Tag Archives: QRP

Finally did it! First POTA activation with my new-to-me Yaesu FT-891

Yep. I finally did it.

Over the past few years, I’ve received numerous requests to check out the Yaesu FT-891 HF transceiver. Almost all of my ham friends have one and they are widely considered one of the best 100 watt HF radios for park activators. Indeed, I bet it is *the* most popular 100W radio among POTA activators.

I’ve been tempted to ask Yaesu for a loaner model and I even came within one button click of ordering a new FT-891 from DX Engineering during a Black Friday sale in 2020.

I’ve resisted the FT-891 temptation, though, because I tend to use smaller, more portable QRP radios in heavier POTA rotation. I knew if I purchased an FT-891, it just wouldn’t get a lot of field use. It also demands a beefier field battery due to its current requirements and, frankly, it’s so rare I run more than 5 watts (and 5 watts is the lowest power setting on the ‘891) I would simply have a lot of radio for my needs.

A few weeks ago, however, a friend reached out because he wanted to sell his FT-891 and 30Ah Bioenno battery and downsize to a smaller field portable radio like the Xiegu X5105. Long story short, we worked out a trade/purchase which included the ‘891 and his battery. I had been thinking about a large capacity battery to use as a backup in the shack, so this worked out well for both parties.

Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace (K-6856)

On Tuesday, March 14, 2023, I once again had an hour to fit in an activation at the Vance Birthplace before picking up my daughters at school. I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to play radio at Vance so much during this particular school term; next term, it’s unlikely I’ll have this opening, so I’ll enjoy it while I can!

I deployed the Chelegance MC-750 vertical again. I’ll admit that it’s so convenient keeping an antenna in the car trunk/boot that can be made resonant so easily from 40 meters and higher.

I was going to show the antenna deployment again in my activation video, but received a call and decided to deploy the antenna while finishing up the phone call. It only takes a couple of minutes to set up.

Next, I connected my 15Ah Bioenno battery to the FT-891. Even though I was only using five watts, the ‘891 needs more capacity than the 3Ah packs I normally carry with my QRP rigs.

I also connected the Begali Traveler key–I do love this key (thanks again, Jackie!). Continue reading Finally did it! First POTA activation with my new-to-me Yaesu FT-891

Propagation changes make for a relaxed 17 meter POTA activation at Pilot Mountain State Park

On Saturday, February 18, 2023, I had a rare opportunity: a full day to play radio.

Instead of doing a five park POTA rove, I chose instead to do a summit activation followed by a park activation.

I published the summit activation on Moore’s Knob (W4C/EP-001) a couple weeks ago and planned to immediately follow that up with this report from my POTA activation at Pilot Mountain State Park (which I activated the same day).

In the process of moving my videos from the camera, to my laptop, and then to PC where I do my remote uploads (my bandwidth at the QTH is far too poor to upload large videos) I somehow managed to delete this particular video file.

I was quite frustrated, actually, because this particular POTA activation was challenging. Lately, I’ve had so few examples of just how quiet a band can be when propagation is less stable.

The SOTA activation I performed only a few hours earlier had some of the deepest pileups I’ve ever experienced. By the time I started my POTA activation a couple hours later, all of this had changed–at least on the bands above 20 meters and I’d chosen 17 meters (a WARC band) since a contest was in progress on 20 and 40 meters.

I’m incredibly pleased that I stumbled upon the raw video files on my backup drive. I was able to reproduce the video in its entirety.  I’m so pleased it wasn’t lost!

This is why it’s a little out of sync date-wise with my other reports.

I hope you enjoy this field report:

Pilot Mountain State Park (K-2750)

After capping off a beautiful 4+ mile hike and SOTA/POTA activation at Hanging Rock State Park, I put my SOTA pack in the car and drove 30 minutes to Pilot Mountain State Park.

It being a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, the park was so full of guests the parking lot was completely full.  A park ranger had incoming cars form a line and he allowed cars in as guests departed one by one. When I arrived, there were five cars in front of me. I was very tempted to do a three-point turn and head back down the mountain to the visitor’s center to do the activation. There was plenty of parking there. Continue reading Propagation changes make for a relaxed 17 meter POTA activation at Pilot Mountain State Park

Guest Post: Extreme QRP–Testing the AX1 with WSPR and 20mW

Many thanks to Keith (KY4KK) who shares the following report:


Extreme QRP – Testing the AX1 with WSPR and 20mW

by Keith (KY4KK)

Thomas, thanks for all of your activation videos related to the Elecraft AX1 antenna.  I ordered one the day you announced the package deal, and it arrived in less than a week.  I’ve activated a few parks with it already (20m SSB).  Like you and many others, I’m impressed.

