I thought I would pass along this idea for your readers.
I was using my KX2 on PSK31(and cw!) this weekend at the lake QTH. I felt the rig getting warm. I remembered that my wife bought several of these battery powered personal fans (Cold Sky) in the attached pics. She bought them from Amazon for less than $15 each including a charging stand[QRPer.com affiliate link].
It took me a few minutes to realize that the fan “head” will pivot which makes it a perfect cooling device for the rig.
I often though about purchasing after-market heat sinks but none are needed with this little device. It has 4 or 5 fan speeds and it really moves air and cools my KX2. With headphones, I could barely hear the fan.
I really enjoy your videos and website. I hope this helps you and others looking for a cheap way to cool the rig.
On Wednesday, August 7, 2024, I planned to drive to Hickory, NC to spend part of the morning helping my father with a few tasks. I planned to stay for only three hours, leaving the afternoon open for a SOTA (Summits On The Air) activation of Bakers Mountain.
Bakers Mountain is one of the most accessible one-point SOTA summits in the area. Still, it requires about 2 hours of hiking, and I always allow an hour for activating as well. Herein lies the challenge of SOTA for me this year: finding those windows of time that are open enough to fit in an activation and hike is difficult.
I ended up spending all morning in Hickory helping my father—time well spent. However, by the time I left, my SOTA window had closed. I still had some time for an activation, but only a maximum of two hours.
Although disappointed about missing the SOTA opportunity, I decided to make the most of the remaining time and visit Table Rock Fish Hatchery (US-8012) en route home. I hadn’t been to that particular site in many months, so it would be a nice revisit. I knew I could fit in the detour and activation and still be home on time. A good consolation prize!
Table Rock Fish Hatchery (US-8012)
Upon arrival, I immediately noticed that a new bridge had been built over the creek. It’s funny how you get so used to some POTA sites that you feel a real connection to them and notice even small changes.
I had brought along my Elecraft KH1 with the idea of doing the SOTA activation (it’s with me all the time anyway), but earlier, I noticed that I still had the Penntek TR-45L Skinny in the back of my car, so I opted to use it for this POTA activation.
I quickly deployed my PackTenna 20M EFHW, connected it to the TR-45L, and hopped on the air, hoping 20 meters would serve me well.
Since the “Skinny” version of the TR-45L has no built-in ATU (Antenna Tuning Unit), and since I hadn’t brought along the Elecraft T1, I had no way of operating outside of the 20M band (the TR-45L’s coverage is 80, 40, 30, 20, and 17 meters).
I’d hoped I’d packed a 40M EFHW so that I would have two usable bands and that I could work my buddy Mike (K8RAT), but 20 meters it was! I hoped the band had a little life in it!
Gear:
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In early August, my family and I had occasion to take a road trip totaling nearly 2800 miles (4500 km) across six different U.S. states.
The title of this posting might lead you to think that this trip was dedicated to doing Parks On The Air activations, but that was not the case. Instead, we were in the process of delivering a kid to their next adventure in higher education.
Since I have already gone into some detail of these POTA activations on my blog at w6csn.blog, this post will be just a summary of the amateur radio aspects of the trip, plus some of the pictures taken along the way.
Spring water flows from a cave in Logan Canyon.
There was limited space in the tightly packed car and some tough decisions had to be made about what radio equipment to bring. I settled on the Elecraft KH1, the most compact HF CW station you can carry. I also brought the Yaesu FT-818 and microphone. The all-band, all-mode capability of the ‘818 gives me some peace of mind when traveling through dark territory. Of course, I also carried a Garmin InReach on my radio bag.
All activations combined on a single map, with apologies to my Alaskan friends..
Operating Notes
The first POTA activation happened at Bud Phelps WMA in the Cache Valley near Logan, Utah. Surrounded by farm fields and livestock, the FT-818 and MFJ-1979 telescoping whip brought in 10 QSOs for a complete activation.
