Tag Archives: Elecraft KX3

Articles, Field Reports, Guest Posts, POTA, QRP

Another POTA activation close to the “Bridge of Spies”

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by Thomas (DM1TBE)

Intro

The day after my activation of Park Babelsberg, I wanted to activate a second new POTA park. The new Park Sacrow is a picturesque park located on the River Havel in Potsdam, about which I have written a brief summary in the  QRPer activation report for Park Babelsberg.

One of the prominent landmarks in the Park Sacrow is the Heilandskirche, also known as the Church of the Redeemer.

This neo-Romanesque church, completed in 1844, is a striking sight with its red brick façade, white stone accents, and tall tower. The Heilandskirche is overlooking the Havel River and offers panoramic views of the surrounding park and river.

During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Heilandskirche in Sacrow was located near the border between East and West Germany. The church was in the “No Man’s Land”, i.e. behind all East German border barricades – see photo from 1972 below with the Berlin Wall –  preventing anyone from visiting.

Ulamm, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

After the years of decay, when the bad condition became too obvious from the West Berlin side, citizens of West Berlin tried to stop the further decay. After long negotiations between church authorities and the government of East Germany, the exterior of the church building was restored in 1984/85. Today, the church looks as beautiful inside as it looks outside.

With the border between East and West at the middle of the river, the whole area was a kind of border protection zone, only available to locals or those with a special permit.

The park is close to the Glienicker Bridge, also known as the “Bridge of Spies” from Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster, on the opposite of my position the day before.

Arne Krueger, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

As mentioned in my previous report, I have grown up less than a mile away from this famous bridge, in Potsdam, i.e. Soviet controlled part of Germany.

In my opinion, Steven Spielberg told the wrong story. There is another, more interesting story related to this bridge. It is the story of the Military liaison missions. A few British, US and French army members were allowed to roam freely in the Soviet controlled part of Germany and, vice versa, a few Soviets in West-Germany. These members of the military liaison missions had immunity from all German authorities. Since East Germany was frontline to the western world, the Soviet army had their most advanced technology there and the mission members’ task was it to spy, for example with this US Military Liaison Mission vehicle – note the license plate.

US Army

The uniformed, but unarmed mission members drove military-green cars with a special license plates – here a British mission car on display in a museum. For me as a child, those cars looked like from another planet.

Von allen watkin from London, UK – flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wiki Commons

The Glienicker Bridge border crossing wasn’t open for public, but only for those mission members and diplomats. The French and British mission houses were close to this bridge in the Soviet controlled part, the one for the US was some miles away.

French Mission House today:

British Mission House today:

Just imagine these two buildings with a huge British and French flag on top, in proximity to Soviet military installations behind the Iron Curtain.

It did not always go as smoothly as it could. The image below shows the Soviets handing over the corpse of Major Arthur D. Nicholson to the US authorities on the Glienicker Bridge. Nicholson was shot down in 1985 by a Soviet sentry at a Soviet army base in East Germany.

Alliiertenmuseum /Allied Museum Berlin / USMLM

In 1984, Philippe Mariotti, a member of the French Mission Militaire Francaise de Liaison died after the East German Secret Service has set up a trap and rammed Mariotti’s car with an army truck.

The British BBC aired an interesting documentary about the British mission The British Commanders’-in-Chief Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany (BRIXMIS)  called “The Brixmis story”.  If you find the topic interesting, there is a lot of stuff on YouTube when searching for Brixmis or USMLM.

The activation

The weather was significant better than the day before, with sun shining and warm spring temperatures. I also had more time available. Continue reading Another POTA activation close to the “Bridge of Spies” →

Articles, Field Reports, Guest Posts, POTA, QRP

Park Babelsberg – POTA ATNO on a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site

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by Thomas (DM1TBE)

Intro

The holidays seasons like Christmas or Easter provide an opportunity to return to the family. So I drove across Germany to Potsdam, where I have grown up, during the extended Easter weekend.

