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Back home a week later

It was a great time being back in Ottawa, visiting with friends from my old neighborhood and also spoiling my Daughters two cats.

However on the “Radio side” of things …. not so good

The plans were that I would be able (weather permitting) continue to control my hour on the Trans Provincial Net while away. It seemed that “Mother Nature” had different ideas. Most days rain or the threat of rain kept me from heading over to the park.

Above pic showing where the park was and the route I took

As I mentioned in a previous post…. there was a local (non-POTA) park within walking distance to operate from. It was a local sports field and had some bleachers for when the crowds came for Junior Soccer/Football and or Rugby…

Below pic showing how I set up at the park

Although the operating position was excellent there was NO PROTECTION from the elements which in my case meant rain.

I was able to wrap my MFJ mast to one of the bleachers and stretch the end of the EFHW antenna to the other bleacher and it did work like a charm. Signal reports were great considering I was running 50w into the antenna

So for 1 out of a potential 5 operating days it was fun and dry. Walking home with the gear safely packed in the backpack “Mother Nature” paid a short visit.

I also managed to activate CA1515 and CA1516 using my Xiegu X5105 along with a 29 foot wire (supported by the same mast mentioned earlier) with a 9:1 unun, a 17 foot counterpoise with a choke on the radio end of the coax. Jose VA3PCJ was nice enough to offer me a ride there and back. I activated the parks using SSB and VA3PCJ activated the same parks using CW and his KX3.

For Jose’s version of the park activation click HERE

I am expecting to be returning to Ottawa in Mid-January 2025 for another visit with my GrandKits and like last years winter visit there will be a car to keep me warm and dry.

73bob

Back home a week later

It was a great time being back in Ottawa, visiting with friends from my old neighborhood and also spoiling my Daughters two cats.

However on the “Radio side” of things …. not so good

The plans were that I would be able (weather permitting) continue to control my hour on the Trans Provincial Net while away. It seemed that “Mother Nature” had different ideas. Most days rain or the threat of rain kept me from heading over to the park.

Above pic showing where the park was and the route I took

As I mentioned in a previous post…. there was a local (non-POTA) park within walking distance to operate from. It was a local sports field and had some bleachers for when the crowds came for Junior Soccer/Football and or Rugby…

Below pic showing how I set up at the park

Although the operating position was excellent there was NO PROTECTION from the elements which in my case meant rain.

I was able to wrap my MFJ mast to one of the bleachers and stretch the end of the EFHW antenna to the other bleacher and it did work like a charm. Signal reports were great considering I was running 50w into the antenna

So for 1 out of a potential 5 operating days it was fun and dry. Walking home with the gear safely packed in the backpack “Mother Nature” paid a short visit.

I also managed to activate CA1515 and CA1516 using my Xiegu X5105 along with a 29 foot wire (supported by the same mast mentioned earlier) with a 9:1 unun, a 17 foot counterpoise with a choke on the radio end of the coax. Jose VA3PCJ was nice enough to offer me a ride there and back. I activated the parks using SSB and VA3PCJ activated the same parks using CW and his KX3.

For Jose’s version of the park activation click HERE

I am expecting to be returning to Ottawa in Mid-January 2025 for another visit with my GrandKits and like last years winter visit there will be a car to keep me warm and dry.

73bob

Is bigger better? The Big Kansas Coil Vertical Antenna System

The Big Kansas Coil is a lightweight, portable, and durable base loaded vertical antenna system that when paired with a telescoping whip operates on the 6 through 80 meter ham radio bands. This coil offers some innovative features, including: 3D printed construction out of engineering grade materials, integrated coil scale, easy to use adjustment collar, and a wider diameter coil than anything else on the market.

The Big Kansas Coil: https://bigkansascoil.com/
HF Manpack Collapsible 7 Element Whip Antenna: https://amzn.to/4epr3zh
MFJ-1979 telescoping whip antenna: https://amzn.to/3Vv6Dfv

So what makes the big Kansas Coil different than other base loaded coils? First off is the construction. This coil is entirely 3D printed out of engineering grade Glass and Carbon Fiber filled Nylon material. This coil is lightweight and durable. The material is weather and heat resistant so this antenna is rated for up to 100 watts digital modes with a 50% duty cycle.

The second is its size, or diameter of the coil. This coil is wider than anything else on the market. In building loading or inductance coils, the diameter of the coil will affect the Q or quality factor. Narrow coils will have a very high Q and extremely sharp bandwidth on the lower bands. If you make the coil wider, the Q is reduced and you end up with more bandwidth. I’ll demonstrate what that means a bit later in this video.

As a bonus, patrons can view the unedited phone contacts for this POTA activation. Visit my page on Patreon for details: https://www.patreon.com/kb9vbrantennas


Links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This does not affect the price you pay.