The FT-818 is truly a “field” radio.
Later the same day we detoured up into Idaho to bag Pioneer Historic National Scenic Byway. With an afternoon temperature of 95°F, I was happy that the KH1 and Gabil GRA-7350T antenna got the job done in short order.
Remembering the victims of the massacre.
On the way over the mountains from Utah to Wyoming we stopped briefly to stretch our legs at the Bear Lake Overlook. I thought this would be a perfect place to whip out the KH1 with built-in whip and see if I could make a contact or two as a hunter. Alas, the bands were truly “dead” and I could not hear any signals, let alone make contact in the short time spent at this rest area.
No QSOs but the KH1 is looking great at Bear Lake Overlook.
Several days later, we dodged thunderstorms to sneak in an activation at Colorado’s Lory State Park. Again, the KH1 and 7350T paired up for a quick 12 QSOs before threatening weather called an end to the operation.
Mountain thunderstorms kept us on our toes.
Now on the return leg of our journey, we stopped in Laramie, Wyoming for fuel, some snacks, and to activate Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site. This time the 7350T antenna perched atop the Gabil GRA-GNT Tiny Tripod with ground spike, a compromise for sure, but it works well enough for POTA.
Territorial prison restored and welcoming guests.
Back in Utah, a POTA of opportunity presented itself with a brief visit to Great Salt Lake State Park. With no place to setup a more extensive antenna system, I deployed the Tufteln right-angle adapter to use the KH1 on a picnic table with the 4 foot whip. This setup certainly attracts some curious looks from passersby.
The red Tufteln adapter is certainly eye catching.
Later, at home, I realized that when we had stopped to marvel at the Bonneville Salt Flats that there was a “2-fer” right under my nose. The salt flats themselves are private property, but the adjacent rest area counts for the California National Historic Trail and the Pony Express National Historic Trail.
The Bonneville Salt Flats are a must see.
The final POTA activation of trip came at Rye Patch State Recreation Area, about a half hour west of Winnemucca, Nevada on Interstate 80. Here it was time to use the FT-818 once again to try to get the activation done in the morning before the desert heat really got cooking. After an hour on the air, 10 QSOs were in the log and we were once again on the road for our final day of driving on this tour of The West.
The high desert is uniquely beautiful.
Equipment Used
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The new FTX-1F is a portable transceiver utilizing SDR technology and provides 6W of power output with the 5670mAh Lithium-ion battery pack (Which enables 9-hours stand-alone operating time on the HF bands, SSB mode, and 8-hours operating time on the V/UHF bands, FM mode based on a 6-6-48 duty cycle). Up to 10W of power output is available when using an external DC power supply.
FTX-1F – True All-Rounder
HF/50/144/430MHz All Mode Field Transceiver
Providing stand-alone 9-hours of operation
This information and the sample shown at HAM FAIR 2024 are only the preliminary introduction.
Detailed information will be announced at a later date.
A number of the fundamental and remarkable features of the new FTX-1F are:
Operation in SSB, CW, AM, FM and C4FM digital modes
SDR Technology and 3DSS (3-Dimensional Spectrum Stream) on a 4.3-inch high-resolution full-color touch display
panel
Two independent receiver circuits provide true simultaneous dual-band operation, whether in the same band or in
different bands. For example: SSB communication on HF bands simultaneously with C4FM digital communication
on V/UHF bands (*HF+V, HF+U, V+V, U+U, V+U, U+V)
Two Loud speakers ensure clear and powerful audio output
An optional Automatic Antenna Tuner can be attached to the rear of the transceiver with the 5670mAh high-capacity
Li-ion battery pack. The optional Cooling-fan, which is necessary for comfortable FT8 operation, can also be
combined with the antenna tuner. (All-in-one rear panel design)
PMG (Primary Memory Group) function can register and monitor up to 5 frequently used frequencies
MAG (Memory Auto Grouping) function enables Memory Channels to be categorized in each band that can be
quickly recalled by band groups (HF/VHF/UHF/AIR/OTHERS)
USB ports support CAT operation, audio input/output and TX control
The new FTX-1F will be available early 2025. Please be ready for this forthcoming exciting new radio!
