I try to make only one post per day, but since tomorrow is a travel day, I'm going to let my self-imposed rule slide for today.
Final POTA activation today:
I started the activation on 20 Meters with the Buddistick mag-mounted to the roof of the Jeep. I haven't used it in a long time, so I just kind of tried to remember how I used to configure it to the best of my recollection. I must have been not far off as you can see by the RBN map. I worked Sweden and Italy. I didn't bring the Nano VNA along. I think that will help me get it configured even closer to ideal.
I didn't bring the camping chair along and standing behind the Jeep's open back hatch was setting off the bursitis in my hip, so I opted to switch to the AlexLoop and sit on the cabin porch for the rest of the activation.
16 Hunters worked including Sweden, Italy, Quebec, MO (for a Park to Park with NU7J), ME, MA, VA, WI, PA, FL, NC and I think that's everyone.
I am by no means a hard core or even semi-hard core or even a semi-semi-hard core POTA activator. I just like to have fun and get to play radio - even if it's just for a little while. I also like to remind myself every now and then how far I can get with 5 Watts. Sometimes I take that for granted.
Another 10 stations in the log. I have to be upfront about this. This isn't a POTA vacation like some of the real die-hards do. This is a time to be away with family and just to enjoy each other and our down time together. Nonetheless, they do respect my love for Amateur Radio and afford me some solo time for my favorite pasttime.
The set up of the crappie pole and PAR ENDFEDZ went like a hot knife through butter. Easier, and it went up even more quickly than expected. Literally in a matter of minutes, the antenna was up and ready to go. Hindsight being 20/20, the Jackite pole would have been the better option, giving me an additional 10 feet in height. That's on my mental list for next year. Tear down and stowaway went just as smoothly.
After these sessions, I like to go to the Reverse Beacon Network for an "after action report". I was getting out pretty well. The PAR even tunes up well enough on 15 Meters that I was able to be heard out Arizona-ways.
The best contact of the day came at 18:47 UTC, when my "CQ POTA" on 20 Meters was answered by SM5DXT, Chris in Sweden. I got a 419 report from him. Weak signal, but pretty readable. I'll take that any day of the week.
I had QSOs with Hunters in MO, ON (this one was a Park to Park), WV, GA, PA, MD, and NJ. Good enough to satisfy my Ham Radio craving for the day. We're supposed to get the remnants of Hurricane Beryl visiting us today. It's kind of sunny right now, but the overcast is gaining ground. 1 - 3 inches of rain are supposedly coming according to WeatherBug. If I get on the air at all today, it just might be from the covered porch with the AlexLoop.
Logbook of the World seems to be back. I was able to log on and see my QSOs - which reminds me, I haven't done an upload in a while. I'll make sure to do that over the long holiday weekend. I also checked to see if our July 13th VE Session was removed from the calendar. It wasn't, even though I had sent an e-mail to the ARRL requesting that be done. I received a reply informing me that they still could not access that server. I'll be away that day and rather than put the onus on someone else to act as "Liaison for the Day", I decided to cancel.
Our annual trip to Lake George will be happening soon. This year, in addition to the AlexLoop and the AX1, I'm going to bring along the PAR ENDFEDZ 40-20-10 as well as my drive on mast base and my 20 foot crappie pole. I'd like to bring the Jackite, but it doesn't slip into the mast holder - it's too wide/thick. Usually, each time we go up to the Lake, I take some time to head up to Mt. Prospect (which is not a SOTA peak) and set up in the parking lot that is near the summit. There's a solitary picnic table there (in the parking lot!) and in the past I've parked the car some 20-30 feet away and have used the end fed as a sloper. There are other picnics tables in a wooded grassy area off to the side, but those are usually occupied by picnickers. Who wants to picnic in a parking lot, right? I usually have that table to myself. I can do a POTA activation as it's part of the Adirondack State Park - US-2001.
We had a CERT meeting in town last night and Marv K2VHW and I were asked to do some kind of licensing class for the CERT members in town. The two words I hate to hear the most were bandied about - "Ham Cram". I know Marv feels the same way I do. But what I'm thinking is maybe to have a period of reading the licensing manual beforehand with some Zoom meetings interspersed where we can answer questions and explain more "difficult" topics culminating in a day of review - the "cram" - followed by the exam session.