Potsdam is a historic city located in the state of Brandenburg, Germany, next to the capital Berlin. It has a rich history dating back to medieval times, when it was founded as a settlement on the banks of the Havel River. In the 18th century, Potsdam became the residence of the Prussian royal family and was transformed into a center of arts, architecture, and culture. The famous Sanssouci Palace, built by Frederick the Great, is one of the many palaces and gardens that reflect the city’s royal heritage.

piotr iłowiecki from POLAND, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Close to the Sanssouci Palace, the Neue Palais, a grand palace, is located. It is a magnificent example of Baroque architecture, with its grand façade, opulent interiors, and beautiful gardens, and it was used as a guest residence for the Prussian royal family. Later William II, German Emperor and King of Prussia, made it to its main seat.

Steffenheilfort, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Potsdam was also a significant location during World War II. During the last days of the war, the 12th German Army tried to break through the Soviet blockade around Berlin, which caused fierce fighting close to the city.

Less than a month before Germany’s final surrender, 1700 tones of bombs were dropped causing destruction of a large part of the city center. Still a lot of dangerous stuff from those times is found during construction works until today.

The city also served as the site of the Potsdam Conference in 1945, where leaders of the Allied powers met to discuss the future of post-war Europe – here with Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman and Josef Stalin during July 1945.

U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

Before I started the trip, I checked which ham radio programs offer outdoor activations in the region. The whole area is more or less flat, so not SOTA summit within a radius of a one-hour drive. Also, no POTA park existed, so I thought suggesting two would be good, for me and POTA :).

One new park later accepted by POTA was the Babelsberg Park with its Babelsberg Palace. The palace was the summer residence of Prince William, later German Emperor William I and King of Prussia, and his wife.

Raimond Spekking & Superbass, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The park and the palace is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

From the park, you have a good view to the Glienicke Bridge, probably better known from Steven Spielberg’s movie “Bridge of Spies”.

The Bridge of Spies connects Berlin (formerly West-Berlin part) with Potsdam, (formerly East Germany), hence formerly the Soviet and Western (US, UK & France) controlled parts of Germany. The bridge was used as an exchange for spies between Western and Eastern powers. Probably most prominent was the CIA pilot Gary Powers, who was shot down over the Soviet Union with a U-2 spy plane in 1960.  Below is an image of the beginning of another spy exchange in 1986.

CC0, Alliiertenmuseum / US Army

I grew up during those times less than a mile away from that bridge, in Potsdam, i.e. in the Soviet controlled part of Germany, and the area up to the bridge, where a lot of Soviet army installation were located, was my playground. Continue reading Park Babelsberg – POTA ATNO on a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site →

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

Quick test of a homemade 20-meter band antenna at a beautiful POTA location

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by Thomas (DM1TBE)

Intro

You may, or may not, know the situation when you are invited for the birthday of your mother-in-law and the whole day is just a chain of meals. As the SOTA activation of the Wasserberg the day before was rather short, I needed to escape and do something outdoors. An antenna test at a nice POTA location would be perfect.

When I started with amateur radio, many fellow hams told me that a real ham must build its own stuff. This is not easy when you have 10 thumbs like me. However, from time to time I try smaller projects. When I am operating portable, I usually have a 10 m / 33 ft mast with me. I have a 30/15-meter- and 12/17-meter band antenna, both with coils and shorter than my mast, and a homemade 10-meter band antenna which I can raise vertically on my mast. A mast with one of these wire antennas can be used on most of the locations I have visited.

However, I was missing something for the 20-meter band. I have a 10 – 80-meter 5 band antenna that covers 20-meters, but raising it as a sloper with a length of app. 24 m / 79 ft is tricky sometimes.

Building

So, I thought it would be a good project for me. As a half-wave for 20-meters is exactly the length of my mast, and I did not want the feed point at or too close to the ground, I wanted to add a short coil. I had a finished 1:49 mini-impedance transformer from K6ARK available from a project I’ve never finished. So, I just needed a screw, a cable and a piece of a PVC electrical conduit.

