Tag Archives: Guest Posts

Digital Modes, Field Reports, FT8, Guest Posts, News, Portable, POTA, QRP

Conrad’s Kayak POTA Activation on Minnie Island

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Minnie Island K-1698 Kayak Activation

by Conrad (N2YCH)

9/1/2023

As many readers know, I am on a Parks on the Air (POTA) quest to activate all references in the state of Connecticut. There are 136 parks, and four of them are only accessible by boat. You may have seen my recent field report here on QRPer.com about activating three islands located in the Connecticut River. For those islands, I enlisted professional help from a boat captain with the navigation experience and proper tools (like radar and maps) to access those islands.

The final boat-only accessible island is Minnie Island, located in the middle of Gardner Lake in the town of Salem, Connecticut. I DO have experience kayaking on a Lake, thanks to my uncle, who has two kayaks and has taken me out on Tillson Lake in New York’s Hudson Valley a number of times. Unlike the challenges the river posed, I felt like I could manage the lake on my own. I did need a kayak, though, which I didn’t own.

I had to do some kayak research then. In case you didn’t know this, different kayaks have different specifications on how much weight they can hold. I’m a big guy, six foot five inches tall. Add me, plus a backpack of radio equipment, and I needed to be sure I didn’t sink.

I started on eBay, looking for people selling used kayaks. There are all different kinds of kayaks. Some made for the ocean and dealing with waves and others for casual lake paddler. Some have rudders, some have small, sealed cockpits and some even have motors. I had no idea how serious you could get with all of the accessories and options. I was really looking for something simple.

After striking out on eBay, I found a fishing supply store at the end of the Connecticut River that also had kayaks you could rent. I visited their web site and was happy to see that they were having an end of season clearance sale, where they were selling their rentals. I visited their shop and after looking at my options, I ended up buying an Old Town Vapor 10 kayak. It came with a paddle and life jacket and it was 50% of the price new. A great bargain. The added benefit is now I own my own kayak…a friend suggested that now that I do, there might be IOTA activations in my future.

What sold me on the Vapor 10 was the open cockpit. No trying to squeeze myself in and plenty of room to bring a backpack with the radio equipment in-between my legs. Also, I was able to fit it into my Jeep Wrangler.

Next stop, the Gardner Lake Boat Launch, which was about a 30 minute drive North. Continue reading Conrad’s Kayak POTA Activation on Minnie Island →

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

KM4CFT: A Relaxing Labor Day SOTA Activation

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Many thanks to Jonathan (KM4CFT) who shares the following guest field report:

A Relaxing Labor Day SOTA Activation

by Jonathan Kayne (KM4CFT)

September 4, 2023

Days off from work can be a really great thing. And for someone who spends most of his time indoors at a computer, I try to find plenty of excuses to go outside and get some fresh air. Labor Day is one of those days I get off from work, so I decided I would do a SOTA activation, but I wasn’t entirely sure where.

Luckily, there are plenty of tools out there to help with planning a SOTA activation, namely sotl.as, which shows all the summits on a map along with additional information about the summit.

I wasn’t entirely sure which one to pick, so I just searched around and came across Evergreen Mountain, which has the reference designator W0C/FR-076. Doing some research showed that it was about a 2-3 mile hike to the summit from the parking lot, which was perfect. The air around Denver, CO can be somewhat thin and these hikes can be strenuous if you aren’t used to it. I have been living in the Denver area for 2 years and I still am not used to it!

After a small amount of planning, I pack my radio and antenna into a bag along with the usual hiking gear and drive to the base of the mountain. There were a lot of cars already parked there, so I had to park on the side of the road. It seems other people had the same idea that I did!

The trail to the summit of Evergreen mountain was comparatively easy due to the trail being designed for mountain biking. Mountains in Colorado tend to be incredibly steep, which can make them quite the workout, even if the hike is short. This trail consisted of plenty of switchbacks, which made the hike incredibly easy, trading steepness for distance. This was a massive bonus from my perspective!

