Testing the Diamond RHM-8B portable screwdriver antenna
By Steve (MW0SAW)
I have seen many amazing K4SWL SPOTA pileups on YouTube using the AX1 antenna and the extension coil. I have fancied trying a small walkie talkie style whip antenna for a while now.
I have a AX1 and KX2, but my Yaesu FT-818 was the radio with a fully charged battery. So I pulled out The Diamond RHM-8B, an antenna I purchased a while ago but never used in the field. It has a BNC fitting and you tune the antenna by sliding the coil up and down for loudest signal and best SWR. They make one very chunky walkie talkie together! Diamond products do have a fantastic air of quality about their construction.
Radio conditions weren’t great, and bands were busy being the weekend of the CQ WW CW contest. So decided to go the my nearest summit that’s amount 12mins in the car and about a 25mins hike up. This was GW/SW-034 Garth Hill. On a clear day you can see out over the Bristol Channel into England, but mist/fog were the order of the day.
I wore the FT-818 and rubber duckie around my neck with the neck strap for a couple of 2m FM contacts, before setting up on 40m SSB sitting on the ground. Without a tablet or chair with me I found it most comfortable to support the radio between my knees.
I was really pleased to get 9 QSOs in the log, some 59 reports, some difficult contacts. Moving on to CW I managed another 8 QSOs with an S2S into Germany.
All the QSOs were UK and mainland Europe, but I was more than happy with the haul for such a small antenna.
So conclusion about the Diamond QRP antenna.
Can you qualify a SOTA summit on a short 1.5m whip antenna? Absolutely, no sweat!
Does it work as well as a full size wire antenna? Of course not. Nowhere close.
However, its makes such a great rapid deploy, ultra packable option with the Yaesu. Not quite as small as a AX1 but you have the bonus of not requiring a tuner. Definitely something for a travel bag if you own a FT-817/818.
Sunday, October 15, 2023, was the final day of the W4 SOTA campout. That morning, Joshua (N5FY) and I packed up our tents/gear then played a little radio at our campsite (at Lake Rabun). We weren’t in a hurry because the morning was so enjoyable. In fact, I think we checked out not a minute before the dealine of 12:00 noon!
We both decided we wanted to squeeze in one more radio excursion before driving back to our QTHs.
Tallulah Gorge State Park (K-2202)
It wasn’t realistic to fit in another SOTA hike due to our schedules, but Tallulah Gorge SP was an easy detour for both of us.
We pulled into the park and queued up to to enter. The park was absolutely teeming with visitors that day. I would have expected nothing less on such a gorgeous Fall afternoon!
Joshua and I found a quiet picnic area–with a few picnic tables spaced apart from each other–near the lake shore. It turned out to be a perfect spot to play radio. We spaced our sites far enough apart so as not to easily interfere with each other while on different bands.
Joshua set up his KX1, a wire antenna, and used VK3IL pressure paddles.
Joshua deployed his KX1 next to the lake and I deployed my KX2 a bit further up the hill.
I paired my KX2 with my “no transformer” random wire antenna. Of course, I used a Tufteln antenna because, I mean, N5FY was standing right there! ?
This antenna consists of two 28.5′ 26AWG wires connected directly to a male BNC. Simplicity itself on the antenna side. It’s the KX2 internal ATU that does all of the matching (since there’s no transformer). I find that the KX2 can match this antenna from 40-10 meters with ease.
I think the magic of these simple random wire antennas is that they’re directly connected to the radio. There’s a bit of efficiency in having no line losses, etc. even if the ATU does soak up a bit of energy.
Many thanks to Conrad (N2YCH) who shares the following field report:
Connecticut POTA/SOTA combined activation
By: Conrad Trautmann, N2YCH
November 24, 2023
The author, Conrad, N2YCH at POTA K-1717, Sleeping Giant State Park & SOTA Mt. Carmel, W1/HH-002
Looking for my next activation challenge, I wondered if there were any overlapping POTA parks with SOTA summits in the state of Connecticut. I’ve only done two SOTA activations to date, one in Maine and the other in New Hampshire. I thought, there must be a few in Connecticut.