Looking at the QRP Labs website, I'm calculating that based on the number of built kits that leave the factory every month, I may see my QMX sometime in August. It would be neat to have it for the Skeeter Hunt. I was smitten by that HB-1B that I was given the opportunity to play with. I'm looking forward to adding the QMX to my small herd of radios.
Finally, I signed up and am Bumble Bee # 57 for this year's FOBB. The Heinz Bee - LOL! I will probably head over to Cotton Street Park for the event, although if I decide to head up to Washington Rock State Park it would be a two-fer ...... FOBB and a POTA activation.
Thirteen Colonies started Sunday night, I guess. I've no interest in participating in that at all, for reasons which I will not go into here. The best I can say about it is that it generates a lot of activity on the bands. I'll leave it at that.
Yesterday I did something I rarely do. As I was travelling home, I heard the NJ2SP repeater identify while I was in a location still pretty far away from South Plainfield. I picked up the microphone and announced that I was listening. Marv K2VHW came back to me and we had a nice conversation while I drove the rest of the way home.
What was so satisfying about it was when Marv told me my audio was rock solid and that I was making it into the repeater quite well. What a difference between this Hustler Hy-Gain antenna I'm using now and the cheap piece of ______ that I had been using before!
Our repeater is low profile by intent. It's mainly used for CERT activity , as well as for club activity throughout South Plainfield and the immediate surrounding area. For me to hit the repeater so well from Greenbrook, which is three towns away meant that my signal was travelling through North Plainfield, Plainfield and into South Plainfield. I was pleased to say the least.
As a Ham for 45 years, I know (in my head) that you should never skimp on the antenna and that it's the most important link in the whole radio station chain. But sometimes you just get frugal (read that as "cheap"), hoping that something less expensive will work just as well. This is especially true for mobile VHF/UHF antennas ----- most times it doesn't work that way, and you only end up spending more money to fix your mistake. Don't be like W2LJ, don't be tempted to go the cheap route!
Homebrew HF antennas, on the other hand, are a whole other story that I won't get into right now. Suffice it to say that many times you can roll your own skyhook that will will perform just as well as a commercial antenna for a lot less money.
I got on the air last night for the Hootowl Sprint. Activity was not the busiest, but that was probably because the CQ WW PX contest was dominating the bands, especially 20 Meters, I called "CQ QRP" there for a while with no joy. I did hear Mark WB9HFK calling CQ with a FB 599 signal and worked him.
40 Meters afforded me an unoccupied frequency on which to call CQ and I worked another four stations. Not the greatest total, but at least I was on the air. After the fact, I looked up my call sign on the Reverse Beacon Network and this was where I was being heard:
20 Meters was taking me into Europe and 40 Meters was getting me down into the Cayman Islands.
The antenna for the night was my W3EDP. I don't think I've really talked much about how it's set up. My backyard measures only about 50 X 50 feet. Not a lot of real estate back there so I had to get creative. This is how it's laid out:
It's anchored on the side of the house near a second floor window:
The coax runs from the balun down to the window that's on the shack side of the shack side of the basement. From the anchor point, the wire runs out to a mast that I have hose clamped to the chain link fence on the edge of our property.
The wire used to go out to "Ol' Mapely", but the tree which straddled our properties got infested with carpenter ants and became a real cause for concern that given a powerful Nor'Easter or Sandy type hurricane, it could fall on either ours or our neighbor's house, so we had to take it down. We came to that decision after having an arborist come by, who only confirmed our fears. Darn! Trees are an Amateur Radio Op's best friends!
From the "center mast", the wire pivots as per the aerial view and goes to another mast at the far right hand corner of the backyard where it terminates. The masts are military surplus fiberglass.
This photo doesn't show much which indicates that except for that middle mast, which is hose clamped to the fence, the antenna itself is pretty darn stealthy. That really isn't necessary, as at QRP levels, i never get any complaints from the neighbors and I'm not in an HOA situation.
