For those of us not fortunate enough to own an Elecraft KX series or KH1, I have a project that is a quick and dirty way to anchor your magnetic key to a clipboard. All that is needed is a fender washer from the hardware store and a hot glue gun. The best (ie, most magnetic) washer was the one marked ‘ALB’, but just take your key with you and try out what they have. If you find one you have to slide off, that’s getting there.
1) Affix the washer to the clipboard with hot glue. I recommend heating the washer with a heat gun first so you have time to reposition it if desired.
2) Put the washer on your key, and the glue on the washer. Position and press, and avoid moving it around while the glue cools (about a minute). If you do need to reposition it, remove the key, heat with the heat gun, replace the key and reposition.
I’m right handed so the key is on the right so I don’t hit it when I’m logging.
———
In case you are wondering about the chip in the carrier, I am working on a cordless interface between the key and a CW decoder for the IC-705. The plan is it will use the IC-705’s bluetooth connection to send audio to a Pi Pico for decoding, and then it will send back dits and dahs to the keyer. It should be able to be powered by a lightweight 3.7v rechargeable battery. This is in the early stage, but is showing promise.
It’s funny, but true. The World of Amatuer Radio is flat!
We often think we know the direction to a DX contact, but we seldom do. Especially at distances beyond 1,000 miles. Therein lies the misconception in our DX radio reality.
We assume this spherical, oblate ellipsoid, we call Earth, as round. In fact, it bulges at the equator, flattening the poles. Ergo, our sense of direction is wonky… Lets fix that. Here’s a link. https://ns6t.net/azimuth/azimuth.html
Here is a copy of my Azimuthal Map from DN13tq:
The center of my universe is Boise, Idaho, specifically DN13tq. Using the NS6T.net website, you too can enter your Maidenhead coordinates and see your radio world in a whole new light. Download your own Azimuthal Map and see the World as flat.
Europe, for me, is not East. If I had a log periodic beam, I’d be talking to Cape Town South Africa at 90 degrees east. Europe (for me) is 30 degrees NNE from my QTH. As a QRP field operator, I should orient whatever gain, in whatever field antenna I may have, accordingly. Just saying… The World of Amatuer Radio is flat!
So get properly oriented, and go out and discovery New Worlds.
It was Sunday, December 24th around 7:30 AM and my brother Joseph, my dog Daisy, and I were on our way to Florida. The purpose of the trip was to knock out nine or ten parks toward my goal of 60 new-to-me park activations in 2024. The trip was also designed to test my camping skills and adjust my equipment and set-up for future POTA camping trips. The first park on the itinerary was Olustee Battlefield Park (K-3642).
The drive to Olustee was straight forward: I-95 south to Jacksonville, then I-295 to I-10. We stopped at the Florida Welcome Center and snapped a quick picture despite the rain, then bundled ourselves back into the car and on our way.
Are we there yet?
Olustee Battlefield Park commemorates the site of Florida’s largest Civil War battle. Florida was important to the Confederacy in the Civil War because of its material contributions. In fact, Florida was a vital contributor of beef and salt. The battle of Olustee was fought to repel a Union attempt to disrupt Florida’s food-producing supply routes and recruit African-American soldiers. In fact U.S. African-American troops took part in the battle including the famous 54th Massachusetts regiment featured in the movie “Glory”. A re-enactment of the battle at Olustee is held each February.
Joseph and I arrived at Olustee Battlefield Park under cloudy skies. Right after our arrival, a gentleman pulled up from the local area and began chatting with us. He owns some of the timber plantations in the surrounding area and was killing time at the park while a relative visited someone at the nearby prison.
I located a pine tree and installed the Tufteln EFRW antenna. Meanwhile, Daisy found a pine cone or two to deconstruct. It was nice to be at a location at which she could be off-leash and wander.
