might recall that I used his 20M delta loop antenna at Holmes Educational State Forest (see photo above) in early September. It worked a charm and wasn’t too difficult to deploy (loops are obviously more finicky than a one wire end-fed).

The great thing about this loop is it’s resonant on 20 and 10 meters, and it’s quite easy to tune on 17, 15, and 12 meters with pretty much any ATU.

Fast-forward to Saturday, October 14, 2023 when Joshua and I were participating in the W4G SOTA campout in north Georgia…

Yonah Mountain (W4G/NG-048)

It rained cats and dogs Friday evening into Saturday morning.

Fortunately, most of the rain stopped by the time I surfaced that morning.

Joshua and I ate a quick breakfast, grabbed our SOTA backpacks, then drove to the Yonah Mountain parking area/trailhead.

Last year, we also activated Yonah Mountain as well, but underestimated the hike and our timing. We ended up being a good hour or so late to our SOTA evening potluck. This time, we were keen to spend more time on Yonah Mountain and get back to the campsite in plenty of time to join everyone for dinner (and share exaggerated stories about our SOTA adventures).

Last year, we arrived at the trailhead and it was parked full. This year, even though we arrived in the morning and even though it was incredibly foggy/misty, it was still quite full!

Yonah Mountain is an incredibly popular destination.

Another fun fact about Yonah: it’s not really a beginner’s summit despite the fact it’s so popular with hikers and runners.

It offers up proper elevation change, gnarly trail portions, steep inclines, and about four miles of trail round trip. Although not an incredibly long hike, it’ll give you more of a workout than you might think first blush.

We reached the summit in due time and set up our stations about 30 meters apart.

The whole time, I was also monitoring the partial solar eclipse we were having that day.

I brought along some solar eclipse glasses and ended up sharing them with everyone on the summit. It worried me seeing so many young people staring at the sun with only their sun glasses or even–gasp!–with the naked eye. (I mean, weren’t they paying attention in science class–?) 🙂

At one point in the activation during the actual peak of the partial solar eclipse, I left the radio and did a little more sun-gazing. Continue reading SOTA DX with a 20 Meter Delta Loop on beautiful Yonah Mountain! →

Field Radio Kits, Guest Posts, News, Portable, QRP, SOTA

Field Radio Kit Gallery: M0KVI’s Mountain Topper MTR-3B SOTA Kit

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Many thanks to Owen (M0KVI) who shares the following article about his portable field radio kit which will be featured on our Field Kit Gallery page. If you would like to share your field kit with the QRPer community, read this post. 

M0KVI’s Mountain Topper MTR-3B SOTA Kit

by Owen (M0KVI)

A little about me:

My name is Owen, I live in Sussex in England. I’m a keen hiker and experienced general outdoor type and have dreams of becoming a SOTA Mountain Goat. Unfortunately, I don’t live near any mountains.

There are a few local hills which I activate from time to time. I set out to learn CW around 1.5 years ago starting one December. I spent around one hour every day practicing. Around eight months later, I was activating summits at around 15wpm. I’m still not great at longer QSOs, so some way to go, but pushing on with trying to get head copy there.

My method:

Having a young family I need to be strategic about trips. My nearest mountainous region is Wales. As I drive for work, I’m not afraid of driving the distance. Many in this country rarely leave their county!

I converted my work vehicle into a micro-camper type affair. Think flat space to sleep rather than any camp comforts. A simple camp stove to cook on and that’s it.

I plan trips lasting 48hrs at a time; drive to the area on day one, activate 1 or 2 summits, sleep stealthily close to target summits by roadside or in car parks, then typically get up at around 4:00 am to hike in the dark to activate at sunrise. I typically activate 1 or 2 more summits before driving the 4-7 hours home. Logistically, it’s fairly intense and I’m not sure it’s the calmest method. I think is a fairly unique if not un-hinged method of getting my SOTA fix.

I use Winlink to check in with Family and keep them up to date with any changes to plans which are communicated before I leave.

