Category Archives: Videos

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

Out Of My Element: An Urban POTA activation at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial

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It’s funny, but until September 7, 2023, I had never activated one of the closest POTA sites to my home: the Thomas Wolfe Memorial (K-6853).

I remember back in 2020 when I really kicked my POTA activations into high gear, I made a spreadsheet of all of the POTA sites within a 2 hour drive of the QTH and started activating them one by one.

At the time, almost 50-60%, or possibly more, had never been activated. Keep in mind that in early 2020, POTA had a wee fraction of the activity it has today.

It was a lot of fun especially considering those were the early days of the pandemic and it was just nice to get out and about. Any excuse, right?

The Thomas Wolfe Memorial is on North Market Street in Asheville, NC.

One of the parks on my list was the Thomas Wolfe Memorial but being a small historic site in an urban setting, they were closed for quite some time during the pandemic. There was nothing to stop me from walking on the site–or pulling up in their parking lot–and doing an activation while they were closed, but I just didn’t feel like it should be fair game when closed.

Then restrictions loosened up and, frankly, I just sort of forgot about it.

I tend to activate parks in rural areas and I am prone to overlook urban sites (although quite a few of my activations in Canada last year were urban).

Thomas Wolfe Memorial (K-6853)

On Thursday, September 7, 2023, I dropped off my daughters at school then made my way to a doctor’s appointment. I arrived at the office, gave them my name at the front desk, and then they reminded me that we had re-scheduled this particular appointment for later in the month.

Doh! I forgot to make the change in my calendar.

All of the sudden, I had a bit more free time!

Of course, I always fill free time with POTA activations, and I already had radio gear in the car, so it was only a matter of deciding where to go.

I called the Vance Historic Birthplace (about a 25 minute drive) to see if they were busy. Their director (who I know quite well at this point) told me that a large group was on the site, but would be gone by 1:30. That timing didn’t work for me, so I consulted the POTA map.

Since the POTA site used my coordinates to find the closest park, I was reminded that K-6853 was a mere 3 minute drive from the doctor’s office. I could have walked there.

I gave the site a call to ask for permission (again, I always do this for small historic sites) and they told me I’d be most welcome.

The site is on a small urban lot and consists of two buildings: the visitors’ center, and the Old Kentucky Home boarding house. Continue reading Out Of My Element: An Urban POTA activation at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial →

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

One Watt, Low-Profile QRP: A Labor Day POTA Activation at Lake James State Park

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I realize that I’m fortunate, in many ways, that I perform POTA activations at times when parks are relatively quiet: weekdays, mostly, and during that 9-5 window when many are at work. On the flip side, I’m also activating when there are fewer hunters out there.

The upshot, for me, is that I rarely have any competition for picnic tables or activation spots at state and national parks. In general, as you’ll see in my activation videos, the park is quiet and sometimes I literally have the place to myself.

I actually take this for granted until I activate on a busy weekend or a holiday. Something like…

Labor Day!

While traveling back to the QTH on Monday, September 4, 2023, I decided to pop by Lake James State Park (K-2739) for a quick POTA activation.

Lake James State Park spans about 3,743 acres and is divided into two areas: the Catawba River Access and Paddy’s Creek Area.

Typically, I play radio at the smaller Catawba River area because there are so many excellent picnic sites with loads of trees.

The Paddy’s Creek area is much larger and (big bonus) has many more trails.

Paddy’s Creek also has a large beach and swimming/boating area with a huge parking lot and large covered picnic shelter (that is often occupied or reserved).

On Labor Day, the weather was gorgeous and, as you might imagine, the park was packed!

So why did I choose Paddy’s Creek on such a busy day?

I might have mentioned in a previous video that we recently purchased a used Volvo C40 Recharge EV (Electric Vehicle). While I normally charge it up at home, I’m trying to familiarize myself with charging on the go as well.

I’d read that Lake James has two (free!) convenience chargers at the Paddy’s Creek area. I drove to the site mainly to see where the were located. On such a busy day, I didn’t assume either of the chargers would be available–my plan was to find them, then head to the Catawba River access.

But turns out, the only available parking spot I could find at the Paddy’s Creek lot was one EV charging spot right there at the beach access and shelter! What!?! That’s an omen, I told myself, so I pulled into the spot, plugged in, and by golly, the car started charging.