When I asked, in the past, what readers would like to see in an FT-818 replacement, many wanted a spectrum display and SDR technology–it seems like Yaesu was listening.
There’s no built-in ATU, but it appears they will have an “[a]n optional Automatic Antenna Tuner can be attached to the rear of the transceiver with the 5670mAh high-capacity
Li-ion battery pack.”
What’s most surprising is that the FTX-1F has two independent receiver circuits. This is quite an innovation in the world of field-portable HF radios.
I will post more details when they become available. Very curious about the output power, size/weight, and and receiver specs. It would be brilliant if they managed to get FTDX10 receiver performance in this portable form-factor.
Many thanks to Micah (N4MJL) who shares the following guest post:
Activating W7U/SL-022 on a Layover
by Micah (N4MJL)
As an airline pilot, I’m always on the lookout for POTA/SOTA sites that are near me when I have long layovers in different cities across the country. Salt Lake City, Utah is no exception. I always carry a modest assortment of ham radio gear with me when I travel.
I jumped at the chance to knock out a SOTA and POTA activation when a 23 hour layover showed up on my schedule for Salt Lake City. A month earlier, I was in Salt Lake City on a shorter overnight, and I had scouted out a SOTA activation for W7U/SL-022 which is located just to the east of Salt Lake City inside the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, which happens to be POTA US-4398.
I plotted my route on Gaia GPS–a free app that I highly recommend.
My route to the summit started at the Natural History Museum of Utah and would be a 5.6 mile one way ruck up to the summit with 2,800+ ft Ascent. I would leave the museum heading towards the Living Room trail head, but then branch off towards Mount Wire.
Mount Wire has an elevation of 7,110ft MSL and provides incredible views of Salt Lake City. Once you make it to the fire tower located at Mount Wire your ascent is almost over. However you still have another 3.1 miles traversing the ridge line before reaching the real summit located at 7,500ft MSL. The activation zone is very easy to determine since it is at the very end of the ridge line.
Sunday morning (11 August 2024) I got up at 0700 and packed up my REI Flash 22 day pack. I was taking with me a full 2 liter hydration pack along with 2 more 1 liter water bottles (4L water total), along with assorted snacks and electrolyte additives.
I scheduled an action for both SOTA and POTA on their websites. I knew from my previous trip here that I would have cell reception to at least Mount Wire, but I wasn’t taking any chances that I may not have cell reception on the summit. I would be depending on the reverse beacon network to get me spotted.
I also made sure I sent my wife and my captain my planned route, and when I should be back in contact with them. After all, this was going to be a solo 12 mile ish round trip with some modest elevation gain. I am an experienced backpacker, and I am not going to take unnecessary risks without a backup plan.
It was a beautiful day to go hiking. It was forecast to be 93F in Salt Lake City that afternoon. I live in Virginia where the humidity is absolutely gross when it’s 93F, but out here, there is essentially no humidity which makes it very pleasant.
Not to mention up in the mountains it’s typically about 15 degrees cooler. Rucking up the gully, there is some shade on the way up the Living Room trail, but once you get out of the gully heading up to Mount Wire you will be in direct sun for the majority of the ruck.
