Tag Archives: Pisgah National Forest (US-4510)

Field Reports, Morse Code, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, QRPp, Videos

Turning Half a Watt and the Tiny AX1 Antenna into a Proper POTA Adventure!

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On Friday, November 15, 2024, a window of opportunity opened up for me to fit in a POTA activation—and I couldn’t be happier I took it!

Life in Swannanoa is gradually normalizing after Hurricane Helene, but free time remains scarce. I imagine my neighbors would echo this sentiment, especially since so many of our local businesses—lifelines for the community—are gone.

One example: Our post office

Take our local post office, for instance. Severely damaged by flooding, it operated from a temporary mobile unit for about a month.

Our mobile post office. The shipping container next to it held parcels for pickup.

Unfortunately, as cold weather settled in, the mobile post office was shut down, and operations were moved to a facility 40 minutes away—a location entirely out of my regular travel routes.

The staff there have been working tirelessly under challenging conditions, but receiving both mail and parcels has become an unreliable ordeal. Parcels are delayed, letters are misplaced, and some items—like our insurance check and my daughters’ university acceptance letters sent in October—have yet to arrive.

Thankfully, in this digital age, we’ve found workarounds. Most communications can be routed online, and we are now having our parcels sent to my friend Vlado’s QTH for safekeeping. Thank you so much, Vlado!

We’re sorting it all out, but we know that some items will simply be lost in the confusion and shuffle.

An Unexpected Activation Window

On this particular Friday, I planned to pick up two FedEx packages from Vlado after dropping my daughter off at her Shakespeare rehearsal. When I called to confirm the delivery time, Vlado and I discovered that the packages wouldn’t arrive for several more hours.

Suddenly, I found myself with a two-hour window—just enough time for a quick POTA activation!

Pisgah National Forest (US-4510)

The closest POTA site to my daughter’s rehearsal spot was Sycamore Flats in Pisgah National Forest, about a 20-minute drive away. Factoring in setup, teardown, and round trip drive, I’d have roughly an hour for the activation.

Shaking things up

As I drove, I pondered how I could make this activation unique.

I rarely stick to the same setup, preferring to experiment with different radios, antennas, and configurations. This time, though, my SOTA pack and EDC bag contained the same gear I’d used in previous activations: my Elecraft KX2, KH1, an EFHW antenna, and a few other field accessories.

Then I remembered the AX1 in my LowePro Case—it had been a while since I used this compact antenna in the field.

Inspired to make things even more challenging, I decided to attempt the activation with only one watt of power.

That would turn a routine activation into something a wee bit more adventurous.

When I arrived on site, I chose the picnic shelter as my location since it wasn’t occupied and it had some of the only picnic tables still in place after Helene flooding.

Setup was quick, and in no time, I was ready to hit the air!

Gear:

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Radio

Antenna

Pack/Case

Camera/Audio Gear

On The Air

If you watch my activation video (see below), you’ll notice that after tuning up, I remembered to lower my power before calling CQ. (My KX2 always defaults to 5 watts, which is typically my maximum output power.) As I adjusted the power level to one watt, I thought, “Why not lower it a bit more?” Continue reading Turning Half a Watt and the Tiny AX1 Antenna into a Proper POTA Adventure! →

Field Reports, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Videos

No Table, No Problem: TGIF Activation in Pisgah National Forest!

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On Friday, November 8, 2024, my wife and I ran errands while one of our daughters attended a Shakespeare rehearsal.

Since these rehearsals typically last 2–3 hours, I try to make the most of the time by completing errands and squeezing in a POTA activation when possible.

That day, my wife encouraged me to fit in a quick activation, provided we could also handle a few errands in town.

Fortunately, one of our stops was near the Sycamore Flats picnic area in Pisgah National Forest (K-4510). I’ve been activating this site almost weekly since Hurricane Helene swept through North Carolina, as it has been one of the few accessible parks. (Thankfully, as of today, a few more sites have reopened!)

When we arrived, we saw a large group of volunteers working to clean up the area. They were filling holes in the road and repairing picnic table pads damaged by flooding.

To avoid getting in their way, I set up under the trees by the river, away from the main picnic area where they were working.

Sadly, none of the picnic tables near the river remained—they were likely swept away by the floodwaters. This wasn’t an issue, as my POTA/SOTA pack always has everything I need for a fully self-contained activation.

Two of my favorite field accessories

Two pieces of gear make it incredibly easy for me to activate anywhere: my Helinox Chair Zero and my Tufteln N0RNM Folding Knee Board.

