Tag Archives: First CW Activation

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 →

Antennas, Field Reports, Morse Code, News, POTA, QRP, Skills

N5FY’s First CW POTA Activation!

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My First CW POTA Activation

by Joshua (N5FY)

As I often do, I hunted yet another CW POTA activator during my lunch break while working from home.

I have been learning CW for most of the year. Early on, I realized that with a bit of practice sending, and after listening to recordings of POTA activations, like those from Thomas, I could reliably send the proper exchange needed to hunt a POTA activator.

If you can give your call sign, signal report, and state abbreviation, you can make the contact. I started early on with just the basics and then added some of the common “extras” like GM for good morning, TU for Thank You and then 73. Not only is this great practice for getting on the air sending CW, it’s also very rewarding while learning CW. The exchange is short, standard, and easy to follow with a bit of practice.

CW Practice with the Morserino32 and a Cup of Coffee
CW Practice with the Morserino32 and a Cup of Coffee

Once I finished my upgrade to Extra I focused all my spare time, not much though truth be told, on practicing CW.

At some point this summer I set the goal to Activate POTA/SOTA during the W4G SOTA campout this fall. This really wasn’t an aggressive goal, one I figured was attainable but also one that I could hold myself accountable to even knowing I had a very busy summer ahead of me.

W4G SOTA Campout Summit View Yanah Mountain Bald
W4G SOTA Campout Summit View Yanah Mountain Bald October 2022

During one of the LICW Club classes I heard again that their goal is to get Hams on the air to make a QSO. I thought to myself, yes, that is great, and I want to do more, but I know I have made many QSOs in CW on the air, albeit very short and simple ones. So, I was curious how many.

I jumped on the POTA site and looked up my statistics. I was surprised at how may hundred I had, and yet at the same time, I was a bit disappointed. It’s not that I wanted to have made more CW contacts, it’s that I realized that they were ALL from hunting and not a single one was from calling CQ.

So, I changed my goal.

I know that Hams, especially CW operators, are a great bunch of people and they want to see new CW operators succeed, so there is lots of patience when you call CQ. So, I decided to move up my timeline. This was on a Thursday, and Saturday was a likely candidate for a POTA outing, why not–?

Saturday was my birthday, and I knew I could get away with some personal free time in the morning where I could dive in and call CQ POTA DE N5FY. The next day, Friday, I firmed it up, I would head out in the morning, bring the new to me KX2 and see what happens.

Surprisingly, I was much less nervous than I expected, I had told myself that it wouldn’t help anyways to be nervous so just do it and see what happens. I made it to my local park, to the picnic table I frequent, then setup a No Transformer 2-Wire antenna with the KX2. One press of the ATU button and I had a 1:1 match on 40m band.

Of course, I have great timing. I could not believe the stations on the air on 40m. I never did look but there must have been a contest. I moved up and down about 20kHz and there were stations everywhere! I called “QRL?” on 2 different frequencies and had a reply before I landed on open frequency where I could call CQ.

N5FY First CW Activation KX2 Setup
N5FY First CW Activation KX2 Setup

I had not scheduled the activation; I knew I had a bit of cell phone coverage at this park, so I set the CQ POTA message to calling while I posted a spot.

After two calls, I had my first call back. It was time!

I could have freaked out here, but I was too focused on decoding to even be nervous! Of course, I had to send a partial call and a “?” once or twice to get the full call right. Of course, I made some keying errors. But the caller had patience and worked me and we made the QSO. Now I was really excited!

I called CQ and someone sent me back dits and dahs, and I decoded what they were sending! Boy, this was fun! I continued to call CQ POTA, and tried my best to decode the replies, several pileups, and lots of “?” sent by me. But I was making contacts and having a blast!

After a couple of silent CQ calls later, I switched to 20m. And, again, started to get replies back as well as a couple small pileups. In the end, there were a couple call signs that I could not look up, l had a letter or two wrong, but with almost 20 in the log I knew I had an activation and boy was I happy!

N5FY First CW Activation QSO Map
N5FY First CW Activation QSO Map

Looking back on the activation, and after talking to another Ham, it occurred to me why I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I might be.

You see, when you are the Activator, when you call CQ, the ball is in your court, you invite people to call back and they are there for you. I almost get more nervous hunting as I don’t want to slow down an activator or run over another caller. But when you are the one calling CQ, it’s your game!

Of course there were several hiccups along the way. For one, it got HOT sitting in the sun. I ended up deploying my hiking chair on the table as a sunshade and pulled a portable fan out of the car. Even the action camera overheated while recording the activation. I couldn’t get the KXPD2 paddle to key the KX2 on 20m when I first got setup. And of course, I had lots of sending errors (although fewer than I expected to have) and sent a A LOT of “?” asking for a repeat.