Mount Wire has amazing 360 view of the area at 7,110ft MSL. The fire watch tower is a favorite location for some “extra curricular activities” from the local college kids. It affords amazing views of the city. The tower also represents the end of the strenuous elevation gain for this hike. The picture above shows the ridge that I will now follow for the next 3.1 miles to the real summit of 7,500ft MSL. Continue reading Maximizing a Layover: From the cockpit to the summit of W7U/SL-022→
As much as I enjoy the pursuit of my 2024 goal of 60 new parks, this Wednesday, August 21, I suspended my pursuit of that goal and headed to George L. Smith State Park, a park I activated last fall. Why? I did so in support of K2D and International Dog Day. (See the QRZ page here: https://www.qrz.com/db/K2D)
International Dog Day is observed annually on August 26th. The goal is to raise awareness of the world’s abused, abandoned, homeless, and shelter dogs. Hans YL3JD in Latvia operated the past several years with a special event in honor of the day. This year, for the first time, Hans is joined by stations in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. The US team is organized by Caryn KD2GUT under the call K2D.
There are eight operators here in the US that will be on the air from Wednesday, August 21 through Monday, August 26. Three of us will do at least one of our shifts from a POTA site. I chose George L. Smith State Park (US-2179) as my site for two reasons. First, for this activation I need good cell service for spotting on the POTA website but also DXSummit. I recall this state park having good cell service during my previous visit. Second, I’ve been hankering for a return to this park given how scenic it is. K2D is a great excuse to return.
Source: gastateparks.org
Daisy (of course she has to come along for K2D!) and I arrived early, around 9 AM. We had the park to ourselves. The temperature actually felt cool, probably due to the presence of the lake and a stiff breeze blowing off of it.
the lake with cypress and tupelo trees
Last time I visited here, I operated from a hill next to the park office. However, I recall a fair amount of noise on 40 meters at that location. I had another QTH in mind.
former QTH
When you enter the park, to the right is the old grist mill through which one may walk. On the other side is a trail. It was along that trail I intended to set up.
Source: gastateparks.org
I parked at the park office, grabbed my gear, and walked to the old mill house. We continued out to the trail on the other side. I found a spot just past some hanging foliage which I thought would prevent anyone from walking into me. (It turns out we didn’t see a single person walking though we did see several kayakers on the lake.) There was a tall wall of foliage behind me which should shield Daisy and I from the summer sun during the entire activation.
overhanging foliage
Given I would operate as a special station, I wanted my trusty Tufteln EFRW. I found a branch high in the canopy and aimed. It took me several throws but I finally snagged a branch close by. I didn’t want to block the trail and needed a branch high enough for a steep angle in my antenna.
QTH at new spotEFRW with flagging tapeview to the left of my spotview to the right of my spot
Around 1400 UTC, I began calling CQ K2D or CQ POTA ES K2D. I opted for 20 meters given I’d likely reach a wider range of hams. The bands today did not disappoint (as you’ll see on my QSO map below) for the two hours I operated. I did try 40 meters near the end of the activation but had no callers for the 15 minutes I tried. Finally around noon, I called QRT.
QSO Map for K2D/George L. Smith State Park source: http://tools.adventureradio.de/analyzer/my view during the activation – ain’t it nice?!
I was thrilled to find at noon that Daisy and I still sat in shade. This is a big deal in Georgia in August! In fact, we felt a breeze off the lake the entire activation. Can you say “ahhh”? So next time I visit this park, I’ll set up in this spot.
Daisy supervisinginnovative way to display my POTA flag
I appreciate everyone who hunted me today.
I hope QRPer readers will consider supporting K2D over the next five days. As this is the first year of the event here in the US, there is not a schedule for when the eight of us are on the air. We will be on when we can for both CW and SSB, though since most of us are CW ops, I suspect you will mostly find us operating that mode. We will stick close to the frequencies of 7.045, 14.050, 21.030, and 28.050 as printed in QST magazine. However, check for us on DXHeat and DXSummit in case we need to move due to inference.