I would guesstimate that my W3EDP is my weapon of choice probably 75 - 80 percent of the time. It's longer than a classic W3EDP which is about 84 feet long. I had one of those and took it down and replaced it as the wire terminated about half way between the middle mast and the far mast. I constructed this one with about another 25 feet of wire so that it ends just a few inches from the end mast. Even with the additional wire, the KX3's autotuner matches to it quite easily and without any fits. It loads on all bands from 160 Meters to 6 Meters without any difficulty. If you don't have a lot of back yard space, maybe my layout (or something similar) can work for you. Is my solution an ideal solution? Not a chance in a million - but it works and I make contacts with it. So as they say, any antenna is better than no antenna.
On another note, I read where beginning with New Jersey's 2025 fiscal year, which starts on July 1st, that it will cost to get into certain NJ State Parks. This may be a concern for NJ POTA activators. There are several guys who check into the nightly Middlesex County Chat Group Net who often relate their experiences of repeatedly activating Cheesequake State Park and the Spruce Run Resevoir. Starting July1st, it's going to run $5 each time they want to enter those two parks or several other very popular NJ State Parks. The state will offer an opportunity to purchase a 1 year pass for $50. Luckily, the two parks I like to activate - Washington Rock State Park and the Edison Memorial Tower will remain admission free.
I was supposed to run the South Plainfield ARES/RACES Net last night at 7:00 PM local time. We hold it on the third Tuesday of the month. I went down to the basement and turned on my VHF/UHF radio that sits on the bench and ........nothing!
By rights, I should have run upstairs for an HT, or out to the car and used my mobile rig, but I still have enough Service Manager (stubbornness) in me that when something like this happens - I have to trouble shoot it - right away.
I was getting 13.8 Volts out from the power supply, but nothing at the radio. I checked the in-line fuses and they were fine. I checked the voltage at the transceiver end of the power cable and that was not fine. What the heck?
I checked all the connections at the fuse holders, made sure all the Ohm reading were zero from power supply to cable end and then hooked everything back up, turned on the radio - again nothing. Argh!
Something told me to take a closer look at the Molex connector again. I swung the bench light over for more brightness, and sure enough, it looked like the blade on the one side looked a little bent, possibly not making contact with it's mate. I straightened it out, and snapped the Molex back together, the radio came on!
So here's the big question - how did this happen? I mean the radio was just sitting there. I don't remember moving it around or playing around with the cable in any way. I must have dome something without realizing it, because things like this don't "just happen". Do they? Molex connector innards just don't warp on their own and break contact. This one has me baffled. but it's fixed now (at least for now) so I won't beat my head against the wall trying to figure it out.
On the flip side, the Hustler VHF/UHF antenna on the car is really performing nicely. I can hear repeaters from a much greater distance than I was able to using that piece-of-crud-cheapie-antenna-that-I-should-have-known-better-than-to-ever-consider-using. I was able to talk to Marv K2VHW on the drive home yesterday via a repeater that was a good 20 or so miles away from where I was stuck in traffic.
The moral of the stories? Take wins wherever you can find them.
To Hamvention and FDIM next year! God willing and the creek don't rise and I'm in good health and there are no family emergencies. I mentioned to Marianne that I'd like to go and that attending FDIM is on my bucket list and she had no problems.
May is always a busy month for us as both out birthdays are in May, Mother's Day is in May, but there are no more graduations to worry about missing ...........so hopefully it's a go for next year. I've been wanting to go for so long to actually meet some of the people I've talked to on the radio for years. So I will start saving my shekels now.
I got on the air for the Run For The Bacon last night. The K index was 2, and the solar flux was 200. According to the solar weather sites, that meant decent conditions, but I thought they were "meh" at best. Signals were so low on 20 Meters as to be deep in the noise and pretty much unintelligible. 40 Meters wasn't much better. I made three or four contacts and pulled the big switch. Maybe June will ne better.
The rest of the weekend was jam packed with house chores, so other than hunting a few POTA stations, there wasn't much on the air time. I spent a little time on Facebook, hoping to catch some big news from Hamvention, but it appears there wasn't any. Icom rolled out some circuit boards to keep everyone guessing about their next big deal, while Kenwood and Yaesu were silent. Elecraft is still rolling in the wake of the KH1 introduction, so nothing new was expected from them.
I guess from a QRP standpoint the biggest news was QRP Labs QMX+. Attendance seemed to be good and the weather cooperated on Saturday, so I guess everyone is happy.