On my home computer, I brought up both the POTA map and the SOTA mapping page and quickly realized that it would take too much time to try and compare the two maps. Instead, both sites offer KML exports, so I exported all of the Connecticut parks from the POTA site and the summits from the SOTA mapping page and imported both files into Google Earth Pro. A yellow push pin represented the POTA locations and a blue triangle the SOTA locations. It was easy to spot the overlapping sites. Mt. Carmel and Talcott Mountain are both POTA parks and Summits for SOTA. There are a few other SOTA sites that have POTA trails that cross over as well.
I decided to tackle Mt. Carmel, SOTA W1/HH-002 also POTA K-1717, Sleeping Giant State Park. I’d already activated Sleeping Giant for POTA before, but not from the summit. For a SOTA activation to count, the operator must be within the “Activation Zone” as defined by the SOTA rules.
The Connecticut state web site has good maps and information about the park and showed that the trail to get to the summit is an “easy” 1.6 mile hike. I thought that sounded like a reasonable distance. What they don’t tell you on the web site that it’s also a 600’ climb up in elevation from the trailhead to the summit. I knew it would require a climb, but I didn’t expect that. I made the trip up, but it was challenging, especially carrying my backpack with the radio, a VHF handheld, antenna, batteries, computer, water, etc. I plan to travel lighter the next time.
The Mt. Carmel trailhead
Before I get to the activation, a little about the park. It’s called Sleeping Giant because from a distance, the ridge looks like a person laying on their back.
It’s located in a mountain range called Hanging Hills which extends North from Long Island Sound through Connecticut and Massachusetts up to the Vermont border. Quinnipiac University is across from the entrance to the park and the Quinnipiac Indian Tribe once inhabited the area. Please indulge me as I also share the ghost story of “The Legend of the Black Dog of the Hanging Hills.”
“If a man shall meet the Black Dog once it shall be for joy; and if twice, it shall be for sorrow; and the third time he shall die.”
As the legend has it, the Hanging Hills area is haunted by the Black Dog. You don’t want him to cross your path three times. It’s this story that is the basis for the SOTA “Master of the Black Dog” certificate. “An activator must have entered valid activation logs from each and every summit in the Hanging Hills Region and must have survived all of the activations.” There are currently four summits in the Hanging Hills Region. I need this award.
So far, I have completed activating one of the four summits and did NOT see the black dog. Wish me luck on the remaining three.
The view about half way upThe Lookout Tower
The lookout tower at the summit is the main attraction of the park. Built in 1936, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It stands four stories tall and is 739’ above sea level, providing a 360 degree view in all directions and a clear view over New Haven to Long Island sound. According to the Sleeping Giant Park Association, over 100,000 people visit it each year.
I’ll admit, after hiking the trail up, the last thing I wanted to do was climb four stories more. I did go up before I left to get some photos.
For the activation, I found a bench to set up on with space behind me to set up the Chelegance MC-750 antenna. I ran FT8 on 20 meters beginning around 10 am ET and after roughly 30 minutes, moved up to 10 meters. My experience running QRP on digital modes is that I will cover the Eastern half of the US and some Europe on 20 meters. I can usually make contacts out to the West Coast and into Europe on 10 meters especially later in the day. By activating on both frequencies, I tried to cover as much area as I could to provide the best opportunity for hunters and chasers to reach me.
Setup: MC-750 vertical antenna in grass behind bench and KX3 and computer on bench
Samsung Galaxy Book Flex2 Alpha 2 in 1 Laptop with Outdoor mode
Coverage from the summit: Yellow pins are 20 meters, Green pins are 10 meters
Looking at the map, you can see that I covered the Eastern portion of the US on 20 meters. It was also 10 am local time and still pretty early on the West coast. When I shortened up the antenna and retuned the KX3 for 10 meters, I started making contacts with Germany, Italy and other EU stations.
The hike down from the summit was much easier, the temperature had warmed up a bit and I stuffed my coat into the backpack for the trip down. When I got to my Jeep, I noticed a number of empty picnic tables nearby and decided to set up and get a few more POTA contacts while I was there. I ended up with 48 total for the day.