That said, I am very glad to have jumped in and will continue to activate CW going forward as I continue to build my CW skills. For me, confidence in the ability to Activate on CW is great motivation for practicing, which again, is my biggest learning. If I want to be a good operator, I need to put in the effort, and going out to play radio is one extremely fun way to practice!

73 Joshua N5FY

Articles, News, QRP, Skills

Six things I learned after becoming a CW operator and activator

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Friday evening, I met with my good friends on the crew of the Ham Radio Workbench podcast and we recorded an episode. During the recording, Vince (VE6LK) spoke about his CW goal progress (which, by the way, is going quite well) and he mentioned that he’s moving into the phase where CW is becoming fun.

Vince’s comment reminded me that I started a post draft many weeks ago that focused on several things I learned during my own CW journey. These were all surprises–perhaps even small revelations–that either no one ever told me about in advance or I thought couldn’t possibly apply to me.

This morning, I decided to finish off this post and publish it, so here are six things I learned after becoming a CW operator and activator:

1. More (much more) space on the bands

So, in theory, I understood this prior to becoming a CW activator. As we do our license study, we all learn that CW, as a mode, is a fraction of the bandwidth of Single-Sideband (SSB).

But in practice–when I moved from operating SSB to CW–it almost felt like I had an unfair advantage. That’s especially the case today with the popularity of POTA and SOTA. The bands can be crowded.

I love SSB, but if I’m being completely honest with myself, one of the reasons I operate the mode so little these days (besides the fact that many of my radios are CW only) is because it’s orders of magnitude easier to find a clear spot on the bands as a CW activator. This is especially the case on weekends when bands are generally more crowded.

CW is such a narrow bandwidth mode, I can be 500 Hz away from another signal and we don’t interfere with each other.

2. You really do begin to recognize peoples’ fists

My CW friends have always told me this, but I didn’t really believe it until I took a deep-dive into the world of CW.

You will start to recognize the cadence and “fist” of operators you work regularly who don’t send mechanically perfect CW (i.e. those sending CW from a keyboard).

This is especially the case with ops who use straight keys, cooties, and/or semi-automatic bugs, but even those who use electronic keyers.

Our brains are obviously quite good at recognizing patterns.  Without trying, variances in speed, spacing, and cadence of operators you work regularly become obvious and expected. After you recognize someone’s fist, their callsign will pop out of a pileup. It’s the equivalent of recognizing someone’s accent. It’s pretty amazing, actually.

3. CW gets easier with on-the-air time

Although some of my friends did mention this when I was learning CW, I think I just couldn’t believe it.

As a CW student–when I was learning all of the characters and trying to build speed–it felt like a real struggle. I remember how hard my brain had to work in some of my first QSOs and rag chews. I literally had to rest afterwards!

But a funny thing happens when you simply get on the air and start using CW regularly at comfortable speeds.

Without trying, CW just gets easier and easier. In fact, this is what Vince discovered too: CW evolved from being difficult to being downright pleasurable.

I remember in my early days of doing CW activations, I’d arrive on site and before I started calling CQ, I’d think, “I hope I remember how to operate CW–!” Of course I did, but there was a part of me that thought I could simply forget all that I’d learned and freeze up.

As I built confidence, I was still very much aware of just how much attention I had to focus on listening to the other op and copying their call and exchange correctly. It wasn’t easy.

But within just a few months of doing random CW POTA activations, the mode became a pleasure to use even though I still had to work a bit to copy fast operators or those with distinctive fists. Complicated copy  moved from being a struggle and brain-drain to being more of a puzzle I enjoyed putting together.

Your brain naturally taps into that language center whether you want it to or not and, quite often, without you realizing it.

It just gets easier and effortless. And fun.

4. CW therapy is a real thing

You’ve often heard me call POTA and SOTA “radio therapy” and indeed it is. There’s just something about tapping into that community of radio friends that puts me in a great mood.

CW maybe even takes it a step further.

I mentioned in point #3 that as you learn CW, it becomes a mode you look forward to using–one that gives you a great sense of pleasure.

For me–and for a number of my radio friends–CW is also therapeutic.

How so?

When I operate CW, I go into a focused state of mind that’s actually quite relaxing. When I’m operating CW, all of my stresses seem to melt away while I’m on the air and the feeling doesn’t end when I hop off the air. It just seems to put me in a good mood.

I liken it to mountain biking. When I’m cycling on a single-track trail, I have to give all of my attention to the path in front of me and simply enjoy the experience of pedaling through the forest. I don’t worry about my obligations, my email load, hectic schedule, or projects that need attention. I’m more mindful of tree roots, puddles, and wildlife.

For me, it’s the same when I operate CW; I simply live in the moment and, turns out, that’s therapy money just can’t buy!