I was very interested in Thomas Barris’ (DM1TBE) March 12 QRPer post using WSPR to test his POTA antennas in Germany.  Then I saw Bob’s (K7ZB) post about his ZachTek Flea with 300 milliwatts in CW mode.  To me, extreme QRP represents some of the magic of HAM radio.  I’d like to share one of my most recent WSPR experiments related to the AX1.

About a year ago, a friend (NG4S) loaned me his pair of WSPR transmitters and suggested that I explore building and comparing antennas. I’ve been hooked on antennas of all kinds and WSPR since then.

I began doing WSPR tests on the AX1 the day after it arrived.  With two transmitters set to the same frequency and power output, you can do direct comparisons between two antennas under identical propagation conditions.

I’ve already done a couple of comparisons between the AX1 and other commercial antennas.  But I think the test I just completed might be of particular interest because it pits the AX1 against an antenna I’ve seen you use many times – a 28.5’ end fed with a 28.5’ counterpoise.  I used 24 AWG silicone insulated wire. The end of the radiator was placed on a 19’5” telescoping fishing pole.  This is my preferred POTA mast when I can’t use a tall tree.

I spent some time trying to control other variables so that the only significant difference during the test would be the antennas themselves.

For example, the SOTA Beam WSPRLite Classic transmitters don’t have an ATU.  So, I had to make the antennas resonant on the 20-meter WSPR frequency of 14.097 MHz.  For the AX1, Thomas’ videos helped a lot.  I used a clip-on capacitance hat and adjusted the counterpoise to 15’ 2”.  This gave me an SWR of 1.17:1.  For the end fed, I tried the two UNUN’s I had available and settled on the 49:1, which got me the closest (2.2:1).  I then used a manual tuner to achieve an SWR of 1.29:1.

I also wanted to deal with the difference in power output between the two transmitters.  Although they’re identical, and both set to 20 milliwatts, there is no way to ensure both are actually producing that output level.  Based on tests by NG4S, one of the transmitters runs at 19 milliwatts.  The other actually outputs 27 milliwatts.  So, my plan was to run the test for 48 hours. At the end of 24 hours, I would switch the transmitters (and callsigns) so that both antennas would benefit (relatively equally) from one of the transmitters being stronger.

At the end of Day 1, I reviewed the data from the two transmitters on dxplorer.net/wspr.  The end fed averaged a 5.7 dB gain over the AX1 based on reports from receiving stations that spotted both transmitters in the same 10-minute block (simultaneous spots).

On Day 1, the stronger transmitter was on the end fed.  The maps below are from WSPR.rocks.

AX1 – Day 1

End Fed – Day 1

I was pretty impressed that the AX1 got into Europe and Africa on only .019 Watt!  I always have good luck with end feds, so was not too surprised to see this one perform well. Continue reading Guest Post: Extreme QRP–Testing the AX1 with WSPR and 20mW

QRP POTA from 10 to 20 Meters with the Chameleon Tactical Delta Loop and Icom IC-705

I do my best to shake up each field activation I perform. Even if in some small way.

While it would be way more efficient to deploy the same radio and antenna combination at each park and summit I visit, I get a thrill out of trying different radio and antenna combinations.

I should add that I’m fully aware how fortunate I am to have a lot of radios and even more antennas to pair in various combinations. I keep reminding myself that building and buying radios and antennas is still cheaper than restoring a 1940s era Willys CJ-2A.

Recently, a reader reached out and asked my opinion about the Chameleon Tactical Delta Loop (CHA TDL) antenna. I think the TDL is a brilliant antenna system, actually, and the one I recommend the most from Chameleon because of its versatility.

Not only can it be deployed as a multi-band vertical delta loop but it has all of the parts needed to be an MPAS Lite vertical as well, save the counterpoise.

The CHA TDL comes with a 25 foot wire that connects the two 17′ whips into a loop configuration, but the clamps on the end of that wire can’t connect to the ground lug on the MPAS ground spike terminal as-is. That said, you could easily make a short connector cable or connection point that would allow the CHA TDL wire to clamp to the ground spike terminal. Else, of course, you could cut a dedicated 25′ counterpoise from pretty much any wire you might have around the shack.