I’m still new at this stuff, so it’s all a bit of magic to me. Forgive my excitement.

But where to activate?

The park was teeming with people all out enjoying the weather, the water, and the food and drinks. Truth is, I love seeing parks being enjoyed on this scale. Continue reading One Watt, Low-Profile QRP: A Labor Day POTA Activation at Lake James State Park →

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

QRP POTA: Breaking in an Elecraft KX1 and setting up message memories in the field

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If you’ve been reading QRPer.com for long, you’ll no doubt have gathered that I’m [understatement alert] a big fan of the Elecraft KX1.

A couple months ago, a good friend and supporter of this site/channel, reached out to me because he planned to sell his pristine Elecraft KX1. He’s in the process of downsizing his radio inventory in preparation of a move.

He wanted me to have first dibs at his KX1 and I couldn’t refuse. I knew it would be a great unit and I wanted two fully-functioning KX1s.

You might ask, “But wait Thomas, don’t you have three KX1s???”

Yes, this is true.

With this latest addition, I have now have two fully-functioning KX1s (a 3 and a 4 band version) and one other in need of repair. After I make the repair, I plan to give this radio to a friend (one who doesn’t read QRPer regularly) so will be back to two KX1s.

Since Elecraft has discontinued the KX1, they’ve become difficult to find on the market and when they do appear, they often demand a very high price.

That said, if you’ve been looking for a KX1, you will eventually find one. All of my friends who’ve wanted one have put out word and found willing sellers in due time. Elecraft sold quite a few of these back in the day, so there are units floating around out there.

Tuttle Educational State Forest (K-4861)

On Sunday, August 27, 2023, I had an opening to play a little radio and fit in a hike at Tuttle Educational State Forest.

At the time, I needed a little radio therapy and outdoor break: my mom had been admitted to the hospital the previous day (they released her a few days later and at time of posting she’s doing much better).

Tuttle was only a 30 minute drive from the hospital and, as I suspected, I was the only visitor there that Sunday–educational forests aren’t nearly as busy as other NC state parks.

After a nice 3-ish mile hike, I grabbed my radio backpack from the car and started recording an activation video.

My goal was to test this new KX1 and to set up CW message memories.

First, though, I needed to deploy an antenna. I chose my MM0OPX EFHW because it was in my pack from a previous activation. This antenna has never let me down. Continue reading QRP POTA: Breaking in an Elecraft KX1 and setting up message memories in the field →

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

POTA with a 20 Meter Vertical Delta Loop and the Elecraft KX2!

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There’s a portable wire antenna design I’ve been wanting to put on the air for POTA and SOTA for what seems like ages: a 20 meter vertical loop.

I mentioned in a Ham Radio Workbench podcast episode a few months ago that I planned to build a field-portable delta loop antenna and that led to a mini discussion about configurations, feed points, height off the ground, etc. and how all of those factors can influence the characteristics and dynamics of the antenna.

Vertical loops are pretty fascinating and incredibly effective.

Delta loops are super easy to build (no more difficult than an EFHW) but this summer has been insanely busy for me and I simply hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

Then my good friend Joshua (N5FY) who runs tufteln.com sent me a prototype 20M delta loop in the mail. We’d been talking delta loops and he couldn’t help but build one. He asked that I take it to the field and put it on the air, then give him any feedback and notes I might have.

Joshua’s design incorporates a 4:1 transformer and was cut to be resonant on 20 meters. I’d actually planned to build one identical to this because the type of loops I’ve deployed at home have been fed with ladder/window line which isn’t as portable as something I could feed with RG-316.

Holmes Educational State Forest (K-4856)

On Friday, September 1, 2023, I grabbed the delta loop antenna and the KX2, then made my way to Holmes Educational State Forest.

I knew that Holmes wouldn’t be busy and that there were a number of options for spots to set up.

After a little scouting, I found a great site to set up the antenna.

I planned to set up this antenna as close as I could to an equilateral triangle with the apex up about 30 feet and the feedpoint in the middle of the base of the delta.

Deploying the antenna in this configuration meant that I only needed one line in a tree to hoist the apex of the delta and two lines to pull out the corners of the base.

I brought along some paracord with tent stakes to secure the base corners of the loop. In the end, though, I simply attached the paracord to trees instead of using the stakes.

I (somewhat reluctantly) made a video of the entire activation including the antenna deployment. I wanted to take my time deploying this antenna for the first time, so the antenna deployment section of the video is much longer than usual.

