POTA at Longfellow House

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to do a POTA activation at the Longfellow House National Historic Site (US-0843) in Cambridge, MA.

Come to me, O ye children!
And whisper in my ear
What the birds and the winds are singing
In your sunny atmosphere.¹

About the Longfellow House

According to its official website, the Longfellow House “was a site of colonial enslavement and community activism, George Washington’s first long-term headquarters of the American Revolution, and the place where Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote his canon of 19th-century American literature.”

The house served as George Washington’s headquarters during the Siege of Boston from July 1775 to April 1776, making it an important Revolutionary War site. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow lived in the house from 1837 until his death in 1882. It was a center for literary and cultural activity during his residency. The Longfellow House was a gathering place for prominent literary figures, artists, and intellectuals of the time, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Charles Dickens.

Activating the Longfellow House

I live about 7 miles from the Longfellow House. Like the Alewife Brook State Reserve that I activated recently, this is a semi-urban site. Being Sunday, I was able to drive to the site and park across the street. Note that Cambridge has strict parking enforcement with few non-resident spaces in this area on other days. So you may want to consider a Sunday activation. Alternatively, you could take the 77 MBTA bus from Harvard Sq. to this POTA site.

The park consists of a single large lot nestled in tony West Cambridge. I walked the grounds to explore a bit and find a good place to set up my Elecraft KH1 Transceiver. In the back, there was a nice garden.

Initial Setup

Just behind the visitor center on the northern end of the house, there are some picnic tables well-suited to a small rig like the KH1.

Unfortunately, early in my activation, my radio display indicated that it was overheating and stopped transmitting. It was probably good it did so—I was so focused that I didn’t realize that I was overheating myself! So I took a break and found a new site on the southeastern side of the small park with some beautiful trees and shade. I’ll probably just set up at that location in the future. It’s out of the way of foot traffic and has great shade.

I resumed my activation. Propagation was not good that day. I had to work fairly hard for a little over 2 hours to make 11 contacts and consider my efforts successful.

You can see the map of my contacts that day. Thanks to all the hunters who stuck it out that day with my little 5-watt radio, my compromised whip antenna, and poor conditions.

Pride

While I was there, the park was hosting a Pride Month event. So this is my chance to wish all LGBTQ friends and allies a Happy Pride Month!

You’re seen and you’re loved.

POTA at Alewife Brook State Reserve

This June 2024, we’re dealing with a heat advisory across the East Coast of the US. I took Daisy out early in the morning to avoid the heat, but she wasn’t having it.

Just days before, I took delivery of my new KH1 Elecraft Transceiver, and I was looking forward to a solid attempt at a Parks on the Air activation with it.

Is there a park nearby with a lot of shade so I can beat the heat? Five miles away (a 15-minute drive) is the Alewife Brook Parkway State Reserve. In the days before COVID, my daily commute to Kendall Sq. in Cambridge went through this park.

A Little Gem of a Semi-Urban Park

The Alewife Brook Parkway State Reserve is a little gem of a semi-urban park that I had never activated because I wasn’t sure where I could set up an antenna without bothering other park-goers. The KH1’s pedestrian portable capabilities are well-suited, so I decided to head there and find some shade.

Off of Acorn Park Drive, there is a DCR¹ parking lot accessing a well-shaded and serene area with ponds, walking paths, and picnic tables. Exactly what I needed.

I went there after work and set up my KH1 with the right-angle antenna adapter, SP4 CW Morse Double Paddle, and Sony earbuds.

I am glad I learned to use the KH1’s CW message memory with auto-repeat. The keyer memory did the work while I enjoyed the wildlife.

I can’t say that HF propagation was the best. The contacts were not piling up but they were coming in every few minutes. I am glad I learned to use the KH1’s CW message memory with auto-repeat. The keyer memory did the work while I enjoyed the wildlife.

I enjoyed myself so much that I went back the next afternoon and activated the same park again. Above is a map of the contacts that I made over two days at the park. One QSO was 2,082 miles from Massachusetts to Utah—pretty good for a 5-watt radio with a little antenna. Morse code gets it done!

Older Journal Entries

My new radio, Elecraft’s KH1

Back in February, I ordered a new radio for my birthday, an Elecraft KH1. There is a waiting list for this radio, so after a four month wait it was finally delivered on on June 13, 2024. In this journal entry I describe my first few days with the radio and share my general impression so far.

In this journal entry I describe my first few days with the radio and share my general impression so far.

I opened the box and within minutes had my KH1 tuned up to listen while sitting on my back patio.