I’ve posted a short video to YouTube about the activation if you are interested:
Next week, I’ll resume my 60 new-to-me POTA activations for 2024 quest. Where will I show up and will I succeed in bagging park #38? Stay tuned…
Equipment Used
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Many thank to Bob (K4RLC) who shares the following guest post:
Marconi Revived – Activating the Marconi sites in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
by Bob K4RLC VE1/K4RLC
Alanna K4AAC and I just returned from a wonderful trip to Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. It was a bucket list trip. One goal was to visit and activate the two Marconi sites in Glace Bay. Then, we would drive the Cabot Trail around the Island, hiking and activating various provincial parks and lighthouses. Cape Breton Island is incredibly beautiful, with mountains coming right to the sea. The seafood is great (freshly caught lobster) and the people are relaxed and friendly.
The Marconi National Historic Site at Table Head Glace Bay is on the site of Marconi’s transmitting station from 1902 where the first successful trans Atlantic contact was made with the Poldhu Cornwall England station. Now, there is a small, but very Informative Parks Canada Museum, which also happens to have an active amateur radio station on site. I had arranged by e-mail with members of the local Sydney (NS) Amateur Radio Society to meet the control operators there.
Marconi National Historic Site (Parks Canada) with Beam and Dipole visible & Alanna VE1/K4AAC
The station is only open two months of the year–July & August–and the control Ops are there only for a short time each day. We met Jim and Michael VE1CYO, a former CW operator in the British Royal Navy. Not only did Mike know the history of the Marconi site, he was very gracious in letting me operate the station. They have a Kenwood TS-590, a Mosley 3 element beam, as well as a 40 through 10 dipole.
Mike VE1CYO (right) Control Op for station; Bob VE1/K4RLC leftAlanna K4AAC (right) & Bob K4RLC at operating position for VE1VAS
It was one of those days with very bad solar conditions. Mike was doubtful I would make any contacts. However, I had pre spotted on the POTA site, as the station is also a POTA site: CA-4842. The Kenwood and beam worked well on 20 meters CW.
The first contact was Gary, AE4GS, a friend in Tennessee. Then, Rich N4EX back in Raleigh. As Mike did not know, I explained to him about the POTA system, and how there were many hams who would want to work the Marconi station VE1VAS, named after the commercial Marconi call sign of VAS (standing for “Voice of the Atlantic Seaboard”).
After working all the stations we could hear, and talking with Mike about his Royal Navy history, he left for the afternoon. As my KX2 was in the shop, Rhett KB4HG had graciously lent me his for our trip. I went out to the original Marconi antenna field by the ocean and set up the KX2.
It was a lovely afternoon, clear skies, nice breeze and being on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Conditions were not great for QRP, but there were several families visiting with young children who were very curious about ham radio, Morse code, and Marconi. Alanna and I were happy to talk with the families and children. After showing the KX2 to a very inquisitive 6 year old boy from Montreal, he told his Mom: “ I want one!”
Operating the KX2 with MP1& Whiterook Key in the original antenna field in Glace Bay1902 Photo of antenna field
After driving the island via the Cabot Trail loop for several days, we spent the last morning at the Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Baddeck, also a POTA site (Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site). Bell was an incredible inventor, not just of the telephone, but of scientific and medical experiments. He developed a device to send voice over a beam of light. And he predicted cell phones!
For the last afternoon, we returned to Glace Bay and wanted to find the old Marconi House. We followed Mike’s directions to a place appropriately called Marconi Tower Road.
And a gravel driveway where several power lines made an abrupt turn up a long driveway.
This was indeed the original Marconi House from 1905, which is also a Canadian National Historic Site but is privately owned. A old sign that said “Guard dog – Do Not Enter” was still there and we had been told the current owner did not like visitors.
But it also was a POTA site (CA-5830) that had NEVER been activated. So, I was standing at the end of the driveway with the Elecraft KH1 when a car came down from the house. I was very apprehensive. But when it stopped, the driver rolled down the window, looked at me curiously and said “hello”.
I said “hello” back and explained that I was a ham radio operator and hoped he didn’t mind if I stood on his driveway and operated. He smiled and said he could tell I was a ham. Then he said he had to run an errand but he would be back in 5 minutes and I could follow him back to the house!