The post Is bigger better? The Big Kansas Coil Vertical Antenna System appeared first on KB9VBR Antennas.

Upcoming Portable ops

Its another gig sitting my “Grand Kittens” for my daughter as she and her hubby will be out of town from September 20th for a week. I guess I did a good job when they went to Cuba last January so I got invited back… I will be operating /p from Ottawa from September 21st to September 27th.

Most of my operating will be from September 23rd onwards.

As you can see from the above pic… they like having me around (one cat at least)

This time its a bit different because the car will be going with them to their rental cottage which is about 2 hours north of Ottawa.

However I plan to take both my Portable Station and my Transportable Station with me so I can activate some POTA locations with the Xiegu X5105 and also use my Yaesu FT 891 as I control the Trans Provincial Net for my 11am slot.


Before we go any further please remember that all my RF Plans you will see below are if the weather is good. I don’t like operating outside in the rain and neither do my radios….


The closest park to where they live is a City Park and not a POTA park.

The park has two sport fields and they have bleachers so it will be easy as I will have somewhere to sit along with strap my MFJ 33 foot mast to so the EFHW will have some altitude.

That will allow me to act as NCS with a 100w station with a full size antenna.

Once the net is over I will be packing up and heading back to the apartment for lunch. In the afternoons…. Once again if the weather is cooperating I plan to take the X5105 out to one or two of the local POTA Parks for a couple of hours. Check POTA Spots….

Due to the fact of not having access to a vehicle I will be heading out either on foot or public transport. After checking the POTA map it seems there are quite a few POTA sites that are fairly easy to access via the Bus and LRT service. However a few of the “Locals” have mentioned that they might pick me up and we could do an activation as a group so you never know.

They say that “getting there is half the fun” and this might be the case.

Stay tuned…

73bob

Yes its an old picture but the hobby has been fun since the 1990’s

Upcoming Portable ops

Its another gig sitting my “Grand Kittens” for my daughter as she and her hubby will be out of town from September 20th for a week. I guess I did a good job when they went to Cuba last January so I got invited back… I will be operating /p from Ottawa from September 21st to September 27th.

Most of my operating will be from September 23rd onwards.

As you can see from the above pic… they like having me around (one cat at least)

This time its a bit different because the car will be going with them to their rental cottage which is about 2 hours north of Ottawa.

However I plan to take both my Portable Station and my Transportable Station with me so I can activate some POTA locations with the Xiegu X5105 and also use my Yaesu FT 891 as I control the Trans Provincial Net for my 11am slot.


Before we go any further please remember that all my RF Plans you will see below are if the weather is good. I don’t like operating outside in the rain and neither do my radios….


The closest park to where they live is a City Park and not a POTA park.

The park has two sport fields and they have bleachers so it will be easy as I will have somewhere to sit along with strap my MFJ 33 foot mast to so the EFHW will have some altitude.

That will allow me to act as NCS with a 100w station with a full size antenna.

Once the net is over I will be packing up and heading back to the apartment for lunch. In the afternoons…. Once again if the weather is cooperating I plan to take the X5105 out to one or two of the local POTA Parks for a couple of hours. Check POTA Spots….

Due to the fact of not having access to a vehicle I will be heading out either on foot or public transport. After checking the POTA map it seems there are quite a few POTA sites that are fairly easy to access via the Bus and LRT service. However a few of the “Locals” have mentioned that they might pick me up and we could do an activation as a group so you never know.

They say that “getting there is half the fun” and this might be the case.

Stay tuned…

73bob

Yes its an old picture but the hobby has been fun since the 1990’s

Ham Radio Fishing Pole Antenna: Catching Contacts on the Wolf River!

I meet up with Chris, N9CVR, of The Ham Radio Experience. He shows off his fishing pole vertical antenna and we use it to catch some contacts along the Wolf River at the Mukwa State Wildlife Area, (POTA US-4314).

Check out The Ham Radio Experience: https://www.youtube.com/@hamradioexperience

Ham Things, LLC Fuse Block kit: https://www.etsy.com/shop/hamthingsllc/

More about the Wolf River: https://youtu.be/b913wcueqL0


Links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This does not affect the price you pay.


The post Ham Radio Fishing Pole Antenna: Catching Contacts on the Wolf River! appeared first on KB9VBR Antennas.

Multi-Tasking from the Park

Life is great IF you can get everything happening when it should. Today was living of proof of having to improvise and adapt….

Liz (the patient one who tolerates/supports this hobby) had a follow up appointment at the Providence Care Health Facility here in Kingston for 1030 am… At 11am I was supposed to be the Net Control Station for the Trans Provincial Net on 7.100.

