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

Uncompromised Performance: Taking my new-to-me Ten-Tec Argonaut VI to the field!

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In late August 2024, I came across what I considered a great deal on a fantastic radio, which I’m excited to share with you in the following field report.

Please note that this POTA (Parks On The Air) activation took place on September 5, 2024 (almost exactly two months ago)—three weeks before Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina. This is one of a few field reports and activation videos I’ll be sharing that took place before Helene’s arrival.

I haven’t been back to the Vance State Historic Site since the storm, as it’s been closed. Located in the Reems Creek valley, the site likely experienced extensive flooding. I hope this park can recover and reopen soon.

I hope you enjoy this field report and activation video. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reliving it while preparing this for you.

Thank you!
Thomas (K4SWL)

Reunited with the Model 539

In late August, I was browsing the QTH.com classifieds when I spotted a radio I hadn’t seen for sale in some time: the Ten-Tec Argonaut VI QRP transceiver. This radio had been on my mental watchlist for years.

The seller was asking $440, which I considered a great deal for a radio that, to my knowledge, hasn’t been in production since Ten-Tec closed its Sevierville, TN factory in 2016.

This radio and I have some history together. I was one of the original volunteer Beta testers for the Argonaut VI and, in 2012, wrote a full review of the production model.

Ten-Tec offered me a chance to purchase my Beta unit (updated to full production specs) with a modest discount. But at the time, I simply couldn’t afford it; we’d just built our house, and I couldn’t justify the purchase, especially since I’d also reviewed and bought my Elecraft KX3 that same year.

I always planned to get an Argonaut VI eventually—better late than never, right?

As I mention in my activation video, I plan to make a “Getting to Know You” video for the Argonaut VI soon, so I won’t dive deep into why I love this radio here.

The takeaway? I feel the Argonaut VI has some of the best overall receiver performance of any radio I’ve used. It’s quirky and certainly not perfect, but its excellent receiver, filtering, audio, and QSK make it a benchmark QRP transceiver.

Getting Reacquainted

While the Argo VI was en route to my QTH, I wanted to refresh my memory on its operation.

Since it had been twelve years since I last used the Argonaut VI, I had to revisit my own review to remember some of its nuances!

When it arrived, I quickly put it on the air and operated it from my shack until I had a chance to take it to the field on Thursday, September 5, 2024.

Vance Historic Birthplace (US-6856)

As I always do with smaller POTA sites like Vance, I called ahead to make sure the picnic shelter wouldn’t be reserved at my arrival time. The park ranger replied, “It’s all yours, Thomas!”

The weather was nearly perfect that Thursday, with a hint of fall in the air.

En route to the site, I thought about my antenna options. Since the Argo VI doesn’t have a built-in ATU, I opted to use a resonant antenna for simplicity. In the end, I chose my Chelegance MC-750 vertical, which I set up next to the picnic shelter.

The MC-750 is a quarter-wave antenna, so I extended the telescoping whip for a match on the 20-meter band.

I don’t yet have a field kit specifically built around the Argonaut VI, so I simply brought along various accessories in my Husky weathertight storage box.

I set up the radio, tuned to 20 meters, checked my settings, and was ready to take the Argo VI on its first POTA activation!

Gear

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On The Air

I hopped on the air and, within eleven minutes, worked my first ten stations. Continue reading Uncompromised Performance: Taking my new-to-me Ten-Tec Argonaut VI to the field! →

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

The POTA Babe Hangs Around in South Carolina

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By Teri KO4WFP

In my last article,  I activated Uwharrie National Forest in North Carolina at the Buck Mountain Fire Tower. After that activation, Glenn W4YES and I drove to Charlotte to visit college friends – Jennifer and Mike. So far, the day had been wonderful. However, it was far from over.

Our final night of our getaway trip would be spent at an Airbnb in Camden, South Carolina. I chose to activate Hanging Rock Battleground State Historical Park (US-10470), several miles south of Heath Springs, South Carolina. The park is remote and not well marked. All there was to signify its existance from the road we traveled was space large enough to accommodate two cars and a row of pilings. On one of the pilings was a white sign and, behind it, what looked like a trail.

the trail into the park

The park has historical signifance. An outpost was established at Hanging Rock by the British in the 1700s because of its strategic location on the road from Camden to Charlotte. According to the American Battlefield Trust, a  three-hour battle was fought on August 6, 1780 on the site as a “part of a Patriot drive to reclaim the southern colonies after the siege of Charleston, South Carolina”. Fifty-three Americans and two hundred British soldiers lost their lives in this encounter.