The summit I was at was an easy one (worth 1 point) compared to many and it was challenging to me. I came away from the experience with a new appreciation for the challenges SOTA activators face. I also came away with a new goal, to get the Master of the Black Dog certificate!
Each year, I receive emails for spouses and friends of hams asking for gift ideas and suggestions. I also receive gift suggestions from readers. Of course, I also have a few gift ideas of my own–!
The following gift ideas are all under $100 US, save the few radios we also mention at the bottom of the post. Note that Amazon, eBay, and ABR links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.
The ARRL POTA Book
Hot off the press! I wrote about this book in a previous post (click here to read). In short, it’s the perfect gift for the field radio op in your life.
As a contributor of this book, the ARRL have given me a coupon code to share with my readers and subscribers; this will give you free shipping.
At checkout, simply enter my callsign as a coupon code: K4SWL (UPDATE: the coupon code is working again. ARRL staff have kindly extended this coupon code until December 10, 2023!)
My opinion? Every ham that likes to play radio outdoors and lives in an area trees should have a good arborist throw line and weight. It makes deploying wire antennas so easy and effortless. Plus? It’s fun!
Ara (N6ARA) makes a number of ham radio accessories in kit form and fully assembled. All of them are affordable, tiny, and perfect for the QRPer in your life. Ara offers tiny Morse Code keys, tiny SWR meters, and tiny common mode chokes. Check out his full product line at N6ARA.com.
Wire antennas all made by real hams!
One of the great things about our ham radio world is that some of the best products are made by hams for hams. I love supporting the amateur radio mom-and-pop/cottage industry.
The following are a few wire antenna manufacturers I highly recommend. Some of these are kits and some are fully-assembled:
K6ARK End-Fed Antenna Kits: These wire antennas are some of the smallest, most compact out there. They’re quite fun to build but might not be ideal as a first antenna build since the parts are pretty small.
KM4CFT End-Fed Antenna Kits: These kits are new to the market and quite small. They’re only slightly larger than the K6ARK kits above, and a little easier to build from kit form.
Tufteln Antennas and Accessories: Joshua makes a wide array of amateur radio products. His antennas are outstanding and I use them all the time. They’re available as kits and pre-assembled. He also has a number of 3D-printed ham radio accessories.
PackTenna Antennas: PackTenna–run by George (KJ6VU) and Mark (N6MTS)–makes some amazing and incredibly sturdy wire antennas. I’m not sure if they’ll have stock ready to ship before Christmas or not.
There are so many excellent antenna manufacturers out there, I simply can’t include them all. These are primarily antennas I’ve used and tested in 2023. Feel free to share your favorites in the comments section of this post!
Morse Code Keys
I’m a massive fan of CW Morse Keys: they’re affordable, they’re durable, and they’re a pleasure to use.
CW Morse SP4 N0SA SOTA Paddles: Super compact precision paddles for those of us who like to pack light. Designed by N0SA ($92.95)
CW Morse CNC Machined Aluminum Paddle: I call this my heavy-fisted paddle. It’s built to be incredibly sturdy. It’s more substantial than some of the other paddles in this list, but still light enough for SOTA! ($129.95—yes, slightly over $100, but still…)
Batteries
There are a wide variety of batteries out there and, as QRPers, we get to use a lot of them because our radios don’t require a lot of capacity.
Here are some of my favorites:
Talentcell Rechargeable 12V 3000mAh Li-Ion Battery: I have purchased a total of three of these over the years. They will power almost all of my QRP radios for hours at a time. The provided barrel connector fits most Elecraft, Penntek, and QRP Labs radios. One of the best battery deals out there. ($26.59 US)
Bioenno 3 Ah LiFePo Battery (Model BLF-1203AB): This is the workhorse of my battery collection. I find that one charge will take most of my radios through 3-5 field activations. ($64.99 with charger)
USB-C Rechargeable 9V Li-Ion Batteries: Do you own a Mountain Topper radio? If you do, these little 9V batteries are amazing, I find that they will power my MTR-3B for more than an hour on one charge! I only recently discovered these thanks to Adam (K6ARK). Note that I’ve gotten feedback that some other brands of these 9V cells produce RFI/QRM. These have not, so I’d stick with this same brand. ($15.29 US for two batteries and a charging cable)
A good cable assembly
I have a lot of feedlines and cable assemblies. While I do build my own, I also purchase high-quality assemblies from companies I trust.
