The monthly running of the Straight Key Century Club’s Weekend Sprintathon (WES) contest was this weekend. I needed two more activations at Marsh Creek State Park for a POTA “Repeat Offender” award, so I headed out both Saturday and Sunday for POTA/WWFF activations and to make a few WES contacts.

We had some outstanding weather here in southeastern Pennsylvania, so I knew Marsh Creek (US-1380, KFF-1380) was going to be pretty busy. Given that, I headed out early on Saturday morning. I found a parking spot in the boat launch area, but the parking lot was filling up fast. 

My trusty Penntek TR-35 was the perfect rig for this weekend. The TR-35’s separate straight key and paddle inputs let me instantly switch between the two without having to make configuration changes in the radio. I also went with my usual 12-foot whip and homebrew loading coil. 

The 40M band was alive and well, so I spent most of my time there. I alternated between calling “CQ POTA” with the paddles and searching and pouncing SKCC WES stations with my little MS2 straight key. In about an hour of operating, I logged 26 contacts. Among those were three park-to-park QSOs and six SKCC WES QSOs. 

As great as the weather was on Saturday, it was even better on Sunday. I wanted to attend my grandson’s hockey game, so I went out even earlier this time and kept it even shorter. Even though I got an earlier start than the day before, the parking lot was even more crowded this time around. 

Once again, 40M was in excellent shape, and I ended up staying there for the duration. I logged 19 contacts in about 45 minutes, with three park-to-park and three more WES contacts. Then it was time to head home to take care of a few things before going to the soccer game.

In the end, I didn’t set any records in the WES contest, but I got in the two activations needed for my Repeat Offender award. 

72, Craig WB3GCK

QRP Rigs Are Fun

My interest in POTA and portable operation has evolved as I’ve spent more and more time in this wonderful hobby. I’ve said before, and I will say again, that POTA leads to QRP which leads to CW. As someone who started off in digital modes during a horrible solar cycle, I didn’t want to even touch phone modes while working portable. It took too much power and gear and that definitely diminished my enjoyment of time in the outdoors. So I stuck to FT8/FT4 and used the amazing digital capabilities of the IC-705 to their fullest. I had (and still have) a lot of fun.

But…

Once you come to terms with 5 watts of power, it’s very hard not to have an eye that wanders over the wide landscape of weird and wild QRP rigs. Most of this menagerie caters to the CW crowd for lots of technical reasons. Seriously, there are kits out there for $100 that can get an operator on the air if they have the ability to solder or the will to learn. It’s not the easiest way into the hobby, but it’s gratifying.

I’ve started a little collection of QRP rigs and one that I hadn’t had a lot of time with is the Penntek TR-35. The gentleman who made these kits has decided to retire. When I read that, as an owner of a TR-45L, I knew I needed to jump on this one. So I did! I opted for the assembled unit as my available time for kit building is extremely limited.

I’ve only had it out in the field twice and I wasn’t very successful in my activation attempts. With some free time on a Sunday and staring down a week of vacation time, I decided I’d best get that little guy out into the field and learn how to use it.

Gear

For this activation, I headed out to Cuyahoga Valley National Park – US-0020 as one might expect. This time around, I tossed my EFHW wire antenna into a tree. I love this antenna as it always delivers results. My skill with the throw line is still in question, but once the antenna is up, it’s usually all downhill from there.

With the antenna secured, I set up my TR-35 and hooked up my aluminum paddles from CW Morse. I plugged in my earbuds and got on the air.

Oh. The earbuds are from Sony. They’re…OK? I hate earbuds in general. I find them uncomfortable and of questionable quality from sound through to construction. However, this keeps the kit small and light and that was a part of this exercise. After all, this is a TINY rig. It’s the kind of thing that I could toss in a backback and not notice. So a test with some earbuds seemed reasonable for this outing.

A Couple Of Modifications

With all of my rigs, I put rubber covers on the BNC antenna outs. I really hate the idea of moisture or dirt finding its way in there. The ones that I got were maybe $5 for 20 or so. I put them on everything.

I also took Thomas K4SWL‘s advice and put on some laptop feet so that the viewing angle of the rig is better. This seems so dumb, but it does make a world of difference. It’s much easier to read the display when it’s at an angle.

Operator Error

Maybe not an error, but definitely an artifact from NOT doing a little backyard portable with this rig. The sidetone level was set, well, at heavy metal concert levels when compared to the other audio. This was a pain not only because it was loud but because I had to jockey the volume knob so that I didn’t go damage my hearing any more than I already have. As I was sitting in the park, I found myself wishing there was a way to adjust it. And, because this thing is a kit, of course there is!