5. CW opens the door to the 30 meter band

It’s funny, but I never thought about this prior to becoming a CW operator: CW (and digital mode) operators have access to the 30 meter amateur radio band.

What’s so special about 30 meters? Quite a lot actually:

  • 30 meters is a WARC band! So on contest weekends? It’s a refuge for non-contest activities like POTA, SOTA, and/or rag-chewing.
  • 30 meters feels like a blend of 40 and 20 meters in terems of its properties.  The propagation footprint is a little wider than 40 meters, but not quite as wide as 20 meters.
  • Sometimes the 30 meter band is open when 40 meters or 20 meters is closed or wiped out by flaring.
  • 30 meter antennas are easy to deploy in the field and at home. For example, a 30M end-fed half-wave (EFHW) is a little longer than a 20M EFHW, but shorter than a 40M EFHW. Also, it’s not difficult to build a 40M EFHW with a link that you can disconnect to make it a 30M EFHW.

Above and beyond all of these specific points, I remember times when the 40 and 20 meter band simply weren’t productive and the 30 meter band saved my bacon.

In short? If you’re a CW (or digital mode) operator, you really need to take advantage of the 30 meter band!

6. No one cares about how slowly you send or any mistakes you make as a new operator

Seriously.

I speak as someone who remembers all of my first CW QSOs and activations and as someone who regularly works new CW operators today.

Most of us are a bit self-conscious when we first try our hand at CW. We worry about how we’ll sound to other operators and we don’t want to annoy them.

I’ll let you in on a few secrets:

  1. Every CW operator on the air has been in your shoes at the beginning of their CW journey. They get it. They’ll be patient with you and, in fact, encouraging! The reaction you’re likely to experience from them is empathy–you just can’t hear that over the air.
  2. I get a thrill out of working new CW operators. When I hear a slow, nervous, and shaky fist, I go out of my way to work them. I’ll give them all of the time they need to get their exchange across accurately. It’s an honor to work a new CW operator.
  3. Don’t be afraid to ask other ops to “QRS” (slow down) or send “AGN?” (again?) or question marks to clarify an exchange or call sign. The other op would much rather slow down for you and repeat to help you. It’s not an annoyance…on the contrary…it benefits them.

In short: it’s safe to simply ignore these worries. The CW community is an incredibly supportive one. You’re among kindred spirits that are here to help you!

How about you?

These are just six things I learned after becoming a CW operator.

Of course, there were many advantages of CW that motivated me to learn the mode in the first place like:

  • Being able to use the Reverse Beacon Network for auto-spotting.
  • Opening the door to super simple, ultra-cool compact CW-only radios.
  • Making the most of my QRP power. I’ve often heard that 5 Watts CW is a rough equivalent to 70 Watts SSB.
  • Being able to operate stealthily when needed. When CW operators use earphones, we make almost no noise at all in the field save the sound of our key clicking!

So. readers, what did you discover after learning CW? Or, what are you looking forward to after you learn CW?

Feel free to comment!

Articles, Field Reports, Hams, Morse Code, News, People, Portable, POTA, QRP, Skills, Videos

Join Brooks (KO4QCC) on his First CW POTA Activation–!

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Friday, March 24, 2023 was a very special day for Brooks (KO4QCC) and for K4SWL.

I’m so excited to share this with you.

You might recall that, last year, I met up with Brooks at Tuttle Educational State Forest as he performed his very first POTA activation in SSB. He did such an amazing job!

Since I first met Brooks, he’s always had a goal of learning CW and activating parks and summits using Morse Code.

I’ve been in touch with Brooks regularly over the past year and have followed him as he progressed on his CW journey.

Though, like me, he has an active family life, Brooks has found the time to practice CW both through lessons and actual on-the-air contacts. Fortunately, this is all possible because–again, like me–his wife and family are very supportive of his amateur radio adventures!

Early this year, we met on 80 meters and had a good one hour rag chew at about 12 words per minute. I could tell he was ready to do his first POTA activation in CW.

To give him a little real-world practice, we decided to hit the field on a day when I was performing an activation and he could log for me in real-time.

I could tell by how well he was logging as I worked stations at 18WPM  that he was ready to perform his first activation, so we made it a goal to do so within the next couple weeks.

Fast-forward to 8:30 AM on March 24 when Brooks and I met at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Coincidentally, this is the same location where I performed my first CW activation!

We deployed his MFJ-1984MP 40 meter EFHW (End-Fed Half Wave) and connected it to his Xiegu X5105 transceiver in very short order. Brooks also chose his lucky CW Morse paddle for this activation.

But before hopping into the field report, let’s back up just a bit…

First CW Activation: Getting there…

Brooks very kindly wanted to share a bit about his CW journey in this field report. He writes:

From the moment I knew of its existence, becoming a POTA activator using CW has been at the top of my “radio bucket list.”