I have cut the PVC electrical conduit in three parts, one for the coil, one for the upper-end to allow easier mounting at the mast, and one for a simple strain-relief. My wife was a bit nervous when I used her best knife for cutting it, not sure if she worried about me or her knife. The dimension of the coil is based on pure guess. Bringing the whole antenna then into resonance was easy – just cutting step by step. After completing, the antenna still looks a bit makeshift.

Testing

So, I used an opportunity between two meals to leave my mother-in-law’s birthday and drove to the next POTA park, which is the Kaltes Feld (DA-0410). However, this time I did not go to the SOTA southern activation zone for Kaltes Feld (DM/BW-659), but to the opposite direction, where I have not been before.

The weather was nice, and the way was without any ascent. Behind me, a bit higher, was the SOTA summit Kaltes Feld and on the right the SOTA summit Bernhardus (DM/BW-848).

On Google Maps, I have seen that there is a viewpoint with a wooden bench and table. It was not too hard to find, and the place will probably become one of my favorites. Continue reading Quick test of a homemade 20-meter band antenna at a beautiful POTA location →

Accessories, News

Truly an amazing portable speaker for your favorite QRP radio

23 Comments

A couple weeks ago, Mike posted an article about his search for the best field-portable amplified speaker.

His top pick was the Anker Soundcore Mini.

I must say: he was spot-on!

I know Mike well enough to trust his evaluation, so I purchased an Anker Soundcore Mini quite literally as I was formatting his article for QRPer.com.

It arrived via Amazon, but I had such a busy week, I didn’t get a chance to truly test it until this weekend when I hooked it up to my Elecraft K2 in the shack. I feel like the K2 has a very decent speaker, but the Anker is even better.

This afternoon, I did a POTA activation at K-6856 and, to properly test the Anker Soundcore Mini, I paired it with my Elecraft KX3.

While the KX3 is one of the finest field radios on the market, its built-in speaker isn’t its strong suit.  The audio is pretty anemic (especially if you’re K4SWL and do real-time, real-life activation videos–!) 🙂 Truth be told, it’s one of the reasons I don’t take the KX3 to the field more often. I’d rather not do a separate audio recording (line-out) then harmonize it in post-production.

I used the Anker Soundcore Mini for the full activation and it worked beautifully. I love the audio, the size, the run time (something like 14 hours per charge, supposedly), and the overall build quality. I’ve never been disappointed with Anker products and I feel like this one is a great value at $24.99 via Amazon (affiliate link!).

Thanks so much for the suggestion, Mike!

FYI: the field report and video of this activation will be posted in three weeks or so!

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

A story about a gluttonous dragon, a princess, a knight, and many DX contacts to the US from a volcano in Germany

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by Thomas (DM1TBE)

Intro

If you have read my previous activation reports, you may remember that the temperature was more often than not below 0° C / 32° F. I am tired of the winter. So I was very pleased when the weather forecast indicated 18° C / 64° F on a Saturday.

In one of my previous posts (How I found the best antenna for my SOTA/POTA activations) I have outlined, that I like using the 30-meter band for being reliable on short and medium distances – in my case, Central Europe. However, I wanted to try an activation with an antenna that is more appropriate for DX. The wire winder for my 30-meter antenna had plenty of space left, so I decided using a commercial 12/17-meter band wire antenna that I have discussed briefly in the report linked at the beginning of this paragraph.

The day before, I built a 20-meter end-fed with parts that I found in my basement and a tiny 1:49 transformer from K6ARK. I added a short coil, so the feed point wouldn’t be at or too close to the ground when using my 10 m / 33 ft fiberglass mast. I know it needs some polish.

The Limburg

The Limburg is a conical summit about a 30-minutes drive from my home. It can be activated for a couple of programs like SOTA (DM/BW-110), POTA (DA-0203), WWFF and COTA.

The Limburg is, or better was, a volcano; technically, a volcanic vent of the Swabian Volcano, a volcanic area of 50 km / 31 mi radius with over 350 volcano vents. Seventeen million years ago, it produced massive gas and dust explosions. Be careful when ramming your antenna groundspike into the ground ;-). So it became a steep summit, elevated around 200 m / 650 ft over its surrounding area.