You can buy the same counterpoise used with the MPAS Lite package, but it’s more affordable just to build your own since there’s no magic in the counterpoise. And, FYI, configured as the delta loop, there’s no need for a separate counterpoise; only if you configure it as a vertical.

This same reader also has an Icom IC-705 and an mAT-705 Plus antenna tuner. He was curious how well that combo might work with the CHA TDL. I knew that the combo would work well, but I thought, “why not try it?”

I realized that it has been ages since I last deployed the CHA TDL in the field.

Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace (K-6856)

Tuesday, February 28, 2023, was a gorgeous day weather-wise, although it was a bit gusty at times.

I arrived at K-6856 and decided to film the full set-up of the CHA-TDL.

For an antenna with a fairly large profile when deployed, it’s actually very compact, albeit a bit heavy (mainly due to the weight of the solid stainless ground spike and TDL hub). That said, I did take this same CHA TDL setup on an 11 mile round-trip SOTA hike once and didn’t find it too heavy.

I placed my Icom IC-705 on the table in the picnic shelter and connected the mAT-705 to it with a 2′ BNC-BCN RG-316 cable and the ATU control cable. Continue reading QRP POTA from 10 to 20 Meters with the Chameleon Tactical Delta Loop and Icom IC-705

A Casual 17 Meter POTA Activation with the Penntek TR-45L, PackTenna Random Wire, and a Furry Friend

On Sunday, February 19, 2023, I felt like I was moving in slow motion.

The previous day started early and I fit in a long hike, a SOTA/POTA activation, and a second park activation. Round trip driving time was about four hours, but it was worth it. I had an amazing time. Those field reports will be posted in the upcoming week.

The previous evening, I also participated in a live stream and after hours chat with Josh (KI6NAZ) on his amazing Ham Radio Crash Course channel. It was loads of fun, but I was up pretty late after a long day.

Sunday morning, I was feeling it and couldn’t decide if I wanted to do a POTA activation on the drive back to the QTH. In case I decided to, early that morning, I scheduled an activation at Table Rock Fish Hatchery with a very wide activation window. I often don’t have enough mobile phone service to self-spot at that particular site, so I decided that if I was able to make the activation, it would cover me.

I wasn’t even ten minutes into the drive home when I decided to go for the Table Rock activation, of course! I seem to never be too tired for some POTA!

I did make up my mind in advance to try to activate the park on 17 meters because 1.) there was a CW contest that weekend, and 2.) I wanted a more laid-back activation instead of a pileup. I figured 17 meters would have some activity, but not to the degree of the non-WARC bands.

Table Rock State Fish Hatchery (K-8012)

I decided to record the entire activation from set-up to pack-up so I grabbed the action camera from my radio bag in the passenger’s seat and started recording as I pulled into the site.

I had a lot of gear in the trunk/boot of my car–more than normal–because I brought along quite a few radio packs to show on the HRCC live stream for this trip.

I grabbed the Penntek TR-45L and PackTenna random wire.  I thought they would pair nicely for a casual POTA activation.

Set up

The great thing about the PackTenna random wire antenna is that the radiator is only 31′ long. It’s super easy to deploy. Continue reading A Casual 17 Meter POTA Activation with the Penntek TR-45L, PackTenna Random Wire, and a Furry Friend

Postcard Field Report: Cheap POTA thrills with the TEN-TEC R4020 and Chelegance MC-750

Welcome to another Postcard Field Report!

My Postcard Field Reports are information-packed, just slightly more concise and distilled than my average field report so that I can publish them on a busy day.

T-T R4020

One of the least expensive radios I’ve ever purchased is my TEN-TEC R42020 two-band CW only radio. I believe I paid $120 for it (shipped!) a couple years ago and it sat on my shelf unnoticed for months until I took it on a POTA activation last year.

Here’s the admission:  I really love this little radio!

It is not a feature-rich radio, and the sidetone sounds like a 1080s handheld arcade game, but it works a charm! The receiver and audio are fantastic and it sports two of my most useful POTA/SOTA bands: 40 and 20 meters.

What’s not to love?

POTA time!

I had an early morning doctor’s appointment on Thursday, February 23, 2023. As a little reward  for doing my annual physical I decided to add a POTA activation to my morning. This was a last minute decision, so only a couple minutes before leaving the house that morning, I grabbed my TEN-TEC R4020, the Chelegance MC-750, and my Spec Ops Backpack (filled with all other field accessories), and I hit the road!