Nothing about the site today brings to mind a battle. It is a short hike into the property before one finds giant boulders, some of which appear to be hanging (hence the name, right?).

See how big the boulders are?

We hiked a little further into this property which looked like a little slice of North Carolina in South Carolina. Spots of pincushion moss dotted the ground and leaves crunched under our feet. Sunlight filtered through the foliage. A small creek ran and burbled below the giant boulders above not far from a monument marking the battle.

I think this is pincushion moss
walking beneath the forest canopy

We decided to set up atop the highest and largest of the boulders. On its top, the tree canopy parted, giving my antenna just what it needed. I figured the Chelegance MC-750 would work best here and, given I had a tripod to mount it, it would work fine despite a rocky base.

Glenn atop the boulder on which we setup
closeup of lichens on the boulders
the view from the top down into the forest below

It was still early enough that 20 meters was an option so I secured 14.048. It wasn’t long after I spotted myself that calls began arriving. Over the next 30 minutes, the calls were steady – 24 to be exact. At 6:00 PM, I called QRT because we had yet to check into our Airbnb and needed to be out of the park by dark.

setting up Chelegance tripod
getting ready to run coax
on the air!
QSO Map Hanging Rock Battleground State Historical Park (US-10470) USA 10-13-2024             source: http://tools.adventureradio.de/analyzer/
QSO Map Hanging Rock Battleground State Historical Park (US-10470) 10-13-2024                      source: http://tools.adventureradio.de/analyzer/

I was especially pleased to have one DX at this activation – Ignacio EA2BD. (Thank you, Ignacio!) I rarely get DX as I don’t chase it. This exchange was a nice surprise.

Tomorrow, Monday, October 14, it was time to head home back to Savannah, Georgia. However, this POTA Babe was not finished! Of course, I would find a park to activate on the drive home. Which park would I choose and would it be successful? Stay tuned…

If you’d like to see the park up close and personal as well as watch Glenn “interview” me afterwards, check out the video on my YouTube channel:

Equipment Used

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News

Helene Aftermath Update: Insurance, Uncovering Full Extent of Damage, and GMRS Progress (Friday, November 1, 2024)

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Good Morning, Friends,

For those who haven’t followed my previous posts, we live in a rural mountain community in Swannanoa, NC, and were hit hard by the unprecedented destruction caused by Hurricane (later Tropical Storm) Helene. I’ve been sharing regular updates to chronicle our recovery efforts and, naturally, to highlight the vital role amateur radio has played throughout.

Normalization

Things are moving forward here with both our family and our community.

The past two weeks have involved the administrative tasks that come with the property damage from an event like Hurricane Helene: dealing with insurance/FEMA, banking, gathering estimates, budgeting for clean-up, arranging contractors, and so forth.

Last week, the adjuster for our vacation rental came out and was incredibly thorough. We learned that the tree landing on the roof not only poked through the master bedroom ceiling (which we knew) but also damaged the rafters on that side of the house.

Arborists removing the tree from our rental house in October.

The impact even separated the ceiling drywall from the walls, and the oak floors will need replacing. It will require more work than we initially anticipated.

The challenge now is getting this work done before spring of next year (when the tourist season starts back up). We’ll need to find contractors to work on both the vacation rental and our residence. Fortunately, the repairs to our home are less extensive and can wait until the rental is fixed.

Our neighbors on the road are also working through everything with their insurance. Now that the road is passable, adjusters can reach each house more easily.

We’re also setting up FEMA inspections to help cover some costs that insurance may not, such as debris removal and damage to the driveway and our multi-family road.

As I mentioned in a previous update, despite misinformation spreading around, FEMA has been excellent. They were among the first on-site, checking in on everyone post-Helene, arranging supply drops, and assisting with applications. We received initial assistance quite promptly.

Goodbye, Ella Sue

Another milestone: Our beloved Subaru Forester made its final journey.

This car, which has served as a fantastic POTA mobile over the years, accumulated nearly 150K miles with our family since 2017. It’s been a workhorse and still ran like new. While I dread the search for a replacement, we’re likely to get another Subaru, though it won’t be easy with the current shortage of used cars in our area post-storm. Any used car we consider will need a thorough inspection to ensure it wasn’t previously flooded.

Yesterday in town, we noticed a lot of temporary license plates, reflecting just how many people are replacing their vehicles post-Helene.

Thankfully, we still have the C40, so we’re not in a hurry.