I began with 40 meters as usual but the noise on that band was horrendous – S7! So I moved to 20 meters figuring that would be quieter. NOPE! Again, S7! Well, shucks! I told myself to just call CQ and see what I could hear. Only the strongest calls broke through the noise and even then, I sometimes lost a hunter as the band appeared to be shifting. After twenty minutes on 20 meters, I switched to 17 meters hoping the noise might be better there. Nope – S7 AGAIN! I needed a few more contacts for a valid activation so I hung in there for five more minutes getting four contacts and then called it QRT.
QSO map for Olustee Battlefield HSP http://tools.adventureradio.de/analyzer/
What the heck could have caused such noise on all three bands I tried? There were power lines but I was nowhere near them. There were no other sources of noise I could see at the site. And then I remembered the nearby Baker Correctional Institution, the prison the gentleman’s relative was visiting. It was a large facility. Surely there was a lot of electric equipment with surveillance cameras, etc. That must have been the noise source.
It was time to move on. We drove secondary roads which took us through pine forests in the Osceola Wildlife Management Area and Gainesville, FL, home of the University of Florida. Continue reading A Journey Through Florida Begins→
As always there are links within the article. Click one! Click them all! Learn all the things!
In December of 2023, I found myself with a surplus of vacation from my employers, and my Brother who’s move-in date to his new home got suddenly moved forward to just before Christmas. I was able to get time off work and make an epic road trip with POTA stops along the way to both allow me to have some radio fun and to give my body a stretching break. My trip would take me from my home in Alberta, westward through British Columbia, southward into Idaho, Washington, Oregon and I even made it as far as Northern California to see the Pacific before turning around and heading back home.
Along the way, I activated at 14 stops which totaled 21 parks in all after factoring in the 2-fer, 4-fer and 5-fer stops! This was a total of 301 actual QSOs netting 508 after the x-fers were computed in. It was a mix of CW and voice with an average of 21 contacts per stop.
There were many highlights of the trip, and naturally spending time with my brother and his wife were at the top of the list–despite the work of moving into a house–followed by the simply spectacular scenery along the route and the route planning itself. While this trip was decided upon on a Thursday evening and I was on the road the following Monday, I still found about 10 hours to research points of interest along my routes and look for POTA entities that had either not been activated yet or were CW ATNO, having only had a Phone or Digital activation previously. For the most part, these were the stops I targeted as my waypoints.
The Columbia River is nearly a mile wide at Rooster Rock SP
Driving along the Columbia River Gorge on I-84 approaching Rooster Rock State Park felt like driving along the base of the Grand Canyon, given the 1000′ height of the cliffs beside me. Rooster Rock State Park (K-2850), is notable for two reasons. 1 – it’s a 5-fer activation point – my first 5-fer stop ever doing POTA, and 2 – it’s windy as heck as you can see in this short video I took for Charlie W7RTA who told me, via Discord, it would blow [what’s left of my hair] off my head.
Certainly Rooster Rock was a highlight given it’s the only 5-fer activation I’ve ever done. It was activated two hours after a 4-fer at Willow Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area (K-10646). I only learned about the multiples after chatting with folks on the POTA Discord server.
It was a short drive from Rooster Rock SP to the home of KJ6VU in Oregon City, Oregon. While I’ve worked with George on the Ham Radio Workbench Podcast for nearly three years, I’d never met him in person until this trip. It was such a treat to spend time with him. George is the creator of the Packtenna that so many of us love to use. As luck would have it, the KJ6VU repeater was due for a replacement and scheduled for the next morning, and I was able to put my skills in racking (installing) repeaters to good use. After we finished the repeater I departed and did some performance testing while southbound on I-5 to test its range.
The repeater crew. L to R: Josh K6OSH, Nick KF7SOM, the Author, and George KJ6VU
Along the way I got to have a coffee break with Nick Smith NT3S who I had met via Discord. Nick can be found activating parks and going overlanding on weekends. Thanks Nick for the time to have a break with you!
Over the next several days I spent time in Grants Pass Oregon assisting my brother and his wife to get moved in. Grants Pass even has a Harbor Freight Tools and I was able to get some shopping done! So as it turns out I wouldn’t be slugging boxes every day and there was a bit of a break during my visit to go out and play radio. I know the POTA program is especially popular in the United States and I’d heard that every entity has been activated at least once, which is very different from here in Canada where many parks are untouched. In my research and thanks to the parks added in the autumn of 2023, there are some in the system that had never been activated. On one Saturday afternoon I was able to visit one of these parks -Cathedral Hills Trail System- and work 72 contacts in under an hour on SSB.
