You might recall from my previous field report that I took the family on a camping trip at New River State Park in April 2022. During that trip, I made an activation of New River each day and also fit in a very fun SOTA activation (click here to read an overview).

Note that anytime you’re performing an activation over multiple days at any one park, you can only have one activation per UTC day.

The following brief field report is essentially my “Part 2” from April 28, 2022. Since I’d already worked well over my ten contacts in the previous activation session that UTC day, all of these contacts were simply icing on the cake!

Keeping this one brief(er)

I’ve an insanely busy day today, what with exam study, errands, splitting firewood, and prep for our summer travels.

That said, I wanted to squeeze in an activation video and field report because the rest of the week is even crazier. Continue reading Rough conditions but serious QRP POTA fun at New River State Park →

I’m often asked if I ever charge my LiFePo4 batteries in the field via solar energy.

Truth is, I’m a big fan of solar, but I’m rarely in the field long enough to need to recharge my batteries via solar when performing SOTA and POTA field activations. It’s easier to charge them at home in advance (often via the solar system at our QTH).

In fact, one of my 3 Ah LiFePo4 Bioenno batteries can easily take me though 3-5 activations or possibly more, depending on the length of the activation and the rig I’m using.

For longer forays into the field, however, I love going solar.

Indeed, every few years, my family will stay in an off-grid cabin on Prince Edward Island (Canada) for up to 6 weeks at a time. Solar is the only practical way to stay on the air that length of time.

Of course, I also like having a solar option, when doing proper primitive/off-grid tent camping.

In the past, I’ve used a very simple portable solar charging system based on a variety of rigid and folding panels, a Micro M+ charge controller, and sealed lead acid batteries. The batteries are of course heavy, but they work brilliantly for fixed operations.

These days, I’m fully invested in LiFePo4 batteries and my Micro M+ charge controller is not really designed to pair with the BMS (battery management system) in my Bioenno packs.

Bioenno sells a number of affordable solar charge controllers, but most resemble units that are used in permanent installations. I wanted something more portable and, ideally, something with Anderson PowerPole connections.

Late last year, I discovered the Buddipole PowerMini 2:

I contacted Buddipole with a few questions about the unit and to find out when they would be in stock again (at the time, they were on back-order and indeed they are at time posting this report).

Turns out, they were to be restocked the next day, so as soon as inventory was showing on the site, I ordered one. Continue reading Solar POTA: Pairing the Buddipole PowerMini 2 with folding panels and the FT-817ND at New River State Park →