Earliest traces of population around the summit date to 3000–1800 BC.

Around the year 1050 Duke Berthold I., picture below, built one of the oldest Romanesque castles on the top of the summit. It was the seat of the House of Zähringen, who were related to the House of Hohenstaufen, about whom I wrote in an activation report here earlier: DM1TBE Field Report: Shivering with 18 WPM on the ruins of the medieval Hohenstaufen Castle

Around 50 years later, his son Berthold II. built a new castle some 150 km / 90 mi away and moved the seat of the family. Shortly thereafter, the castle was destroyed (probably, nobody knows exactly). It was rebuilt and destroyed again in 1130 and rebuild again. After the year 1150 a new, larger castle was built not too far away and this castle lost its importance and, eventually, gave up. Continue reading A story about a gluttonous dragon, a princess, a knight, and many DX contacts to the US from a volcano in Germany →

Articles, Field Reports, Guest Posts, Portable, QRP, SOTA

Pilgrimage to Summits on the Air

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by Thomas (DM1TBE)

After a rainy and windy Friday, the weather was expected to improve a bit the next day. The temperature was still forecasted with around 0 °C / 32 °F, but no rain was expected. So, my friend Jochen (DG1PSI) and I thought we could operate outside. We have chosen a summit called Bernhardus. The summit is next to “Kaltes Feld” on the opposite side of the valley, where I was a some days before. With an 1.2 km / 0.75 mi trail and an ascent of 124 m / 440 ft, it is not the hardest summit around.

We had an appointment for 10 o’clock. The parking lot was still empty at the time, but the weather seemed a bit more difficult than expected. We have asked some other members of our local ham radio club if they want to join us. But surprisingly, no one wanted to get up early on a Saturday morning, hike and operate a radio in freezing temperatures.

As mentioned, the summit was near “Kaltes Feld”, on the opposite side of the valley. You can see the SOTA activation zone of “Kaltes Feld” on the left, the glider airfield in the middle and some miles in the background another SOTA summit called “Stuifen”.

The peak was easy to reach and invites enjoying the beautiful view.

On the actual summit there is a small chapel. Continue reading Pilgrimage to Summits on the Air →

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

“Return-to-Office Policy” triggered POTA activation

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“Return-to-Office Policy” triggered POTA activation

by Thomas (DM1TBE)

I wasn’t sure if I should write a report about this activation. It was “average” at best. But I thought it might be worth to share that not all activations are perfect, with stunning views in an enjoyable environment.

Intro

I am a relatively new ham and completed my first exam in mid-2019. It took me a while to get my head around all the things that the new hobby is offering. My first successful portable activation was in May 2021 on the SOTA summit Michelsberg (DM/BW-855) – here is a picture of my most recent activation some weeks ago:

This first activation was in the middle of the Corona pandemic. The good thing during the Corona time was certainly the possibility to work from home. Before Corona, I did commute roughly 65 km / 40 mi (oneway), which took me in total 2–3 hours daily. During the first two years, I was in the office two times. In the third year, I was there more often, maybe once every two months.

Two weeks ago, my employer announced a “return-to-office” policy, so the “sweet life” was coming to an end.

After the first disappointment, I thought that this may offer me the chance to work portable at new locations. The next SOTA summit is around 20 km / 12 mi away, but a POTA park begins 2 km / 1.2 mi from the office at the pin in the map below. The park is basically all the green wood in the center of the map.

That comes in very handy, as POTA, with the possibility to operate next to my car, does make it easier than hiking in suit and tie to a SOTA summit.

The Nature Park Schönbuch, POTA DA-0008, located southwest of Stuttgart, is a wooded area of 156 km² / 38,000 acres. In 1972 in became the first nature park of the federal State of Baden-Wuerttemberg. The park is an important recreational area for the region.

Image by Cactus26 – Wikimedia Commons – CC BY-SA 3.0

Activation

Right at the beginning of the park, when coming from my office, there is a parking place and next to it a clearing with a fireplace. I thought that this would be a perfect spot for my activities. Weather was cold and windy on my first “return to office” day, I did not expect too many people to be there.