Cathedral Hills Trail System, Grants Pass OregonTall trees at Cathedral Hills Trail System, Grants Pass Oregon
On the following Tuesday, I headed out from Grants Pass to head to California if only to tick off the box on POTA’s website saying I’d activated there. I had no idea that Highway 199 would be so scenic. I activated six entities on this day.
At the end of Highway 199 is Tolowa Dunes State Park (K-1202). The photo at the top of this article is on the dunes and at the coast of the Pacific Ocean near Crescent City CA. Yes, I walked along the surf despite the threatening weather. It also allowed me the luxury to park within the dunes themselves to do my activation with a spectacular view. Continue reading 2,112 miles as AI7LK in the US Pacific Northwest→
Many thanks to Jeff (K9JP) who shares the following guest post:
Simple-for-me POTA activations
Jeff (K9JP)
This past year, I discovered POTA and the joy of activating parks. This part of amateur radio is very rewarding to me. I started activating parks in March, which means cold and possibly snowy days. I took the easy way and set up my POTA station inside of my car with the engine running to power the radio and the car heater creating warmth, but increasing my carbon footprint.
I soon recognized that had to be a better way.
I was using a magnetic-mounted ham-stick type of antenna on the roof of my car to make the antenna easy to use. I had problems getting my ham-stick antennas to resonate, did a little web research, and found that I needed to bond the coax feedline to the body of the car. I made up a pass-through coax connection using a chassis mount connector and a short length of one-inch ground braid that I had in my spare parts stash. I attached the braid to one of the back set floor bolts
Now the antenna was resonating and working well. For my radio, I used my backup ICOM IC-7300 with a power output set to 4 watts for QRP Fun. I can use all bands from 20 through 6 meters now.
My next change was to purchase a rechargeable LiFePo4 battery.. Looking at the cost per amp hours, I decided on a 100 Ah battery that offered a possible 2000 charge cycles. It should last for years with good care. With the large capacity of that battery, I can power the 7300 for many hours at QRP power levels and operate either FT8/FT4 or CW, and would also make high power possible if needed for some reason or other operating event. My experience so far has been I can operate from five parks per day and only need to charge the battery after the fourth day or about 20 activations.
I have recently purchased a Ford Transit Connect minivan to convert for my POTA Park mobile adventures. The van offered a better way to mount the antennas I use. It has a roof rack with cross-bars.
I modified an older Diamond roof rack mount to fit the wider cross bars.
Once I installed the coax bonding strap under the center-row seat I was ready to go.
I had also received a 40-meter ham-stick type antenna and thought I would give that band a go on my next park activation. Again no joy, I could not get the 40-meter antenna to resonate. When I got back home, I made up a 1/2″ grounding braid strap long enough to bond or connect the roof rack mount to the body of the minivan. I covered this strap with dual wall adhesive lined heat shrink tubing.
This bonding strap is connected to the roof rack mount, runs under the side door weather stripping, and is terminated under the side door latch.
Now the 40-meter resonator was working very well.
How could I add 60, 80, or 160-meter bands? Giving that some thought, could I try to create a sort of 1/2 fan dipole? Yes, I could! Through experimentation, I made up clamp-on elements for 60, 80, and 160-meter bands. Those can be attached or clamped on the quick disconnects I have on all my ham stick antennas.
I support the clamp-on elements by either draping the wire element over nearby shrubs or small trees or by just using a plastic step-on fencing post that I found at my local farm and home supply store. It only costs $3.00. These elements create an NVIS radiation pattern which helps reach out to interstate POTA hunters.
Inside the minivan, I place my portable LiFePo4 battery, 7300 radio, and my laptop for digital modes and logging.
I hope you will find this helpful. I believe this is a simple way to activate parks.