This is a conflict and I have to give priority to Liz…. But here was the solution and it worked…

I dropped her off at her appointment for 10:15 and then walked out the back door of the Health Facility and into POTA CA-6003 which is the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail.

In the above graphic the Health Care Facility if the Grey building and the Trail is the thin green line right below it.

I had activated from there before and knew which trees would work with what picnic tables.

And yes I had brought my “Transportable Station” with me….

The FT891 was quickly hooked up to the 20AH battery and my “HomeBrewed” EFHW was strung between the trees… I managed to make a couple of POTA Contacts on 40m before the TPN started up at 11am. (thanks for the 2fer Bill) I managed to wrangle up 9 Checkins to the net which is not too bad as I took the summer off from my regular 11 am shift.

After the net ended I managed a couple of POTA contacts on 20m SSB which made it a successful POTA activation along with keeping up with my obligations to the Net. At 12:15 Liz sent me a text telling me she was finished and to meet her in the coffee shop in the facility. At 12:30 I met her in the coffee shop and we headed back home.

All in all it was a busy but fun start to the day…

73bob

Multi-Tasking from the Park

Life is great IF you can get everything happening when it should. Today was living of proof of having to improvise and adapt….

Liz (the patient one who tolerates/supports this hobby) had a follow up appointment at the Providence Care Health Facility here in Kingston for 1030 am… At 11am I was supposed to be the Net Control Station for the Trans Provincial Net on 7.100.

This is a conflict and I have to give priority to Liz…. But here was the solution and it worked…

I dropped her off at her appointment for 10:15 and then walked out the back door of the Health Facility and into POTA CA-6003 which is the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail.

In the above graphic the Health Care Facility if the Grey building and the Trail is the thin green line right below it.

I had activated from there before and knew which trees would work with what picnic tables.

And yes I had brought my “Transportable Station” with me….

The FT891 was quickly hooked up to the 20AH battery and my “HomeBrewed” EFHW was strung between the trees… I managed to make a couple of POTA Contacts on 40m before the TPN started up at 11am. (thanks for the 2fer Bill) I managed to wrangle up 9 Checkins to the net which is not too bad as I took the summer off from my regular 11 am shift.

After the net ended I managed a couple of POTA contacts on 20m SSB which made it a successful POTA activation along with keeping up with my obligations to the Net. At 12:15 Liz sent me a text telling me she was finished and to meet her in the coffee shop in the facility. At 12:30 I met her in the coffee shop and we headed back home.

All in all it was a busy but fun start to the day…

73bob

Amateur Radio - From The Back Rooms to the Open Air


Amateur Radio - From The Back Rooms to the Open Air

W3HCW 1957
Photo: Courtesy https://www.twocommunications.com/


For most of my early years of my Amateur Radio existence, operators' stations locations were known for their simple, modest and sometimes enormous antenna towers. This was and is basically a good indication that a "Ham Radio" operator resides somewhere near those structures.  And if you had the opportunity to visit the radio rooms (Ham Shack) of those operators, some of them may have been in a corner of a room, in a closet, a spandrel, a garage, a shed or look similar to the photo above

In today's world, that is far from the case.  Due to HOAs (Home Owner's Associations) and other covenant restrictions, ham operators in their infinite ingenuity, come up of many types of inconspicuous means of assembling antennas to enjoy their hobby.

The minimization of electronics have given Ham Radio operators the ability to communicate "To infinity and Beyond".  During my past three years of operating portable, primarily POTA, I've had countless people inquire what I was doing. Most of the POTA sites near my QTH are parks where trying to find a spot which is safe AND a considerable distance away from people is limited. 

For me its no big deal. Most of the time people will look, point, observe and casually walk, bicycle ride or run by without saying a word. But then, there are the ones who's curiosity takes the best of them. Doesn't matter the age, nationality, or sex, the sight of someone sitting under a pole with wires going this way and that way, hearing beeps and tones, have to find out what is going on. 





Summits on the Air (SOTA), Parks on the Air (POTA) and World Wide Fauna (WWFF) have given ham radio operators a way to bring our equipment out of the dark rooms to the open air.  It is exciting times we live in in this world of Amateur Radio. We should take advantage of the minimization of the equipment we have at our disposable and show the world just how GREAT ham radio is not only as a hobby but exposing young and old minds to potentially unimaginable innovations.

As the daylight starts to shorten, the temperatures become more tolerable, it can present the favorable conditions to take our equipment portable to remind the world that, HAM RADIO is still something people do.  It doesn't have to be POTA or SOTA  but its a good time to experience all Mother Nature has to offer as the season changes.


Here are some who just enjoy operating outdoors.