I chose the MC-750 that day because I needed an antenna that could be configured to be resonant on 40 meters since the R4020 has no internal ATU. That and I couldn’t remember if I’ve configured the MC-750 for 40 meters in the past. I know I’ve deployed the MC-750 with the 40M coil, but I think I may have used an ATU to match it.

I arrived at the Blue Ridge Parkway (K-3378 NC) mid-morning and set up in very short order. Continue reading Postcard Field Report: Cheap POTA thrills with the TEN-TEC R4020 and Chelegance MC-750

Breaking in the new Elecraft AX2 during a short POTA activation

As I mentioned in my recent AX1 vs AX2 video and blog post, I purchased an Elecraft AX2 antenna and bi-pod in late January (note: two days before Elecraft announced their February ’23 sale price! Doh!).

I received the AX2 package a few days later and I was certainly eager to take it to the field.

My first opportunity came on Tuesday, February 14, 2023, when a short activation window opened up in the afternoon.

Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace (K-6856)

One of the first things I noticed after taking the AX2 out of the package is just how solid and compact it is. The AX1 is short, but the AX2 is a few inches shorter because the base is more compact.

Unlike the AX1, the AX2 is a mono band antenna, thus the coil only needs to accommodate one band. When you receive a new AX2, it’s configured for 20 meters out of the box, but the user can modify the coil to work anything from 20 to 6 meters.

“Resonant-ish”

Even though I mentioned this in my AX1 v AX2 article and video, I’d like to reiterate that the AX2 is nearly-resonant on 20 meters. It is not reliably resonant.

I’ve still been receiving a lot of messages from readers stating that their AX2 and AX1 are resonant on 20 meters, so they don’t pack any sort of matching device in their field kit. They simply hook the AX2 up to their little QRP radio and hop on the air.

While it’s true that these antennas may provide an acceptable SWR most of the time, you really can’t rely on a solid, reliable match as you could with an end-fed half-wave.

I’ll repeat what I mention in a previous post:

Small verticals like the AX1 and AX2, that use coils to electrically “lengthen” the antenna, have a higher Q than, say, a large aperture quarter or half wave antenna. In practical terms, this means that the window of resonance is narrow and more fickle than, for example, an end-fed half-wave.

A lot of factors can affect the SWR on higher-Q antennas like the AX1/AX2 including:

      • the type of terrain,
      • height off the ground,
      • length of counterpoise,
      • configuration of counterpoise,
      • and, most notably, the operator’s own body capacitance.

You may find that the AX2, for example, is natively resonant on 20 meters at one location, but isn’t at another location. This is quite normal. It’s also the reason why Elecraft states that both antennas are designed to be used with an ATU.

So there you go! If I hook up my AX1 or AX2 to a radio, I’ll always have some means of matching the impedance–either an external ATU, or a capacity hat. You can also tinker with the length of the telescoping whip and counterpoise to tweak the match.

The important part–especially if pairing these antennas with a radio that lacks both an internal ATU and SWR meter (say, the MTR-3B, G106, or TR-35)–is that you’ve some means to check the SWR before conducting a long activation session. Continue reading Breaking in the new Elecraft AX2 during a short POTA activation

How I found the best antenna for my SOTA/POTA activations

How I found the best antenna for my SOTA/POTA activations

by Thomas (DM1TBE)

Intro

Until January this year I had a German “Klasse E” / CEPT-novice amateur radio license (equivalent to the US General Class), which limits the use of HF to the 10-,15-, 80- and 160-meter bands. When I started with SOTA I used homemade single band end-fed antennas most of the time. However, that is only feasible for the 10- and 15-meter bands.

Unfortunately, both bands are very moody and sometimes they have not worked at all. Unlike the UK for example, FM is uncommon for SOTA in my home association DM (i.e. Germany Low Mountains). You can be lucky and get your 4 QSOs, but I did not want to rely on pure luck.

Therefore, I bought an end-fed half-wave antenna for 10-, 15-, 20-, 40- and 80-meter bands, after some experiments with 10-80-meter end-fed half-wave antennas, from a small German company called ANjo.