When I got home, I looked at the various bits of documentation (all of which is stellar!) and found exactly what I needed. There is a small adjustment knob between the power input and the paddle jack. It can’t be reached without opening the case, so I pulled it apart, cranked it down, checked the level, and put it back together. The only way it could have been easier would be to have a knob on the case itself. I’m going to look into drilling out a tiny hole for adjustments and 3d printing a plug for it. That’s a project for Another Day. For now, everything is great.

QSO Map

I only bagged 10 contacts in the time that I had available, but it was nice to be out when our local radiation source wasn’t throwing a tantrum of some kind. Here’s what the QSO Map looks like.

Final

This is a great little transceiver. It’s so nice to have knobs and switches instead of touchscreens and infinite menus. The receiver is great and I got good reports from as far out as Texas. That’s not too shabby on under 5 watts. With the sidetone adjusted, it’ll be much more comfortable on our next trip out – even with the less than stellar earbuds. This thing is just what I need to toss in my bag for quick and easy CW operation. I’m glad that I grabbed it when I could.

Getting Out To Support The Parks

One of my favorite things in amateur radio is obviously getting out to the parks and participating in POTA as an activator. It’s also pretty clear that I really love hanging out at Cuyahoga Valley National Park – US-0020. There’s really not much better on a Saturday than to bike out to the park and enjoy a couple of hours in the sun making contacts. Well, the thing is…

April Showers? No… Just More Grey Cold

My wife and I were planning to bike out to the park. We were slowly getting ready and started to look at the weather. The temperatures were in the 40s, it was overcast, and the winds were around 18 mph with 32 mph gusts. We looked at each other for a bit and realized that this was totally doable, but probably not much fun. So we changed plans. I would go out to the park on my own and activate for a bit and come home.

I moved my gear from my pannier to my backpack and headed out for the park. The sky was grey and there was a pretty stiff breeze. I went with the AX1 and set up my TR-35 to give it another go now that I had changed a ton of settings on the ATU-10. I was hoping to get a random wire in a tree if I had time.

With everything set up, I got on the air.

Anybody Home?

I started on 20-meters because I did want the activation to move along today. It was a bit cooler than I wanted it to be and with no sun, being outside felt like a continuation of winter. As I called CQ and even spotted myself, no one came back for a long, long time.

The band was crashing. There were flashes of static and a very high noise floor alternating with dead silence. It was enough to make me question the rig and the antenna. I did what I did last time and swapped the TR-35 for my IC-705. No dice.

At this point, I was giving the AX1 some serious side-eye. I reached into my bag and pulled out my 40-20-10 EFHW and my throw line. With no one around, I picked a branch in a tree that was perfectly positioned and got the line over it on the first try. This was a Batman level throw and there was no one to see it. Such is the life of a POTA Activator, I suppose.

This antenna is really the best in my collection in terms of efficiency. It never misses. So why were the bands still crashing and quiet? Why was 40-meters fading like I’ve never heard before? Oh, ya know, just luck. Later on Mastodon I would have my complaints confirmed by a panel of experts who were also frustrated by conditions.

Finally…

I did get my 10. I walked away with 12 contacts total in about 2 hours of activating. Not the worst Support Your Parks Weekend story I heard about Saturday, but not my favorite by far. By the time it was all said and done, my fingers were cold and I was pretty tired of sitting outside in the grey. I guess my mind really believes that April should be warmer and more inviting. I forget where I am sometimes.

QSO Map

Here it is. From the looks of it, it wasn’t too bad. But it didn’t feel that way getting there.

Final

Yes, any day outside is better than one spent inside. I’m just impatient for REAL SPRING and some more time with that elusive yellow orb in the sky. I know it’s coming. And I know that my TR-35 will continue to get a workout until I get a full activation with it. The conditions will change. Things will improve. Next weekend looks good so far.

Thanks for reading and 72!

Amazing Weather!

The entire weekend was about picture perfect. The sun was out. There was a nice breeze. It was warm but not hot. We did have a little work to do with some plumbing on Saturday, but it got done and that made time for Other Things. And you know that means POTA!

Too. Many. Variables.