I now have 186 activations, from 23 parks, and 4800 contacts using 160 through 6-meter bands. Many thanks to all I have contacted this past year and my goal for 2024 is to try and activate more Michigan, Ohio, and South West Canada parks using QRP power levels.
Many thanks to Christian (IX1CKN) who shares the following field report:
Activation of I-0120
by Christian (IX1CKN)
After “infecting” Andrea (IW0HK) with the use of military surplus for POTA activations, on December 26, 2023, I decided to repeat the experience. I brought the Plessey PRC-320 to the 791 meters of the Tsatelet Natural Reserve / I-0120.
With its 11 kg weight, two images came to mind. The first was from an article on QST dedicated to “green radios,” where it was said: “if you’re not fit, carrying one on your back will make you.” So true, even truer.
The other reminded me of all the Army officer cadets (who attended courses at in Aosta for years) that, specializing in transmissions, carried stations (also) on short waves on their shoulders around my Valley to ensure connections (I’ve seen some beautiful photos just in the past few days, here: http://www.rosti1.it/fixed/ja_AUC_BN/).
After 10 minutes of walking, I didn’t have much more left. Wonder how they made it…
After dispelling the mysticism, once at the destination, I set up the PRC in manpack configuration: with its whip vertical antenna and the counterpoise consisting of four coils to be laid on the ground.
Finding a frequency in 20 meters, I started calling. Propagation in phases, but a satisfying activation emerged, with 40 contacts scattered throughout Europe in 70 minutes on the air, including 5 “park to park.” Among them, even IW0HK, who was at Montemario Park.
A small curiosity: with the Christmas Eve activity, I had exhausted the dedicated logbook since 2013 for portable operations. To continue, I used the “Radio Adventure Journal” that I had seen mentioned on a Facebook group (being available on Amazon [QRPer affiliate link]).
It’s nice to see a program like POTA spreading like wildfire, not only in practice but also for some “accessories.” Thanks to everyone for the contacts.
On Thursday, November 30, 2023 I had a chunk of afternoon open to fit in some Parks On The Air time. My travels took me near one of my favorite local parks: the Zebulon Vance Birthplace Historic Site (K-6856).
As I packed my car that morning, I brought along some of my Mountain Topper transceivers as well. The plan was to first shoot a video comping the new Elecraft KH1 to these venerable SOTA machines, then do a POTA activation with the KH1 and a new-to-me kit antenna.
The Mountain Topper comparison took a bit longer than I had anticipated (surprise, surprise) so my POTA time was actually somewhat limited. If interested, my KH1/Mountain Topper comparison was posted several weeks ago–click here to check it out.
Tufteln No-Transformer EFRW
One goal of my afternoon activation was to finally put my new-to-me Tufteln “No-Transformer” end-fed random wire antenna on the air.
You might recall that I shared a campsite–during the W4 SOTA campout last year–with good friend Joshua (N5FY) of Tufteln fame and fortune. Being the antenna guy he is, Joshua brought along a full antenna building station and set it up on our picnic table. That first afternoon at camp, he gave me a kit to build this random wire antenna. Thanks again, OM! These “No-Transformer” random wire antennas are designed to be paired with a good ATU–either external or internal. This type of antenna couldn’t be more simple.
Since there’s no transformer (no 9:1, etc.) the ATU does all of the heavy lifting to make a match. While this might not seem like an efficient way of doing things, one benefit of this design is that there’s no feed line: the radiator and counterpoise connect directly to the radio if your radio has a built-in ATU. I’ve found that there’s some inherent efficiency in this approach.
Just two wires (radiator and counterpoise) connected directly to a BNC with a little strain relief.
The antenna is identical to the speaker wire antenna I built in the field and have used so extensively over the past few years. Joshua’s design is just much lower-profile and more compact.
When I built this particular antenna, I decided to go for a much longer length than any other random wire I’ve made to date. The idea was to have an antenna that might possibly match 80M. Joshua might correct me, but I believe we cut something between 70-80 feet for the radiator.
At Vance, I deployed this antenna into some short evergreens that surround the picnic shelter. It wasn’t an ideal deployment, per se, but adequate for a quickie activation!