Our Subaru went through a lot over the years. You might remember when a bear got in and tore up the interior after opening all four doors looking for food, even though we’d been careful to remove everything edible. Earlier this year, it was rear-ended by a one-ton truck on I-40 and still got us safely to my mother’s funeral on time.

Then, during Helene, two trees landed on the hood. When the tow company arrived, they managed to start it up and drive it down the hill, even though the engine had been pinned under heavy trees for over a week.

Ella Sue was tough!

More Aftermath

This community church on Bee Tree Road was completely destroyed.

As more local roads open, we’re seeing a clearer picture of what happened along the Swannanoa River.

Yesterday, my wife and I drove down Old Hwy 70 for a dentist appointment and saw that the flood line had reached over one story high in places. Trees along the road were littered with debris swept down by the floodwaters, including clothing, toys, roofing materials, and even vehicles wrapped around trunks.

Heather and I noticed a park bench still lodged high in a tree, the same one I spotted during my mountain bike ride into Black Mountain in late September–two days after Helene hit

The railroad through Buncombe county was damaged severely. Check out this hi-rail ballast dump truck we spotted in Black Mountain.

Driving along that stretch, it looked as though the flood had just happened, even though it’s been over a month. A large section of Old 70 remains closed for road repairs, and piles of debris still line the road—remnants of so many homes and businesses.

I didn’t take photos along Old Hwy 70 because I was driving, and there were too many construction vehicles working to repair the road and clear away debris. Even after a month, the sheer amount of debris—pieces of people’s lives—piled up along the road was staggering, and it’s taken this long just to clear a path.

Gratitude

Seeing all this, we’re so grateful that none of our friends or family lost their lives in this storm. The official death toll for NC has exceeded 100, with some people still unaccounted for.

I’ve also seen news about the catastrophic flooding in eastern Spain and Andalucía. Our hearts go out to everyone affected there—the toll is just unimaginable, especially in densely populated areas.

GMRS Community Radio Update

Our GMRS radio network is coming together here on our road and in the valley.

I tested our new repeater, and it’s working beautifully across the entire road, even handling a 1,000’ (305m) elevation change. I can reach it from Swannanoa, Black Mountain, and even parts of east Asheville.

I’m currently evaluating handheld GMRS radios to recommend models that work best for our neighbors.

The UV-5G Plus programmed with our repeater and simplex frequency.

So far, I’ve tested a pair of Baofeng UV-5G Plus handhelds (QRPer affiliate link), which are relatively user-friendly, though the red text on a blue background (in the settings menu) is hard to read in sunlight. I’m awaiting two more models: a TidRadio TD H8 and Baofeng GM-15 Pro and I plan to get the Radioddity GM-30 Plus  (again, QRPer affiliate links).

I should have received both of these radios a week ago, but Amazon shipping to Swannanoa is still problematic. Even though I’ve been sending all of my shipments to official Amazon lockers (instead of to our post office) both radios from separate orders failed to deliver. Amazon cancelled the orders and I called customer service to have them replaced.

Delivery disruptions like this are understandable given the circumstances. Patience is key!

If anyone has other recommendations for GMRS handhelds with USB-C charging, please let me know in the comments. I’ll eventually post a review of all these models.

Four Words: Thank you so much!

As always, I’m incredibly grateful for the kindness and support from this community. If I haven’t responded to your emails or comments yet, please know it’s because I’ve been focused on helping my family and neighbors.

A special thank you to Vince (VE6LK), who managed QRPer.com for all of October—a massive help! Since things are starting to normalize here, I’m ready to resume site management.

To everyone who reached out with messages (well over 300!), thank you so much. Though I may not be able to reply to all of them, please know I’ve read every word, and your support means the world to us.

Thank you all for being such an incredible community and support network!

Wishing you the very best this weekend!

Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)

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

SOTA, POTA & Lessons Learned: John and Zach Activate Grassy Mountain

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Many thanks to John Hartzell (W3HN) and Zach Hartzell (NI4K) who share the following guest post:

Activating Grassy Mountain, GA for SOTA and two POTA parks at the same time (all while figuring out what not to do next time)

by John (W3HN) and Zach (NI4K)

Sometime in early 2024, my son Zach contacted me and said, “Dad, the Georgia SOTA and POTA folks are having a campout in October.  Why don’t you visit us in Atlanta and we can go camping, meet some fellow hams, and activate a SOTA peak or two?”  It made sense, as Zach had become the most active ham in the family, had taught himself CW, loved an excuse to go camping, was a natural organizer, and had been the impetus for my handful of POTA activations. And it was all easier now that I had retired in December 2023.