The Elecraft KH1 Transceiver

The KH1 is an HF radio primarily designed for pedestrian portable CW operation. It is a QRP radio which means that it’s maximum operating power of 5 watts. While CW only, low power operations might seem limiting it opens up all kinds of possibilities. With this radio I can operate anytime and anywhere; the whole station is in your jacket pocket.

The KH1’s specs are as follows:

• Operates on 15, 17, 20, 30 and 40 meters HF with an external antenna
• Operates on 15, 17 and 20 meters with the provided whip antenna out of the box
  • I’ve purchased the AXE1 extender which allows operations on 40 meters with the whip antenna
• 5 watt power maximum (for context my home station operates at 100 watts)
• Super solid construction and design; it is made in the USA

Family trip to Southern Maine

After taking delivery of my new field radio there as no time to head out and use it. Friday was the last day of school for my two teenagers. My son, Josh, had a baseball tournament in Old Orchard Beach, Maine which was a great excuse for a family weekend away to kick off our 2024 summer.

My first few days with the KH1 on our family vacation really demonstrates the radio’s value as an anytime, anywhere radio. Our weekend in Maine was a wonderful family vacation. The KH1 allowed me to get a little radio time in as well. We had some brief trips to the beach between baseball games, amusement park fun and culinary excursions. The KH1 allowed me to get on the radio as well.

With KH1’s anytime, anywhere capabilities, I could get on the air between baseball games, beach excursions and amusement park fun.

1,871 mile QSO

I made my first KH1 QSO with K5OHY while sitting on the beach.

The KH1 is the little radio that could. 5 watts of Elecraft power made the 1,871 mile round trip. It was almost 8pm and we were on the 20 meter band.

HF propogation was surely aided by the salt water. But the contacts that can be made at such low power are amazing.

POTA operations at Ferry Beach State Park

The next day the family went to Ferry Beach State Park. Solar weather conditions that morning made radio operations difficult. Our time at the park was limited so I was not able to get the 10 contacts required for a POTA activation. Nonetheless, I had a great time and enjoyed the contacts I did make.

I hope to get back some day because the park is gorgeous.

Here is my setup when I’m at a park with available picnic tables. My kit has the following items:

• KH1 Transceiver itself
• KHRA1 right angle adapter
• SP4 CW Morse Double Paddle
• Basic Sony Earbuds with a right angle plug

Time and conditions prevented me from activating Ferry Beach State Park that day. No worries! I activated a local park today. I plan to follow up with another journal entry on that soon.

General thoughts after 4 days

I’m really happy with the KH1. I am a relatively new CW operator but it is clear to me that Elecraft has built a really elegant, fun to use CW transceiver. The QSK or break in is really smooth. When I’m using the earbuds the tones are pleasant to my ear. The filters are useful for both hunting (i.e., searching for stations calling CQ) and for calling CQ yourself.

A map of the QSOs I made from Ferry Beach State Park.

KH1 stock paddles

I’ve read others complain about the KH1’s paddles online. I found that once I made some adjustments using the provided L-wrench, it is a very serviceable paddle. I plan to use my CW Morse SP4 for tabletop operations but have had no problems using the KHPD1 that ships with the KH1 while standing or sitting without a tabletop.

KH1 logging utilities

Once home, I loaded up the KH1 Utility software and viewed the logs collected over the weekend. Here is the raw text log from a QSO with NA4A. I made this contact from the top of Whipple Hill while I was walking my dog, Daisy.

   {240618-2254-20CW}  W1YTQ
   {240618-2255-20CW}  W1YTQ
   {240618-2256-20CW}  W1YTQ W1OYTQ W1YTQ BKDEW1YTQ ITR55N55NQQBK
   {240618-2257-20CW}  EE

You can see that I sent my call sign a few times. Then once acknowledged I sent a standard POTA signal report. I meant to send UR 55N MA BK but the decoder interpreted it as ITR55N55NQQBK. A U is ..- while IT would be .._-. Clearly I need to practice my spacing.

Connecting and downloading my logs to my computer was quick and easy. I’ve included a screenshot of the KH1 Utility program running on my Linux laptop.

Great food and fun with family

The KH1’s quick setup and pedestrian portable capabilities meant that I could get some radio sessions in while spending time with my family. The baseball tournament and sightseeing left no time to find a spot, setup an antenna and connect and operate a radio. The KH1’s one minute setup allowed me to do it all and enjoy my Father’s Day weekend with family and friends.

If you find yourself in Southern Maine, I highly recommend Holy Donut and The Lobster Claw. Our day started with some amazing donuts and our lunch on The Claw’s patio was delicious.