It seemed like the ultimate challenge and I knew I would never be satisfied until I was able to confidently activate parks using CW. There is also a bit of mystique to CW that other modes lack, making it inherently more interesting to me. In this article, I am going to share the path I took to learn CW and how it culminated in a very successful CW activation.

Continue reading Join Brooks (KO4QCC) on his First CW POTA Activation–! →

Field Reports, Guest Posts, Hams, Morse Code, News, Portable, POTA, QRP

Jay discovered that his first CW POTA activation wasn’t scary at all!

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Many thanks to Jay (W1ASP) who, last week, sent me a note about his first POTA CW activation. I asked if he’d consider writing up a short field report about his experience to share with others and he was happy to do so. Thank you, Jay.

Halloween POTA

by Jay (W1ASP)

Halloween doesn’t have to be scary.

I set out to Bear Brook State Park (K-2643) for my first CW POTA activation.

Bear Brook is relatively close by, its the largest state park in New Hampshire with over 10,000 acres. There’s camping, hiking and biking trails along with an archery course and plenty of swimming and fishing areas.

I didn’t give it much thought about what day it was, just that I had the time to do an activation and it was nice out, what a perfect opportunity to break in the newly assembled kit.

I decided on a spot next to the water and as luck would have it there was a picnic table right there. I took out my gear, set up and proceeded to tune around and listen. The band seemed pretty quiet. I wasn’t sure if I’d get enough QSO’s in to make it an official activation. I decided on 14.038 MHz, I sent QRL? I then held down the memory button, took a deep breath and hit it again to transmit: CQ POTA DE W1ASP

I waited a second or two and used the memory keyer once more, again nothing. I went to the POTA website on my phone and added my activation.

The memory keyer was used for a third time, I noticed a message pop up on my logging app, the Reverse Beacon Network spotted me. It wasn’t too long after, the first call came back to me!

I was nervous and fumbled a bit here and there but once I took my time I was fine, sending their call back and TU UR 599 599 NH BK. I cheated a little and left the CW decoder enabled. I wanted to be sure I had the call correct as I logged my 13 QSO’s. (I swear the 13 wasn’t intentional.) for my first CW park activation! I only realized that it was Halloween while walking back to my truck.

I thought to myself, “that wasn’t scary at all.”

Once I decided that, as an activator I’m in charge of the QSO, I relaxed and it was a lot of fun. I may have made a few mistakes but everyone was patient with me. I later received an email from another Ham in Delaware. He was using the same radio, and referred to them as the perfect “picnic portable radio” we emailed back and forth a few times and I look forward to hearing him on the air again soon.

 

The week before, I finished building my second QCX Mini. The first kit I built was for the 30 meter band around this time last year, this second one is a 20 meter version. I love these little radios, there’s something about these little transceivers that I just can’t seem to put them down.

I took my time making sure it was working properly, I hooked it up in my shack and I had my first QSO with another POTO activator in Maryland just over 400 miles away.  To say I was excited is an understatement!

I planned on putting together a kit about a month ago for POTA and eventually SOTA with the QCX Mini as the radio. I decided on using a small pack, I wanted it to be a self contained kit that had everything I needed to do an activation and nothing extra.

I keep the wire and radios together,  and depending what band I choose to operate on is the one I pack. I’m considering a third kit; maybe a 10m version? I threw the EFHW matching transformer in the bag along with a notebook, mechanical pencil and a battery pack I put together using four 3.2v LifePo batteries. The paddle I’m currently using is a stainless paddle I found on online with a mini CW paddle for backup and set of folding headphones.

I’m looking forward to my next park, this was a great experience. I wanted to learn CW since I became a Ham in 2016, that’s another story of what got me into Ham Radio in the first place.

Field Reports, Guest Posts, Morse Code, News, QRP, SOTA, SSB

Leo’s first SOTA activation included impressive SSB QRP DX and a CW pile-up!

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Many thanks to Leo (DL2COM) who writes:

Hey Thomas,

[…]I just wanted to give you a quick update on my 1st SOTA activation (May 18th). We spent a few days in the south of France with the extended family. From the garden of the house we rented we were constantly looking towards a beautiful mountain front and it turned out to be SOTA summit FR/CR-205 (726m, 2382ft). So I decided to try and activate it since we had enough people around who offered to watch out for our kids.

Next morning: 6am my dear XYL and I started our ascent.

What a wonderful scenery with morning mist covering most of the mountain landscape and the sun in perfect shape for an early hike.

At around 7:45am we arrived at the summit and I started throwing up my arborist weight into pretty much the only suitable tree available. Continue reading Leo’s first SOTA activation included impressive SSB QRP DX and a CW pile-up! →