You absolutely cannot see the loop in this photo, but it’s there…I promise!

In the end though? It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. The last vertical delta loop I deployed was a 40 meter loop which is roughly double the size–in my head I was expecting the aperture to be larger than it was.

My arborist line and 12 oz weight hanging to provide a gentle tension to hold the apex of the loop up.

The 20 meter loop is actually pretty compact and almost as easy as setting up as an inverted vee.

With my loop properly deployed, it was time to hit the air! Continue reading POTA with a 20 Meter Vertical Delta Loop and the Elecraft KX2! →

Field Reports, Guest Posts, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, QRP Radios, Reviews, Videos

Getting To Know You Series: The Ten-Tec Argonaut V (Model 516) – My thoughts, notes, and a POTA activation!

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I’m very fortunate in that over the past few years I’ve accumulated a number of QRP radios that I use in rotation when I do park and summit activations.

I’m often asked for advice on choosing radios, and as I’ve mentioned in the past, I feel like the decision is a very personal one–everything is based on an operator’s own particular preferences.

I’ve written formal reviews about most of the field radios in my collection over the years. In those reviews, I try to take a wide angle view of a radio–I try to see how it might appeal to a number of types of operators: field operators, DXers, summit activators, contesters, rag-chewers, casual operators, SWLs, travelers, outdoor adventurers, mobile operators, etc. I highlight the pros and cons, but I don’t focus on my own particular take because, again, my style of operating might not match that of readers. I try to present the full picture as clearly as I can and let the reader decide.

On that note, I thought it might be fun to take a radio out for a field activation and spend a bit of time explaining why I enjoy using it and why it’s a part of my permanent field radio collection. Instead of taking that wide-angle view of a radio like I do in magazine reviews, I share my own personal thoughts based on long-term experience.

Each new video in the Getting To Know You series will highlight one of the field radios from my field radio collection.  I’ll spend time in each video explaining what I personally appreciate about each radio, then we’ll do a park or summit activation with the radio.

I’ll release these every few weeks or so–when the notion strikes me.  They will not be on a regular schedule, but I hope to include each of my radios in this series over the the next year.

The Ten-Tec Argonaut V

The third radio in the Getting To Know You series is my Ten-Tec Argonaut V (Model 516).

I’ve always been a big fan of Ten-Tec products because I love their focus on quality, high-performance receivers, and benchmark audio fidelity.

Ten-Tec has produced some impressive radios over the years and was a trail-blazer in the world of QRP with their Power Mites and original analog Argonaut series (check out these and more T-T radios here).

When Ten-Tec manufacturing was located in Sevierville, Tennessee, I knew many of the employees of the company and even did Alpha and Beta testing for their QRP radios like the Patriot, Rebel, and Argonaut VI.

I love the ergonomics and simple front panel design of the Argo V.

I purchased my Argonaut V used in 2021 when I saw it for sale on QTH.com. The price was right and, frankly, I wanted a Ten-Tec radio back in my life.

In the activation video (below) I’ll speak to all of the reasons I love the Argonaut V, why I think it’s so unique, and why I’ve no intention of ever selling it. Then, we’ll perform a POTA activation with it.

Keep in mind that my perspective will primarily focus on HF CW operating–I don’t actually own a microphone for the Argonaut V, but I do plan to at some point.

Lake James State Park (K-2739)

On Sunday, August 13, 2023, I made a detour to Lake James State Park en route to visit my parents in Hickory, NC. As I’ve mentioned many times before, Lake James is one of the easiest parks I can hit in my travels and it’s open every day of the week–in the summer, it’s also open quite late which is a bonus.

The only negative with evening activations at Lake James is fighting the mozzies–they can be persistent!

I picked out a picnic table close to the car and pulled the Argonaut V from my Husky latching box.

I then immediately deployed my MW0SAW 40 meter End-Fed Half-Wave antenna. Since the Argonaut V doesn’t have an internal ATU, the EFHW would give me the flexibility to operate on 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters natively.

Of course, it was in the early evening, so I only intended to hop on 40 meters, but I had the option to move up the band if needed.

After deploying my antenna, I recorded the “Getting To Know You” portion of the activation video–I’d encourage you to check that out below!