Radio is an MTR-3B kindly offered for private sale from Colin, (M1BUU). I’ve had the rig for a year or so. Nothing ground-breaking here; all of the kit is largely mirroring what a lot of others are doing for years now.  I’m excellent at shortcutting by learning from others.

Having been licenced for a while, I already knew what an ultralight setup would look like. I could still slim this down by a few grams but really carrying water and food now is more of a burden. I’m not fully convinced the MTR-3B is the radio for all occasions as there are a number of connections, cables and fuss. (I think I have wanted the new Elecraft KH1 offering since before it was conceived).

As can be seen from one of my pics, I use a small micro sun-bathers tent for protecting gear in cloud/rain/wind. This allows me to use HAMRS to log even when its very cold.

List of contents:

  • Mountain Topper MTR-3B (early model lighter blue colour with x – screw not hex)
  • Homemade 3ah 18650 3s battery (BMS controlled with fused lead). Made from recovered cells.
  • Palm Mini key (with home made rugged braided cable).
  • Mini SWR from N6ARA
  • LowePro Viewpoint CS40 case

Antenna system pictured is my regular. I have tried other setups recently but this is the stalwart EFHW composed of a SOTABeams Wire winder 20m lightweight wire and a 64:1 matching unit.

The matching unit is a 64:1 obtained from Colin Summers (MM0OPX) following his youtube series on research into the optimum performing toroid material/core. He offered units for sale at cost. It is very small and light and I like to buy stuff off makers what can I say. Guilty of spending money rather than making.

I use a 3m feed line–never bother to ensure the ends of antenna are over 1m off ground. Do not use a counterpoise and only use a single guy rope on my fibreglass pole, (SOTAbeams Tactical Mini). This way I have minimum gear and maximum speed to set up. On my most recent trip, my antenna fell down twice and I didn’t notice but continued to make contacts. Bit of a train wreck.

Set up and pack down times in the AZ (Activation Zone) is typically 10-15 minutes depending on terrain and conditions. In a sunny field, I could pitch in 5 minutes.

73 Owen

M0KVI

Readers: Check out Owen’s social feeds on X: @M0KVI and Instagram: @M0KVI.

Field Radio Kits, Field Reports, Grab And Go, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, SOTA, Travel

Lunch break? Time for a rapid SOTA/POTA activation!

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by Vince (VE6LK)

As always there are lots of links within the article. Click one! Click them all! Learn all the things! ? Also, it’s with thanks to the management at QRPer.com who give me this outlet for creative writing.

While on business travel in Northern Alberta recently, I found myself with a slow workday and a few hours owed from lunches not taken that week. A quick plan was hatched and out the door I went after ensuring that all at work was going to be fine without me for 2-3 hours. But before I get to that story…

While travelling to and from this site, I’ve made it a mission to activate as many ATNO [All-Time-New-Ones, ie. never-activated parks] as possible within POTA. I plan these 500km trips with some small side journeys to these parks or natural areas and to break up the otherwise long drive along the foothills of the Canadian Rockies up and down the Highway 22 (aka. Cowboy Trail) corridor. It’s truly a lovely drive and I don’t mind it in the least.

Now back to my late-day lunch break adventure…

With the nearest park to me (VE-3162, Whitecourt Mountain) already activated but only on phone, I figured I’d activate it on CW and do more QSOs than the other activator just for good measure. I can’t believe that a park this close to a townsite had only one activation before I got there to activate it.

If that isn’t enough, it’s also a SOTA entity [VE6/ST-102] with a broad and not-steep slope making the activation zone quite wide. On top of that I can do this two-fer as a drive-up! This worked in my favour as I parked my truck within the activation zone! This SOTA entity had been done a couple of times already so I knew that electrical noise would be my nemesis.

For those of you that may have disremembered, I’m in shape -round- and that shape doesn’t easily climb summits, so a drive-up is totally my kind of summit. But I had to get a move on as there were only two hours left on the Zulu timeclock.  At my hotel room I had more gear, but being nervous nelly that I am at times, I do not leave my KX3 in the room unless there’s a safe. Given that the KX3 gets lonely without companions, I ensure that it always has a battery, antenna and key along for the ride so they keep each other happy as can be 🙂 I had just enough of my portable kit with me to make this happen.