I’ve learned that the length I chose for this radiator isn’t ideal for most of my ATUs to hit some bands. I will end up trimming this antenna a bit until I find the right length. I’m tempted to shorten it for matching on 60 meters, then build another 9:1 random wire to hit 80 and possibly 160 meters.
Setting up the KH1 took no time at all. I did discover during this activation that I needed to better secure the KH1 to the table. Wind gusts were tugging on the random wire a bit (as the trees swayed) and it would move the KH1 around on the table. The KH1 weighs less than a pound, so it’s super lightweight! This will be easy to fix next time.
Gear:
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I tuned the EFRW antenna on 30M and got a perfect impedance match.
I started calling CQ POTA and hunters replied!
In fact, I worked ten stations in exactly ten minutes. Two of them were Park-To-Parks–thanks KD8IE and KC3WPW!
I worked two more stations for a total of only twelve logged. I would like to have spent more time on the air, but I had two appointments on my schedule that afternoon.
QSO Map
Here’s what this five watt activation looked like when plotted out on a QSO Map:
Activation Video
Here’s my real-time, real-life video of the entire activation. As with all of my videos, I don’t edit out any parts of the on-air activation time. In addition, I have monetization turned off on YouTube, although that doesn’t stop them from inserting ads before and after my videos.
Thank you for joining me on this short activation!
Had I realized how low I was running on time at the beginning of this activation, I might have made the antenna deployment and my commentary a bit briefer to have more air time. That said, I don’t do POTA for the numbers, I do it because it’s amazing fun and such a positive part of my day. This little activation was no exception! Pure radio fun.
I hope you enjoyed this field report and my activation video as much as I enjoyed creating them.
Of course, I’d also like to send a special thanks to those of you who have been supporting the site and channel through Patreon and the Coffee Fund. While certainly not a requirement as my content will always be free, I really appreciate the support.
As I mentioned before, the Patreon platform connected to Vimeo make it possible for me to share videos that are not only 100% ad-free, but also downloadable for offline viewing. The Vimeo account also serves as a third backup for my video files.
Many thanks to Brian (K3ES) who shares the following guest post:
Activation at Allegheny National Forest: Remembering a Friend
by Brian (K3ES)
The last few weeks have been rough for the K3ES household. In past activation reports, I introduced you to our two Boston Terriers. Molly and Jojo came to us as rescue dogs in October 2022, and we have worked hard to help them feel safe and loved. Unfortunately, both came to us with unexpected health problems. We were able to get Molly through treatment for heartworm, and she is thriving. Jojo always had something holding her back, but we were never quite sure what. We lost her just before Christmas, and that was a real punch in the gut.
Jojo was a special dog. When we brought her home, she barely weighed 15 pounds. Even after we managed to build her weight up to 25 pounds, she was still thin for her frame. She also came to us hunched, cowering, and emotionally traumatized. It took months for her to start coming out of her shell. We got glimpses of her as a feisty, and loving dog, who took real joy from laying in the sunshine. We were hopeful that she would one day come into her own, and give our jubilant Molly a real run for her money. Sadly, it was not to be. She had increasing problems with mobility. We treated her for a bone infection, for possible tick-borne disease, and for joint inflammation. Steroids and pain medication helped her quality of life a lot. It was only near the end that the likely culprit was identified as cancer, but even expensive diagnostic tests failed to confirm that. Finally, her body just crashed, and we had to let her go…
Jojo supervises a truck activation of Allegheny National Forest in March 2023.
Looking back through pictures of Jojo, I discovered some that were taken during a never-reported “truck activation” of Allegheny National Forest (K-0619) back in March, 2023.
I have never thought that my vehicle-based activations were terribly interesting, so I never spent the time to report them. Suddenly, that particular activation held new meaning, because one of the few times I got Jojo out with me for a POTA activation happened because I was doing a low-impact drive-up, working from the truck. She rode shotgun, and sat happily in the passenger seat while I made contacts. Molly sat in the back seat, napping from time to time. After the radio gear was packed away, the three of us even managed to take a short trail walk along a Forest Service Road that starts at the parking area.
