Tag Archives: Anthony (M7TAW)

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

Climbing an old hill and struggling to get ten in the logs!

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by Anthony (M7TAW)

Introduction

After the success that was my first ever activations at Devil’s Punch Bowl, I’d earmarked another close by POTA spot for my second activation.

This one had an unusually low number of activations, given the local activity in surrounding parks. I just figured maybe it’s a bit out the way and a smaller area, slightly less popular. There can’t be another reason, right…right?

Only a few activations at this park, but G7SQW (pota.app) had a good one!

Old Winchester Hill National Nature Reserve (GB-0029)

Old Winchester Hill is a 164-acre nature reserve, with an Iron Age hill fort at the summit of its largest hill. Interestingly when checking out the location I did spot the phrase “Some unexploded Ordnance may still remain in ‘fenced-off’ sections of the hill” as the hill was used as target practice back in WW2. Watch where you’re walking then!

History buffs delight. An iron age hill fort!

Gear

The radio gear list was basically the same as my last activation apart from throwing in the Baofeng, so I just had to grab the already filled backpack again, and not have to think about it too much!

The only thing I did check was that the batteries were fully charged. I’ve seen a couple of videos of people mentioning running out of battery on an activation Lee – MØVKR!  Also I decided that I’d also bring a camping chair, which wound up being a bit hefty to carry and not very useful in the end…more on that later.

A full list of gear and links below.

Setting up

The presence of a dedicated car park is a definite plus, especially for visitors who may not be familiar with driving on narrow UK country roads. Finding suitable parking near some parks can be a challenge, so having a designated parking area makes access much easier!

After having parked up, I donned my cap and grabbed my back and the chair. The day was warm, and the sun was out. It was a glorious day, but I’d forgotten one thing…it wasn’t radio related but you’ll see the consequences of that later.

I set off down the path and was greeted by a lovely view, and a fork in the path. Do I go left or right?

In a poor choose your own adventure, I chose right and realised about half way down a huge hill that I’d chosen incorrectly. What is this SOTA?!

I was carrying my backpack, a camping chair, and a huge bottle of water. The amount of vegetation and the incline of where I was walking meant I didn’t particularly feel good about setting up anywhere. So on I trod.

The heat was exhausting and the terrain was a little tricky. I then had to get through a pretty overgrown forested area.

The route so far.

What goes down…must also come up? Whatever…I was panting and I broke through the forested area to be greeted with this hill.

Deceptively tiring.

I have to say, looking at the image now it doesn’t look that bad, but at the time it felt horrendous. There were other people struggling getting up, and the heat didn’t help! I calculated the incline afterwards using google earth and it turns out it’s about 16 degrees, or roughly 25% grade.

In either case, I can see why this park has so few activations. It’s a bit of a slog to get up and down, and there aren’t many great spots to activate.

Thankfully, after I got to the top of the hill, I found a nice looking bench, which turned out to be a fairly precariously balanced bit of wood on top of some sort of water trough. I didn’t care though, I’d found a spot to sit down.

The spot for the day.

I’d spent a bit of time practicing setting up the antenna for both 20m and 40m at home using a wider range display on the NanoVNA which really helped. I could setup quickly, and boy after the walk that was helpful!

I’m loving this antenna for it’s quick setup and ease of being pretty discreet.

I found that for 20m I really needed to spread the radials out to get a good SWR. 40m tended to find a low SWR with just the radials lengthened out together. Not really that much trouble!

All setup and ready to go!

On The Air

Before I started, I actually pulled out my Baofeng this time, and tried to give a few calls out to no avail. I coordinated with a fellow Online Amateur Radio Community (oarc.uk) member over on Discord, and whilst we couldn’t make a straight line QSO, we did manage to chat via a repeater (which doesn’t count for POTA).

This time, I prioritised CW, and with my low SWR and nice spot high up on a hill, I thought I’d be getting out and getting calls in in no time. That great ball in the sky had other ideas though.

After setting my spot on the website, I called CQ on 40m for about 10 mins and noticed I wasn’t even getting heard on the RBN. I gave it another 5 minutes of trying and thought, “damn, maybe I’ll switch to 20m.”