While I’ve activated sitting on logs, large rocks, or the ground, I increasingly appreciate the comfort of a proper chair. The Helinox Chair Zero is a game-changer: lightweight, sturdy, and easy to pack. It’s pricey, but I’ve never regretted the investment.

The Helinox chair is quick to deploy and stable on the ground, unlike the three-legged trail stools I used to carry!
My KX2 on the Tufteln kneeboard earlier this year at Lake James.

The Tufteln kneeboard is another essential. It’s just large enough to hold portable radios (KX1, KX2, KX3, TR-35, TX-500, MTR-3B, QMX, QCX, CFT1, etc.) and my Rite in the Rain notepad. Strapped to my leg, it provides a stable surface for logging and operating.

This is exactly how I set up my station that day at Sycamore Flats.

Next, I deployed my MM0OPX 40 meter end-fed half-wave, connected it to the KX2 (double-checking that the ATU was in bypass mode) and hopped on the air!

Gear:

My entire station is in this Nemo Resolve pack.

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Radio

Antenna & Supports

Cable Assembly

Throw Line and Accessories

Other Field Gear and Accessories

Packs & Cases

Logging Supplies

Camera/Audio Gear

On The Air

As I mention in the activation video (below), setup and pack-up took longer than my actual on-air time. My wife waited in the car, catching up on post-Hurricane Helene financial tasks. Continue reading No Table, No Problem: TGIF Activation in Pisgah National Forest! →

Field Reports, Morse Code, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Videos

My First Post-Helene POTA Activation!

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On Friday, October 24, 2024, I performed my first POTA activation exactly one month (to the day) after Hurricane Helene swept through western North Carolina.

It felt oh so good!

As many of you know who’ve been following my Post-Helene updates, I simply haven’t had time to do POTA or SOTA activations. And even if I wanted to, most of the POTA sites around me are temporarily closed due to damage from Helene.

Truthfully, I didn’t start my day expecting a POTA activation. I’d planned, if anything, to make a short field radio video somewhere on my property, chase some POTA/SOTA stations, and make any other random contacts.

However, my daughter’s Shakespeare class decided to meet in person, so after dropping her off at 12:30, I had about two hours of free time. Before leaving home, I packed a couple of radio bags just in case I could find a spot for a POTA activation, or at least visit a local park to play radio for a bit.

I realized I was only a 20-minute drive from the Sycamore Flats picnic site in Pisgah National Forest (US-4510), where I’ve activated many times before. This site is in Transylvania County, which wasn’t hit as hard by Helene.

Google Maps showed the site as open, so I decided to drive over. Thankfully, it was correct! When I arrived, the front gate was open and there were a few visitors around.

I could tell the site had some storm damage—some tree limbs down and evidence of flooding from the Davidson River, which wraps around the area. The park service recently upgraded the picnic table pads, but the gravel had washed away, and many tables had either shifted or washed away.

That said, this site fared well compared to parks in Buncombe County. (Chimney Rock State Park is still inaccessible due to major flooding in the town of Chimney Rock.)

I hopped out, grabbed my backpack and TR-45L, and started recording my activation video.

Since no one was using the picnic shelter at the northeast end of the park (and it had no reservation sign), I set up there. I deployed my MM0OPX End-Fed Half-Wave antenna on a nearby tree, connected it to my TR-45L, and was ready to go!

Gear

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On The Air

I hopped on the air and started calling CQ POTA. After the RBN picked me up and the POTA website auto-spotted me, the contacts started rolling in! Continue reading My First Post-Helene POTA Activation! →

Field Reports, New Products, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, QRP Radios, Videos

Xiegu X6200: Does version 1.0.1 firmware fix CW keyer timing?

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I’ve had a production unit of the Xiegu X6200 since June of this year and have made several field reports using it for both SSB and CW.

You may have noticed, though, that I haven’t used it much in the field since June.

The reason? I’m primarily a CW operator, and the original firmware had some frustrating CW keyer timing issues.

These keying issues are most noticeable when operating in iambic mode, especially when trying to form letters like C, R, or K by squeezing the paddles. Often, when I try to send a “C,” as in “CQ,” the keyer produces a “B” instead. If you’ve watched any of my previous X6200 videos, you might have seen this happen a few times.

After some time using the radio, I can adapt and reduce the miskeying, but it still happens occasionally. I suspect part of the issue is related to the keyer timing in relation to the transmit/receive switching.