I’m a massive fan of ABR Industries and have written about them pretty extensively on QRPer.com. I’ve been a customer of theirs for more than a decade.
This year, they became a QRPer.com affiliate and even offer a 10% discount for our readers. Many of the links below allow you to choose the length of cable. If you’re buying this for the ham radio op in your world and you’re not sure what length, I feel 20 or 20 feet is a good all-around length.
Thomas, I’ve used these earbuds for several months. I bought 6 of them, given their simple robust design, sound quality, and price. I like that they are comfortable to wear, and/or loud enough to be used as a mini speaker. The right-angled plug provides for compact strain relief. Perfect for the QRP enthusiasts. eBay, ten bucks for two! No battery to charge, works great…
Thanks, Rand! I would also add that I love these Sony earbuds. They’re only about $9-10 for a pair and I think the audio quality is excellent. They also provide passive sound isolation if using them in a noisy environment.
HF QRP Radios
Do you have the budget to splurge on a radio? Here are a few new options out there:
The QRP Labs QMX: This is a small five band radio is capable of CW and Digital modes. Price ranges from $95 (kit) to about $165 (assembled) depending on the options ordered. Keep in mind, the pre-assembled units ordered now might not sip until the summer of 2024.
The Elecraft KH1: I’ve been using this radio for a few weeks and really love it. It’s one of the most portable HF radios on the market. Keep in mind that it is CW only, so if you’re buying this as a gift, you need to make sure the recipient knows Morse Code. The radio costs anywhere from $550 – $1100 US depending on how it’s configured. As with the QMX (above) if you order now, it might not ship for a few months.
Xiegu G106: If you’re looking for an affordable QRP radio that does both CW and SSB, you might consider the G106. It’s not a stellar performer, but it certainly gets the job done. A great radio to keep in the vehicle for those impromptu radio outings or even for emergencies. Before purchasing, I’d highly recommend reading my full review of this rig and maybe considering ordering a BCI filter kit, too. This link to Radioddity will save you $10 of the price. Just search the site for “G106.”
If you’ve been following QRPer.com and my YouTube channel for long, you’ll notice that I typically post two field reports with videos per week when my free time allows. Each report takes about four hours to produce along with a video. I’ve got a busy day ahead on the road (including a POTA activation), so in order to squeeze this field report into my schedule, I’m going to use my more abbreviated field report format: a “postcard” format!
Speaking of which….
Pisgah National Forest (K-4510)
On the morning of Friday, November 10, 2023, I had a couple hours to fit in some POTA time.
All morning, we had been receiving some much-needed rain in the form of scattered showers in a constant heavy mist.
I decided to explore picnic areas I hadn’t yet visited in Pisgah National Forest along the Pisgah Highway near Brevard, North Carolina.
I was curious if I might find a small shelter at one of the roadside sites. Unfortunately, I did not; however, I did find quite a few sites that were ideal for POTA with tall trees, space between picnic tables, etc. I decided to pick one at random that had no other park visitors.
I did have a small rainfly in the car I could set up, but I decided to simply risk it. The goal was to pair the new Elecraft KH1 with my (MW0SAW) End-Fed Half-Wave antenna.
I wanted to see if the KH1 ATU could match the EFHW on 30 and 17 meters (outside of its resonant bands of 40, 20, and 15 meters).
Many thanks to Bob (K4RLC) who shares the following POTA field report:
Woodbury Wildlife Management & Heritage Area (K-8151), Britton’s Neck, Marion County, South Carolina
by Bob (K4RLC)
Woodberry WMA (K-8151) is a 26,000 acre natural area over an hour inland from the Atlantic Ocean and formed by the confluence of the Great and Little Pee Dee rivers. Geologically, it is an area called the Coastal Plain given that in geologic time all this land was under the Atlantic Ocean. In North and South Carolina the Coastal Plain is basically land between Interstate 95 and the Atlantic Ocean. Historically, this land has importance as a site of many Revolutionary war battles. The namesake of Marion County is the famous American Revolutionary War General Francis Marion, known around here as the “Swamp Fox”. His military tactics against the British Army formed the origins of guerrilla fighting. Britton’s Neck is known named for the Britton family who settled the area around 1735 and operated the very important Ferry across the Pee Dee River, carrying farmers and their crops as well as soldiers. After this area had its timber harvested by a paper company, the state of South Carolina with help from the Nature Conservancy, acquired it.