After working and reading the article about the 2023 QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo, I decided to leave the office early at around 4pm and started my activation.

The parking place at the park was pretty empty, just one old car with four lads in it and doing whatever lads are doing in the woods. I have a 16-year-old son and have given up trying to understand what boys at that age are doing.

The spot was OK, but not as perfect as I had thought. It was in a trough surrounded by large trees. In addition, it was wet, cold and windy.

Due to the wind, I have decided against the 10 meter / 33 ft pole and used the PAC-12 again.

The actual activation did not go as smoothly as my previous one. It might have been due to the time, and afternoon during the week, or the topographical conditions. With a small foldable seat and a tiny desk made of a trunk and a brick, I operated for 40 minutes.

In total, I made 16 QSOs; 10 on the 30-meter band and 6 QSOs on 20 meters.

Although I made a successful activation of the Nature Park Schoenbuch, DA-0008, I think I need to change my plans. Being in the office and therefore close to this park more often in the future, I will be more picky in terms of weather and location. The park has way more to offer than a wet and cold meadow in the middle of the woods. I will look for better weather and locations, such as the following – I just need to find those places.

Image by Martin Rathgeber – Wikimedia Commons  – CC BY 2.5
Accessories, News, Portable

POTA Audio: Mike’s search for the best field-portable amplified speaker

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Many thanks to Mike (KE8PTX) who shares the following:

The search for the best portable speaker for ham radio.

Welcome to the end of my exhausting search for what maybe the best speaker for portable ham radio.

My list of requirements was short: it had to be small, amplified, and have an internal battery.

But most importantly, it had to have a AUX input.

The last requirement shortened the list very quickly. Most speakers today that have any quality of build are lacking in the old fashion AUX connection.

I tried a minimum of six speaker and even tried making one of my own. Rich sound quality was not most important factor to me. Let’s face it: we are not listening to the Beatles.

Now we are going to focus in the two that made the cut. On the bigger side was the JBL Charge 4. Rugged? Yes. Battery life? Great. Size and weight? OK. Take it from the car to the picnic table ok? Yes. Throwing in the pack for a SOTA or a long hike? Not the best choice.

Now to my #1 choice…

The Anker Soundcore Mini

  • Size is 67mm tall and 67mm dia.
  • Weight is 7.2oz
  • Case is made of aluminum all-around including the speaker grill.
  • External features are:
    • power switch,
    • USB charging port,
    • micro SD card slot,
    • and the must-have AUX port for connecting to my KX3.
  • It also has external rubberized volume control.
  • For those that may need bluetooth it has that also.

All in all, it is super rugged unit with great battery life and small for my QRP go kit. The only thing that comes in the box is the speaker and usb charging cord.

I hope my findings help others in search of a portable speaker.

73

KE8PTX

Check out the Anker Soundcore on Amazon ($24.99) affiliate link

Thank you for sharing this, Mike. I’m often asked about the portable speaker I use in the field. It’s a Sony SRS-XB12, but the only good source of them is eBay because they’ve been discontinued for so long.

This Anker speaker seems to be the same size and sport the same features of the Sony, at a slightly lower cost. I’ve also had very good luck with Anker products in the past (I’ve had some of their ear buds and several of their battery banks). In fact, I’ve just ordered this speaker because the battery life is also much better than that of my Sony speakers. I’ll plan to take this to the field and include it in my activation videos–I’ve give the Sony speakers to my daughters.

Thanks for sharing, Mike! 

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

Guest Field Report: Germany has a new POTA activator!

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My conciliation with Parks on the Air

by Thomas (DM1TBE)

Intro

POTA and I had a very one-side relationship so far.

Roughly a year ago I tried to activate a park, but although I spotted myself, I had not been able to make a single QSO. In April last year, I tried it again, with the same result. Luckily, I was on a SOTA summit and spotting me on SOTA brought me enough QSOs to make it a successful activation for both, POTA and SOTA. So I decided to disregard POTA and my only POTA activity was watching Thomas (K4SWL) nice videos on YouTube.