While these keyer issues aren’t severe enough to prevent me from completing an activation, they are certainly annoying.

As I’m reviewing the X6200 (thanks to Radioddity for the extended loan!), I reported the issue to Xiegu back in May and hoped the first firmware update would address it.

The first firmware update, Version 1.0.1, was released in early August. There was an earlier release, but it was retracted due to other issues.

I checked the release notes and didn’t see anything specific about CW keyer timing in the long list of fixes. I had hoped another update would follow soon, but none has been issued yet. Meanwhile, several readers and subscribers have asked me if the keyer issue was resolved.

I decided to update the firmware and take the X6200 out for another field test.

If you follow QRPer.com daily, you may have already seen the spoiler alert: unfortunately, the keyer timing issue was not fixed in this release.

Still, I had a great time squeezing in a quick activation with the X6200, and I thought I’d share the video and a mini field report with you now!

Pisgah National Forest (US-4510)

My wife and I were out while one of our daughters was in Shakespeare rehearsals in Mills River, NC on Friday September 6, 2024. We had a number of errands to run, but my wife kindly worked with me to carve out 30 minutes for a quick activation.

The most convenient POTA location was the Sycamore Flats Picnic Area in Pisgah National Forest.

By mid-afternoon, the park was busy, but most of the picnic areas were open, giving me plenty of options for setting up.

With limited time, I turned on the camera to start my real-time, real-life activation video and got straight to work.

Since the X6200 has a built-in ATU, I decided to use my PackTenna End-Fed Random Wire, as it’s quick to deploy with its 31’ long radiator—any nearby tree would do.

Next, I paired the X6200 with my BaMaKeY TP-III, plugged in the antenna, and found a spot on the band to start operating!

Time to POTA!

Gear

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On The Air

After tuning up on the 20-meter band, I spotted myself and started calling CQ POTA. Fortunately, hunters quickly responded.

In just twelve minutes, I logged thirteen contacts. Thanks to all the hunters!

My activation was brief, and I was so focused on making contacts and packing up that I forgot to take any photos of the radio in action. I’ve included some screen captures from the video instead.

I did manage to take photos of the logs:

QSO Map

Here’s what this five-watt activation looked like when plotted out on a QSO Map:

Activation Video

Here’s my real-time, real-life video of the entire activation.  As with all of my videos, I don’t edit out any parts of the on-air activation time. In addition, I have monetization turned off on YouTube, although that doesn’t stop them from inserting ads before and after my videos.

Note that Patreon supporters can watch and even download this video 100% ad-free through Vimeo on my Patreon page:

Click here to view on YouTube.

CW Keyer Timing

As I discovered during this activation, the CW keyer timing issue has not yet been addressed in the firmware update.

After returning home, I made some notes and reached out to Xiegu to confirm that the CW keyer timing is still on their radar. They assured me that it will be addressed in the next firmware update. I’ll definitely test it and let you know once it’s resolved, so stay tuned!

If you’ve already purchased an X6200, I’d love to hear your thoughts about this all-in-one radio in the comments!

Thank you

Thank you for joining me during this short activation!

I hope you enjoyed the field report and my activation video as much as I enjoyed creating them!

Of course, I’d also like to send a special thanks to those of you who have been supporting the site and channel through Patreon, and the Coffee Fund. While not a requirement, as my content will always be free, I really appreciate the support.

As I mentioned before, the Patreon platform connected to Vimeo makes it possible for me to share videos that are not only 100% ad-free but also downloadable for offline viewing. The Vimeo account also serves as a third backup for my video files.

Thanks for spending part of your day with me! Have a brilliant weekend!

Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)

Field Reports, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Videos

POTA at Mount Pisgah: Punching through patchy propagation and dodging dodgy weather!

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On Saturday, August 3, 2024, my wife and daughters drove to Edneyville, North Carolina, for an annual family get-together/reunion. It’s always a lot of fun catching up with my wife’s extended family. And, I must say, the food is always spectacular. I’m talking every amazing Southern dish you can dream of!

After the gathering, my wife and I dropped off our daughters with some of their friends for the afternoon. We’d planned to head back home and catch up on a few things, but I (fortunately) glanced at Google Maps and saw that I-40 was closed west-bound which meant that instead of a 30-minute drive home, we were staring at 70+ minutes. It was a busy weekend, with a lot of tourists in town, and traffic was at a standstill.