This was Barry, grandson of Russell who bought the house from Marconi in 1946. This turned into a wonderful visit with Barry. He initially took us on the outside of the house but said we couldn’t come in. We said that was fine.
K4AAC & K4RLC in front yard of Marconi House with KH1
Then he took us for a long hike back in the woods to the original Marconi transmitter building. Unfortunately, it had been mostly consumed in a terrible fire, so hot that all the insulators, ceramics and transformers had burst. Barry was extremely helpful, digging through the rubble to find original insulator pieces for me.
Barry & Bob at VAS Transmitter siteBarry dug thru debris to find meters & insulators
Barry and I hit it off really well. As we walked back to the house, he invited us inside. Alanna stayed in the kitchen and talked with his very nice wife, Brenda, a First grade school teacher. Barry took me down in the basement and showed me Marconi’s workshop.
There were a lot of old Volt & Amp meters from the early 1900’s. Barry had dug through the debris of the VAS Transmitter station fire to find me old insulators, shattered by the fire. In the basement, he went to a dark section in the back, under the stairs and found a unbroken ceramic insulator that he gave to me! We went in the various rooms where Marconi had stayed. It was a dream come true.
Insulators from Marconi Transmitting station VAS
I only made a few CW contacts with the handheld KH1 in the front yard, as Barry and I spent a few hours talking about Marconi and Barry’s family, including his grandparents, who were buried in the back, near one of the massive antenna mounts.
Just wonder what Marconi would have thought about the KH1 with a 4 foot whip antenna, given that he had four 200 foot antenna towers with an Inverted pyramid configuration of wires, 2200 feet in diameter, spread across 80 acres of land. Wow! I wished that antenna was there to load up with the KH1.
I was running about 3 watts on 20 CW while Marconi’s station had coal-fired boilers driving steam engines pushing generators in series producing 15,000 volts that powered the Spark transmitters on 8000 Meters. There were train tracks into the station to deliver the coal to this station at Marconi Towers. It maintained in service until 1945 giving long range communications to ships in the North Atlantic and marine weather information using the call sign VAS.
Model of 1902 Antenna field at Glace Bay in Marconi NHS at Glace Bay
It was a bucket list dream come true. I felt honored to both meet Mike, the former Royal Navy CW Op, and Barry and his family who graciously let Alanna and me come into their private house (and hear their teenage daughter Vivian play the classical piano in one of Marconi’s former sitting rooms). I hope the photos do justice.
73 de K4RLC Bob & VE1/K4RLC
Thanks to Mike VE1CYO for many of the details on VAS;
Black & White photos courtesy of the Cape Breton Wireless Heritage Society www.cbwireless.ednet.ns.ca/cbwirelessp3.html for photos of the original Glace Bay sites and detailed information about the Marconi sites in Nova Scotia
Equipment List
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On Saturday, August 3, 2024, my wife and daughters drove to Edneyville, North Carolina, for an annual family get-together/reunion. It’s always a lot of fun catching up with my wife’s extended family. And, I must say, the food is always spectacular. I’m talking every amazing Southern dish you can dream of!
After the gathering, my wife and I dropped off our daughters with some of their friends for the afternoon. We’d planned to head back home and catch up on a few things, but I (fortunately) glanced at Google Maps and saw that I-40 was closed west-bound which meant that instead of a 30-minute drive home, we were staring at 70+ minutes. It was a busy weekend, with a lot of tourists in town, and traffic was at a standstill.
Lemons to Lemonade
I proposed to my wife that we go in the opposite direction of everyone else–up the very winding 151 to Mount Pisgah. She looked at me and knew I had activating on the brain. She happily agreed.
I knew hiking to the summit of Mount Pisgah for a SOTA (Summits on the Air) activation was unrealistic because we didn’t bring hiking gear and, frankly, the weather was a little too dodgy with pop-up thunderstorms forming.