Outside, the weather was decent this weekend. That afforded me the chance to put the Hustler 2 Meter/440 antenna on the car that Joseph and Marianne gifted to me for my birthday. Wow! What a difference from the piece of (be nice, W2LJ!) that I had on there. The only drawback is that the radiator is 36" tall, so no more parking in the deck at work. I started parking in the regular lot this morning. Not a big deal when the weather is nice, right? But when the weather is nasty, it goes to show what Hams are willing to put up with for the sake of Amateur Radio.
I looked at the QMX order list yesterday. I am # 670 in line. If QRP Labs continues to manufacture around 200 pieces a month, I figure I should see mine maybe in August or September. I can live with that.
For my birthday, Joseph and Marianne asked me what I wanted. My no name cheapie bargain basement mobile VHF/UHF antenna just isn't doing the job. I was coming home from a club meeting a few weeks ago and tried hooking up with Marv K2VHW on the way home. He was in and out and I was in and out and neither of us should have been. I had to chalk it up to poor performance from my off brand bargain basement purchase. I sent Joseph a link for a Hustler MX-270 antenna from GigaParts. It arrived last Sunday? Who delivers on Sunday besides Amazon? Anyway, it arrived late last Sunday and I'll put it on my car this weekend, if weather permits.
This means that I'll have to park in the parking lot at work, going forward, as the 36" radiator is just too tall for the parking deck. I bought the smaller antenna that's on the Jeep now, specifically because it doesn't hit the ceiling of the parking deck. However, it doesn't perform nearly as well as I had hoped ..... so I'll deal with the inconvenience of parking outside in order to get better antenna performance.
First World problem, right? But it's nice not having to get into a car that's been baking in the sun all day during the summer; or brushing off snow in the winter.
Other than that, not much new radio-wise. We're having typical May weather here, where it's sizzling one day and chilly the next - which of course makes the possibilities of thunderstorms a daily event. The antennas have been disconnected since the weekend. I'm at the point in life where replacing expensive Ham Radio gear is not an option, so I have to be super careful with what I have.
I've always marveled at guys who change rigs like they change underwear. I've never been fortunate enough to be able to do that. And I guess that helps me to appreciate what I have maybe a bit more than most.
Today's "Blondie" comic strip kind of sums up my situation:
I managed to get outside for just a few minutes yesterday as the moon was approaching maximum coverage of of the sun (90%) at 3:24 PM local time. I took a small shipping box and punched a hole in the side with a thumbtack. It projected a very tiny, but totally sharp image of the moon covering the sun revealing only a small crescent of sunlight. Of course, this is New Jersey after all, and clouds came in for the actual moment of maximum eclipse. But I can say I saw it. This reminded me of the eclipse of 1972, when I had my 3" refractor telescope set up in the backyard, projecting a magnified image onto a white piece of cardboard.
A co-worker managed to snap this with his iPhone.
BTW, Sean Kutzko KX9X was doing some AM Broadcast Band DXing during the eclipse. He observed that during the maximum period of darkening at his QTH, he was able to hear AM stations from over 500 miles away, that he normally can only hear at night. The D Layer was definitely affected! He recorded the AM Band during the eclipse from start to finish and will go over it in detail over the next few weeks, in order to get a better feel as to how propagation was affected.
I saw on Facebook yesterday, where Alex PY1AHD of AlexLoop fame has become a Silent Key:
It is with extreme sadness and sorrow that I share the passing of our friend and colleague Alex Grimberg (PY1AHD), AlexLoop, due to his renowned work with magnetic loop antennas. Inestimable loss for Brazilian amateur radio, an enterprising and visionary colleague - We are all saddened.
I got word from my friend that he was encouraged by your comments regarding using a local WebSDR as a receiver. He was able to hear stations on 20 Meters via the Web that he was not able to hear on his K3, due to the solar panel noise. He made three successful QSOs on 20 Meters and will most likely use WebSDR for making contacts on 14 MHz and above. Thanks for your encouragement! I'm very happy for him - he had been disappointed (that's putting it mildly) with his situation. It's good to know he can be on the air again.
My KM4CMT EFRW UNUN kit was delivered yesterday. I hope to have it built and ready to go for "Amateur Radio Day At The Library" on April 20th. If I don't have it ready, I'll probably employ the PAR ENDFEDZ or perhaps the EARCHI EFRW that I already have in the backpack. It's not that the kit is a complicated build - far from it. It's a matter of finding time. The next few weekends are really filled up now that lawn mowing season has started up again.