The “campout” was the W4SOTA campout, planned for Wednesday, October 2 through Sunday, October 6, 2024, at the Lake Rabun Beach Campground at the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest.  Zach got his camping vehicle, Thor the Taco truck, ready for the jaunt.  A Taco truck (for the handful of folks out there that don’t know this), is a Toyota Tacoma pick-up.

“Thor” is the name the truck acquired because of its imposing demeanor.

Thor at Wind Cave National Park

It has four-wheel drive, a three-inch lift, the metric equivalent of 33” tires, a Go Fast Camper pop-up camper over the bed, an electric winch, a silly number of extra lights up front, and is equipped for some of Zach’s hobbies.  Air compressor for mountain biking?  Check.  Back-up battery with separate charging system for ham radio and a 12-volt refrigerator?  Check.  A pullout kitchen with a sink and two-burner stove?  Check.

Winter Field Day in Northern New Mexico

Both 2-meter FM and GMRS radios in the cab for communicating with your mountain biking and camping buddies on those weekends on western Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands?  Check.

Thor in North Georgia

It even has 12-volt DC available via Anderson power connectors in the cab, because you never know when you might be driving cross country and come to a lonely park in serious need of a POTA activation.

Zach emailed me spreadsheets with gear lists and options.  I ignored them, scribbled unintelligible notes on my yellow pads, and ended up bringing everything that might arguably be used for SOTA, POTA, Winter and Summer Field Days, or to run a 1970s era government emergency communications center.  Truthfully, that is an exaggeration – I didn’t pack the warm clothes required for a Winter Field Day.

Zach paid for a campsite, and our trip south from Pennsylvania was planned, when everything came to a screeching halt on September 30, 2024.  Hurricane Helene had severely damaged areas of Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia.  Zach soon learned the original campout was cancelled when he received an electronic refund for the campsite.  Some of the original attendees were unable to make it, including Thomas (K4SWL) who was reporting regularly on the devastation and challenges to his family and neighbors from his QTH outside of Swannanoa, North Carolina, just east of Asheville.

We couldn’t confirm if there was a substitute campout.  Despite this, we decided to push on with a modified weekend.  My wife and I drove south to Atlanta, Zach organized his gear, he helped me “sort” (i.e., drastically cut back) my gear from multiple plastic tubs, and we had use of a cabin near Ellijay, Georgia, within a short drive to the summit and parks Zach had mapped out.  We decided we could pull this off, and on Friday, October 4, Zach and I loaded Thor and were soon booming north from Atlanta on US-575.

View from overlook on forest road leading to Conasuaga Lake, GA

Ellijay, Georgia is a nice town.  After a lovely rooftop dinner, a good night’s sleep in a cabin in the woods, and a great breakfast at a local restaurant, Zach had Thor headed to our destination, Grassy Mountain, summit W4G/HC-007.  In addition to having two hams activating this SOTA summit, Zach had determined that Grassy Mountain was located within two POTA parks, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest (US-4473), and Cohutta Wildlife Management Area (US-7446).  So, if we were organized, we could provide a double-triple – two operators and three locations (a SOTA summit and two POTA parks).

In about 45 minutes Thor led us to a parking spot deep in the forest near the locked gate to the Grassy Mountain access trail.  We donned our GORUCK rucksacks filled with radios, antennas, coax, water, sundry accessories, and a snack or two (we left the steel plates at home).  The route up to the top of the summit was a mile and a half hike on rutted double-track, with a switchback a little over half way to the summit.

View from John’s operating position

Once atop the summit Zach and I assessed the site.  It consisted of about one acre of cleared land, with what looked like a former fire watch tower in the corner of the cleared area.  Zach and I broke out our KX2 Elecraft transceivers.  Zach hooked his to a Tufteln 40-10 EFRW, mounted to a SOTA Beams carbon fiber telescopic mast.  I deployed a EndFedz EFT-MTR 20/30/40 antenna in a sloper configuration, and tuned it up using the internal Elecraft tuner.  Those were the bands I intended to use. I also had my Mountain Topper MTR-3B QRP transceiver, which might get some use, too.  We also used some untested QRP bandpass filters found on eBay.  They seemed to work, but will undergo more scientific testing to confirm their functionality.

Trying the Tufteln Kneeboard for the activation

Zach was racking up contacts on CW, but I was having difficulty on SSB.  I had been trying to operate the antenna on 20 and 40 meters when it was configured for 30 meters – which we only realized when we took a gander at the antenna manual back at the cabin after we regained cell service.  The SMA connector is removed to enable 30-meter operation, not installed.  Bing!  It is a testament to Elecraft that their antenna tuner is robust enough to handle that mismatch.  It is also an excellent example of why you should read the equipment manuals for gear you don’t operate very often before your field effort!