As you might have guessed, Evergreen Mountain (and the town) get their name from the impressive number of evergreen trees in the area. As you drive towards the town, it almost becomes exclusively pine trees everywhere!

As I walked, I couldn’t help but notice all the fallen pine trees, which concerned me, but I quickly came across a sign explaining the reason.

I really got to enjoy walking through these trees, and listening to the wind howl through the mountains. It also had the benefit of keeping me nice and cool in the reasonable 83° temperature outside.

The trees also blocked the views of the mountains to some extent, but my research showed me that we get plenty of gorgeous views closer to the summit!

Right before the summit loop, I was rewarded with a small glimpse of the views that were to come!

I made it to the summit loop trail, and advanced to the last little bit before the summit. Right before the true summit there is a tenth-mile little trail that leads to a scenic overlook. I, of course, had to go and take a look.

I went back and made it to the summit. The top of the mountain was pretty flat so I just went to what I thought was the summit and set up my station there. Searching around showed that I was well within the activation zone. The area had some nice rocks to sit on as well as trees for me to lash my crappie pole to with para-cord.

I unpacked my gear and started to set up. The gear I brought was as follows:

With SOTA, I have the opportunity to use my VHF/UHF equipment to make some QSOs. I find it quite rare for me to do simplex communication on VHF or UHF these days as I almost exclusively operate on HF. Also, I like to try to operate in the parts of the bands with the lowest license requirement so that the less experienced hams have an opportunity to work me. With this, I can give our technicians a chance to chase SOTA! Continue reading KM4CFT: A Relaxing Labor Day SOTA Activation →

Field Reports, Guest Posts, News, Portable, QRP

POTA Quest: Conrad Activates Three Connecticut River Islands!

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Connecticut River Island Activations

by Conrad (N2YCH)

August 22, 2023

I’m on a POTA quest – activate all references in the state of Connecticut. There are 136 parks in the state and four of them are islands, only accessible by boat. Three of which are in the Connecticut River: Dart Island (K-1659), Haddam Island (K-1673) and Selden Neck State Park (K-1714).

I don’t own a boat. Plus, even if I did, I’m not sure I’d be brave enough to tackle the Connecticut River on my own. I have no experience navigating these waters, and it’s a real river, more than you’d want to try with a kayak with the currents and all. Even the POTA web pages for these islands warns “Boating experience and channel knowledge recommended.”

This created a dilemma –  how do I get to and activate these islands?

I strategized for a while and decided on chartering a “river cruise” boat who actually listed visiting Dart and Haddam islands as part of their services on their web site. The boat captain hadn’t visited Selden Neck, so that was new, even to him. However, he had a radar, and depth finder on his boat that mapped the channel and gave us the depths of the waters near each island. His boat drew 3 feet, so we had to have at least that much depth in each place we stopped. He also had a small “Achilles” boat that connected to the back of the cabin cruiser that we used to get ashore.

We left from a marina that was directly across the river from Dart Island but decided first to head South to Selden Neck and then work our way back North to Haddam and Dart.

Putting aside the island access for a moment, I also had to strategize on what gear to bring along to do these activations. I am primarily a digital mode activator and have used the Elecraft KX3 and AX1 antenna in many of my travels where I needed a light kit.

However, I thought, I can use the KX3 but take along a more efficient antenna. I used my Buddipole tripod and mast with a versa-T and a 17’ 9” Alpha whip antenna and a 15’ counterpoise elevated off the ground with a Home Depot electric fence post.

Because the mast elevates the versa T to 11’ high, and the telescoping whip at another 17’ 9”, I was able to get the antenna nearly 30’ off the ground to the top. It was easy to pack and carry and provided better coverage than the AX1 would have. You’ll see just how good QRP on FT8 can be in my Dart Island coverage map.

Equipment List:

Once I decided on the KX3 and the Alpha telescoping whip, I packed my backpack with the computer, cables, the radio, batteries and extra antennas. I always have the AX1 and a Packtenna EFHW as backups and they fit easily into the backpack. Two bags would need to make it from the boat to each island, the radio gear with computer and the antenna bag with the tripod and telescoping antenna. To be safe, since it would not be easy to do this again if something didn’t work, I brought along an entire backup system, packed in a second backpack with an Icom 705 and my spare laptop.