I like to operate in such off the track places as it really feels closer to nature. Given that they have been activated only a few times, they are rare for POTA and many want to contact them, especially in CW. The dirt road coming in ran through an old cemetery, started in the early 1800s. On the other side of is a small cleared area with a kiosk that has a map and tells you what’s in season for hunting. In addition to the usual animals, the listing says that it’s always open season for feral pigs also known as wild Boar, given their destructive nature on the environment and nearby farmers’ fields. Near the kiosk is a metal mailbox like structure with a latch on it. When you open it, there is a sign in book where you list the date, your name, and what you’re hunting for. Five of the entries directly above me said they were “COON” hunting, and another hunter wrote “Hog”. For my listing I just wrote “radio” and thought that might puzzle a few hunters ?.
The set up was the usual with the old Alinco DX-70TH which is been used on the beach so many times, the beach sand and salt water in it now gives it a distinctive chirp on transmit. Old-timers let me know that a chirp was present (599C) but I think it’s just a unique part of the radio signal. The antenna was a 17 foot Chameleon MilSpec whip on a small metal tripod (no coil), set on top of a large aluminum screen wire mesh, now known as “the magic carpet”. As there were no picnic tables, I set up in the backseat of Alanna’s K4AAC van. Operating was pleasant with the cool day and no bugs. There were some other equipment issues. As the Alinco does not have an internal keyer, I used an old MFJ portable keyer with the key made from two stiff pieces of copper and rubber feet for pads. You get a forearm workout using this. (Apologies for my sending.)
Nevertheless, I quickly worked 40 stations all the way from Utah to Italy on 20 CW. This portable station was lighting up the Reverse Beacon with very strong signals up the East Coast and down in the Caribbean.
After activating, I wanted to explore more and drove the single lane dirt road further into the woods.
Cell service was pretty good and I got to talk with my uncle Randy who had been part of a hunting club here 40 years ago. Randy shared some stories of comradery, mostly hanging out with his young son Edward and friends, cooking around an open campfire, telling tall tales to each other. He knew the area well and told me I had about another 10 miles of dirt road before hitting a dead end at the river. As daylight was failing, it seemed wise to turn around and save the longer trip for another time. It was only fitting that in the dark, in the headlights in front of me, I saw a large black bear lumbering across the dirt road, dragging a dead deer behind it. This was truly nature.
Even before I started taking my Elecraft KH1 to the field and generating reports and activation videos, I started receiving questions from readers and subscribers about how the KH1 might compare with other field-portable radios.
At least 70% of all of these questions asked specifically about the venerable Elecraft KX2.
Making a purchase decision
I’m not surprised so many are trying to make a purchase decision between the KH1 and KX2.
For one thing, the KH1 and KX2 represent some of the smallest, most compact and lightweight shack-in-a-box HF field radios on the market. We’ve a lot of QRP field radios to chose from these days, but few have options for both internal ATUs, internal batteries, and attachable paddles. Very few are as light and compact as either of these two radios.
Another reason for the comparison is that many are in the long queue to purchase a new Elecraft KX2. At time of posting this article, if you place an order for the KX2, you are going to wait a few months for delivery. The KH1 also has a lead time, but it’s likely shorter than that of the KX2 (check out the Elecraft Shipping Status page for more info).
Comparing models
While the KH1 and KX2 have a lot in common, they’re also quite different in many respects.
We radio ops like to compare features and specifications and Elecraft knew the KX2 and KH1 would be compared frequently, so they created a handy chart:
At the end of the day, though, I would argue that one’s enjoyment of a radio has more to do with how well it fits the operating style of the owner.
The KX2 is one of the best portable QRP field radios ever made, in my humble opinion. It’s a little high-performance machine that can handle any mode you care to use between 80-10 meters.