Although I could not use the 20- and 40- meter bands at that time, the EFW80-10P (en: auto-translated) antenna gave me the possibility to use the 80-meter band. The antenna could also be tuned for 15. It has a mechanical length of 23.6 m / 77 ft and a coil for the 80-meter band. It is pretty lightweight with 0.4 kg / 14 oz and allows up to 30 watts PEP – more than enough for me. 80-meters is not the best band for daytime SOTA activations, but in 21 months doing SOTA activations, it worked 37 times and tipped the scales for an activation from time to time.

It was sometimes a bit tricky to raise the long wire into the air, but it always worked … better or worse …somehow … like here in the woods along a trail.

In January this year, I upgraded my license and a new world of HF-bands opened for me. Although I have learned a lot about propagation for the exam, I am in favour of a German saying: “The difference between theory and praxis is larger in the praxis than in the theory”. Continue reading How I found the best antenna for my SOTA/POTA activations

Field Report: More Xiegu G106 POTA time and I rope in Brooks to log!

On Friday, February 10, 2023, I had a hankering to fit in a POTA activation that morning. South Mountains State Park was an easy detour on my drive back to the QTH, so I scheduled an activation.

I’d also been meaning to meet up with Brooks (KO4QCC). Brooks started his POTA journey not even one year ago–here’s a field report from his first SSB POTA activation.

Brooks has been steadily working on his CW skills and is dangerously close to doing his first CW activation. We’ve managed to set up one late evening casual CW rag chew and I think his CW chops are very good.  We plan to do more evening rag chews when our schedules align. He’s made amazing progress.

I contacted Brooks that Friday morning and he was game to meet up and do some POTA. He wasn’t quite ready to do a CW activation, so I suggested he log for me using the HAMRS app on my iPhone. I find that logging for CW ops during past Field Days really helped build my own confidence before I started using CW daily.

Brooks was 100% game to log for me.

And let me just say what a luxury it is to have someone log to HAMRS for me on my iPhone! It frees up my brain to simply log on paper (which I always do) and enjoy working stations without the extra busy work! Hat tip to good ole’ Brooks.

South Mountains State Park (K-2753)

I arrived at South Mountains State Park (the Clear Creek Access), put on my hiking boots, then Brooks pulled into the parking lot only a few minutes later.

We agreed in advance to fit in a quick hike up the Clear Creek Trail prior to the activation. I, for one, really needed to stretch my legs!

After the hike, I grabbed some gear from the car and we set up at the one picnic table at the Clear Creek Access.

Brooks and I both had commitments that day so could only play radio for 45-60 minutes max including set-up and take-down.

I deployed the same antenna I’d used the previous day: MW0SAW’s homebrew EFHW on a SOTAbeams winder.

Deployment didn’t take long–since the 40M EFHW is resonant on both 20 and 40 meters, there was no need for an external ATU. I powered the G106 with a 3Ah LiFePo4 battery via my Ham Radio Workbench DC Distribution Panel. Continue reading Field Report: More Xiegu G106 POTA time and I rope in Brooks to log!

Giving the Xiegu G106 a thorough workout at Fort Dobbs!

On Thursday, February 9, 2023, a rare opportunity opened up for me: a 3.5 hour activation window–!

I was visiting and helping my parents in Catawba County, NC, so considered the park options, almost all of which are within a 35-45 minute drive.

I thought about fitting in two shorter park activations that day, but it has been so long since I’ve had the opportunity to simply hang at one park and play radio for more than an hour, I chose the extended activation option.

Although the forecast was for clear skies that day, a front was moving through that afternoon and the skies were overcast with gusty winds. I could tell rain was a very real possibility, so I chose a site with a picnic shelter to make things a bit easier.

Fort Dobbs State Historic Site (K-6839)

Fort Dobbs was a no-brainer: not only was it the closest park (thus less travel time eating into my on-air time), but the staff there are very POTA-friendly, the site is quiet, and they have an excellent shelter that I suspected (due to the dodgy weather) would be unoccupied.

When I arrived on-site, I checked in at the visitor’s center to make sure the picnic shelter hadn’t been reserved. Fortunately, they said I could have the shelter all to myself!

I had a number of radios in my car and decided en route that I would use the Xiegu G106 once again.

I packed the G106 in a waterproof Husky radio gear box I keep in my car trunk/boot. I grabbed it and my Spec-Ops EDC pack and carried it to the picnic shelter.

My plan was to pair the G106 with MW0SAW’s 40 meter EFHW antenna.

This would give me two resonant bands (40 and 20 meters) so there’d be no need to connect an external ATU. Continue reading Giving the Xiegu G106 a thorough workout at Fort Dobbs!