Time to hop on the air! Continue reading Getting To Know You Series: The Ten-Tec Argonaut V (Model 516) – My thoughts, notes, and a POTA activation! →

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

Pairing the Yaesu FT-817ND and Chelegance MC-750 at South Mountains State Park

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After completing a lively little POTA activation at Lake James State Park (K-2723) and then Table Rock Fish Hatchery (K-8012) on the morning of Monday, July 31, 2023, I decided to squeeze in one more POTA adventure on what became a mini rove.

Since nearby Tuttle Educational State Forest is closed on Mondays in the summer, I chose to visit South Mountains State Park (K-2753) instead–it was only a few minutes further afield than Tuttle.

After leaving Table Rock, I picked up a quick lunch in Morganton and drove to the main entrance of South Mountains and set up at the equestrian picnic area.

South Mountains State Park (K-2753)

 

The weather that day was beautiful and so was the drive.

I decided to deploy my Chelegance MC-750 this time, just to shake things up a bit. If you know me, when I do little roves like this, I typically like to use different radios and/or antennas at each site.

I paired the MC-750 with my Yaesu FT-817ND. My reasoning for picking the ‘817 was because I could use the SO-239 connection on the back of the radio. The new cable assembly/feedline I was using had PL-259s on each end.

Speaking of the new assembly, at the Dayton Hamvention this year, I popped by the ABR Industries booth and Chuck gave me (full disclosure–at no cost to me) a new product to test in the field: a 20 foot PL-259 to PL-259 assembly made with their ABR240-UF cable and with 5 in-line ferrites. What makes this cable unique is that it sports a bright orange flexible webbed jacketing which makes it very easy to see on the ground.

They’ve been informally calling it their “POTA cable.” I immediately knew why this would appeal to POTA ops: one of my constant fears is that someone will unknowingly trip on my feedline while I’m in the middle of an activation. Black coax cable on the ground is very difficult to see (I’ve even tripped on my own lines)–this high visibility jacketing makes cable very conspicuous. Just check out the photos above. Continue reading Pairing the Yaesu FT-817ND and Chelegance MC-750 at South Mountains State Park →

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

POTA Field Report: Pairing the Yaesu FT-817 and a 40M EFHW at Table Rock!

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After a fun little activation of Lake James State Park (K-2723) on the morning of Monday, July 31, 2023, I decided to fit in at least one more POTA adventure on a mini rove.

The logical choice was Table Rock Fish Hatchery since it’s such a short drive from Lake James and I always enjoy activating that particular site.

The weather that morning was beautiful and so was the drive.

Table Rock Fish Hatchery (K-8012)

I pulled into the driveway of the picnic area and–no surprise here–I had the place to myself.

In fact, according to the POTA website, I’ve activated this site 12 times and I’ve never seen another soul in the picnic area save my canine friends, park staff, and one guy who was hunting muskrats in the creek. That’s about it. Never anyone actually hanging around the picnic area.

On the drive over, I hadn’t considered what antenna or radio to use–I had a few in the back of my car.

I thought about using my Elecraft KX1, but then realized I didn’t have an extra shielded audio cable to connect to my Anker Soundcore Mini speaker nor did I have my in-line digital audio recorder. Without those things, I wouldn’t be able to make a video of the activation.

My next choice was the Yaesu FT-817ND and, in fact, it would be ideal. I was looking forward to putting the ‘817 on the air again–it’d been a couple of months!

First, though, an antenna. I pulled out the 40 M End-Fed Half-Wave Steve (MW0SAW) made for me some time ago.

This antenna has been in heavy rotation lately because it’s been in my main radio backpack as I’ve been traveling around the region.

I deployed the EFHW in short order, then hooked it up to the ‘817. Continue reading POTA Field Report: Pairing the Yaesu FT-817 and a 40M EFHW at Table Rock! →

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

VE6LK makes a quick trip to Montana o/a AI7LK – Day 2

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by Vince (VE6LK)

As you read in day 1 of this story, I landed up in Montana opportunistically. The plan for day 2 was to say goodbye to our visiting family, then make our way north from Kalispell, MT via Eureka, MT and head for home. We’d stop on the way to visit with friends and, of course do one more POTA activation.

Operating position at K-4848. This spot is at the south end of Lower Stillwater Lake.

After departing Kalispell we arrived at Lower Stillwater Lake, part of K-4848, at around 11am MT.