My bad experience with POTA was probably due to two factors:

  1. I only had an intermediate license previously, which limited me on HF to the 10, 15 and 80 meter bands and
  2. POTA was no as popular in Europe and Germany in particular as it was and is in the US. While SOTA and the Flora & Fauna program already had a very active community in Europe for years, POTA had a hen and egg problem.

However, with the increasing popularity of portable operations, POTA has also gained some traction in Europe. I have the feeling that every time I take a look at the spots on the POTA website, I see more European stations.

Things here in Germany have changed for the better, too. POTA got a German website (parksontheair.de) and a community called “Draussenfunker.de” (“Outdoor ham”) with website + Discord that became very active with those pursuing outdoor activities in general and POTA in particular. Lately, local POTA coordinators have been named, who started to add new parks to the program.


Photo by Carsten Steger CC BY-SA

I thought suggesting a recreation area close to my home would be a good idea. A few days later I had the brand new POTA park DA-0410 30 minutes away. The park has a size of 6.3 km² / 1,567 acres and a peak elevation of 780 m / 2559 ft, which is also the SOTA summit Kaltes Feld (DM/BW-659).

My plan was to operate from the clearing on the top plateau, where there is also a mountain hut with restaurant. The 2 km / 1.25 mi trail was not very difficult with an incline of just 105 m / 344ft as the parking area is already at an elevated level.

Although the park extends to the proximity of the parking area at the Hornberg gliding airfield, I wanted to be in the SOTA activation zone due to my bad experiences with POTA activations. The gliding site was founded nearly 100 years ago.  After the First World War, the Allies largely banned motor flight sports in Germany, so gliding airfields, such as this one, popped up across Germany. Continue reading Guest Field Report: Germany has a new POTA activator! →

Articles, Field Reports, Guest Posts, Portable, QRP, SOTA

DM1TBE Field Report: Shivering with 18 WPM on the ruins of the medieval Hohenstaufen Castle

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Many thanks to Thomas (DM1TBE) for the following field report:

Shivering with 18 WPM on the ruins of the medieval Hohenstaufen Castle

by Thomas (DM1TBE)

Intro

It had been two weeks since my last field activation and my bad conscience grew, so a friend and I scheduled an activation, even with expected temperatures at -2 °C / 28 °F. The choice fell on the summit Hohenstaufen (DM/BW-102).

The Hohenstaufen is one of the two SOTA summits that I can see from home in Southern Germany and one of the so-called group Drei Kaiserberge – the middle one does not qualify for SOTA, unfortunately.

A Little Bit of History

On top of the summit are still ruins from the medieval Hohenstaufen Castle. The castle was built around 1050 and used until 1525, when it was looted and burned down during the German Peasants’ War. The summit has been populated since at least the 8th century.

The castle (picture from 1470 above), was the seat of the Hohenstaufen dynasty to whom belonged several Kings and three Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, which, at its greatest extent, included the area of Germany, Switzerland and parts of France, Austria, Italy, Czech, Belgium, Netherlands, Slovakia – or easier: almost all of Central Europe.

The history of the House of Hohenstaufen was misused by Nazi-Germany when they named the 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen.

There is not much left of the castle nowadays, but you can still spot parts of the foundations and walls.

Equipment

Due to the positive experiences during the last two activations, I decided to go with an end-fed half-wave antenna for the 30 meter band along with my Elecraft KX3, a 4Ah LiFePo4 battery, a 10 m / 33 ft fibreglass pole and the BaMaKeY TP-III (a 70 g / 2.5 oz light magnetic paddle). The paddle is too light for me to use, so I usually attach the magnetic base of the paddle to a metallic clamp on a clipboard. Although I studied computer science, I prefer pen and paper for logging. Part of the fun is the guessing of the logged call signs after an activation.

Activation

The summit is within walking distance from home, but the weather and a tight family schedule coerced me to drive the 15 minutes to our starting point. Continue reading DM1TBE Field Report: Shivering with 18 WPM on the ruins of the medieval Hohenstaufen Castle →