Portable Amateur Radio


M0KVI Owen



W0ABE "Fin"


KH6WI  Eric



VE5REV Jason


KH6RF John


VA7USD  Matthew
 


KO4TJP Jake


W3IPA  Tim





Amateurs operating through Satellites and the International Space Station (ISS) can be very simple but for some, but some have a wide array of portable equipment they use for different modes to communicate via satellites and ISS.


Portable Satellite Operation


K9BCM  Thomas


VA3VGR Richard



EA2CW / AE2CW - Mikel 



K8ZRY Zach
 


WD9EWK  Patrick



KE5NJ  Chris




KG4AKV John  



SP3RNZ Greg



NC0Q  Tim


KB5FHK Thomas







Parks on the Air has taken portable ham radio operating to a different level.  Here is just a few of the thousands who choose to spend a lot of their operating time outdoors.


Parks on the Air


AE4JC Matthew





K1STG Fred



KC9BKA Dan


KM6HJC Ben


KN4YZY Corey


N9OHW  Michael



KA3DRR  Scot



AI5DD  Joe




K4WSD  / Allen




KB6NU Dan
      






And then there are the ones who operate Summits on the Air (SOTA). Some might think this is an Extreme Sport but to them, its just another day at the office.



Summits on the Air


KO6BTM Di


EC7ZT  Manu



JL1SDA   Tetsuya 



MM0EFI Fraser



WA7JNJ James








JR8MHA  Katsu


N2SRK Dan
NA0MT  Scott



N6ARA  Ara



K4KFO  Yusef




You don't have to travel far from the Backroom to the Open Air.  A few weeks ago I began a Sunday morning routine of "A Cup of Joe Patio Amateur Radio".  It's my quiet time to relax, commune with nature and do some sort of ham radio operating. For me its natural boost to reset for another week.





We've come a long way baby from the days of operating portable in the photo below. Why not grab your gear now at head out for some Ham Radio Portable operating. 


WN5BRS circa 1963 Vehicle:1958 Plymouth Wagon
Photo: Courtesy https://www.twocommunications.com/



Another kilo (of POTA QSOs, that is)

One of the things that makes Parks on the Air (POTA) so successful is the way that they use their database to keep folks involved. It’s very easy for activators to upload their logs, and once uploaded, the website takes it from there, generating myriad awards for participants. There are awards for all kinds of things including activating or hunting early in the day (Early Shift) and later in the day (Late Shifter). There are “rover” awards for operators who like to operated from many different parks and “repeat offender” awards for those that tend to operate from a single park or a small handful of parks.

And, if you’re a repeat offender—which I tend to be—there are awards for making at least 1,000 contacts from a particular park. They call these the “Kilo” awards. Earlier this year—June 20, to be exact—I earned my first kilo at Island Lake State Recreation Area, US-3315. Today, I earned my second at the Pinckney State Recreation Areas, US-3322.

I worked fairly hard to do this. Since June 20, when I completed my first kilo, I activated US-3322 14 times, making a total of 667 contacts, almost all of them on CW. My most productive activation was 82 contacts on August 2. My least productive activation was 11 contacts on August 17.

Man sitting at picnic table holding an umbrella in front of a ham radio.
This picture was taken on August 17 after it started drizzling and just before it started to pour. Photo: Silvia Ruiz.

This activation was a short one because of the weather. Just after I made the seventh contact, it started to sprinkle. Thinking that it might blow over, my wife handed me an umbrella (see above). Just as I made the ninth contact, however, it started to pour. I was just able to squeeze in two more contacts before I decide the best course of action would be to shut everything down before it was drenched.

My 51 contacts today put me over the top.

What’s next?

Now that I’ve made it to 1,000 at two parks, I’m pondering what I should do next.  I could go for 2,000 at US-3315 or US-3322. US-3322 is really a pleasant place to operate.

I could also expand my park selection. There are several nice parks that are only a little further away than Island Lake or Pinckney. I have, for example,  52 contacts from Waterloo State Recreation Area, US-3331, and Maybury State Park, US-1518, is purported to be a nice place to operate from.

Something else that I’m working on is coming up with some new gear for POTA. I’m currently working on building a QRP Labs’ QMX transceiver kit. Last night, I managed to wind and install the first toroid, T501 (see below).   Only 10 more to go!

printed circuit board
Assembling and installing T501 is a lot harder than it looks in this photo.

I’m also going to have to purchase or assemble a tuner to go along with the radio. Maybe once I get it all built, I can start on my first 1,000 using only gear that I’ve built. Maybe I could suggest that POTA add an award for making so many contacts with homebrew or kit rigs.

 

 

This 'Old Timer' asks: Why THE HATE for "FT8?"







"You have to grow with the times or the times will outgrow you." 