There is one picnic table near a boat launch and it was vacant so I got to work quickly and set up. I had brought along a lightweight kit consisting of my VE6VID EFHW, Elecraft AX-1, the KX3, a battery, a key, a paper logbook and some extra bits like carabiners, a bit of masonry string and a small mast that I landed up not using. With my wife and doggo along for the ride, I didn’t want to take too much time to set up and operate, so the natural choice would have been the Elecraft AX1 antenna, but with conditions being as soft as they were a day earlier, the resonant wire antenna seemed the better choice for the extra 5 minutes it would take to set up.

This short video shows my full set-up:

I looped the feedpoint end around a nearby tree branch and unrolled the antenna and tossed it up in a branch just out of my reach – another low-slung wire antenna! The rest of the gear came out on the table and I used the tote box as a makeshift stand for my shortie camera tripod. Continue reading VE6LK makes a quick trip to Montana o/a AI7LK – Day 2 →

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

From the Archives: A 2022 Postcard Field Report and Activation Video from New River Gorge National Park

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These are busy days for K4SWL

These past few weeks have been absolutely crazy for me in terms of activity–I’ve been traveling a lot, doing (involved) DIY projects on the house, searching for a new car, planning a PV system for the QTH, fixing well pumps, helping friends, and doing caregiving for my folks.

It’s all kept me very busy!

I have a sizable backlog of emails that have accumulated during this time. If you’ve sent me a message, I likely haven’t read it yet. Apologies for that. I simply haven’t had time to read and reply.

I thought about skipping a field report this morning, then I remembered an amazing West Virginia camping trip and draft videos I’d already uploaded to YouTube.

In lieu of writing a full field report (and so that I can share a video today) I thought I’d simply share this activation video with a Postcard type field report.

2022 West Virginia POTA Camping Trip

Last year (2022), in lieu of going to the Dayton Hamvention, my buddies Eric (WD8RIF), his son Miles (KD8KNC), and I spent a long weekend activating parks and camping in the New River Gorge area of West Virginia. Click here to read more about that trip.

The camping trip was absolutely amazing and we activated a number of parks during that time.

I made activation videos at most of the parks we visited, but with my summer travels and activations in Canada last year, I skipped over several of the videos I’d uploaded so that I could publish my Canadian activations while I was still in Canada.

New River Gorge National Park (K-0696)

 

The following activation video was made on May 21, 2022 as WD8RIF and I activated K-0696.

 

I’ve yet to re-watch this video myself, but I remember clearly that this particular day we had atrocious band conditions.

Indeed, rough bands were present during much of our weekend camping trip, but it never stopped us from having fun or activating our parks.

In terms of gear, I used my trust Elecraft KX2 paired with my Chameleon MPAS 2.0 antenna system.

Activation video:

Click here to watch on YouTube.

Logs

I hope you enjoy this below video and, as always, thank you so much to my Patreon and Coffee Fund.  supporters! You’re simply brilliant!

72,

Thomas (K4SWL)

Field Reports, Guest Posts, News, POTA, Travel, Videos

VE6LK makes a quick trip to Montana o/a AI7LK – Day 1

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by Vince (VE6LK)

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

In early August 2023 I was lucky to be able to activate parks in beautiful West Montana on such short notice.

As opportunity would have it, my brother Dan, AG7GM, and Sister-in-Law Val were at the tail end of visiting with us and wanted to do a drive on Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road as part of their return journey home. We had attempted this trip with them some years ago but were met with inclement weather and were turned around after landslides blocked the road. After an overnight stop in Kalispell for all of us, they would continue towards home and we would head back to ours.

The preparation involved plotting out which of the 9 parks I could tackle along the routes I would be travelling. I settled on K-0028, Glacier National Park and K-4848, Stillwater State Forest. But, still, my activations would need to be opportunistic in nature and involve a willing family allowing me to partake in one of my favourite activities.

Before you do this road trip, you need to understand that the Going-to-the-Sun Road is highly popular and the park restricts the number and type of vehicles that pass along it each day. You can find out more details about Going-to-the-Sun Road here. While their advance booking system granted me one vehicle pass, I needed two and was unsuccessful in the days before the actual trip to secure a second one. Luckily (there’s that word again) we arrived after 3pm when passes are not required at this time of year. I was absolutely stoked as I love driving on mountain roads!

Continue reading VE6LK makes a quick trip to Montana o/a AI7LK – Day 1 →