Elevation is our friend to reach 42.5 miles (Grassy Mountain, GA to Blood Mountain, GA) on 2m FM

Zach had suggested we use 2 meter FM for the SOTA activation, in addition to HF, so we climbed the tower as far as we could and called on the 2-meter simplex calling frequency, 146.520 MHz.  We each got two or three contacts on this frequency, as there were enough folks activating summits from the original plan for the W4SOTA weekend.  Interestingly, they included N5FY, the owner of Tufteln, the manufacturer of Zach’s HF Antenna.

John (W3HN) and Zach (NI4K) at Grassy Mountain, GA Summit

Zach was able to use FT8 for a QSO using an Android Application called FT8 Radio on his phone, which was linked to his KX2 through a Digirig Mobile.  My CW was still rusty despite some recent practice, so I stayed on HF SSB.  We enjoyed the excellent weather, some good radio conditions, and had satisfied the requirements for all three activations after 90 minutes or so.  We soon packed up, hiked down, and were soon buckled into Thor and navigating the dirt roads of the national forest.

Lessons Learned:

  1. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, in discussing World War II, is alleged to have said “plans are worthless, but planning is everything.”  Ike was a smart man.  A bit more planning (at least on my part) would have made things more efficient.
  2. It was a nice day for not just hams, and we had some visitors to the summit.  Zach put on his public relations hat and adroitly educated these folks while I continued to try to contact folks on SSB with a 30-meter antenna tuned to 20 meters.  We should have foreseen this and been better prepared (note: see item
  3. Zach thought a good approach would be to contact folks on the 2-meter simplex calling frequency (146.520 MHz), and then to QSY to the 2-meter adventure frequency (which is 146.580 MHz).  We did not try this, as we quickly had many QSOs on the calling frequency.  It was a good idea, as it would keep the calling frequency from being over used for routine communications.  However, I think there are two possible bugs in this ointment: (a) I am not sure hams know of the adventure frequency so that they have it in their 2-meter memory bank; and (b) if not in their memory bank, could hams quickly QSY to the frequency?  It is not intuitive to change frequency for me on my HT, and I carry a laminated cheat sheet to help me with frequency changes (note: Zach will attest that radios more complicated than an HealthKit HW-16 cause me challenges, including many with dropdown menus, so this could be a personal hardship and not one shared with other hams).
  4. Logging is important, evidence of the adage: “if you didn’t write it down, it didn’t happen.”  I was a bit flustered when we got started, and my log soon looked like a Bletchley Park cipher sheet.  A few more minutes at the beginning would have saved a lot of time at the end when piecing together the logs for upload to our friends at SOTA and POTA.
  5. We were without cell coverage on the summit.  We prospectively scheduled the activation with SOTA and POTA sites the night before, but we were off by a few hours when we started operating.  Would it have been better to not spot ourselves, and then just start operating?  I am not sure.  Probably the best solution would have been to provide enough lead time in our plan to ensure the times included in our spots aligned with the actual operating times, even if it meant we had to wait on site before starting our activation.
  6. This was the first time we used some of the gear, predominantly the 20/30/40 antenna.  We recommend a practice assembly of all the gear with SWR meters, manuals (cell service to access missing manuals), culminating in QSOs using the equipment and modes desired for the activation (note: see again our friend, item 1).  This occurred the day after the activation for the HF kits through “trouble shooting,” but we were able to program our 2 meter radios prior to departure which saved some time and frustration at the summit.
  7. We had fun.  Pushing yourself in a new direction can cause a touch of anxiety, but it also develops new ideas on how to handle things in the future and provides a sense of satisfaction once you’ve done it.  I’m glad Zach had this idea.  Perhaps we’ll try it again next year with all the regional SOTA and POTA folks!
Emcomm, News

Ham Radio Workbench Podcast Episode 221: Hurricane Helene and Emergency Prep

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As many of you know, I’m proud to be a regular on the Ham Radio Workbench podcast.

Last week, we published an episode focused on emergency communications, specifically my first-hand experiences in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

When we recorded, our road was still without power, and we had no mobile data service. I was able to join the recording thanks to a high(ish)-speed internet connection via HughesNet and our whole-house solar power backup.

HRWB podcast episodes are long-format, allowing us to dive deeply into topics like this one. If you’re interested in listening, I encourage you to check it out on the HRWB website and even subscribe via iTunes, Android, and other platforms.