Radio Interrupted

A little over a month ago the tree I was using as an antenna mast was removed. There are no other trees that I can use. I live on a small lot (0.08 acres) in a tight, suburban neighborhood. There are plenty of trees around me but none suitable for elevating a wire antenna.

In this satellite photo of my home the lost tree is circled in blue. The red line shows the previous configuration of my end-fed half wave.

Losing my antenna tree

In past journal entries I’ve described my QTH antenna setup. My most recent home antenna was a self-built End-fed half-wave. Here’s an earlier photo showing my wire antenna elevated by a pulley system I lofted into a tree using an arbor throw line.

As you can see from the picture above, the trunk of my “antenna tree” grew from the other side of the fence at the boundary of my property. From a “no man’s land” between two neighbor’s fences. It was been rubbing against my neighbor’s fence as it swayed and causing damage. To protect their fence, they removed it.

My neighbors are wonderful people; they had no issue with my antenna placement. And they kindly reached out to warn me they needed to remove the nuisance tree.

With no antenna, I haven’t been able to get on the radio since April 27. With two teenagers I spend a lot of time taxiing them to their activities and generally keeping things moving at home. So my time and ability to install a new antenna is limited.

Going forward

My general plan is to mount a short mast on the corner of my house (at about 23 feet) where I can set up a halyard for raising and lowering wire antennas. Then I can use the halyard to experiment with different antennas. Most likely configured as an inverted L or V.

I’m not sure when I’ll have time enough to mount the mast and halyard. It’s not the biggest project but Spring is a busy time in our household. Maybe once my kid’s summer vacation arrives in a few weeks.

Failed field operations

When I first lost my antenna I thought, “No problem, the weather’s getting nicer. I’ll head out into the field and do POTA.” Space weather had different ideas and has been horrible lately.

On May 2nd, I had my first failed POTA activation at Walden Pond State Reserve. I was trying to get a quick activation in on a mid-week day off before an afternoon Red Sox game. With horrible propagation and little time to experiment with equipment, modes and bands I had to pack up and call it quits after only two contacts.

With horrible propagation and little time to experiment with equipment, modes and bands I had to pack up and call it quits after only two contacts.

Don’t worry, the terrestrial weather was beautiful and I spent my afternoon at Fenway Park watching the Red Sox win. Here I am, near Pesky’s Pole representing our hobby with my Long Island CW Club t-shirt.

I try to remind myself that POTA actually takes some skill (and luck) and no activation attempt is guaranteed. I posted on the Fediverse and we had an amusing conversation about it.

Again, with a busy family schedule, I haven’t been able to get out to nearby Parks to play radio. I learned from my failed activation that I don’t like rushing. I like to have time to experiment and enjoy radio operation.

I don’t like rushing. I like to have time to experiment and enjoy radio operation

Going forward in the field

The poor space weather has been ongoing this Spring. But it will clear up. I purchased and plan to build QRPBuilder’s QBV 40m/20m-10m Switched Antenna kit. Pairing that antenna with my G90 should allow me to setup more quickly; I’m hoping that it encourages me to get into the field more often.

I also ordered a KH1 transceiver a few months back. They finally requested payment and I believe it will ship in the next week or so. With a KH1, I should be able to operate outdoors very easily and get on the radio even without an antenna setup and ready at home.

Summer goals

I definitely need to get the antenna situation fixed before the end of summer so I can operate through next winter!

First CW Only POTA Activation

Since getting back into amateur radio in December 2022 my goal has been to become proficient in Morse code (CW) so that I can activate a park as part of Parks on the Air.

This past Saturday, April 27, 2024, I activated my first park using CW only. I went to Minute Man National Historic Park and set up my homebrew quarter wave vertical antenna with my Xiegu G90 and began calling CQ.

Minute Man National Historic Park

I’m lucky enough to live about 5 miles from Minute Man National Historic Park. It’s a gem of a National Park where the opening battles of the American Revolution were fought on April 19, 1775. The Battle Road Trail is park’s most prominent feature, stretching about 5 miles. It connects historic sites from Meriam’s Corner in Concord to the eastern boundary of the park in Lexington, following the original route taken by British soldiers and colonial minutemen.

When I make a POTA visit, I like to set up at a picnic area near Hartwell Tavern. If the picnic tables are being used there are plenty of open spaces in that area I can set up in without disturbing other guests.

My Radio Setup

I was using my SP4 Magnetic Tension Paddle from CWMorse.us at 17 words per minute (WPM). It wasn’t long before POTA hunters started to find me and reach out to make contact.