Continue reading Lunch break? Time for a rapid SOTA/POTA activation! →

Field Reports, News, Portable, QRP, SOTA, Videos

Elecraft KH1 + Speaker Wire = Pileup Madness on Bakers Mountain!

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Since the beginning of November, I’ve been pushing my Elecraft KH1 activations to the front of the line so that readers and subscribers who are considering this wee handheld radio might get a chance to see and hear it in action.

So far, I’ve used the KH1 for what it was designed to do: pedestrian mobile/handheld using the built-in whip antenna. I’ve activated a park, a summit, and even did a little parking lot POTA hunting.

I’ve decided that November is KH1 month–this is the only radio I’ll use this month.

I will start blending in some of my field reports from October (there were some really fun ones in there) that feature my other field radios and a variety of antennas starting next week. I’ll still be pushing some of my KH1 field reports to the front during that time as well. Also, I’ll likely post more bonus videos over on Patreon.

Where to activate?

On Monday, November 6, 2023, I had several hours in the afternoon to take the KH1 on another mini radio adventure. I wasn’t sure where I’d perform an activation, though.

This time, I didn’t want to do a pedestrian mobile activation. I wanted to see how the KH1 might play on my kneeboard and how it might pair with my 28.5′ speaker wire antenna. I was curious if its internal ATU would find acceptable matches on all bands.

I packed the KH1, throw line bag, Tufteln Kneeboard, Helinox chair, 2L water bag, camera gear, and speaker wire antenna in my GoRuck pack (FYI: all links and full inventory are below).

This was more gear than I’d need, but all of these items were in my radio box in the trunk/boot of my car.

I had only one errand to run that afternoon: I needed to drop off some of my wife’s illustrated Christmas cards at my friend Hamilton William’s Gallery in downtown Morganton.

After catching up with Hamilton, I had to make a decision about where to go for an activation. I knew this: it was an incredibly beautiful day, so whatever I did, it needed to include a hike!

I considered a few parks but the most convenient spot for a proper hike was Bakers Mountain. It also required the least amount of driving since it was essentially on the way back to Hickory.

Bakers Mountain (W4C/WP-007)

It being an early Monday afternoon, there weren’t many other hikers at Bakers Mountain. In fact, I never ran into any other hikers on the main loop trail.

Bakers Mountain park is (sadly) not a POTA entity. It’s a county park, so does not currently qualify. There was talk once of Bakers Mountain being turned into a state park, but it falls just shy of the amount of acreage needed to qualify.

Bakers Mountain is a one point SOTA summit, but the hike (if you do the full loop trail) is actually pretty strenuous if you take it at a nice clip. I’d consider it a moderate hike overall.

I’ve already activated Bakers Mountain this year, so this activation’s point will not add to my goal of reaching Mountain Goat (1,000 points). That’s okay, though. Unless my family life changes in a way that frees up a lot more time, Mountain Goat is a good 5-6 years in the future at my pace! I’m perfectly fine with that.

I reached the summit and found a spot to set up in the shade. Continue reading Elecraft KH1 + Speaker Wire = Pileup Madness on Bakers Mountain! →

News, POTA, QRP, SOTA

Elecraft KH1 CW Message Memories

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Yesterday, I updated the firmware in my Elecraft KH1 with a beta release we’re evaluating in the KH1 volunteer test group. This beta release includes CW message memories and CW send/receive decoding. At first blush, both seem to work really well.

I updated my KH1 while having lunch at my buddy Vlado’s (N3CZ) QTH. Elecraft makes the process so simple: download their utility, download the firmware file, connect the supplied USB cable to the PC and the radio, and make one setting change on the KH1 for it to receive data. That’s pretty much it.