Click here to check out the episode on the HRWB website.

The next episode will also cover emergency communications, focusing on the question, “How would you plan for the next emergency?” It’s a roundtable discussion including Josh (K7OSH). It’ll appear here when published (likely, later this week).

I’d also add that joining my friends on the HRWB podcast recording was truly good for the soul. At that point, we were still in the early stages of cleanup after the disaster, and spending time with them in real-time was incredibly therapeutic.

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

My First Post-Helene POTA Activation!

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On Friday, October 24, 2024, I performed my first POTA activation exactly one month (to the day) after Hurricane Helene swept through western North Carolina.

It felt oh so good!

As many of you know who’ve been following my Post-Helene updates, I simply haven’t had time to do POTA or SOTA activations. And even if I wanted to, most of the POTA sites around me are temporarily closed due to damage from Helene.

Truthfully, I didn’t start my day expecting a POTA activation. I’d planned, if anything, to make a short field radio video somewhere on my property, chase some POTA/SOTA stations, and make any other random contacts.

However, my daughter’s Shakespeare class decided to meet in person, so after dropping her off at 12:30, I had about two hours of free time. Before leaving home, I packed a couple of radio bags just in case I could find a spot for a POTA activation, or at least visit a local park to play radio for a bit.

I realized I was only a 20-minute drive from the Sycamore Flats picnic site in Pisgah National Forest (US-4510), where I’ve activated many times before. This site is in Transylvania County, which wasn’t hit as hard by Helene.

Google Maps showed the site as open, so I decided to drive over. Thankfully, it was correct! When I arrived, the front gate was open and there were a few visitors around.

I could tell the site had some storm damage—some tree limbs down and evidence of flooding from the Davidson River, which wraps around the area. The park service recently upgraded the picnic table pads, but the gravel had washed away, and many tables had either shifted or washed away.

That said, this site fared well compared to parks in Buncombe County. (Chimney Rock State Park is still inaccessible due to major flooding in the town of Chimney Rock.)

I hopped out, grabbed my backpack and TR-45L, and started recording my activation video.

Since no one was using the picnic shelter at the northeast end of the park (and it had no reservation sign), I set up there. I deployed my MM0OPX End-Fed Half-Wave antenna on a nearby tree, connected it to my TR-45L, and was ready to go!

Gear

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On The Air

I hopped on the air and started calling CQ POTA. After the RBN picked me up and the POTA website auto-spotted me, the contacts started rolling in! Continue reading My First Post-Helene POTA Activation! →

Field Reports, Guest Posts, Morse Code, POTA, QRP

Offline QRP Activation

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When you have activated the same park nearly 160 times, it starts to get a bit routine. Certainly, any day that you’re alive and able to participate in ham radio is a day to be thankful for, but I have to admit that lately I’ve gotten rather bored with activating from the Presidio of San Francisco US-7889.

the Golden Gate Bridge in a clear morning.
Not a bad view from the activation location.

What could I do to spice things up a little bit? Recently, the W6CSN shack welcomed a new member into the QRP radio lineup, the venerable Heathkit HW-8. This got me to thinking about the days when the HW-8 was new, QRP was a niche part of the hobby, and the Internet was something that connected mainframes at universities.

Heathkit HW-8 Front Panel

That’s an idea! Try to activate a park for POTA without using the internet tools on which we’ve come to rely. The rules are: no self spotting on the POTA website and no looking at the POTA spots page to find stations to hunt. If you want to hunt, you’re going to have tune around and listen for stations calling CQ.

close up photo of antenna mounted to a steel post
The stainless steel vertical mounts to a fence post which provides a good counterpoise.

The HW-8 would not debut on this activation as it’s waiting on a power cord and we haven’t really gotten to know each other yet. Instead, the trusty KH1 would be the radio choice today, coupled to a quarter wave vertical on 20 meters and sending via the Bencher BY-1.

KH1 transceiver and Bencher paddles on a park bench
It is only fitting to use the BY-1 on a park bench.

I set up camp on 14.059 MHz and began calling CQ POTA with no prescheduled activation, no spot on pota.app, not even looking at my phone to see what the propagation numbers were saying. In fact, I only used my phone as a camera to take pictures for this field report.

Within a few minutes I got my first call, from Ken VE7HI. The next 40 minutes were spent calling CQ and hunting other stations until I had six contacts in the log. Then came the long, desolate hour of calling with no responses and being unable to break through any of the “pileups” around other activators. The drought ended with a P2P with NR1D/0 at Barr Lake State Park in Colorado and 15 minutes later the activation was complete with K6BBQ coming through for QSO number 11.

map showing location of contacted stations
Map of “offline” POTA activation QSOs.