One of my goals with POTA is local discovery, and my boat captain was very knowledgeable about the river and the various sites along the shores. I learned that a manufacturing plant owned by Pratt and Whitney still uses water from the river as part of their manufacturing processes and also that there was a sea plane airport along one bank. I saw an automobile ferry along the way that I had no idea existed and saw the site of the former Connecticut Yankee nuclear plant that was decommissioned in 2004. Continue reading POTA Quest: Conrad Activates Three Connecticut River Islands! →

Field Reports, Guest Posts, Morse Code, News, Portable, QRP, Travel

Steve tests a compact, carry-on QRP field radio kit while on holiday in Croatia!

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Many thanks to Steve (MW0SAW) who shares the following field report:

Portable Ops in 9A Land

by Steve (MW0SAW)

Just back from a family holiday to Croatia and I was lucky enough to be able to take a QRP station with me on my travels. It’s always good to stop and review what you took and how it worked out, else you won’t be able to iterate and improve next time.

My wife and I have always been efficient minimalist travellers and even now with our daughter the traditional continues. And let’s face it, who doesn’t love to get their inner pack geek on when it comes to QRP ham radio and travel!

I’m very lucky to own several QRP radios, Elecraft KX2, FT-818, IC-705, but for minimalist ops they are all a/ too expensive and/or b/ too heavy & bulky. The choice naturally brought me to a CW rig and after some deliberating I chose my Venus SW-3B over my newly constructed QCX mini. The Venus is just more versatile having 3 bands and SSB RX.

So the item I spent weeks torturing myself about prior to the holiday was the antenna. You have to try to imagine from where you will operate. I don’t think you can beat a wire antenna like the K6ARK EFHW however you need trees or a mast, I thought I was most likely to operate from the hotel room balcony. I came to the conclusion, despite the extra bulk, that the Gabil 7350T and Tripod would be my companions.

And how did I get on? Well the first time I setup the station on the balcony the electrical interference was terrible, and I could not hear any signals. So I had to adapt and go for plan B. Which actually turned out to be a stunning spot.

Operating on a small jetty next to the salt water on the island of Sveti Nikola near the town of Porec in the early mornings, I deployed my station and called CQ. You can see from the RBN that my 5 watt signal was making a good impact, however only had a couple of European stations come back to me from my calls.

I decided to switch to hunt and pounce mode, and I was amazed to work several USA, VK and ZL stations over a few days. It’s such a great feeling to work DX with such a modest setup. The icing on the cake for an already special family holiday. I think you will agree such a beautiful place.

So overall I was very happy with my station choices.

Kit list:

(Note: Note that Amazon links are affiliate and support QRPer.com)

Until my next QRP adventure.
Best 73
Steve
9A/M0SAW (MW0SAW)

UPDATE:

I didn’t mention it in my report (above) as he hadn’t replied to my email, but I did work Peter Parker VK3YE (he has a good YouTube channel). I’m in his video about 10mins 45seconds in:

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

Guest Post: A wildly successful POTA activation…on a whim!

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

One of my best POTA activations on a whim.

by Mike (KE8PTX)

Monday 8/15/2023

Doing some late afternoon POTA chasing from the back deck home QTH,  contacts on 5 watts seemed to be coming fairly easy so I started to think I should have a go at it and activate a park.

One in one hundred times I activate QRO, so I decided to take the FT-891 and blow the dust off the finals.

When filling my pack, I had a last minute change of heart and decided to stick with QRP.  Bagged up the never fail KX2 field kit and hit the road.

The park was Port Huron State Game Land (K-6762) a nearby game land with many activation spots.  As I never do look at the solar reports, this time was no different.  I feel the solar reports more times than not would keep me home. With a QRP mind set we all feel we have something to prove by just doing it.

So off to the park we go!