I really appreciate how patient the hunters were as I fumbled with my logbook and Morse code paddle while trying to decode their call signs. I’m sure that I missed some hunters; I’ll get you in my logs next time.

I made 24 contacts total. Most were in the Continental United States and one contact was in Italy.

Thanks to IK1LBL in Italy who was awake and hunting POTA at 11PM Italian time.

CW Fun

I had a ton of fun activating my first park with CW only. When I set up my station I scanned the bands and SSB frequencies on 20 meters were absolutely jammed. CW frequencies were busy as well but there it wasn’t hard for me to my own piece of the spectrum.

I was worried about picking call signs out of large pile ups. I like to practice Morse code decoding by watching real-time CW POTA activators on YouTube (e.g., K4SWL, W4ARB). These POTA Activators are “Ham radio famous” and have to manage large pile-ups of Hunters when they’re activating parks. Although I did have some pile-ups when activating - they were not as large as the pile-ups that well known, activators are dealing with.

When I couldn’t pull a sign out of a pile-up I would pause and call CQ another time or I would send a questions mark. The next time I would usually be able to pick out a partial call sign to work with. Some Hunters from the first attempt probably moved on. That is fine with me.

I want to specifically thank Long Island CW Club. Their classes and coaching were critical to my progress in Morse code / CW so far. I highly recommend the club to anyone interested in radio and CW.

Moving Forward

Next time, I’ll slow down my keyer’s words per minute just a bit. I was a little nervous and I didn’t work my paddle as deftly as I would have liked. Slowing down will encourage me to take more time and key more cleanly. Hunters may also slow down which will allow me to request fewer repeats to decode their call signs.

I have a lot more to learn - this is just a first step. I’ll continue taking classes on-line and practicing on Learn CW Online.

HotSpot for Digital VHF Radio

In January I set up a digital VHF radio hotspot in my home. Hotspots are personal, low-power devices that allow amateur radio operators to connect their radios to the internet and access digital voice (DV) systems around the world. Hotspots act as a personal digital voice repeater and gateway, providing a way for hams to communicate using digital voice modes like DMR, D-STAR, and System Fusion, even if there is no local repeater available.

There are many VHF radio hotspots available. I ended up purchasing a Hamspot 4 Hotspot and am very happy with it. In this post I’ll share my setup and how I’m using my hotspot.

In this post I’ll share my setup and how I’m using my hotspot.

I’d love to hear from any readers who have experience with digital radio. How are you using it? What talkgroups are you linking to?

Hamspot 4 Hotspot

I purchased the Hamspot 4 Hotspot which is a Raspberry Pi computer with a duplex MMDVM board. An MMDVM stands for Multi-Mode Digital Voice Modem. Duplex means that the modem can transmit and receive at the same time. The Hamspot 4 Hotspot page says that it is loaded with PiStar software but it is actually loaded with WPSD, a next generation fork of PiStar.

My hotspot sits on my radio desk behind my grandfather’s call sign plaque. It’s plugged into a USB-C cable for power and connects to my Fios Router through the wall brushplate to my communications utility closet

The hotspot acts as a low powered repeater. 10 milliwatts of RF power covers my house and my yard. With the hotspot and my Yaesu FT5D I can talk worldwide.

Connecting to Maine

In the screenshot above you can see the browser based dashboard for my hotspot. I’ve configured it to connect to a Yaesu System Fusion repeater group covering Maine and New Hampshire (UFB New England network). Why not my local, Boston or Massachusetts networks? The Maine accents connect me with my home and remind me of time with my grandfather, Fred Bean, who’s VHF radio was always listening on the N1ME repeater.

A little (but not much) about my setup

I’m not going to walk you through how I’ve set up my FT5DR and WPSD. There are a ton of videos on YouTube about that. They describe it better than I probably can. When it comes to VHF digital modes, I’m very much an “appliance operator.” “Appliance operator” is sometimes a pejorative; saying that someone in the hobby just operates radio as an appliance, they don’t build their own gear or know what they’re doing. I believe that everyone has to start somewhere and any one person can’t know everything. Enjoy amateur radio however you choose. Everyone’s welcome.

Everyone has to start somewhere and any one person can’t know everything. Enjoy amateur radio however you choose. Everyone’s welcome

I have my hotspot transmitting on 446.500 MHz and receiving 5MHz lower (441.500 MHz). Using the FT5D’s built-in Wires-X features I can connect to talk groups around the world. I mostly hang out on the New England network (linked above) but sometimes participate in HRCC digital nets or pop onto European networks for fun.