Instead, I had the Mount Pisgah Picnic Area in mind. It’s a brilliant spot with numerous options for setting up a POTA station. It took us all of 35 minutes to drive there.
Hazel was happy to jump out of the car.
I’m sure she was on bear alert because the last time we were here, she spotted a black bear. She never forgets a bear but she always forgets how small she is compared to them.
There are numerous spots to set up a station at this particular parkway picnic site. We found a table off to the side where I had easy access to trees (i.e., wire antenna supports) if needed.
Based on all of the recent reports I’d been receiving from other POTA and SOTA activators, I knew such a modest antenna might make things challenging (foreshadowing alert), but by not deploying a wire antenna, I could pack up super quickly should we get caught in a downpour or thunderstorm.
I set up the KH1, prepared my logs, and got ready to hop on the air!
Gear:
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Daisy and I awoke the morning of Thursday, July 18, ready to attempt our third SOTA activation of this trip. Today we’d head to Mount Jefferson State Natural Area (US-3846), a short drive from New River State Park. Along the drive, I spied quite a few farms for Christmas trees.
Mount Jefferson (W4C/EM-021) is 4,665 feet in elevation , rises more than 1,600 feet above the valley floor, and was a place for escaped slaves to hide. The mountain is a heath bald featuring dense evergreen shrubs on it which is different from the grassy balds also found in the Appalachian mountains. (Black Balsam Knob I visited earlier in the trip is an example of a grassy bald.)
A road winds up to a parking lot close to the summit. When I arrived on this overcast day, there was only one other vehicle parked. I grabbed my SOTA pack, outfitted Daisy with her harness and leash, and we were ready for the task ahead of us.
The hike up to the summit is an easy one. The trail begins at the parking lot and is easy to identify. To make sure there was no repeat performance of not being sure where the summit is located, I snapped a pic of a posted park map.
Start of the trail
Along the hike, we encountered the weather station near the summit and neat lichens.
The weather stationNeat lichens
It wasn’t long before we arrived at the summit. I could see the weather station back along the ridge as well as the town in the valley below. I had checked the weather forecast before I left our campsite earlier that morning and it looked promising.
The trail at the summitTa-da – Mount Jefferson summit
At the summit is a section of rock with a flatish spot in the middle, almost as if it is beckoning one to get comfortable. We settled ourselves on that flatish spot and I began pulling my equipment out of the pack. I opted for the AX1 again as it served me well at the previous two SOTA activations and there wasn’t much room up here.
I love this photo!
I quickly discovered there was no cell service. I’d have to make do, possibly setting up near another POTA station and hoping the RBN would spot me or someone would come across me. I began on 40 meters but after spending 10 minutes on that band, moved to 20 meters. James WA1EDN found me and I asked him to “PSE SPOT ME”. It worked and in the next 15 minutes, I worked five stations and then…
It started raining! (Noooooo!) I had noticed fog-like clouds moving in; however, I have seen this kind of weather before while on the Blue Ridge Parkway and those clouds don’t always bring rain. I naively believed the weather forecast and didn’t pay them much attention. Until it started raining.
Clouds moving in
I hurriedly covered my KX2 and key, put on my raincoat, and threw what I could into my pack including my notepad. Thankfully, I take with me a Rite in the Rain notebook and pen as a backup. Neither had ever been used. I refused to give up so easily and began calling CQ POTA again. I worked another station – John N7JTT in Washington state – and then…
My wet pack
My key started going bonkers on me! I didn’t think about it but the key is electronic and not mechanical. I can recall only two times I’ve activated in the rain. Both were during my trip to Nova Scotia and both times I activated INSIDE the car. So I and my equipment (except the antenna) were protected from the rain. Electronic keys and rain do NOT mix as I now discovered. I thought I had protected it from the rain but obviously not.
Well, I could deal with that! I always take a small backup key with me which I now pulled out and began to use. However, that key, too, is electrical and crapped out on me in no time. Now I had no choice but to call QRT. Oh, the depth of despair at having to do that when I was so close to a valid activation!