Lemons to Lemonade

I proposed to my wife that we go in the opposite direction of everyone else–up the very winding 151 to Mount Pisgah. She looked at me and knew I had activating on the brain. She happily agreed.

I knew hiking to the summit of Mount Pisgah for a SOTA (Summits on the Air) activation was unrealistic because we didn’t bring hiking gear and, frankly, the weather was a little too dodgy with pop-up thunderstorms forming.

Instead, I had the Mount Pisgah Picnic Area in mind. It’s a brilliant spot with numerous options for setting up a POTA station. It took us all of 35 minutes to drive there.

Hazel was happy to jump out of the car.

I’m sure she was on bear alert because the last time we were here, she spotted a black bear. She never forgets a bear but she always forgets how small she is compared to them.

There are numerous spots to set up a station at this particular parkway picnic site. We found a table off to the side where I had easy access to trees (i.e., wire antenna supports) if needed.

I was hoping I wouldn’t need them, though. I planned to attach the Version 2 KH1 Right Angle Adapter Elecraft sent me to replace out the prototype I used in a previous activation/field report. This would give my KH1 “picnic table” mode.

Based on all of the recent reports I’d been receiving from other POTA and SOTA activators, I knew such a modest antenna might make things challenging (foreshadowing alert), but by not deploying a wire antenna, I could pack up super quickly should we get caught in a downpour or thunderstorm.

I set up the KH1, prepared my logs, and got ready to hop on the air!

Gear:

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On The Air

I hopped on the air and started calling CQ POTA with fingers crossed.

I worked N8JY and KO4PK in fairly short order after I self-spotted (thank you for the contacts!).

Then…silence.

(Sound familiar activators who’ve been out there lately–?)

I even moved to the 30M band for a stint, but there were no callbacks there either. Continue reading POTA at Mount Pisgah: Punching through patchy propagation and dodging dodgy weather! →

Everyday Carry, Field Reports, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, QRP Radios

KH1 to the Rescue! A postcard field report from Pisgah National Forest.

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On Friday afternoon (August 16, 2024), after dropping off one daughter at her volunteer job and the other at Shakespeare class, my wife and I had about 90 minutes of free time before the next scheduled activity.

We opted to visit the Sycamore Flats Picnic Area in Pisgah National Forest (US-4510) so that I could fit in a POTA activation while my wife caught up on a project she’d been working on.

The picnic area was bustling with activity–the busiest I’d seen it in a while. No doubt, everyone was out enjoying the beautiful weather and the last hurrah before many local kids head back to school. Nevertheless, we found a nice picnic table to set up and play radio.

I did not have all of my camera gear with me, so opted not to film this activation with my phone.

Since there’d be no video, it meant that I could operate with earphones and a minimal amount of extra gear. It’s nice to do this every so often!

On the way out the door, earlier that day, I grabbed my Mountain Topper MTR-3B field kit. The goal was to put it on the air since it had been a few months since I last used it. I like rotating out radios regularly so I don’t forget nuances of operating them while in the field.

The previous day, I also charged the two Li-Ion rechargeable batteries [affiliate link] that are stored in the MTR-3B Pelican case. At least I thought I charged them!

When I checked the batteries, they were both completely dead. Turns out, the USB charging station I’d connected them to the previous day was not plugged into an AC outlet. Doh!

This presented a little problem because the only other battery I had in my GR1 rucksack was a 3Ah LiFePo4 battery which likely pushed about 13.2VDC. The MTR-3B doesn’t care for voltages much higher than 12VDC–at least, if you are higher than 12V, you need to make darn sure you’ve got a great SWR match.

I was a bit bummed because I hadn’t packed a backup radio in the GR1 and I wasn’t driving the Subaru which has a Venus SW3B headrest field kit.

Hang on…

Then it hit me…I’ve got my EDC (Everyday Carry) radio with me: the Elecraft KH1! Woo hoo!

I went back to the car and grabbed my Trakke EDC bag.

Then pulled out the KH1 packed in my Tufteln-modified Pelican Micro M40 watertight case.

It is such a luxury to have a small, lightweight, and versatile radio always at the ready in the backpack I carry with me everywhere.

Since I’d already deployed my K6ARK 40 meter counterpoise-less end-fed half-wave [affiliate link], this was the antenna I connected to the KH1.

I also grabbed the Bamakey TP-III from my GR1 pack and the 3×5 Rite in the Rain Pad and Zebra mechanical pencil [again, affiliate links] from the MTR-3B kit (don’t worry, I returned these to their respective kits post-activation!).