The KH1, on the other hand (pun intended), is designed to be an exceptional handheld radio for pedestrian mobile use and as a super lightweight, low-impact, field portable station. It’s essentially CW-only and operates on 5 bands (40-15 meters).
If you can be honest with yourself about how you plan to use the radio, it’ll help you make this purchase decision.
For example, if you never see yourself operating pedestrian mobile–you’re more of a sit down at a table sort of op–there’s a good argument to go for the KX2. If, however, you’re an avid SOTA/POTA portable activator who is primarily a CW op and you like the idea of a super quick deployment and handheld operating from anytime, anywhere, you should consider the KH1.
Video
To dig into this comparison a little deeper, I decided to make a video where I discuss the differences between the two radios and also speak to different styles of operating and which radio might suit that style best:
I would be curious which radio you prefer and why. Please consider commenting!
Thank you!
I hope you found this post and video useful.
As always, 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.
Patreon supporters have access to 100% ad-free, and downloadable videos for off-line viewing via Vimeo. The Vimeo account also serves as a third backup for my video files. This is how your support truly helps this site and channel!
Many thanks to Brain (K3ES) who shares the following guest post:
CW POTA activations can be enjoyable, and theraputic. This photo shows the me activating from a picnic shelter on a beautiful spring day.
Learning CW: Beyond the Basics
by Brian (K3ES)
I just finished my last class ever for learning Morse Code. It was a lot of work, but it really improved my ability to communicate using the CW operating mode. More importantly, this class taught me how to actually learn CW, by diagnosing the problems and barriers that inhibit improvement. Then it gave me tools I can use to overcome those problems and barriers at any stage of my CW journey. You see, I am not yet where I want to be, but I have made a giant leap forward, and I now know what I have to do to keep improving.
I guess it might help to tell you a bit about myself as a radio amateur, about the start of my CW journey, and about what motivates me to improve.
I got licensed in 2020, when I was working from home, and spending way too much time locked away from the rest of the world. I saw a video about amateur radio, and thought it might provide an opportunity for increased personal contact despite social distancing. I studied during my plentiful spare time, and passed the Technician, General and Amateur Extra license examinations in short order. Once I was licensed, Elmers at Skyview Radio Society near Pittsburgh, PA helped me to learn and explore the hobby, encouraging me to be radio-active.
I found a compelling niche hunting for Parks on the Air (POTA) activators, and I started hearing about all the benefits that CW brought for activating parks: tiny radios, efficient use of power, and automatic spotting via the reverse beacon network. That motivated me to work on learning Morse Code.
A full CW station packed for a hike weighs just a few pounds. This kit, based around an Elecraft KX2, fits in a small shoulder bag, includes all needed components and some spares, along with creature comforts for the activator.
I started my CW journey using a variety of apps and online tools. I practiced with club members. Thomas Witherspoon’s YouTube channel became a staple in my CW diet. Every character copied was a victory. All of this helped my ability and confidence.
I completed my first CW-only POTA activation in July of 2021, and have not looked back. But, during one of my early park activations, I had a defining experience. I could copy callsigns and standard exchanges with ease, but something off script would throw me off balance.
When a hunter finished his exchange and sent something followed by a question mark, I was lost. We worked through it, and after several slow repeats, I understood that he had sent “COUNTY?”. He wanted to know what county I was operating from. I easily sent him the name of my county, but the experience left me certain that I needed to improve my copy skills.
It doesn’t get much better than this. Operating CW under my favorite tree duing an activation of K-1345, Cook Forest State Park, in northwest Pennsylvania.
That certainty started me on a new phase of the journey, one involving formal training classes. I took a few classes, and each class helped – I could look back and see the progress. But none of them left me ready for CW communication beyond predictable exchanges. I knew there had to be an approach to me get there, and there had to be something more efficient than working endlessly to copy code bulletins or on-air QSOs between other operators.
CW Innovations provided just that method with their Comprehensive Instant Character Recognition (CICR) Course. CICR is not just a class, but a structured process for improvement, which includes self-diagnosis, targeted practice, a supportive learning environment, and partners working together to put new skills into practice on the air.