If you haven't heard about it, Ken WA4MNT has a great website QRPBuilder.com. He offers some neat items in kit form. One that has me especially intrigued is his QX1 antenna, which is an alternative to Elecraft's AX1 and AX2 antennas. I'm going to paste in Ken's description of the antenna:
The QX1 Antenna kit, is a small, ultra portable vertical 40m, 20-10m antenna with a male BNC connector and telescoping whip, rated at 20W. It is resonant on the whole 40m band with only a whip length adjustment. With a tuner, can be used on the 20m through 10m.
All the holes are pre-drilled and tapped. Assembly requires winding the coil, a little soldering, and some mechanical assembly. The tools required for assembly are a Phillips screwdriver, forceps or needle nosed pliers, wire cutters, soldering iron, and some rosin core solder. Depending on your experience, it can be assembled in about an hour. On a difficulty scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the most difficult, this is rated at 2.
The BNC Antenna Mount/Adapter kit is a versatile antenna mount with a nylon clamp included. This design allows small BNC terminated antennas to not mount on the output connector of the radio, but rather, with coax, to a more advantageous position. It is ideal for quick setup, field and SOTA operation. We have listed this as a separate kit because, some users already have an antenna like the Elecraft AX-1, MFJ-18xxT series, or similar homebrew antennas that are terminated with a male BNC connector. The strong clamp permits mounting to a apartment or patio railing, picnic table, or even a tree branch. There is a connection point for radials or a counterpoise with captive stainless steel hardware.
Assembly is easy and only the most common tools are needed and a 1/4″ drill. On a difficulty scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the most difficult, this is rated at 1.
I like my AX1, but I sure wish this had come out a few months ago. It's a much more affordable alternative, and with inflation the way it is nowadays, who doesn't need to stretch their $$$ as far as they can?
In addition to this nifty kit, Ken offers paddles, an audio amplifier kit and even a kit that will allow you to use normal earbuds/earphones on a crystal radio. Again, I'm not affiliated with QRP Builder in any way, shape, fashion or form; but when I see a site that offers items that I think you folks may be interested in, I'll showcase them here.
I'll see something that is "new" to me - only to see that it has been thoroughly reviewed and talked about by Tom K4SWL, Alan W2AEW and Mike K8MRD. This one has me enthused though, and you have all probably heard about it by now. But if you're like me and you've missed the bus, here's an antenna solution that has me pumped up. The KM4CFT EFHW and EFRW.
If you go on YouTube and search on KM4CFT, there are numerous videos about this antenna. Watching Mike's video shows how easy it is to build and use. I love antennas like this that are simple and are fast and easy to deploy. When you get to a park, POTA or just your local round-the block park, you want to operate and not waste precious minutes getting your aerial ready to go.
Remember the old Lays potato chips - "Betcha can't eat just one!"? Antennas are just like that - "Betcha can't have just one!" Whenever SPARC holds an on-the-air event and the subject of antennas comes up, I always hear "Don't worry! Larry and Dave (KD2FSI) have everything we'll need." I'll be ordering one of these from eBay really soon to add to my antenna arsenal.
I have to be 100% honest, with you, my readers. When I did that activation of K-1635 Washington Rock State Park a few weekends ago, I was less than enthused with Elecraft's bipod holder for the AX1. Maybe I didn't set it up correctly, but it seemed a little bit wobbly and wonky to me. That plastic clip that holds the antenna is tight and secure for now; but after repeated use, I can't but help think that it's going to loosen up and become less secure. Elecraft does supply an additional one at the time you purchase the bipod, but ultimately, I think the contact area between antenna and clip is a not enough to be effective over the long run. ESPECIALLY when you add on the 40 Meter extender - there's just too much mass to rely on that little clip doing the job all on its lonesome.
Sometime during that next week, while thinking if I could come up with a better solution myself, a little voice in my head said "Google is your friend". I proceeded to Google "AX1 antenna holder" and that led me to https://tufteln.com/ which is owned and operated by Joshua Ellis, N5FY. it was there that I saw and purchased his idea of what an AX1 holder should be. His solution was a lot more elegant than anything I could dream up.