Jojo and Molly lead the way on the Forest Service Road after the radio gear was packed away.
Last week, I found myself in serious need of radio-therapy. Since Molly is always ready to go for a ride and a POTA, I decided to take her along to re-create the prior activation that we did with Jojo. So this is the story of our salute to a departed friend, a tribute activation, as it were.
Activation
Molly and I packed her blanket, picked up my KX2 field kit, and jumped in the truck for a 20 minute drive to the trail-head parking area that we had activated with Jojo last March. It has trees, a decent driving and walking surface that would not be too muddy from recent rain, and the Forest Service road where we had walked after the previous activation. This time, Molly rode in the passenger seat, alternating between napping, and looking at the scenery as we drove. Upon arrival she stayed put, while I used a throw line to put up my Tufteln 35 ft EFRW as a sloper. I hooked the unun around my 2 meter mobile antenna, and ran coax into the truck through the lower part of the driver-side door seal. I set up the KX2 on the center console/armrest, prepared my log, and got on the air to start the activation.
Tufteln 9:1 unun was clipped to my 2m mobile antenna, with the 35 ft radiator sloping up to a tree, the 17 ft counterpoise dropping down to the ground, and the RG316 feedline leading into the truck.
Results
As with almost all of my activations, I ran this one entirely CW QRP. Beginning just after 1900z (2 pm local), I decided to start on 15m and work my way down the bands. The HF bands were in good shape, and 15m netted 2 quick contacts, then 17m yielded 6 more. The pace picked up when I moved to 20m (12 contacts in 22 minutes), and got even faster on 30m (17 contacts in 19 minutes, before it was time to call QRT). While I was on the air, Molly did some supervising and some super snoozing.
Molly is an interested supervisor…But supervising is tiring work.
Working steadily for an hour and a quarter, and finishing with 37 contacts was just the kind of break that I needed. I want to sincerely thank the hunters who made this activation a success. For just a short while, I was focused on CW, call signs, and signal reports, and the sense of loss receded a bit from my consciousness.
A map of 37 contacts on 4 bands.
Equipment
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US M7 Army Light Weight Service Mask pouch. WWII vintage, canvas construction.
Molly and I walked along the Forest Service Road. We felt incomplete…
Conclusion
After I packed up the station, Molly and I repeated our walk along the Forest Service road. With just the two of us, it was definitely a bittersweet experience. I think Molly felt our loss, too. I like to think that Jojo would have been fine with missing this activation. The weather, while not raining, was cool, overcast, and a bit gloomy. The sunshine that she treasured was absent for us that day. Hopefully, she has found a place in perpetual sunshine, and is soaking up the rays. Good bye sweet pup.
We will always remember Jojo in her natural element, bathing in sunshine…
Hold on tight to those you love, and do something special with your four-footed companions. I wish you all the best in 2024.
[…]My work schedule doesn’t allow me to participate in any kind of CW classes since I’m in bed by the time they start. Trying to listen to anything while I’m working (I drive a delivery truck) is too tough to concentrate on the task at hand. So I feel I’m at an impasse. Happy New Year QRPers.
Mark, it definitely sounds like you need CW training in some sort of asynchronous format like audio or video recordings that will allow you to practice during lunch breaks and any short openings you might have in the day.
I started my CW journey so long ago, that I don’t know what some of the current options are for pre-recorded CW training that follows the Farnworth method. I learned CW via Gordon West’s Novice CW Training tapes which were really designed to help you pass the Novice test, not necessarily for CW proficiency.
Using the Farnsworth method, characters are sent to you at, say 21 words per minute or so, while extra spacing is added between characters and words to slow the transmission down as you start your CW journey. This teaches you to learn each character at your target rate from the very beginning. As you become more proficient, the spacing between characters is simply shortened. No question, it’s the best way to avoid the “counting dits and dashes” issue that causes many beginners to stumble.
Any advice for Mark?