I had announced this activation on the POTA website, so hypothetically, the RBN should auto-spot me.

I turned on the KH1, moved to the 20 meter band, and was tuning around looking for a clear frequency when I heard a station calling CQ POTA. Continue reading KH1 to the Rescue! A postcard field report from Pisgah National Forest. →

Field Reports, Morse Code, News, Portable, QRP, SOTA, Travel

The POTA Babe Becomes a SOTA Babe – Part 1

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by Teri (KO4WFP)

Monday, July 15, the second day of my North Carolina camping trip for POTA and SOTA, started chilly with overcast skies. Today I would attempt my first SOTA activations. I chose two easy summits – Black Balsam Knob and Richland  Balsam.

map source: blueridgepark.org
map source: bluedridgeparkway.org

Daisy and I headed out after a simple breakfast up US Highway 276 through the Pisgah National Forest toward the Blue Ridge Parkway. Along the route, we encountered Looking Glass waterfall. The last time I visited this waterfall, it was packed with spectators. Today, I shared it with only one other person. It was a nice way to begin what turned out to be a very long day (spoiler alert).

Looking Glass Waterfall

If you haven’t driven the Blue Ridge Parkway, put it on your bucket list! I’ve been on the parkway more times than I can remember. I relish driving it. Surprisingly, I encountered very little traffic this day so I could move at my own pace along the banked turns and stunning vistas.

The parking area for Black Balsam was already full when I arrived; however, several other cars were making use of the side of the road and I pulled in behind a couple who were suiting up for their hike. It turns out the husband of the couple had a father who was a ham and learned CW during World War II. It is a small world indeed.

Lots of cars already at parking area.

The hike to Black Balsam Knob  is not one I’d consider easy, especially scrambling over the rocky surfaces. Before the trip, I was concerned as to how Daisy would handle hiking given she’s done nothing like this before. It became obvious why she is a POTA pup – the terrain didn’t bother her in the least!

Part of the trail to Black Balsam summit

On the hike up, we saw Carolina lilies growing wild along the trail. There were also bees everywhere, especially in some yellow wildflowers I could not identify.

Carolina Lilly
Yellow flowers in which the bees were active

I was grateful the skies were overcast and the temps on the cooler side (upper 60s). There was a light breeze when we arrived at what I thought was the summit and the tall grasses stirred in it. You could see for miles! The hike was worth the view.

Overcast skies from the top of Black Balsam

I originally thought I would use my EFRW mounted on a fishing pole for my SOTA activations. However, cleaning, stripping, and re-waterproofing the tent/rainfly took so much time, I didn’t follow through with a solution to support it on a summit with no woody vegetation. I opted to use the AX1 instead with the configuration Thomas has had the most success – mounted to the side of the KX2. I also took with me the counterpoises (20 and 40 meters) that came with the antenna.

Once on the air, I called CQ SOTA to make sure I worked those ops first given they are fewer in number than POTA hunters. Since the activation would count for both SOTA (Black Balsam Knob W4C/CM-003) and POTA (Pisgah National Forest US-4510), I gave my location (NC) for all exchanges. (I think SOTA just requires an RST.) I worked seven stations in ten minutes, a good rate.

Operating

I moved down one Hertz as I began faintly hearing someone else on the frequency. (Yes, I cleared it first; however, given I was operating QRP, fighting for the frequency was probably a losing battle.) It was at this point I began calling CQ POTA and the callers dried up. I did have cell service here and worked one park-to-park with Kenneth NS1C at US-11632 in Massachusetts. I continued to call CQ both on 20 and 17 meters with no luck. I didn’t opt to try 40 meters as I figured it wouldn’t be any better.

QSO map for Black Balsam Knob/Pisgah Nat’l Forest source: http://tools.adventureradio.de/analyzer/

About the time I had packed up my gear, Gary W5GDW contacted me asking about 40 meters. I was loathe to pull my equipment back out. He also advised me there was a solar flare. (Maybe that was why I suddenly didn’t hear anyone.)

At this point, I had a valid SOTA activation but not for POTA. I figured the campground at which I was staying – Davidson River Campground – is in Pisgah National Forest so I could finish my activation at my campsite later in the afternoon.

As I headed down the mountain, I began questioning whether I had actually reached the summit. Something didn’t feel right. I checked the map at the trailhead and noticed Black Balsam Knob has a plaque honoring Art Loeb and I didn’t recall seeing any such thing. Uh oh. Maybe I hadn’t had my first SOTA activation. My heart sank.