A quick slide on the coil and adjustment of the whip and I’m on 20m. Okay, CQ again…nothing still. I tried moving about the frequencies a little but still nothing on the RBN and no calls coming in. That’s frustrating, I was really looking forward to some CW.

Okay let’s change tact, and go with FT8. Again, the (tr)uSDX is pretty handy for this as I can just plug directly into my phone via USB and boot up FT8CN and that’s that…I’m working FT8.

I tried on 40m first, and I found HB9XQH (pota.app) who was also POTA at that time! My first P2P, that seems like a good start!

It was another 6 minutes to get the next QSO with PA3CPS, immediately followed by M6BLV (pota.app). Then nothing for a good 15 minutes on 40m. Drat!

I then switched to 20m. My friend from the first activation came back this time DK5UR (pota.app), then followed EA7HTE (pota.app), and quickly SP1JQJ, and also OH1NOA (pota.app). Phew! At least it looks like I’ll be getting my 10 (foreshadowing).

At least there were some nice views to pass the time.

I then spent another hour working both 20m and 40m, FT8 and CW to no avail. I didn’t seem to either be getting out much, or anybody coming in. I had a couple of sniffs of a QSO on FT8 but they didn’t complete.

Finally, I got M0PTZ (pota.app) after this hour, but the day had gone on about 3 hours now, and I was starting to get too hot and tired. That was only 8 in the log, and it felt super frustrating to only be 2 away, but I needed to get back and I had to come up with the energy to make my way back up the hill!

After the high of the first activation, to go to a low of not being successful was disheartening, but it shall not dissuade me from future attempts! Just maybe I’ll give this old hill a miss for a while.

Oh, and also that thing that I forgot? Sunscreen…don’t forget that or you’ll end up looking like I did.

A British confectionary representation of my skin colour palette the next day.

Where are those last 2 hiding?

73s

Anthony (M7TAW)

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

Code, Contacts, and a Stunning View: A POTA First-Timer’s Experience at the Devil’s Punch Bowl

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Many thanks to Anthony (M7TAW) who shares the following guest post:

A first timer’s POTA activation at the Devil’s Punch Bowl!

Anthony (M7TAW)

Introduction

Let me start with the confession that I am an amateur radio operator born out of the Covid lockdown. With the switch to remote examinations by the RSGB in 2020, and a lot of free time on my hands, I thought why not get myself on the air! However, it wasn’t until this year, and a nice birthday gift from the fiancée, that I finally managed to reach into the HF bands with a (tr)uSDX.

This 5W QRP multiband and multi(ish) mode transceiver was going to be my first serious foray into what I deemed “proper radio”. So, I endeavoured to try and learn and maximise every bit of usage I could out of it. Like many newcomers to radio, I started with getting an EFHW strung out my window and got onto digital modes with FT8 on 20m just to confirm that I could in fact be heard. I also managed to SSB over to Italy at one point, though the in-built microphone gave me a 337 RST. At this point though, I was buzzing to be heard!

That’s USB covered, but what is this CW mode I can select?

As a graduate in history, there’s something about “old timey” technology and methods that intrigue me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a technophile at heart (you kind of have to be a data scientist), but there’s something about post-industrial mechanical and electrical advancements that amazes me still!

Of course, morse code was going to be next on the list of things to explore then it seemed!

I ordered a cheap but decent key from our favourite Chinese marketplace, and started cramming LCWO, Morse Mania, and Morsle as much as I could, and getting that muscle memory rhythm with practicing sending the alphabet and my name. Luckily, the (tr)uSDX has a practice mode and a decent decoder in-built so I can just power the radio from a USB connection and practice away!

No better setup than practicing on the sofa in your pyjamas.

Naturally, the YouTube algorithm decided that if you’re learning about CW, you might also be interested in this POTA thing. A few K4SWL videos, a dash of K2EJT, and a splash of newcomer-encouraging KI7QCF, I was hooked. I could combine what I’d started learning, with equipment in the field, and also a slight competitive (I’m eyeing that top spot) and award-based activity.