I decided that I’d go to my most local park which is the Cooperrider-Kent Bog State Nature Preserve – US-9401. It’s just down the street and seemed like a great idea since I had some Dad Taxi duties floating around with unknown timelines. The truth is that this park is a boardwalk look around a bog. There are no picnic tables and no space to sit, really. Thus I was consigned to the Jeep. I’ve shared many times that this is not my favorite setup. This was the first variable in play.

The second was the Penntek TR-35. I’ve been itching to get this little guy into the field, so I tossed it in my bag. I don’t know this transceiver very well, but the only way I learn is by doing.

The third variable was the one that might have wrecked things but I’m not really sure just yet. I recenly received an ATU-10 automatic antenna tuner as designed by N7DDC and built by a reputable seller to whom I shall not link until I have determined if I have a problematic unit or the dreaded Operator Error. I was planning to use this little guy to give the AX-1 that little bump that it needs to work with the TR-35. I’d measured the SWR on the AX-1 a few times in experiments earlier in the week and it just needed a touch of tuning. So little, in fact, that getting it right on the z-match tuner was a total pain. Why not try the ATU-10?

Lots of new stuff in a new place in an operating position I don’t love. What could go wrong?

This Looks OK…

I got everything set up. The AX-1 was clamped to my Jeep’s cargo bar. The tuner was set up on the dash. The TR-35 was hanging out on my speaker in the phone holder (not at all precariously!). Everything looked good. I hit the tuning cycle on the ATU-10 and things settled in at about 1.1:1. Cool! So I started calling CQ.

And I kept calling.

I spotted myself.

And kept calling.

The RBN heard me! That was good! But it was a very long time before I got a call. It came in at 599 for sure. The signal indicator on the TR-35 was lit up nice and bright. It was a perfect signal from Maine. No fading, no nonsense. It was impressive!

And then nothing. Some static. A few crashes on 20-meters. No other calls.

It was time to pack it in.

I wasn’t too phased by not getting the activation. It was a Saturday at about 3 PM and the weather was amazing. It was nice to sit there in the sun (in the Jeep) and play with my new toys. I had the nagging feeling that I get with a new rig that I did something wrong, but I don’t believe that there was anything to do wrong. Sometimes, the magic simply doesn’t happen. And that’s OK! Besides, as soon as I pulled out of the parking lot, my daughter requested pick up and food for her and her friends. Dad Life!

QSO Map

Here is what my QSO with Maine looked like:

Sunday Will Be Better

It is well known that my wife and I love to bike out to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park – US-0020. We do that most weekends in the summer and I always take my radio along to do a little POTA while we eat lunch. I figured this would be an easy win! Once again, I set up the TR-35 and the ATU-10 with the AX-1 and got to calling CQ. This time, I even used the message memory in the TR-35. Good stuff!

Lots of crashing on 40-meters. I got one contact with Michigan and then moved to 20-meters. More crashing. Maybe our local star was trying to wreck my flow, but it could also be that, again, I was using new stuff. This time, I was prepared. I reached into the bag and pulled out the IC-705.

And I got nothing.

It was almost 20 minutes until I got a contact. It was a Park To Park with an operator in Kansas. The crashing on the bands didn’t let up. There was a lot of fading. After about an hour and a half, I had 7 total contacts and a lot of band noise. I’m not going to give any side-eye to the new gear as I really do believe the bands were hot garbage. I also noticed that the POTA site didn’t pick me up on the RBN though I was getting picked up by the RBN. In fact, all of the activators only had spots from hunters. I wonder if there was a technical difficulty there. Not that it would have helped. You can only work what you can hear and there’s no hearing anything over that kind of noise.

QSO Map

Here’s what the map looked like for Sunday in the park.

Final

What’s does all of this mean?

Nothing. Playing with new toys is learning what they’re good at and where you have to give to take. I plan to take the TR-35 out with a resonant wire antenna in the near future and give it a chance to shine in some backyard portable. I also plan to take this week and mess around with the ATU-10. It seems to want to kick into tuning cycles at odd intervals. Maybe I just need to tune it and turn it off. I was pretty sure that I consumed all available documentation on the device and given that it only has 3 button press commands, it’s hard to imagine that there is a lot of user error here. I will report back with findings.

Also, it’s important to note that there’s no getting skunked in POTA. Sitting outside in the sun with a nice breeze on a Sunday afternoon is fantastic with or without contacts. It’s about playing with a radio outdoors. And that, my friends, is hard to screw up.

P.S.

I didn’t take pictures while I was out on these activations for no really good reason. So you get a picture of Bella the Rottie after a very, very muddy hike where she rolled in everything that she could. You’re welcome!

72!