Map at trailhead for Black Balsam Knob

First of all, it was demoralizing I had botched my very first SOTA. Second, how humiliating because of how public it would be. Honesty is one of my values and I’d have to admit the mistake. I almost scrapped the remainder of the day I was so bummed. However, I didn’t drive all the way to North Carolina to scrap activations so onward I went to the next one – Richland Balsam – which would give me a SOTA activation and two POTA parks. Did I redeem myself? Stay tuned…

Equipment Used

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Field Reports, New Products, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, QRP Radios, SSB, Videos

Xiegu X6200: Second POTA activation with rough propagation, but CW saves the day!

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On Tuesday, June 11, 2024, I took my production run Xiegu X6200 (on loan from Radioddity) to the Blue Ridge Parkway for its first POTA activation. The activation was a success, with good band conditions on 40 and 30 meters. You can read that field report by clicking here.

Later that day, I had a second opportunity to use the X6200. My daughters were kayaking near Lake Powhatan in Pisgah National Forest, so Hazel (my activational support animal–!) and I went for a quick POTA activation.

Pisgah National Forest (US-4510)

I usually set up near the lake at Lake Powhatan, where there are picnic tables and shade. However, mobile phone reception is poor there. Since I planned to operate in single-sideband mode, I needed a way to self-spot or have a friend spot me, thus a little mobile phone reception (else, use my Garmin In-Reach).

I decided to set up at a picnic area at the top of the hill near the main parking area for the lake/beach. I’ve never seen anyone use this site before, likely because it’s not close to the lake.

The site is surrounded by trees, making it a great spot to deploy a wire antenna.

Setting up

I used my PackTenna 9:1 UNUN random wire antenna, which was already in my pack from the morning activation. It’s a good choice for the higher bands (20 and 17M) I planned to use.

I set up the PackTenna so it wouldn’t interfere with anyone walking through the site. Hazel found a sunny spot to relax.

Gear:

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On The Air

I began by attaching the X6200 microphone and spotting myself on the SSB portion of the 20M band. I called CQ POTA for quite a while with no response.

Once again, propagation conditions were poor. Continue reading Xiegu X6200: Second POTA activation with rough propagation, but CW saves the day! →

Field Reports, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Videos

Antenna Versatility: Pairing my Linked EFHW and the TR-45L Skinny at Lake Powhatan!

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On Tuesday, April 23, 2024, I had a bit of time in the middle of the day to perform a park activation, but I couldn’t go too far afield because I needed to pick up my daughters from school around 3:00 PM.

Where to go?

I didn’t want to activate the same spots I’ve been activating a lot lately; I wanted to find a new spot, but my window of time limited my options.

Here in the Asheville area, we only have a few POTA entities within, say, a 25-30 minute drive of downtown, but a few of the sites we do have are vast. The Blue Ridge Parkway, Pisgah National Forest, and Pisgah Game Land are massive and it would be easy to activate every day of your life and set up at a different site each time if you’re willing to bring your own chair and table/kneeboard..

It was such a beautiful day, I ideally wanted to find a spot with a picnic table under the shade of a tree. I know of a couple sites on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but I’d activated them recently. Also there was the Vance Birthplace, but again, I’d been there a lot lately.

Then it dawned on me that Lake Powhatan, in Pisgah National Forest (US-4510), might be a good option. It’s close to Asheville, a beautiful site, and I was almost certain I remembered seeing picnic tables there when I camped there with friends some two years ago. I made a quick call to the park office and confirmed.

Lake Powhatan requires a day use permit of $5 per person–you pay at the entrance and then have access to the lake and beach area for the full day. I didn’t mind paying this fee at all because I will typically leave that same amount in the donation box of many of the state parks I frequent anyway.

It’s a really short walk from the parking area to the lake and picnic sites.

I grabbed my TR-45L Skinny (in its padded camera pack) and my GoRuck GR1 backpack that had all of my antenna supplies and even my Elecraft KX2 inside.

Had this been a summer day, the lake would have been packed with families!

Why bring two radios? I really wanted to use the TR-45L, but I also thought about testing the waters on the 15, 12, and 10 meter bands. Since the TR-45L only covers 80, 40, 30, 20, and 17 meters, I needed another option.

Lots of picnic table options around the lake.

Turns out, the higher bands weren’t in great shape, so I didn’t need to use the KX2 after all.