I started obsessively watching POTA spots on Gridtracker to make sure I could hunt FT8 contacts, and also kept my eye on the spots for any CW contacts that I thought I’d be able to hear. Finally I did it; about 25 days after I seriously started learning CW, and with a bit of a crutch with the morse decoder on the radio, I finally made a POTA hunter CW QSO – DC5LY (pota.app) thank you very much.

As fun as hunting is, I had to follow the YouTubers I’d been watching and actually get out there for an activation. However, actually getting out there – shudders – in public and getting my antenna up seemed a daunting task. Add in the fact that I was determined to not rely on digital only to get an activation, but also CW.

I started to plan…

Firstly, I looked for sites that had decent parking, but were also probably big enough that I could tuck away uninterrupted (something to take the nerves away). Luckily for me, about 20 minutes up the road is a large stunning National Trust area known as The Devil’s Punch Bowl – the legend has it that the Devil scooped up a handful of earth and hurled it at Thor, God of Thunder, the depression that remained is the Devil’s Punch Bowl. Also, unluckily for me, I had to take a day off work to visit the dentist, so why not mitigate that by trying out my first activation!

Wealden Heaths SPA – Devil’s Punch Bowl Site of Significant Scientific Interest (GB-0243)

Devil’s Punch bowl – Surrey Hills National Landscape
GB-0243 Wealden Heaths SPA – Devil’s Punch Bowl Site of Significant Scientific Interest (pota.app)

Gear

When planning for this little adventure, I thought to myself that I’d likely panic if I had to combine putting up a mast for an EFHW or trying to throw a wire in the tree for the first time. Coupled with the fact that the (tr)uSDX doesn’t come with an ATU, I thought why not invest in a quick and easy vertical. After a bit of research, and another visit to our favourite Chinese marketplace, I opted for a JPC-12 vertical antenna along with an investment in a NanoVNA.

The (tr)uSDX comes with an inbuilt SWR meter but I wasn’t sure how reliable it was, and I’d have a hard time tuning with it. I grabbed some 18650 batteries and the stage was set! Helpfully, the JPC-12 antenna comes with a nice little carry case with supplementary space, and the compact size of the (tr)uSDX means I could just throw everything in there.

Full gear list and links below:

Setting up

I was up bright and early on a Friday morning, and headed over to the park slightly nervous, but also excited!

As a nervy POTA first timer, my original plan was to maybe just activate from the car park and hide my antenna behind my car. However, when I got there, it became very clear that there was nowhere to hide, and frankly there weren’t many great spots to plant a vertical in the ground.

I’d have to suck it up, and venture deeper into the park! After grabbing my backpack, and trotting down a marked route, I chose to go left onto a track that bikes weren’t allowed in the hope that it’d be quieter. Albeit the path was quite dense with overgrown bushes and plants. I was beginning to think I’d not have a clearing to even sit in, let alone mount the antenna.

What a view.

However, a couple of minutes later I chanced up a bench and table that was nestled slightly into the trees with a bit of a clearing! It was like the POTA gods had answered my calls for a perfect location. I quickly plonked my backpack on the table, claimed the spot, and started unpacking the gear. You can see below how efficient I’d been in packing, and I was surprised myself how I could get this antenna and all the equipment I’d need neatly into my bag.

Can’t recommend this antenna enough (with my limited experience)

A few minutes later, the vertical was up, and I’d got it tuned to 40m like I’d practiced at home. Helpfully, the loading coil has marked points which correspond to the bands, and all I had to do was slightly adjust the length of the whip whilst keeping an eye on the NanoVNA. I got it down to 1:1.18 around the CW bands for 40m in Europe (7000-7040MHz) – couldn’t be happier!

What a find for a first-time location!

On The Air

Part 1 – A job half done

Now came the exciting part! Finally getting on the air portable for the first time and POTA for the first time! I thought I’d settle my nerves by starting with the familiar FT8. I booted up FT8CN, and plugged the (tr)uSDX into the phone. A few firmware updates ago, the (tr)uSDX got audio over USB, and being able to plug it directly into the phone with a single cable and receive and send FT8 seems like magic to me. Continue reading Code, Contacts, and a Stunning View: A POTA First-Timer’s Experience at the Devil’s Punch Bowl →