While the internet certainly makes it so much easier, this activation proves that the QRPer can be successful in POTA with just a 5 watt radio and a half decent antenna. If you are looking to spice up your POTA routine, why not give an “offline” activation a try?

72 de W6CSN

Guest Posts, POTA, Travel

Cool Radio in the Hot Tropics – St. Kitts & Nevis October 2024

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Many thanks to Bob K4RLC who shares this report on mixing vacation with ham radio with us.  If you have an article in your head and want to have it posted here, let’s keep this community going while our friend Thomas continues to help his neighbours in the wake of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina. Draft up your story in an email with reference points to the pictures you want embedded and their captions, attach photos to the note and send it my way to vincedeon at gmail dot com and note QRPer in the subject line to get my attention.

By Bob Conder K4RLC and V4/K4RLC

Our interest in a trip to Saint Kitts began pre COVID, after my buddy Dale W4AUV and I saw an ad in the back of QST magazine by W5JON, John, for his rental villa with a complete ham radio station on this Caribbean island. What could be wrong with this scenario? Being on a beautiful Caribbean island with a complete ham radio station?

Fast forward almost five years later, when Dale and I, along with our spouses, leave Raleigh for St. Kitts.  The timing was really bad for me, as at the same time Western North Carolina was devastated from Hurricane Helene. In the past, I worked with the American Red Cross Disaster Services after hurricanes and tornadoes in my home state, as well as being deployed to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Louisiana immediately after Hurricane Katrina. We have friends and family who live in upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina Including my best friend from high school and his family. All we could do was reach out to them with support, and donate money through reputable organizations such as Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Relief and the American Red Cross.

St. Kitts only has three POTA sites and no SOTA sites.  I had hoped to activate at least two of the POTA sites. CW is my preferred modality. These POTA sites had only been activated by phone and dubious digital.

Saint Kitts is an unquestionably beautiful tropical island, but it is still a third world nation. The driving is British style, further complicated by having only three stoplights on the island and roundabouts every few miles. We rented a Honda CRV from Bullseye Rentals, recommended by John W5JON, the owner of the villa. Given the ancient small roads where everybody drives like your drunken old aunt with dementia, this was a good vehicle choice. Since my first and primary activation was to be  Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, a UNESCO site built starting in 1690 with guarded entryways made to fit horse drawn wagons in the 1700’s, we were relieved to have passed up the large Ford Explorer rental in favor of our little Honda SUV that barely made the entryway.

Brimstone Hill Fortress
“Stairway to Heaven” at Brimstone Fortress

Brimstone Hill Fortress, also known as the Gibraltar of the Caribbean, is an expansive stone fort originally built by the British in 1690 with African slaves. It has been through many modifications over the years, and different owners, but is essentially British. In fact, its construction reminded me of Edinburgh Castle in Scotland.  (I was later told that Brimstone was designed and built by the Royal Engineers from the UK). Now, it is a National Park, a POTA site (KN-0003), and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Continue reading Cool Radio in the Hot Tropics – St. Kitts & Nevis October 2024 →

News

A Surprise for the POTA Babe

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Sometimes you need a break.  My sweetie Glenn W4YES booked two Airbnbs, one in North Carolina and one in South Carolina, the second weekend in October as my son’s school was on break for four days. Anyone who knows me will tell you I am a planner. However, it was a nice surprise for me to NOT plan this trip. Glenn picked out the places to stay as well as scouted nearby potential POTA sites. My job was to show up and enjoy the surprise.

Our first two nights were at a property between Uwharrie and Troy, North Carolina. This property borders the Uwharrie National Forest (US-4511). All I had to do for a POTA activation was walk out our front door to the road on the mountain and continue a short distance uphill where the national forest property begins. The road continues past a locked gate to the Buck Mountain Fire Tower, the highest point in the area.

source: https://icoat.de/pocketmaps/nc/map/nc-usfs-uwha-01
our Airbnb

Saturday is my day off from everything including ham radio. However,  Glenn and I took a leisurely paced walk to the fire tower just to check it out.

road up to the tower

The Buck Mountain Fire Tower was built in 1936 and is likely the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Given the narrowness of the stairs, it is obvious the structure was not built in modern times. The tower base is covered in chain-link fencing but the metal door into the tower base area to access the tower stairs, is not locked.