I didn’t pair the TR-45L Skinny with an ATU, thus I needed an antenna option that would be resonant or matched on each of the bands I planned to operate. I decided to deploy my KM4CFT EFHW that I’d cut as a 30 meter end-fed half-wave with a 40 meter extension. This antenna would give me all of the bands of the TR-45L (save 80M). As a 30M EFHW, I’d have 30 and 17 meters, then by adding the 40M extension, I’d have both 40 and 20 meters as well.

Setup was quick and easy (even though it took several tries with my throw line to hit the branches I wanted).

Gear:

Note: All Amazon, CW Morse, ABR, Chelegance, eBay, and Radioddity links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.

On The Air

I deployed the antenna as a 30 meter EFHW and started calling CQ POTA on the 17 meter band.

I quickly found out that 17 meters was not in great shape. I did work N5PJ after a few minutes (thanks, Perry!) but didn’t hang around 17 meters much longer.

The poor state of 17 meters was likely a good indicator of what the higher bands might be like, so I abandoned the idea of going up to 10 meters. Instead, I QSY’d to the 30 meter band.

30 meters was in better shape. I worked five more stations in short order, then there was a lull in activity for several minutes. My thinking was that the bulk of the POTA activity would be on 20 meters, so I lowered part of my antenna, connected the 40M link, and raised it again.

Turns out, 20 meters was pretty active.

I ended up adding 16 stations to the logs including at least one Park-to-Park with AC9OT (thank you!).

All-in-all, I logged 22 stations on three bands. Propagation was a bit rough for sure, but the activation was a lot of fun!

Here are my logs:

QSO Map

Here’s what this five-watt activation looked like when plotted out on a QSO Map (click image to enlarge):

Activation Video

Here’s my real-time, real-life video of the entire activation.  As with all of my videos, I don’t edit out any parts of the on-air activation time. In addition, I have monetization turned off on YouTube, although that doesn’t stop them from inserting ads before and after my videos.

Note that Patreon supporters can watch and even download this video 100% ad-free through Vimeo on my Patreon page:

Click here to view on YouTube.

An Idyllic Site

I’m so glad I decided to give Lake Powhatan a try. I’m very tempted to pay $40 for an annual pass.

There are several other picnic sites in/around the lake that I’d like to try and, frankly, next time I think I’ll bring my mountain bike! There are loads of trails on-site that also connect up to the (very popular) Bent Creek network.

Thank you

Thank you for joining me during this peaceful activation!

I hope you enjoyed the field report and my activation video as much as I enjoyed creating them.

Of course, I’d also like to send a special thanks to those of you who have been supporting the site and channel through Patreon, and the Coffee Fund. While not a requirement, as my content will always be free, I really appreciate the support.

As I mentioned before, the Patreon platform connected to Vimeo makes it possible for me to share videos that are not only 100% ad-free but also downloadable for offline viewing. The Vimeo account also serves as a third backup for my video files.

Thanks for spending part of your day with me! Have a brilliant week!

Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)

Accessories, Antennas, Field Reports, Morse Code, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Videos

Testing the Tufteln AX1 Support: Late-Shift POTA with Vlado in Pisgah National Forest

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On Tuesday, February 13, 2024, one of my daughters had a dress rehearsal for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The venue where the cast meets is a good 45 minutes from my QTH, and if I didn’t have POTA fever, I’d have to find something to do to burn four hours of time.

Since I do have POTA fever, I see these windows of waiting around as an opportunity!

An opportunity to spread the POTA fever, even.

On that particular Tuesday night, my dear friend Vlado (N3CZ) didn’t have any plans, so I invited him to join me on a short, late-shift activation. The idea was that he’d perform an activation, then we’d go grab dinner at a restaurant in Mills River.

Pisgah National Forest (K-4510) and Game Land (K-6937)

Quick note about park numbers: As of the time of publishing this article, we’re still using the “K” prefix for US parks. Tomorrow (March 20, 2024), all US park prefixes will change to “US.” Pisgah National Forest, for example, will be US-4510 starting tomorrow. Today, it’s still (barely!) K-4510, so that’s what we’ll use.

We drove to the Sycamore Flats Picnic Area where I performed a number of late-shift activations in February. What I love about the site is that it’s rarely busy (especially at dusk and into the evening), there are numerous spots to set up, and it’s pretty convenient to the Shakespeare venue.

Tufteln AX1 Antenna Stand

I’d mentioned to Vlado in advance that I was going to test “a new antenna support system.” I think he might have assumed I was packing a large tripod with a 1/4 vertical or something similar, so it was fun to pull out the AX1 and  Tufteln AX1 Antenna Stand!