After a short 20 minute dive through the countryside of the Michigan thumb, I arrived at my location only to be welcomed by a flock of Michigan state birds: the mighty Mosquitoes.  I came prepared with my trusty Thermacell.  Fired it up 5 minutes before exiting the car to give it a head start.

My deployment of gear is simple and quick.  My go-to antenna is a 40m EFHW inverted V configuration running North to South.

My mid support is a modified Carbon 6 mast.

Setup time was less than two minutes and I was on the air. Continue reading Guest Post: A wildly successful POTA activation…on a whim! →

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

Matt’s Low-Profile POTA Activation at the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park

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Many thanks to Matt (W6CSN) who shares the following post  from his blog at W6CSN.Blog:

SF Maritime NHP POTA Activation

by Matt (W6CSN)

There are several Parks On The Air eligible parks in San Francisco and the northern tip of the peninsula of the same name. One would expect that a POTA activator that calls this city home, would have logged activations from all of these parks, but so far this one has eluded me.

Muni Pier (closed) across Aquatic Cove

The San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park (K-0757) sits at the northern edge of the city, right next to the Fisherman’s Wharf area that is so popular with tourists visiting San Francisco.

NPS Map of SF Maritime NHP

The National Park encompasses an area that includes the municipal pier, aquatic cove with its small public beach, the art deco style Maritime Museum, and Hyde Street Pier with its floating collection of historic ships.

The historic ships alongside Hyde Street Pier

For various schedule and logistical reasons, K-0757 was the one park in the city that I had not yet activated. So today, when my daughter wanted to visit the ships, I made sure to have my lightweight POTA “go” pack with me in case I found an opportunity to attempt an activation.

I’d say the main attraction at Hyde Street Pier is the Balclutha, a steel hulled, square rigged, cargo ship built near Glasgow, Scotland and launched in 1886.

Balclutha – a survivor from the Age of Sail

Balclutha is continually undergoing restoration and maintenance by the Park Service and skilled volunteers. Her many careers on the world’s oceans are documented with numerous interpretive stations and exhibits, both topside and below decks.

We wrapped up our tour of the vessels on the pier by exploring C.A. Thayer, a 219 foot long sailing schooner built in 1895 near Eureka, California to serve the coastal timber trade.

Eureka is a steam powered ferry that served on SF bay.

I was thinking about where to activate and not really looking forward to setting up on or around the public beach. Between the Aquatic Cove swimmers, people enjoying the beach, and tourists going to and fro, there wasn’t really an “out of the way” location to setup even a small station.

Hyde Street Pier itself was actually pretty quiet, but I wasn’t about to set up my station there without prior approval of park staff. Just as we were about disembark from Thayer I noticed an NPS employee near the gangway, and so I took the opportunity to inquire about setting up my low impact, leave no trace, POTA station.

It turns out the person I talked to on the deck of C.A. Thayer was the supervisor of the SF Maritime National Historic Park! He is keenly interested in radio and was even aware of recent solar activities that have given us amateurs a mixed bag of propagation conditions. He agreed to my request to set up at the end of the pier, past Balclutha’s gangway.

Is Balclutha’s steel hull a reflector of radio waves?

I used the Gabil GRA-3750T antenna with its stock telescopic whip tuned for 20 meters. This is the most low profile antenna I can field for HF. Yes, it’s a compromised antenna system but as you’ll see it works good enough. Continue reading Matt’s Low-Profile POTA Activation at the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park →

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

VE6LK makes a quick trip to Montana o/a AI7LK – Day 2

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by Vince (VE6LK)

As you read in day 1 of this story, I landed up in Montana opportunistically. The plan for day 2 was to say goodbye to our visiting family, then make our way north from Kalispell, MT via Eureka, MT and head for home. We’d stop on the way to visit with friends and, of course do one more POTA activation.

Operating position at K-4848. This spot is at the south end of Lower Stillwater Lake.

After departing Kalispell we arrived at Lower Stillwater Lake, part of K-4848, at around 11am MT.