That is how my Music Director would sign off from his afternoon radio show back in the early 70's when I was Program Director at an AM radio station.

I never would have imagined in 1956 when I was introduced to Amateur Radio that one day as I left a doctor's appointment in 2024, I could carry a Ham Radio station in a small backpack and ride my bicycle less than a mile to a Parks on the Air site and communicate to other operators around the world. The only way I would have believed that back in 1956; is if I were sitting with Marty McFly in a Delorean and a plutonium-powered nuclear fission reactor with a Flex Capacitor traveling ay 88 MPH and set the date for March 14, 2024. 


March 14, 2024


You might wonder as why I mentioned my introduction to Ham Radio in 1956 and FT8 today. Well, in the early 1950's I remember Ice Boxes, not refrigerators. Ice Boxes. Several times a week The Ice Man riding in his mule drawn cart would stop by my neighbor and drop off a large cube of ice for their Ice Box to keep their perishables fresh.  It wasn't too long in the mid 1950's my neighbor purchased a refrigerator made at GE's Louisville's Appliance Park.




In the 1950's this "OLD FART"  remembers when telephones looked like this.


I even remember my phone number fro m the 50's, SPring7-8292.  There was no such time as an AREA CODE. You had to dial "0" in order to make a Long Distance Call.  There was such a time as a "Collect Call" and Person-to-Person Call". Also you could have a lowered monthly phone bill if you SHARED a phone line with another customer. These were know as PARTY LINES. Sometimes you might pick up the phone to place a cold and the other customer would be using it and you could listen to their conversation (NO PRIVACY). You had to wait until they finished to make you call. It wasn't until the early 60's, my parents changed over the more modern rotary phone, the mid 60's for the Princess and Trimline phones, mid 70's for the Push Button style phone and in the 1980's I found out my parents were sill leasing phones from AT&T. They were not pleased, I re-wired the three story home and installed cordless phone system throughout their house and cancelled their phone lease agreement with AT&T.




And finally I remember in early July of 1962 while spending my usual summer at my grandparents; my cousin and I sat in front of a Black and White TV and watched the launch of Telstar 1 Communications Satellite and a couple of weeks later watch the first international  satellite TV "LIVE" broadcast between the U.S. and Europe with Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley and Howard Smith  U.S. newscasters.  

I do understand how some have a LOVE / HATE relationship with NEW technology and how it might infringe on them personally and individually. I guess you could blame a lot of this NEW technology on the Industrial Revolution. Maybe that's something to look at in a future blog. However when it comes to Amateur Radio I think I read somewhere about CONTINUATION and EXTENSION of the amateur's proven ability to contribute to the ADVENCEMENT of the radio art. Oh Yes, that's from FCC Rules and Regulations:      


PART 97—AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE

Subpart A—General Provisions

§97.1   Basis and purpose.

The rules and regulations in this part are designed to provide an amateur radio service having a fundamental purpose as expressed in the following principles:

(a) Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications.

(b) Continuation and extension of the amateur's proven ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art.

(c) Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through rules which provide for advancing skills in both the communication and technical phases of the art.

(d) Expansion of the existing reservoir within the amateur radio service of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts.

(e) Continuation and extension of the amateur's unique ability to enhance international goodwill.


My fellow FT8, CW, SSB, POTA colleague Robbie W1RCP goes a little more in depth in his YouTube Video: "Why the HATE for FT8?"


  

I remember the years I would lug my Ten Tec Omni along with a manual tuner along with a heavy marine battery and throw a wire into a tree for some portable operating in a park.  Today in 2024, I'm unwilling to go back in time on Marty McFLy's Delorean and operate in that manner

NOW, I can pack my entire digital station (QRP Labs QDX, Tufteln Linked EFHW antenna, battery, SotaBeams 10m Travel Mast, Bluetooth Keyboard, GPS Dongle USB cable and Panasonic FZ-G1 Toughpad into a standard school backpack and off I go to a POTA site which is less than a mile from my doctor's office.






              


For me the successful launch and operation of Telestar 1 in 1962 was an event more far reaching than Sputnik.  As a pre-teen, I felt I  understood the role satellites would have on communications in the future. I now can say my understanding was minuscule.  I could never imagine in 1956 or 1962 the HUGE role technology plays in our everyday lives.

 
I can see how some may depict FT8 as pictured in the image below.


If you're one of those who operated WSJT-x in auto-sequence, then I will agree it is like "Watching Paint Dry".  There are times when I feel like Luke Skywalker telling R2D2 I'm taking over control of my X-wing Starfighter.  I'll move out of Auto-sequence often to complete a QSO especially since I operate a lot of QRP. I try to use the same sense of operating like I SSB and CW. I'll move slightly off frequency to bee better heard, I'll move away for a few minutes to let the pileup subside, definitely find a clear frequency to transmit and move if necessary, send an occasional personal 73, tune up on an open frequency and send QRT when finished. 