I’m sure there are some phone/tablet apps, audio programs, and YouTube channels out there that will allow you to study at your own pace. I agree that it sounds like your work schedule would make real-time online courses challenging.
Readers, please comment with links to any resources that might help Mark and others in his shoes.
Consistency and habit stacking…
My own two cents here: Mark, I would worry less about how long you’re practicing CW each day and focus on consistency. Even if it’s just 10-15 minutes per day (most of us can carve that out), a steady and reliable pace will have a most positive impact on your CW journey.
Basically, habit stacking works by adding on a new habit to one you already do.
A real-life example: I wanted to implement regular light stretching into my daily routine, but I was finding it difficult to remember. Out of entire week, I might remember to stretch two or three times.
Then a friend told me about habit stacking where you add the new habit to one you’re already doing.
One thing I do each morning without fail is brew my first cup of coffee. From day one, I would grind my beans, start the coffee maker, and while the coffee was brewing, I’d spend a couple of minutes doing stretches and squats.
It was so simple implementing this new routine and I’ve never once forgotten to do my morning stretches.
In your shoes, I’d find a habit you’re already doing where you typically have a moment of peace: making your coffee, taking off your shoes after work, brushing your teeth…whatever you do daily and works for you. Then add on 10-15 minutes of code practice.
Even if you only added 10 minutes of code practice per day, by the end of the year, you’d have accumulated a total of 61 hours!
I feel like prerecorded code practice or a good CW app might help. Also, you might try a device like the Morse Tutor or Morserino. (I’ve been tempted to buy both of these to test myself!)
Again, my hope is that our community here will have some advice based on recent experience to help you! Please comment!
Many thanks to Christian (IX1CKN) who shares the following field report:
Activation of I-0395
by Chris (IX1CKN)
Hey folks, I just wanted to share my activation at the Les Iles Nature Reserve (I-0395) on Christmas Eve (December 24, 2023)!
It’s been a while since I last visited (in July). The weather was perfect, around 20 degrees Celsius, and I was in the mood for a real outdoor activation.
I decided to go with the manpack Plessey PRC-320, a trusty companion delivering a solid 25 watts. I wanted to be one with nature, so no benches or bird-watching huts this time.
Got off to an exciting start on 20 meters with two stations from the UK recognizing my gear. One even complimented the excellent modulation with a whopping 9+10 signal strength, giving me hope for the rest of the activation. Then came a Spanish station, the always attentive IX1VKK Rinaldo (following me from home), a colleague from the Netherlands, another Brit, and then… silence. I kept calling for another 5 minutes, but no luck.
Could it be the morning flare that affected propagation? Who knows, but I noticed on the POTA cluster that another Italian colleague was activating on 28 MHz and being spotted by several American Hams. I decided to give it a try, found a clear frequency locally, and started calling. And guess what? Responses from across the Atlantic started pouring in – Massachusetts, Georgia, and even a park-to-park with Jim KC1QDZ from Brenton Point State Park in Rhode Island.
Maybe not my first contact with a U.S. park on 10 meters, but definitely a memorable one.
Signal reports weren’t super strong, hovering around 5/3-5/4, but hey, as long as the noise floor isn’t sky-high, that signal is enough to complete the QSO. Moved to a different frequency as the band was buzzing with North American stations – Kentucky, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Maryland.
An hour in, and I’ve logged 12 contacts. Pretty incredible considering that what “saved” my activation were stations on the other side of the ocean. Europe on 20 meters was a bit challenging, but hey, that’s ham radio for you. You’d think POTA, with its simple and not-so-full-power setups, is a local affair, and then, on Christmas Eve, you realize DX is very much on the table.
I turn around, a duck dives in, and the last rays of sunlight caress the wetlands. Perfect way to end it.
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Finding a frequency in 20 meters, I started calling. Propagation in phases, but a satisfying activation emerged, with 40 contacts scattered throughout Europe in 70 minutes on the air, including 5 “park to park.” Among them, even IW0HK, who was at Montemario Park.
These “No-Transformer” random wire antennas are designed to be paired with a good ATU–either external or internal. This type of antenna couldn’t be more simple.