I loaded the firmware right before I walked out the door and then programmed the message memories at K-3378 where I had less than 20 minutes to perform an activation (that video will be posted soon). I had no notes, no manual, and sorted out how to record the messages with no problem whatsoever. The process is very intuitive. I even recorded all three messages correctly on the first go.

I’d already given thought to what messages would go where–one message is very specific to the KH1.

Here’s what I recorded in the three message memory slots:

  1. “CQ POTA DE K4SWL”
  2. “BK TU TU 72 DE K4SWL”
  3. “AS AS DE K4SWL”

Number three is there for when I need to change log sheets in the KH1 logging tray!

AS is a CW Prosign that means, “Wait” or “Hang on.” Since it’s a Prosign, you send AS as one character (dit dah dit dit dit)–no space between the A and S.

I just hit that #3 memory then take my time flipping log sheets!

On my other field radios with CW message memories, I tend to give memory #1 a CQ POTA, memory #2 a CQ SOTA, then the third memory a 73/72 message.

In the early days of POTA, I used my “CQ POTA DE K4SWL” message memory a lot in beacon/repeat mode because we had a mere fraction of the hunters we have today.

These days, I find that I only end up calling CQ POTA two or three times–just enough for the RBN to pick me up. Once spotted? I almost never need to call CQ again and if I do, it’s easy enough to do that by hand. POTA has grown in numbers so much since the early days.

There’s no SOTA CQ on the KH1 for this same reason. I find I only need to call CQ enough for the RBN to find me.

Anyway, just a random Friday note for you!

I had a problem uploading my latest SOTA activation video with the KH1. I hope to have it published later this weekend or on Monday at the latest.

Have a great weekend–I hope you have a moment to play a little radio!

Cheers & 72,

Thomas (K4SWL)

Field Reports, New Products, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, QRP Radios, SOTA, Videos

My first SOTA activation with the new Elecraft KH1 handheld QRP transceiver!

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On Friday, November 3, 2023, I had planned to activate Mount Mitchell–the highest summit in eastern North America. I need to activate Mitchell soon because I’ve yet to activate it for SOTA in 2023 and when winter weather sets in (quite early at that altitude) the park is inaccessible.

Unfortunately, last week, the National Park Service closed an 8 mile portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway due to (no kidding) park visitors feeding and trying to hold bears at the Lane Pinnacle Overlook.

I won’t get on my soapbox about how people are so out of touch with nature that they feel human interaction with bears is a good thing. It breaks my heart because as we natives of WNC say, “a fed bear is a dead bear.” Bears that become comfortable with humans become (at best) a nuisance and (at worst) aggressive.  This is bad for people and it’s bad for our bears who are otherwise shy and avoid humans.

Okay, I said I wouldn’t soapbox about this…

That 8 mile section being closed meant that what would have been a 50 minute drive to the summit of Mitchell turned into a 90 minute drive. Round trip, I simply couldn’t fit that in my day, so I made alternate plans.

Another summit on my list to activate before year’s end was Richland Balsam.

Richland Balsam is actually the highest summit on the Blue Ridge Parkway and is, in fact, at one of my favorite points along the parkway.

That  Friday morning, I dropped my daughters off at their classes and drove an hour or so to the Haywood-Jackson Overlook.

In the valley, as I started my drive to the parkway, past the Cradle of Forestry, it was 30F/-1C. I was concerned that on the summit–nearly 4,000′ higher in elevation–that the temp would be closer to 20F. Fortunately for me, as I gained elevation, the temperature climbed too. We were having inversion that day so the higher altitudes were actually warmer than lower altitudes. This is not uncommon in the fall and was very welcome that particular Friday morning!

Richland Balsam (W4C/WM-003)

Only three weeks earlier, there would have been no free parking spots at the Haywood-Jackson Overlook overlook–it would have been packed.

Fortunately for me, all of the leaf-lookers had gone and I literally had the place to myself. What a luxury!

And the temperature? A balmy 43F/6C.

The hike to Richland Balsam is one of the easiest along the parkway.

At the north side of the parking area, you’ll see a trailhead for the Richland Balsam Nature Loop Trail.

