On June 17, 2025—two days after we arrived at our condo in St-Ferréol-les-Neiges—we drove to Québec City to pick up a few provisions.
My wife loves exploring thrift stores and had mentioned on the way into town that she’d enjoy popping by one before we returned that day. My POTA brain immediately pinged because I remembered a thrift store she enjoyed visiting was very close to one of the first parks I ever activated in Québec City.
I pitched the idea of an activation to my wife and daughters, and they readily approved. Fortunately, I already had my Canada Field Radio Backpack loaded with the Elecraft KH1 in the back of the car!
Domaine de Maizerets (CA-5020)
I first activated this park on June 20, 2022—almost exactly three years earlier. Here’s the field report. (I didn’t film that activation.)
Back then, it was an ATNO (All Time New One)—the park had never been activated before.
It was also one of the very first proper urban parks I’d activated. By “urban,” I mean a park that’s located in the city, on the smaller side, and fairly busy with activities and locals who live nearby.
As I posted a couple of days ago, I’m learning to become a better, more adaptive, urban park activator—since I usually activate large state, provincial, and national parks where I have all the space I need to play radio.
Having visited this park several times over the past few years, I already had a good idea of where I’d like to activate and how I’d like to do it.
New Field Gear!
As I mentioned earlier this week, my buddy Mike (KE8PTX) has been hard at work in his top-secret, underground laboratory developing accessories for the Elecraft KH1 and AX3 antenna. I knew this activation would give me a chance to test two of them.
The first is a new kneeboard designed specifically for the KH1. It’s super simple, lightweight, compact—and I love it.
It also includes a steel base that can magnetically lock your key in place.
The board secures the KH1 and paddle, and the adjustable elastic strap keeps the board firmly on your leg. It’s so secure, you can easily stand up and reposition without anything sliding off. That’s a big deal—because during longer activations, I tend to shift positions or stretch. This kneeboard lets me do that without worrying about my rig.
Some of you might be thinking, “But isn’t the KH1 meant to be a pedestrian mobile radio? Why not operate handheld?”
That’s a great point! Pedestrian mobile is absolutely the way to go if you’re using the included 4’ telescoping whip antenna. But if you want to use a different antenna—like the AX3 or a wire antenna—I prefer to sit and operate, since those options limit mobility.
AX3 Strap Mount
Speaking of the AX3, I planned to pair it with the KH1 for this activation—and I had a new secret weapon: a strap mount Mike designed.
It’s a brilliantly simple mount based on the ¼-20 threaded base on the AX3. Just a threaded adapter attached to a Velcro strap. That’s it.
So super simple.
Since the AX3 is so lightweight, this strap mount opens up a variety of mounting possibilities. For this activation, I planned to use it on a park bench.
At time of posting, Mike’s accessories aren’t yet available for purchase. Joshua (N5FY) at Tufteln will produce these for purchase in the coming weeks. When he does, I’ll announce it on QRPer.com.
Setting Up
I found a nice, albeit conspicuous, park bench next to the creek that runs through the middle of the park.
First, I mounted the AX3 to the top slat of the bench’s backrest. It worked brilliantly.
My daughter made a short video panning across the park–can you spot me?
From a distance, you can’t tell that the guy in the Tilley hat near the footbridge is a Morse Code and POTA nut!
Time to hit the airwaves!
Gear
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Radio
- Elecraft KH1 Edgewood Package
- Included 4′ whip antenna and 13′ detachable counterpoise
- Zebra Mini Mechanical Pencil (preferred over the included Zebra pen)
- Pelican Micro M40 mine is the modified version from Tufteln
- Panasonic ErgoFit Wired Earbuds
- KE8PTX KH1 Compact Kneeboard (TBA via Tufteln)
Antenna System
- Elecraft AX3 package
- KE8PTX AX3 Strap Mount (TBA via Tufteln)
Camera and Audio Gear
- DJI OSMO 4 action camera with Magnetic Clip-On Mount
- Sony ICD-FX312 Digital Recorder ($20 thrift store find)
Logging
- GraphGear 0.9mm 1000 Automatic Drafting Pencil
- Rite In The Rain Top Spiral Notebook (small 3×5 size)
Backpack
On The Air
I suspected this would be a challenging activation—and I was right. Propagation had been in the dumps, and several friends had mentioned struggling with their activations that same day.
Normally, this isn’t when I’d choose to use a compromised antenna, but in this case:
- I wanted to keep the setup very low-impact and respectful of other park guests, and
- I was eager to test Mike’s new accessories!
After tweaking the antenna position to accommodate the cable length from the AX3 package, I started calling CQ POTA. Continue reading New Kneeboard and AX3 Mount: Park Bench Portable POTA at Domaine de Maizerets in Québec City