There's so much hatred for FT8

 
Living in an apartment has its limitations as far as what type of antenna I can use along with high local noise levels.. Because of that, (and before I discovered POTA) FT8 was my primary mode of operation. In 2019 when band conditions were not all that GREAT as compared to now, I was able to enjoy our hobby immensely. Was it a mode I had been accustomed to? No! But it did allow me to operate. 

For me, FT8 open the door to another avenue of Amateur Radio.  As a result I've delved a little deeper in Weak Signal Propagation. I'm amazed how far a WSPR signal can reach with only 200 mW. 

So HATE FT8 if you like.  Like Telstar of 1962 , You never know what path FT8 (WSPR) may launch humans to in the next century.  Here's an example of what might be in store for WSPR. Read on .....
  
In May 2021, aerospace engineer Richard Godfrey suggested examining historical WSPR data as a way to define the flight path of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 on 8 March 2014.[7] In November 2021, Godfrey stated his belief that his analysis indicates the aircraft flew in circles for around 22 minutes in an area 150 nautical miles (280 km; 170 mi) from the coast of Sumatra before vanishing, later proposing a search area centered around 33.177°S 95.3°E.[8][9][10][11]

As of March 2024, the validity of Godfrey's claim is yet to be established.[12] On 6 March 2024 the BBC documentary Why Planes Vanish: The Hunt for MH370 examined Godfrey's claim and reported that scientists at the University of Liverpool were undertaking an analytical study of the possibility of using WSPR technology to locate the missing aircraft. The University stated they would release their results within 6 months





                                                  


Testing the new(to me) rig

Remember yesterday when I mentioned the latest addition to my POTA setup, the Xiegu 5105 QRP rig….

Well this morning I decided to test it out and see how much work I would have to do with setting the parameters such as mic gain, processor, to make it sound like me… I was also testing out my EARCHI 9:1 unun with a 29.5 foot random wire to see how it would play with the built in AT of the 5105.

I figured I might as well do the testing at a POTA location just in case I was able to turn the test into an activation.

For this I chose Fort Frontenac POTA CA-5303. Its fairly easy to get there via the Kingston Transit system and its also close to downtown and all the amenities I might need. In the North East corner of the picture you will notice some white lines on the ground.

They are actually the walls of what’s left of that part of the Fort. Also the only parts of the Historic Site that is open to the public.

I leaned my MFJ 33 foot mast (supporting the 9:1 and wire in the vertical configuration) up against the tree.

And then ran the COAX over to the remains of the wall and set up my radio there and started operating.

My first contact was on 7.255 with the NCS of the ECARS net. He did hear me and considering I was QRP I was pleased. He did tell me that my audio seemed hot as if I was overdriving things. Lowering my voice seemed to help.

After that I looked at POTA Spots and managed to get W2IDG and VE3FI into the log from their parks and then finished up with the NCS of the MidCars net on 7.258.. All contacts were made on 40m SSB. I tried 20 SSB and was hearing lots of stations including a POTA Activation in VO1 but no luck breaking any of the pileups.

Then I figured it was time to get home and try to re configure the radio to my liking… I turned off the Speech Processor and lowered the Mic Gain from 60 to 40. Over the next few days I will get out again and see what else I have to do to get things sounding right.

Till then

73bob

Testing the new(to me) rig

Remember yesterday when I mentioned the latest addition to my POTA setup, the Xiegu 5105 QRP rig….

Well this morning I decided to test it out and see how much work I would have to do with setting the parameters such as mic gain, processor, to make it sound like me… I was also testing out my EARCHI 9:1 unun with a 29.5 foot random wire to see how it would play with the built in AT of the 5105.

I figured I might as well do the testing at a POTA location just in case I was able to turn the test into an activation.

For this I chose Fort Frontenac POTA CA-5303. Its fairly easy to get there via the Kingston Transit system and its also close to downtown and all the amenities I might need. In the North East corner of the picture you will notice some white lines on the ground.

They are actually the walls of what’s left of that part of the Fort. Also the only parts of the Historic Site that is open to the public.

I leaned my MFJ 33 foot mast (supporting the 9:1 and wire in the vertical configuration) up against the tree.

And then ran the COAX over to the remains of the wall and set up my radio there and started operating.

My first contact was on 7.255 with the NCS of the ECARS net. He did hear me and considering I was QRP I was pleased. He did tell me that my audio seemed hot as if I was overdriving things. Lowering my voice seemed to help.