It's a product of 3d printing. The selling price was quite reasonable and shipping was faster than I would have expected. If you're like me, and you're not quite 100% satisfied with the Elecraft solution, do yourself a favor and go over to Josh's webpage. Besides this antenna holder, he has a variety of nifty products with the portable operator in mind.
It comes in two pieces for easy storage:
The cylindrical upright piece is threaded, as is the hole in the base. This is not a press-fit combo that will wear out after many uses. The two pieces screw together to mate securely.
This is what it looks like with the antenna in place. I like that the antenna is supported for a good length and not by that single contact point at the connector assembly.
In actual practice, I find it easiest to mount the antenna to the KX3 first and then slide on the holder.
The back right leg of the KX3 actually rests on the base, which adds to the stability. And the stand/holder disassembles easily enough and fits nicely in that zippered case that I acquired for the AX1.
Disclaimer - I have no connection with Josh, or TUFTELN.US - I'm just a satisfied customer and think that some of you out there might like his solution as well.
The Elecraft AX1 comes in a cardboard shipping box, as you'd expect. Not exactly what you might have in mind for including in your backpack, tote or whatever you use to carry your portable ops equipment.
To my knowledge, Elecraft doesn't offer an AX1 pouch, so I had originally put mine into a soft pouch that was designed to store an external CD ROM for a laptop computer - if you look up above in the header photo, you can see a portion of it in the lower left hand corner.. Call me what you will, but I rescued it from a dumpster destiny. HiHi! It worked, but everything was loose inside and I didn't like the thought of the AX1 jostling around inside it. I was concerned that maybe the telescoping whip might end up in a position where it might get bent. I wanted something that provided a bit more protection.
So I went to eBay and did a search on "zippered tool pouches", and found these. They were offered in three sizes and I chose "medium" which is 10 inches long by 6 inches wide by 2 inches deep. (25 X 15 X 2 cm).
I also purchased two kid's kite winders to store the counterpoise wires on. I knew that just having them wrapped up in coils in plastic bags would probably not end up well in the long run. I probably could have gotten away with the smaller case, but I do have enough extra room in there if I want to store a few pens or pencils for logging.
I'm a fossil. I log on paper and then enter the data into AC Log on my laptop or HamLog on my phone if I'm away from the laptop. I am proficient enough with a keyboard to be able to do it, but I find that computer logging while being on the air at the same time is too much of a distraction. If I get involved in a Sprint like FOBB or the Zombie Shuffle or the Skeeter Hunt, I will miss out on making QSOs if I pause to enter each contact into my computer in real time. Like I said before, I'm proficient with a keyboard, but I'm not a speed demon. And if I'm in a situation where the QSOs are coming in bang, bang, bang - one right after another, I'd get all bollixed up.
A Coronal Mass Ejection (or other solar phenomena) has rendered the bands positively yucky today. But for the limited amount of time that I spent behind the key today, I still managed to snare six POTA stations for the log.
WD8RIF at US-1994
K2EAG at US-1619
KU8T at US-1637
WI2X at US-1611
AE4WX at US-6962
W0ABE at US-10533
All contact were made on 30 and 20 Meters. I heard EA4HCF calling CQ on 17 Meters and I tried answering, but no joy at 5 Watts. For the heck of it, I tried bumping up the KXPA100 to 85 Watts, just to see if I could make contact. Nope - that tells you that the bands truly did bite. I usually rarely have a problem reaching Spain with 5 Watts, let alone 85 Watts.
Last week the POTA powers-that-be changed all the designators from "KA" to "US". Earlier in the month, they changed Canada from "VE" to "CA" and all of Great Britain from "G" to "GB". Not exactly sure what was the reasoning, but I'm sure they had a good one.
It will be interesting to see if I hear anyone on the St. Max Net tonight on 75 Meters.
I was going to go out today and play around with the Buddistick on top of the Jeep, using that magmount on which I replaced the coax cable. It's in the upper 40s and normally, that wouldn't be too terrible. We're getting a steady breeze and wind gusts that are making it downright uncomfortable to be outside. This is the day after that Nor'Easter blew through here yesterday, dropping 2.72 inches of rain on my QTH. I'm hoping that maybe next weekend will be warm enough for me to run some quick tests without allowing my hands to go numb.
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