We returned to the tower at sunset to climb it . You cannot access the top floor as it is padlocked. But one can see for miles from the stair platform below the top floor. The sliver of color on the horizon as the sun dipped below was worth the climb to the top.

red oak acorns with my hand in the photo for comparison
nuts also covered the ground near the Airbnb

Not being one to squander an opportunity for POTA, the next morning I woke at 6 AM and was out the door at 6:45. Light was just beginning to show in the sky. The walk up to the fire tower was not that difficult despite having a backpack of POTA and camera gear and gaining 152 feet in elevation. This is why I walk the stairs at a local parking garage two days a week – so I am not unprepared for some elevation change.

I arrived at the fire tower right before sunrise and had the site to myself! As I figured out where to set up, I thought to myself no one was likely to hear me due to the tall, large metal structure with antennas in front me. In fact, I didn’t bother setting up any video equipment.

fire tower at first light

I chose a spot off to the side of the tower with my back to the woods so I could see anyone coming up the access road . (When you are a woman alone in the woods, you have to think of such stuff.) I opted for the Chelegance MC-750 as there was not much time to operate. I set the Chelegance for 40 meters. The sun was just beginning to rise (7:24 AM) so I figured 40 would be a better band given the early hour.

Chelegance MC-750
woods behind me

I settled into my Helinox chair with a blanket wrapped around my legs (the temp was 49 degrees – cold for this Georgia girl), spotted myself (cell service at a POTA site is always a plus!), and steeled myself for a failed activation. If I encounter noise when I do POTA, it is almost always on 40 meters. I figured with the antennas on site and the large metal object in front of me, no one would hear my QRP signal and there would be too much noise for me to hear anyone who did happen to respond to my CQ. I couldn’t have been more wrong!

operating with blanket wrapped around my legs & wool shirt on for warmth

There was noise on the band but not nearly as bad as I anticipated, partially due to the great filters on the KX2. There was a pulsing noise at 7.056 and some sort of signal on 7.054, but 7.049 was clear. It wasn’t long after spotting myself that Ronny WB2MQQ answered my CQ. That began a steady stream of calls over the next hour. The signal I heard originally on 7.054 moved to 7.049 about 25 minutes into the activation so I switched to 7.054 when it vacated that frequency.

set-up

At 8:27 AM, I called QRT because Glenn and I had plans to meet old college friends in Charlotte later that morning. I had 39 contacts at a location I was certain would result in none! It just goes to show you never know what the bands or a location will give you. Better to set up and try than quit before you start, right?

QSO Map for Uwharrie National Forest (US-4511) 10-13-2024

We had a pleasant drive to Charlotte. Glenn met his friend Mike and I, my friend Jennifer. (I call her Jennaboo and she calls me Teridactl.) Afterwards, satiated from lunch, conversation, and laughter, we headed southward into South Carolina for my next activation. Where? Stay tuned…

Jennaboo & Teridactl!

P.S. Want to get to know Glenn and I a little better? Check out my video from our stay near Uwharrie National Forest on YouTube:

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Antennas, Articles, Field Reports, Guest Posts, POTA

64-Contacts Spanning 6-Bands, 8-Countries, 3-Continents Using A 17m Coaxial-Sleeve Vertical Dipole

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Gee, the title almost tells the whole story.  But not really.  The title is where I ended up; how I got there, is the story.

Here’s the story.

Today, I hope to activate Fintry Protected Area CA-3505 in southern British Columbia.

One of my objectives since I started POTA last year is to try to activate as many parks as I can in the Okanagan region of BC that have not yet been activated by anyone.  Nothing like a good challenge.  I expect that most of them haven’t been activated because they are quite remote and difficult to access unless one has a true off-road all-terrain vehicle.  Even at that, sometimes it still requires backpacking-in, to boot (no pun intended).  This is in part because many of the Protected Areas and Ecological Reserves are not always directly accessible by vehicle.  The roads often do not enter the park boundaries at all.  They get you close, and then you need to hoof-it in to be POTA legit inside the park boundaries.

Fintry Protected Area has never been activated before, by anyone. I’m wondering why?  Compared to many of my past activations, it isn’t nearly as difficult to access as some others I’ve been to.

The location in Fintry CA-3505 that I will be activating today is located about a 1-hour drive north of Kelowna, BC (where I live) via West Kelowna.  The last section of travel is via rough gravel roads.

Continue reading 64-Contacts Spanning 6-Bands, 8-Countries, 3-Continents Using A 17m Coaxial-Sleeve Vertical Dipole →

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