There is one picnic table near a boat launch and it was vacant so I got to work quickly and set up. I had brought along a lightweight kit consisting of my VE6VID EFHW, Elecraft AX-1, the KX3, a battery, a key, a paper logbook and some extra bits like carabiners, a bit of masonry string and a small mast that I landed up not using. With my wife and doggo along for the ride, I didn’t want to take too much time to set up and operate, so the natural choice would have been the Elecraft AX1 antenna, but with conditions being as soft as they were a day earlier, the resonant wire antenna seemed the better choice for the extra 5 minutes it would take to set up.

This short video shows my full set-up:

I looped the feedpoint end around a nearby tree branch and unrolled the antenna and tossed it up in a branch just out of my reach – another low-slung wire antenna! The rest of the gear came out on the table and I used the tote box as a makeshift stand for my shortie camera tripod. Continue reading VE6LK makes a quick trip to Montana o/a AI7LK – Day 2 →

Field Reports, Guest Posts, News, POTA, Travel, Videos

VE6LK makes a quick trip to Montana o/a AI7LK – Day 1

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by Vince (VE6LK)

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

In early August 2023 I was lucky to be able to activate parks in beautiful West Montana on such short notice.

As opportunity would have it, my brother Dan, AG7GM, and Sister-in-Law Val were at the tail end of visiting with us and wanted to do a drive on Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road as part of their return journey home. We had attempted this trip with them some years ago but were met with inclement weather and were turned around after landslides blocked the road. After an overnight stop in Kalispell for all of us, they would continue towards home and we would head back to ours.

The preparation involved plotting out which of the 9 parks I could tackle along the routes I would be travelling. I settled on K-0028, Glacier National Park and K-4848, Stillwater State Forest. But, still, my activations would need to be opportunistic in nature and involve a willing family allowing me to partake in one of my favourite activities.

Before you do this road trip, you need to understand that the Going-to-the-Sun Road is highly popular and the park restricts the number and type of vehicles that pass along it each day. You can find out more details about Going-to-the-Sun Road here. While their advance booking system granted me one vehicle pass, I needed two and was unsuccessful in the days before the actual trip to secure a second one. Luckily (there’s that word again) we arrived after 3pm when passes are not required at this time of year. I was absolutely stoked as I love driving on mountain roads!

Continue reading VE6LK makes a quick trip to Montana o/a AI7LK – Day 1 →

Antennas, Field Reports, Guest Posts, News, POTA, QRP, Travel

An Accidental Three-State POTA Rove!

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An Accidental Three-State POTA Rove

by Joshua (N5FY)

I often find myself playing radio in the evening when I travel out of state for work. I especially enjoy adding another state to my list of activations. So, a trip to the Sioux City area was great, as I could activate in South Dakota and Nebraska, both new states to add to my POTA activations.

Of course, you are wondering how one accidentally completes a 3 state POTA rove,  so I’ll get into the details in a bit. Believe me though, it wasn’t because I had a fool-proof plan. I do believe that failing to plan is planning to fail. But in this case, a bit of luck and agility on my part, with the bands cooperating, and with the POTA hunter support, I did indeed complete 3 POTA activations, in 3 states, in under 2 hours!

Go Ruck Bullet fits inside the G2 ready for Travel

To be honest, I rarely put much effort into planning an activation while traveling as I simply may not have any time get out to a park, and of course, playing radio is not the purpose of my trip. I often find myself spending just a couple minutes looking at POTA locations before a trip and even may look last minute after I land, before I get off the plane, looking for a good POTA location. Maybe I like the urgent planning excitement, or maybe I don’t want the disappointment of not having the chance to go activate after spending time planning the outing? Again, I do recommend a bit of planning, so don’t exactly follow my example here.

As a result of my minimal planning I typically find myself with a very impromptu, “wing it” style activation. This trip was certainly no exception. I only had one evening to check off both South Dakota and Nebraska. There were parks which seemed readily accessible, but I hadn’t really verified activation numbers or best location on the park property to setup. I did save a few parks in the 3-State area, including Iowa.

I already had an Iowa activation, so I wasn’t as worried about hitting the IA park.