After that I looked at POTA Spots and managed to get W2IDG and VE3FI into the log from their parks and then finished up with the NCS of the MidCars net on 7.258.. All contacts were made on 40m SSB. I tried 20 SSB and was hearing lots of stations including a POTA Activation in VO1 but no luck breaking any of the pileups.

Then I figured it was time to get home and try to re configure the radio to my liking… I turned off the Speech Processor and lowered the Mic Gain from 60 to 40. Over the next few days I will get out again and see what else I have to do to get things sounding right.

Till then

73bob

What was old is new again

People who know me have heard me say that after all these years there are 3 radios I have sold that I actually regret selling. Well now there are only 2 radios that I regret selling…

.

Welcome the Xiegu X5105 back into my portable shack…

.

Between my FT991a and my FT891 there was a bit of a gap. The Yeasu FT891 Portable Station was a bit too heavy for my old bones. I needed something in a lighter backpack to make it easier to carry if I was to choose to activate one of the local POTA Parks here in Kingston.

The above pic shows my old X5105 with the Bandspringer attached

The Xiegu X5105 fills that gap. With the built in battery pack, the built in automatic antenna tuner along with the contest keyer and the built in CW Decoder it makes it a dream portable station.

My antennas are a 40m EFHW made with 28ga wire and a QRP AMAZON 49:1 unun. I also can use a 29foot end fed random wire using a QRP EARCHI 9:1 unun.

I also have the SOTABeams Bandspringer antenna that plugs right into the antenna input and uses the built in tuner to operate between 10m and 60m.

So what’s the other two radios you might ask?

Above is my first QRP setup. FT817, LDG QRP Autotuner.

If I could work a deal for a Yaesu FT817 and a Flex 1500 it would complete the list. However used rigs are pricy and it seems most hams think that radios seem to appreciate with age so like I mentioned above it has to be a good deal for both the seller and myself.

73bob

What was old is new again

People who know me have heard me say that after all these years there are 3 radios I have sold that I actually regret selling. Well now there are only 2 radios that I regret selling…

.

Welcome the Xiegu X5105 back into my portable shack…

.

Between my FT991a and my FT891 there was a bit of a gap. The Yeasu FT891 Portable Station was a bit too heavy for my old bones. I needed something in a lighter backpack to make it easier to carry if I was to choose to activate one of the local POTA Parks here in Kingston.

The above pic shows my old X5105 with the Bandspringer attached

The Xiegu X5105 fills that gap. With the built in battery pack, the built in automatic antenna tuner along with the contest keyer and the built in CW Decoder it makes it a dream portable station.

My antennas are a 40m EFHW made with 28ga wire and a QRP AMAZON 49:1 unun. I also can use a 29foot end fed random wire using a QRP EARCHI 9:1 unun.

I also have the SOTABeams Bandspringer antenna that plugs right into the antenna input and uses the built in tuner to operate between 10m and 60m.

So what’s the other two radios you might ask?

Above is my first QRP setup. FT817, LDG QRP Autotuner.

If I could work a deal for a Yaesu FT817 and a Flex 1500 it would complete the list. However used rigs are pricy and it seems most hams think that radios seem to appreciate with age so like I mentioned above it has to be a good deal for both the seller and myself.

73bob

A tale of two Tawas parks

On the spur of the moment, my wife, Silvia, and I decided to head up to East Tawas, MI on Lake Huron for an overnight excursion.  It was a nice change of pace, and it helped us beat the heat a little.

One of the things I most enjoy about East Tawas is being able to operate at Tawas Point State Park (US-1545). It’s a two-fer in that operating from there is not only a POTA activation, but also a lighthouse activation, as the park is home to the Ottawa Point/Tawas Point Light (ARLHS USA-837). And, as a little bit of a bonus, last weekend was National Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend.

Dan, KB6NU, sitting at a picnic table, operating an amateur radio station.
My operating position at Tawas Point State Park, US-1545. Note that I’ve started using the 4:1 current balun that I built recently with my doublet antenna.

It’s about a two and a half hour drive from Ann Arbor to the park, but it took us at least 30 minutes extra, due to construction near Flint. We got there about 1:30 pm, and enjoyed the lunch we had brought while we looked out over Lake Huron.

I then found a nice shady spot to set up the rig. Last time I was here two years ago, I set up in the sun, and my KX-3 got so hot, I thought I’d damaged it. This time, in the shade, the radio stayed nice and cool.

I was on the air for a little over two hours and made about 30 contacts. Most of my contacts were on 20-meter CW, but at the end, I ventured into the phone portion of the band and was able to make four park-to-park contacts. I figured—correctly, I think—that I’d have better success hunting than calling CQ on phone. One tactic that seemed to work very well is to add “park to park” to my call. That got the activators’ attention even though my 15 W was certainly not the strongest signal on the band.