I wish my iPhone camera could haver truly captured how the moon looked in the sky.

The trail isn’t long; I believe the entire loop is just shy of 1.5 miles.

Although I didn’t set out to do this, I ended up making a video of the entire loop trail hike along with the activation (of course, you can skip over those parts in my activation video below).

Sadly, one thing you won’t be able to enjoy in my video? The smell. The air is filled with the fragrance of balsam trees along the entire trail–it’s just amazing!

The summit of Richland Balsam is at 6,410 feet ASL (1,954 meters).

The summit is covered in trees which is brilliant for SOTA activators. Another luxury is that there are two benches within the activation zone. I did pack my Helinox Zero chair as a backup, but didn’t need it.

SOTA with the KH1

Setting up my KH1 for a SOTA activation couldn’t be easier or faster. I show the whole process in my video at a very casual pace. Continue reading My first SOTA activation with the new Elecraft KH1 handheld QRP transceiver! →

Antennas, Guest Posts, How To, Portable, QRP, SOTA

A Portable Oblong Antenna for 2 Meters

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Many thanks to Andrew (VK2ZRK) who writes:

Hello Thomas,

The area I live near Canberra in Australia has many SOTA summits that are easily activated on 2m with a HT. That said a good antenna always helps. The 2m oblong antenna is very popular in these parts. It is easy to make, light to carry and packs small. It is horizontally polarised.

This is the second oblong I have built. I gave my dad VK4FASR my first one and have finally built another. I mostly use the bottom of the band for SSB/morse, the middle for APRS on 145.175 and 145.500 for SOTA. The antenna is cut accordingly.

References:

Andrew VK1AD
https://vk1nam.wordpress.com/2019/09/29/antenna-project-2m-145-mhz-rectangular-loop/

Peter VK3YE
https://youtu.be/Nyttl277ehs?si=9M5mP-KlxTGln0Tm

PARTS LIST
(Sorry about the lack of Freedom units)

    • 8mm fibreglass tube.
    • 8mm ID kite nocks (both from a kite supply).
    • Double walled glue lined heat shrink.
    • 2200mm Antenna wire – DX Commander in this case.
    • 2mm ‘ZingIt’ dyneema.
    • A BNC to banana adapter.

Assembly

I cut the tube so the centre to centre distance between the holes in the kite nocks was 360mm as per Andrew VK1AD’s instructions.

With the wire I started with 2200mm and trimmed until I had the best SWR at 145.000 when I lost my nerve and stopped cutting. [See photos below.]

Everything is held together with the glue lined heat shrink.
The top tube includes a little loop made from the ZingIt to suspend the antenna. Total weight is 102g.

The 2mm ZingIt can hold about 200Kg. I hope the pics make sense

73
Andrew VK2ZRK

Photos with detail

Field Radio Kits, News, Portable, QRP, SOTA

Field Radio Kit Gallery: VE6VID’s KX2 SOTA Kit

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Many thanks to Malen (VE6VID) – Canada’s first SOTA Double Mountain Goat – who shares the following article about his portable field radio kit which will be featured on our Field Kit Gallery page. If you would like to share your field kit with the QRPer community, read this post.

Hello Thomas,

After being prompted by Vince (VE6LK) I am sending in my humble lightweight HF setup. The core of the setup is an Elecraft KX2 with a few goodies bolted onto it.

My station consists of KX2 with tuner, end plates with lexan cover, external 4s LiPo (1100mah) battery, power cable that is fused and has switched diodes (voltage reducer), an Amazon speaker and earbuds, a modified UV5R microphone (I’m an SSB guy for now), and a homebrew 65 ft EFHW. It’s all carried in a large water bottle case by Condor and weighs in at just under 3lbs. That case also fits an Icom IC-705 or the Elecraft KX3.

I have approximately 300 SOTA activations with this along with various masts. These activations range from easy 10 pointer strolls in Arizona and Manitoba to strenuous (over 1000 metres of gain) 4 pointers in the Alberta Rockies along with summits in VE5, VE7 lands tossed in as well.