How do you use digital radio?

Are there any other networks or talk groups I’m missing out on? Do you use digital amateur radio? If so, what are your thoughts?

Radio logging and mapping tools that I use

My radio logging practices are pretty basic. I’m writing this post for two reasons. To share what I’m using now and works for me. To begin a conversation and hear from other radio amateurs how they log their contacts and what works for them.

Logging contacts at home

When I’m at home, I log my contacts on QRZ.

Here’s a screen-shot of my QRZ logbook taken March 27, 2024. I pay $35 per year for QRZ’s “XML Logbook Data” which provides access to the QRZ Logbook and unlimited XML lookups. The unlimited XML lookups help greatly when I’m in the field where I use the HAMRS logging app (more below) which connects to QRZ’s callsign lookup service.

I have signed up for an account with the The ARRL Logbook of the World (LOTW) and have configured my QRZ logbook so that it can connect to LOTW and import and export my logged contacts. I synchronize my QRZ logs with LOTW about once per week.

Logging contacts in the field

When I’m in the field, I use the HAMRS application on my mobile phone or I write in a field notebook.

I like HAMRS because it works on my phone and will export logs in a format ready to upload to the POTA site.

I will write logs by hand into a Moleskine notebook or a Rite in Rain notebook. I really like to use KURU TOGA mechanical pencils.

If I’m operating alone with a good cell signal, I’ll use HAMRS on my phone. Otherwise, I’ll just write in my notebook. When I’m operating with other people ( Scouts) handing them the book and having them help you log contacts is a great way to involve your friends in your radio fun.

Once I’m home I’ll review my handwritten logs and enter them into HAMRS to upload to the POTA site and import into QRZ. HAMRS has a browser based version that I can use at home.

Sharing my logs with others

I like to share my logs online. My QRZ logs and POTA activity are embedded on the homepage of this site using HTML and Javascript macros. The POTA activity is provided by WD4DAN POTA Stats and QRZ provides a Logbook Widget.

Both the POTA and QRZ logs show the latest info. When I’m at home I log each contact in QRZ as I make them so my website shows a real time feed.

What I like and don’t like

The logging practices I’ve walked through above are mostly a result of me using the easiest tool for me as I was getting started (about a year ago). I know that there is more sophisticated logging software that will connect to my radio controls so that I don’t have to enter my frequency, power and mode each time I log a contact.

I began using QRZ because it was available (I already had a QRZ account) and easy to use. It still works for me.

I began using HAMRS because I saw other POTA users recommending it, it exports in POTA format and it works on my phone.

There are lots of other logging tools that I should look into but haven’t yet. I learned about some on the HRCC YouTube channel.

Logging tools I should probably look into are:

• Ham Radio Deluxe
• N3FJP
• N1MM
• CloudLog

I’d love to hear from other amateur radio operators. What logging tools do you use? Use the link at the bottom of the page to let me know via Mastodon.

What logging tools do you use? Use the link at the bottom of the page to let me know via Mastodon.

Other tools

Most of the maps I’ve show on this site are created using ADIF to Map Amateur Ham Radio Contacts by K2DSL

To create the image above, I export an ADIF file from QRZ and upload to the site above.

CW Slow Speed Test - Every Sunday night Eastern Time

Every Sunday evening I try to join K1USN’s slow speed CW test. This weekly event is “for those who prefer a more leisurely CW pace or are new CW operators or contesters”. This weekly event is just my speed and has been great for me to move beyond just doing CW POTA hunting.

This weekly event is just my speed, 20 words per minute or slower

Note that the SST CW tests are scheduled on Universal Time, so it starts 7PM Eastern Time or 8PM Eastern Time depending on whether we’re in Daylight Savings Time or not. I missed it last Spring so I made sure that it’s on my calendar with the timezone set to “Coordinated Universal Time”

The recommended SST exchange is documented on the site linked above. In practice I’ve found that most participants make the exchange shorter. They just exchange their call-sign, name and state. Like so:

CQer: CQ SST KA1ZPR
Responder: W1YTQ
CQer: W1YTQ Will ME
Responder: TU Chris MA
CQer: GL MA 73 de KA1ZPR

I exported the contacts that I’ve made in the CW SST so far.

If you want live help while participating in the the Slow Speed Test, I recommend joining the Long Island CW Club. During the weekly event there is a group that always jumps into classroom “Zoom B” to support each other and help new operators participate.

There are two SST events per week. If you’re in North America they’re every Sunday and Friday. I only do Sundays as that works best for my schedule.