Once my evening freed up, the first day I was in the area, it was already a late in the evening, so I was in a bit of a rush as I headed to the first park. I figured I would hit South Dakota first then drop down to Nebraska and spend a bit more time calling CQ there according to how much daylight I had left.

POTA Park in 3 States surrounding Sioux City

I arrived in the area of the first park–a state park land. As I approached the boundary, I found a horse trail parking lot with some nice-looking trees for a throw line and wire antenna. As I was in a hurry, not needing a hike, I  knew this would work well. I’m not one to play radio from the car, but in this case, it would cut down a bit on the time needed so I could get to the second park.

I threw a line and pulled up my antenna. Within 10 minutes of parking, I had my station setup and scanned 20m to see what shape the band was in. I typically put up a 20m EFHW and hope for the best, and this usually doesn’t disappoint. I then setup my log and found a surprise. Continue reading An Accidental Three-State POTA Rove! →

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

K3ES’ Hike with Molly: The POTA Dog In-Training!

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Many thanks to Brain (K3ES) who shares the following guest post:

“Hey!  I can be a POTA Dog.  Let’s go on a hike!”

A Hike (and Activation) with a POTA Dog In-Training

by Brian (K3ES)

PA State Route 66 Trail-head on K-4239

A plan for a Hike and an Activation

A couple of Wednesdays ago, I decided to take a hike along the North Country Trail.  It would not only provide some needed exercise on a beautiful day, but it would also take me into Pennsylvania Game Land #024, enabling a 2-fer activation of K-4239 and K-8725.  I had hiked this stretch of the trail several times before, so I figured it would be safe taking one of our dogs along for the trip.

Jojo (front) and Molly (back) are not happy about this staged picture.

Molly and Jojo are two rescued Boston Terriers, who have made our home their own since October of last year.  Each has her own character.  Molly is exuberant, very friendly, and frankly, a bit of a bulldozer.  Jojo is pure sun bunny, preferring to find a bright patch of lawn, then lay there soaking up the heat.  Once installed in a sunny spot, Jojo doesn’t like to move.  So, it seemed natural to invite Molly along for the afternoon hike.  The only potential issue was the planned stop for a park activation.  I was almost certain that Molly would enjoy the walk, but how would she handle the period of inactivity?  There was only one way to find out.

Jojo in her natural habitat:  sunbathing in the back yard.
Molly on the run.

Since solar conditions had been keeping the radio bands rough and unpredictable, I decided to start my QRP CW activation in the middle of the afternoon.  Beginning the activation at 3pm EDT meant that my first hour would overlap with the popular CWT sprint, so I planned to start on the 30m band to avoid trying to compete with my 5 watt signal.  More importantly, the timing would let me finish on the 40m band later in the afternoon, when I have always found it to be productive.

Molly supervises CW operations during the 2-fer Activation.

The plan was set and an activation was scheduled in POTA.app to begin at 3pm EDT, so detection by the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) would assure automatic spotting.  We left home just after 1pm, drove to the trail head, and started our hike to the activation point.  Our travel and the station setup went quicker than expected.  Even after securing Molly on her leash, with space to move around and drinking water in reach, all was ready to begin by 2:30pm.  Fortunately, there was sufficient cell coverage to let me directly enter an early spot.  Despite the early start, I stayed with my original plan to begin on the 30m band.

Activation

Contacts on 30m came slowly, but I was able to confirm the activation with 11 contacts in just over an hour.  Since the CWT sprint was continuing, I moved over to 17m to see if I could pick up some more distant contacts, but it was not to be.  I heard one strong signal on 17m – calling CQ over me.  I am confident that the operator did not hear me on the frequency, particularly since he did not pick up my call when I responded to his CQ.  Not only that, but my 5 watt signal did not even manage to attract the notice of the RBN.  I took that episode as a sign that it was time to QSY.

Logs from the activation filled up the last 2 pages of one notebook, and the first page of a second notebook.

Since it was past 4pm EDT, and the CWT sprint was finished, I moved over to 20m. Continue reading K3ES’ Hike with Molly: The POTA Dog In-Training! →