A noisy activation at Tawas State Harbor

We stayed at the Tawas Bay Beach Resort that night. It’s a nice hotel, has its own little beach, and is close to downtown East Tawas. It’s also right next to Tawas State Harbor (US-6812).

A view of Lake Huron from Tawas State Harbor.
The view from my operating position at Tawas State Harbor (US-6812).

Since we had to check out of the hotel by 11:00 am, I decided to get up a little early and make some contacts in the morning. That way, my wife could stay in bed and not have to sit out in the park while I operated. I left the room a little after 7:30 am, hiked over to the park, and was set up just before 8:00 am.

When I turned on the radio, though, I was quite dismayed to hear all the noise. It was peaking at S5! When I conjured up the plan to activate this park, I hadn’t realized that it was right next to an RV campground. My guess is that all that noise was coming from the campers. I tried re-orienting my doublet antenna, but that didn’t help at all.

Not only that, band conditions seemed quite poor yesterday morning. There were only a few strong signals. Couple that with having to operate with the noise reducer on means that I’m sure that I missed a few calls just because they were below the noise floor and I couldn’t hear them. If one of them was you, please accept my apologies.

I operated until about 8:30 am, when I decided to give up fighting the noise and band conditions. Overall, I managed to make 16 contacts in about 35 minutes, so actually not a bad rate.

I packed up and headed back to the room. When I got back, Silvia was ready for breakfast, and so was I. We had a nice breakfast at the hotel, then took a walk out to the end of the breakwater at Tawas State Harbor. It was a little bit warm out there in the sun, but quite enjoyable looking out over the lake. From the shore, you could just spot the lighthouse, which had to be at least a couple miles away.

After our walk, we packed up the car and headed home. There were no major traffic holdups on the way home, and we made it in two and a half hours.

Baseball Double Play and POTA?



Baseball Double Play and POTA?


 

I know you are wondering what does a baseball double play have to do with (POTA) Parks on the Air.  Let me briefly explain my introduction into Parks on the Air. 

During the Pandemic shutdown I stumbled upon Parks on the Air (POTA), Summits on the Air (SOTA) and shortly thereafter World Wide Flora & Fauna (WWFF).  Information on the first two were readily available as it related to me here in the U.S.  However, at face value, all I could conceive about WWFF from YouTube videos; that it was an organization dedicated to countries outside of the U.S.  What a HUGE MISCONCEPTION.  Once I delved further; I learned WWFF was Worldwide just as POTA and SOTA. Since becoming a POTA activator in 2021, there are few POTA sites near my QTH that are part of WWFF which I've included in my POTA activations.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago while going through my YouTube Amateur Radio recommendations I came upon a video by Stuart VE9CF "This One Thing Often Overlooked By Almost All POTA Operators".  



In Stuart's YouTube video, he explains how some POTA activators overlook the relationship between POTA and WWFF and how to combine the two, just like you would with POTA and SOTA. 

Now, where does the Baseball Double Play analogy come into play. There are thousands of POTA sites that are part of the WWFF network. With those POTA sites you can combine those WWFF sites and POTA sites for a Double Play.  Thanks to Stuart (VE9CF), I wanted to pass along to those who may be unaware of the relationship with POTA and WWFF.  Find out more about Stuart's Ham Radio experiences on his YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@outnaboot and his website: https://www.outnaboot.ca/

To find out more about World Wide Flora & Fauna, how to register and WWFF sites (U.S.) and abroad, here is the link:


https://wwff.co/




                                                  

                              


Exploring the Wolf River: A Parks on the Air adventure along a scenic waterway

We take a road trip to northern Wisconsin to discover the origins of the Wolf River and then follow the scenic waterway downwards in this entertaining Parks on the Air activation.

Build a Wolf River Sporty Forty bypass wire: https://youtu.be/m8Y_dDCBlvo

Feather Flag Base: https://amzn.to/3MdepHE
Wolf River Sporty Forty Coil: https://www.wolfrivercoils.com/
MFJ-1979 whip: https://amzn.to/3B9cehF
42×108 inch Faraday Fabric: https://amzn.to/3Vt1m9R
Jaw Mount Antenna Clamp: https://amzn.to/3VL5Ir6
SO-239 stud mount for jaw clamp: https://amzn.to/3VT1KwG
Contact logging: https://www.hamrs.app

As a bonus, patrons can view the unedited phone contacts for this POTA activation. Visit my page on Patreon for details: https://www.patreon.com/kb9vbrantennas

I do return QSL, if you made a contact with me and would like a QSL, please send me one. Return postage not necessary, but always appreciated. As they say, KB9VBR is ‘good in the book.


Links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This does not affect the price you pay.


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