This figure provides an overview of the Comprehensive Instant Character Recognition Course. Modules focused on each of the elements are introduced as the 10-week course progresses. (Click image to enlarge)
Instantly recognizing a received character is liberating. Rather than performing mental translation, you learn to recognize each code sound pattern as a letter, number, or punctuation mark; in much the same manner that you immediately recognize the printed symbols making up the text on this page. CICR provides the tools and methods for achieving instant character recognition, but also emphasizes that new weaknesses in character recognition will continue to appear as your copying of code becomes more challenging. When that happens, it is time to circle back and further improve your recognition skills. The same tools continue to work. Continue reading Beyond the Basics with CW Innovations→
I’ve taken a wide variety of antennas on SOTA (Summits On The Air) activations, but one wire antenna I’ve always wanted to deploy is a simple vertical delta loop.
This summer, I mentioned to my friend Joshua (N5FY) that I planned to build a delta loop antenna and next thing I know, he built one. I suppose he’d been thinking about adding it to his line of portable wire antennas at Tufteln.
I was planning to build a 20M delta loop fed with twin lead, but Joshua’s choice is better for multi-band operating. His 20M delta loop features a 4:1 transformer so it can be fed with 50 Ohm coax like my RG-316 (which is also easier to pack than twin lead).
You might recall that I used his 20M delta loop antenna at Holmes Educational State Forest (see photo above) in early September. It worked a charm and wasn’t too difficult to deploy (loops are obviously more finicky than a one wire end-fed).
The great thing about this loop is it’s resonant on 20 and 10 meters, and it’s quite easy to tune on 17, 15, and 12 meters with pretty much any ATU.
Fast-forward to Saturday, October 14, 2023 when Joshua and I were participating in the W4G SOTA campout in north Georgia…
Yonah Mountain (W4G/NG-048)
It rained cats and dogs Friday evening into Saturday morning.
Fortunately, most of the rain stopped by the time I surfaced that morning.
Joshua and I ate a quick breakfast, grabbed our SOTA backpacks, then drove to the Yonah Mountain parking area/trailhead.
Last year, we also activated Yonah Mountain as well, but underestimated the hike and our timing. We ended up being a good hour or so late to our SOTA evening potluck. This time, we were keen to spend more time on Yonah Mountain and get back to the campsite in plenty of time to join everyone for dinner (and share exaggerated stories about our SOTA adventures).
Last year, we arrived at the trailhead and it was parked full. This year, even though we arrived in the morning and even though it was incredibly foggy/misty, it was still quite full!
Yonah Mountain is an incredibly popular destination.
Another fun fact about Yonah: it’s not really a beginner’s summit despite the fact it’s so popular with hikers and runners.
It offers up proper elevation change, gnarly trail portions, steep inclines, and about four miles of trail round trip. Although not an incredibly long hike, it’ll give you more of a workout than you might think first blush.
We reached the summit in due time and set up our stations about 30 meters apart.
The whole time, I was also monitoring the partial solar eclipse we were having that day.
I brought along some solar eclipse glasses and ended up sharing them with everyone on the summit. It worried me seeing so many young people staring at the sun with only their sun glasses or even–gasp!–with the naked eye. (I mean, weren’t they paying attention in science class–?)
Many thanks to Conrad (N2YCH) who shares the following field report:
Top Band POTA Activation Field Report
By: Conrad Trautmann (N2YCH)
November 15, 2023
In February 2023, Brian, K3ES, wrote here on QRPer.com about designing and building his own QRP portable random wire antenna he called the VK160 to work on 160 meters to make parks on the air contacts. This was in order to achieve his goal of getting the James F. LaPorta N1CC award where activating on 10 bands at 10 parks is needed. It’s not as easy as it sounds. As an avid parks on the air activator myself wanting to try activating on 160 meters, I built my own antenna based on Brian’s design and used it to get my first contacts ever at a park on the “Top Band.”
The Antenna
Brian used a 9:1 unun that he built himself in his design. Rather than build my own from scratch, I took a short cut and bought a QRPGuys 40m-10m UnUnTenna to use as the starting point for my VK160. Even though it says 40m-10m, it works on 160 meters, as you’ll see.