Vlado, like me, loves compact radio gear, and I knew he’d never used the Elecraft AX1 before, so I was looking forward to showing him just how capable of an antenna it is for POTA, even on 40 meters.

That day, it had been pretty gusty, and in the evening hours, while a little calmer, it was still a tad windy. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to pair the AX1 with Joshua’s AX1 stand because it’s much more stable than the AX1 bipod in windy conditions.

Source: Tufteln.com

The stand consists of two parts: a base and an antenna sleeve. The sleeve screws into the base, and the AX1 simply slides into the sleeve. The height is perfect for the KX2’s BNC (indeed, it works with a number of radios). The stand will also accommodate the AXE 40M coil.

Source: Tufteln.com

When attached to the KX2, it makes for a very stable base. You can even use it as a stand-alone antenna support for the AX1.

Joshua has had this stand in his Tufteln product line for over a year, but I don’t think I’ve actually used it during an activation that I’ve also filmed.

New Mics!

Speaking of filming, this activation with Vlado gave me an opportunity to test my new DJI wireless mics. The system comes with two mics so both Vlado and I used them.

I filmed the activation, but in truth, was doing this more or less to test the mic audio. I believe I mentioned early on that this video might not ever be published.

In the end, I decided to publish it–the audio was quite good, and the wireless mics cut down on the wind noise dramatically.

Gear:

Note: All Amazon, CW Morse, ABR, Chelegance, eBay, and Radioddity links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.

N3CZ: On The Air

My goal was to get Vlado on the air and give him a taste of POTA using the AX1 and 40M coil. I hadn’t planned to activate–since we were grabbing dinner afterward–but I did end up activating after the UTC day changed.

Without realizing it, I actually put a lot of pressure on Vlado.

He started his activation at 18:42 local (23:42 UTC). That meant, in order to log a valid POTA activation on February 13, he needed to log at least ten contacts in 18 minutes (using the AX1!).

Keep in mind that Vlado is a contester and DXer (also, very much a QRPer!). He’s used to operating CW at insane speeds when needed. In fact, he’s always one of the top people (if not the top) in the CW speed test at the W4DXCC contesting and DX conference.

I suggested he operate around 20 words per minute.

He started calling CQ POTA, and the first few contacts came in pretty slowly. I was getting nervous that I might have unintentionally made Vlado’s first POTA activation one that wouldn’t be valid.

Then the pace started picking up. (Whew!)

He ended up logging a total of 10 contacts in 12 minutes! Woo hoo!

Here’s his QSO Map, showing what the AX1 pushing 5 watts for twelve minutes can do:

Next, we decided that I would, indeed, perform a quick activation.

I spotted myself on the POTA site and started to call CQ, then it hit me: it was 23:58 UTC. If I worked one contact in that two minutes, it would be considered an activation on February 13 of only one contact.

Instead, we waited for a little over a minute for the UTC day to change!

I ended up working a total of 24 contacts in 21 minutes. Woo hoo!

Here’s my QSO Map:

And here are our logs:

Activation Video

Here’s my real-time, real-life video of the entire activation.  As with all of my videos, I don’t edit out any parts of the on-air activation time. In addition, I have monetization turned off on YouTube, although that doesn’t stop them from inserting ads before and after my videos.

Note that Patreon supporters can watch and even download this video 100% ad-free through Vimeo on my Patreon page:

Click here to view on YouTube.

What fun!

I always enjoy hitting the field with Vlado.

Since this quick little activation, he’s been out there hitting POTA sites regularly.

He hasn’t seen the doctor yet, but I’m positive he caught POTA fever. It’s incredibly contagious.

Also, the Tufteln AX1 stand worked perfectly in the wind. I’m going to keep this tucked away in my pack alongside my second AX1 to pair with a wide variety of radios.

Thank you!

Thank you for joining me during this activation!
I hope you enjoyed the field report and my activation video as much as I enjoyed creating them!

Of course, I’d also like to send a special thanks to those of you who have been supporting the site and channel through Patreon, and the Coffee Fund. While not a requirement, as my content will always be free, I really appreciate the support.

As I mentioned before, the Patreon platform connected to Vimeo makes it possible for me to share videos that are not only 100% ad-free but also downloadable for offline viewing. The Vimeo account also serves as a third backup for my video files.
Thanks for spending part of your day with me!
Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)