Daisy snoozing in the rain
I consoled myself that at least I got my third SOTA activation and, other than the keys crapping out on me, this activation had been a lot of fun. Also, the AX1 had proven itself a rockstar with two QSOs to the West Coast – John N7JTT in California and WB6POT in Washington state! Way to go AX1!
We dragged our soggy bodies down the mountain to the parking lot where I looked at the keys one more time to see if they would work for me. Nope. Honestly, I felt very, VERY stupid at not thinking about those keys being electrical. I never considered they wouldn’t work in the rain. Sigh. This was another learning opportunity and, when I got back home, I’d make sure to have a mechanical key in my arsenal as a SECOND backup. You know what the SEALs say: two is one and one is none. At this point, I had none!
I had planned on heading back to Georgia tomorrow. But with no working keys, there could be no more activations. (I don’t carry a mic with me as I am a CW-only op these days.) There was no point in staying that extra day.
I headed back to New River State Park, packed everything up, and drove the seven hours back to Savannah, Georgia. Though the keys might have dried out and worked the next day, we had already been through two nights of thunderstorms and much more promised to roll through the area. Enough was enough.
All in all, I considered the trip a success. I finally tackled SOTA and ended up with three valid activations. I added six valid POTA activations to my goal of 60 new-to-me parks for 2024. I survived five days of camping alone with Daisy 500 miles from home. Yes, I made mistakes along the way; however, I viewed those a learning opportunities, mistakes I’d not be likely to make again.
For those of you who followed these articles and hunted me during the trip, thank you for sharing this journey with me. This POTA Babe learned a lot and had a lot of fun along the way, despite the setbacks. I am already plotting a SOTA trip for spring or summer 2025 and, most certainly, a summer 2025 return to the North Carolina mountains. But well before that, I have 23 more parks to activate for my 2024 POTA activation goal. Where will I show up next? Stay tuned…
Equipment Used
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On Friday afternoon (August 16, 2024), after dropping off one daughter at her volunteer job and the other at Shakespeare class, my wife and I had about 90 minutes of free time before the next scheduled activity.
We opted to visit the Sycamore Flats Picnic Area in Pisgah National Forest (US-4510) so that I could fit in a POTA activation while my wife caught up on a project she’d been working on.
The picnic area was bustling with activity–the busiest I’d seen it in a while. No doubt, everyone was out enjoying the beautiful weather and the last hurrah before many local kids head back to school. Nevertheless, we found a nice picnic table to set up and play radio.
I did not have all of my camera gear with me, so opted not to film this activation with my phone.
Since there’d be no video, it meant that I could operate with earphones and a minimal amount of extra gear. It’s nice to do this every so often!
On the way out the door, earlier that day, I grabbed my Mountain Topper MTR-3B field kit. The goal was to put it on the air since it had been a few months since I last used it. I like rotating out radios regularly so I don’t forget nuances of operating them while in the field.
The previous day, I also charged the two Li-Ion rechargeable batteries[affiliate link] that are stored in the MTR-3B Pelican case. At least I thought I charged them!
When I checked the batteries, they were both completely dead. Turns out, the USB charging station I’d connected them to the previous day was not plugged into an AC outlet. Doh!
This presented a little problem because the only other battery I had in my GR1 rucksack was a 3Ah LiFePo4 battery which likely pushed about 13.2VDC. The MTR-3B doesn’t care for voltages much higher than 12VDC–at least, if you are higher than 12V, you need to make darn sure you’ve got a great SWR match.
I was a bit bummed because I hadn’t packed a backup radio in the GR1 and I wasn’t driving the Subaru which has a Venus SW3B headrest field kit.
Hang on…
Then it hit me…I’ve got my EDC (Everyday Carry) radio with me: the Elecraft KH1! Woo hoo!
I went back to the car and grabbed my Trakke EDC bag.
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