By using old Altoids tins for storage for earbuds and the mic, everything fits into the case with the antenna laying on top. I ended up doing some trimming of the kite winder to fit with ease on top of the case.

Here is the basic setup laid out.

The battery will last me for two ten to fifteen minute activations without having to switch the diodes out of line.

When solo activating in VE6 land, I use the Amazon external speaker to make noise to let the local four legged critters know I am there.

After a few years of using a dipole on treed summits, which at times can be troublesome to setup, I built a 49:1 EFHW. When using the EFHW I typically set is up as an inverted V with a mast, invert L with trees. The antenna is a homebrew 49:1 using a non-standard size type 43 toroid, SOTAbeams antenna wire 65 ft long, bulkhead male BNC for connecting directly to the radio.

Trying to go compact, not necessarily light, I ditched the Elecraft mic for something with a small footprint, a mic that started life as an UV5R mic / earbud combo from Amazon . By replacing the cable with a Walmart 3.5mm TRS cable and adjusting the menu on the radio, it works great.

Take care,  Malen Vidler, VE6VID

Vince’s notes: Malen is Canada’s first SOTA Double Mountain Goat. You can check out his YouTube channel here. He is soft-spoken and deeply knowledgeable on SOTA and Amateur Radio. He is one of my go-to people when I don’t understand something in these areas.

Field Reports, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, SOTA, Videos

Kneeboard SOTA: INSANE DX with my smallest, most compromised antenna!

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I walked out of my front door on the morning of Friday, September 29, 2023, knowing I was going to do an activation, but I had no idea where that might be.

I certainly had no idea it would be one of my most memorable activations ever–!

I knew I had a five hour window to play radio somewhere not too far from my daughters’ classes near the Asheville Airport.

I really wanted to do a SOTA (Summits On The Air) activation, but I’d pulled a muscle in my back and was nursing it a bit.  I knew that an invigorating hike on a long, gnarly trail was not really in the books.

After dropping off my daughters, I sat in the parking lot running through the activation options in my head. There were 5 or so parks within an easy drive. I knew a POTA activation probably made the most sense since it wouldn’t require hiking or carrying a heavy pack.

Then again, I really wanted to do a SOTA activation–the weather was so amazing, I didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity to take in a summit.

I decided that if I took a minimal amount of gear and activated an “easy” summit, then maybe I could get away with a little SOTA without hurting my back. I thought this might be the perfect excuse to do a SOTA activation pairing my Elecraft KX2 and AX2 antenna. I had a lightweight chair and my kneeboard, so in theory, I could set up anywhere on the summit with my entire station on my knee.

Next, I only needed to find the right summit and one came to mind almost immediately…

Black Balsam Knob (W4C/CM-005)

The last time I activated Black Balsam was with my buddy, Monty, in 2021. I remembered that it was an easy hike with stunning vistas of Pisgah Forest (K-4510) and the Blue Ridge Parkway (K-3378).

This it the Mountain Ash (Sorbus Americana) with bright red fruit!

I drove 55 minutes to the trailhead and was happy that there weren’t too many cars in the parking area yet that morning. Black Balsam is one of the most popular summits on the Blue Ridge Parkway, so sometimes it can be a challenge to find a parking space…especially with stunning weather like this!

The hike was very pleasant and my GoRuck GR1 backpack was pretty light.

I knew I’d chosen the right summit hike.

The views from the Art Loeb Trail do not disappoint. (Click images to enlarge.)

In fact, if anything, I wish this hike were just a little longer because I enjoyed the scenery so much!

It’s only 3/4 of a mile one way, so it goes by quickly. Still… it’s why I chose this particular summit. I knew it would be gentle on my back (and it was).

Once I reached the summit, I started searching for a spot to set up. There were quite a lot of folks on the summit that morning, so I looked for a site just slightly off of the main trail.

I found an area on a side trail that provided just enough room to set up my folding chair without disturbing the flora.
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