With shipping, it cost $36.00. It comes with all of the parts you need to assemble the antenna except for the wire. The main thing I liked about the QRPguys design was that the circuit board also doubles as a wire winder, so it’s all self-contained.
I sourced the wire from Davis RF and ordered 200’ of “POLY STEALTH – 26 AWG, 19 0.22000 44.00 STRAND COPPER CLAD STEEL, BLACK PE JACKET.” It cost $50 including shipping. The polyethylene insulation prevents the wire from knotting up. I measured out 144’ for the radiator based on Brian’s design and used the remaining wire as the counterpoise.
The completed antenna
I did a back yard test once it was all assembled and it worked great. For $86, I had created my own VK160. I encourage you to read Brian’s detailed design/build report here.
The POTA Activation – November 14, 2023
Now that I had completed building and testing the antenna, the next challenge was how to actually put it to use at a park. 160 meters doesn’t really come to life until dusk or after dark. In Connecticut, most state parks close at dusk. The park rangers clear the parks to close them at the best time to activate the band. However, there is one park nearby my QTH, the Stuart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, K-0228, that has an annex called the Great Meadows Unit in Stratford with a nice parking lot that is not gated and has no posted hours. I arrived and set up at sunset, around 4:30 pm ET and operated from 5 pm until 6 pm. It gets dark here early in the Northeast US in November.
Another challenge is how to manage and string up 144’ of wire. Brian suggested an inverted V over a tree branch in his write up. There were no trees nearby, so instead I used a Spiderbeam fiberglass pole secured to my Jeep to get the feed point up in the air about 25 feet. I used RG58 cable from the feed point to the radio.
Spiderbeam fiberglass pole supporting VK160
Finally, I used one of my $3.00 Home Depot electric fence posts to secure the far end to keep it tight and up in the air and set up the antenna as a sloper. I laid out the counterpoise on the ground under the sloping wire.
By the time I had all of this set up, it was getting dark. I connected my Elecraft KX3 to the other end of the RG58 cable and to my surprise and delight, I was already receiving stations.
My KX3 has a built-in ATU and one tap of that ATU button and it tuned to 1.0:1. I started the activation right at 5 pm local time and in about 15 minutes, I had six QSO’s on 160 meters.
The PSK Reporter map showed me being received by stations on the dark side of the gray line in the Northeast. It was pretty much what I expected for QRP power on the low frequency. Then, the next ten minutes things were quiet. It appeared I had gotten everyone who could hear me.
Since this is a random wire antenna, it should work on all bands so I decided to test it on 80 meters. Again, the KX3 tuned right up and I got six more QSO’s. I was surprised to see Del, N2NWK from Washington, DC pop up on JT Alert. I have a an alert set for stations calling CQ POTA. Del was also at a park. I called and he answered and we ended up with a park to park. Anyone who knows Del knows that when you hunt him, he’s usually activating at a two-fer, at least. When I checked my hunter log afterwards, I saw four parks listed from him (a four-fer?).
At this point in the activation, I had gotten the ten QSO’s that I needed to call the park activated. I thought, let me try the VK160 on 60 meters. I re-tuned the KX3 and got five more fast QSO’s. The antenna worked great.
Before I packed up, I decided that I really wanted at least ten contacts on 160 meters, which was my original goal. I went back to 160 meters, now close to an hour later than when I began the activation, and easily added five more new QSO’s to the log. Maybe propagation had changed the later/darker it got or some new hams were on the band who weren’t on earlier, but I was satisfied to have gotten more than 10 on the top band.
The Results
Here’s how I did. Green pins are QSO’s on 160 meters, blue pins are 80 meters and the pink ones are 60 meters (click image to enlarge).
The “Top Band” activation was a success! The VK160 worked flawlessly, thank you Brian, K3ES for posting your design and providing the inspiration to activate on 160 meters.
My POTA “My Stats” page now shows 11 digital QSOs on 160 meters that I didn’t have before. I love conquering new challenges and given the challenge of going mobile with an antenna that will actually work and tune up on that low of a frequency at a park that won’t make you leave at sunset, well… that was quite an accomplishment!
Thank you to the 22 hunters (11 on 160 meters) who helped make it a success, including my friend Del, N2NWK in Washington, DC.
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