activation – Page 6

Carlos Goes Under the Knife

Carlos is my Elecraft K3…”cause he’s so smooth”. I’ve had Carlos since June, 2023. He came to me as a basic 10 watt K3. He had the 144 MHz K144XV, the KXV3 interface option and 2, 5-pole filters. I got the radio in a trade. Owning a K3 always lingered in the back of my mind, so I took the trade. That started my journey.

Carlos has gone through several iterations since I got him. First I swapped out the 2, 5-pole filters for 5, 8-pole filters (2.8 KHz, 2.1 KHz, 1.0 KHz, 400 Hz, and 250 Hz). Second, I added the KAT3 autotuner. I wanted the internal tuner so I would have less stuff to fool with when using antennas like my random wire. My next upgrade was to add the KSYN3A synthesizer and KIO3B interface. This brought my radio up to a K3S. Finally, I added the KPA3 – 100 watt internal amplifier. I wanted the amp for a couple of reasons. I enjoy Winter Field Day and ARRL Field Day with my club, the West Georgia Amateur Radio Society. I am currently one of 2 CW ops in the club so I usually run CW to help with multipliers. The QSK, the filters, and the ability to run near other radios makes it a no brainer. Also, when I operate portable while camping, I like to run a little more power than QRP; usually in the 20-35 watt range. That is more than enough power for CW. I did all the mods myself and found them pretty straight forward. Elecraft did an excellent job kitting and making the instructions. The couple times I had an issue and they were mine, Elecraft did an excellent job helping me work through it. I did have to send it in last year because of a goof I made, but while it was in the shop, they completely went over the radio and brought it up to spec.

Carlos does scratch a couple of itches. To me, it is like owning a vintage car. It has a nostalgic look and feel about it. The radio was produced from 2008 until about 2015 when the K3S came out. Mine is a later edition with the serial number 8640. The radio is a generation or more older than the current flock of radios. Like a vintage car, I may have more money into it than I should have, but if only accounting for the enjoyment factor, it is money well spent.

I was first licensed in 1995 and my first radio was an old TenTec Omni D. The K3 has a similar look and feel as the old TenTec allowing me to reminisce about all the fun I had as a Tech+ making my first HF contacts using CW. During that time I worked second shift. When I came home from work at night I was able to slip on a pair of headphones and make contacts wihtout disturbing the family until I was sleepy enough to go to bed. My first DX contacts happened then. The K3 gives me the form factor of the older radios with the performance of the newer radios. One other difference is the ergonomics of the K3, which is best in class.

I was considering acquiring an older radio for fun and the K3 fell into my lap. It has become one of my favorite radios. I use it portable for things like POTA and Field Day. Because of its QSK, it is my favorite CW radio. When not in the field, it resides on my desk as a part of the home team. I have a set of paddles and a sideswiper hooked up to it. Hopefully I will get some time today to have some CW fun. 73 — Scott

KN4YB DL-151RA Bug

I am still very new to bugs. This is my first one ever. I set it up by myself after watching a 5 minute video from Tom KN4YB. I am sure that with practice and experience I can tune the bug even more, but for a beginner, I was able to get the speeds from 13 to 30 wpm without much issue.

Because I can change speeds fairly quickly, it lends itself to activities like SKCC where there is a wide range of operator experience. I try to match the speed of the other party as best I can.

Here is a short video showing how I set up the bug for different speeds. This is by no means the only way to do it nor even the right way. However, It could be considered a good baseline for others like me just getting started. 73 — Scott

Bit by the Bug

Over the past couple of days I have been trying my new keys. One is a bug and the other is a single lever/sideswiper. I kind of switch back and forth between then as well as use my paddles. I am the zippyest with my paddles so far. So here are some of my first impressions.

Single Lever/Sideswiper. It’s okay. Coming from years of paddle use, it seems it takes more effort to run a sideswiper. Between my paddles/keys, it is the slowest. I can run around 17 wpm. I also seem to be more error prone. In single lever mode, again it’s okay. I have trouble in my head switching from sideswiper to single lever. I could probably train out of it. I think the bottom line is, if I continue to use the key, it will be as a single lever.

Next up is the bug or semi-automatic key. A bit of history. Even though I wasn’t licensed until 1995. I built a Heathkit HW-8 in the early 80’s and was interested in amateur radio since the 60’s. Back then there weren’t electronic keyers or paddles. I was very enamored the Vibroplex key. I thought they were so cool. When I finally got licensed I started out with paddles. The philosophy I followed was start with the key/paddle type you intend to use from the beginning. I have been a paddle guy since 1995 until now. With my venture into SKCC, I needed a key. I was always a little intimadated by bugs. They were complex, had to be set-up and required additional skill to run one. I held off until now.

I was in for a pleasant surprise, I got one of Tom’s KN4YB’s bugs and after watching a YouTube video by him to help me set it up. I was off and running.

The conversion from paddle to bug was pretty easy. I was worried about my dah spacing after hearing some not-so-good bug operators, but what I discovered was my years of paddle use kind of ingrained my dit/dah spacing in my head.

After some practice and adjustment I tried the bug on my code-buddy. I did forewarn him I was using a bug for the first time. I set the bug for about 17 wpm. With my current setup,by moving the weights, I can go from 17 to about 21 wpm. By altering the setup, the bug has a range from 13 wpm up to about 40 wpm. I started the QSO, and afterwards, I called him on the phone for a critique. He said he wrote down my side of the QSO and only missed one letter. It was an “S” for an “I” in the word rain. That was also an SKCC contact (my first) and I passed my SKCC number to him. Besides being able to run the bug at the same speeds as my paddles; I am comfortable with the bug at 20 wpm, it also seems easier to transition from bug to paddles and back.

It appears I am bitten by the bug. My IC-7610 and my K3(s) have both a straight key and a paddle input so I can leave both hooked up at the same time ready to go. I am in a CW Innovations class and one of my goals is to get my copy speed above 25-27 wpm. Those speeds are very doable with the bug and the paddle. Because of the size and design of my bug (model DL-151RA) It is easily field portable. I am going to get a small padded case for it and take it to a park.

A new key, a new venue, and a new adventure awaits. Retirement is grand. I am having a blast. Stay safe, play nice and 73 — Scott

Maybe It’s time for a change

I feel a shift in the winds. Maybe it’s time to chart a new course. I feel if I continue on the current heading, I will end up in the doldrums. Not a good place. Parks on the Air (POTA) using CW has become stale. There is more to CW than a contest-like exchange. I have also noticed that the pile-ups in POTA have become a little more unruly. When this happens, it can extend the pileup time to double or triple what it used to be. CW pileups work well when each station sends their call once and not two or three times. Couple multiple calls with tail-ending, and a pileup could go on from close to a minute. These multiple calls often QRM the activator so no one can hear him, causing him to repeat the call they have chosen. While there aren’t any fast rules, there is an art to working a pileup from either end and, adapting to the ebb and flow of the pileup is key.

So where am I today? I think I need to try something different, not real different, just not what I’m doing now. After 1,000+ POTA CW contacts, I think I got it. Activations are still a bit of a challenge, but, it’s still just an exchange. I am currently enrolled in a CWI course to help break out of my stagnation. I want to become more conversational with CW, much like I was years ago. But insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. This means I have to do something different than POTA, or SOTA for that matter.

My first step was to join the Straight Key Century Club (SKCC). SKCC does not allow any electronic means of sending CW. They allow 3 types of keys: straight key, sideswiper, and a bug. Yep, it takes a little more skill to run one of those babies. Twenty-eight plus years ago when I was a Tech+ I used Iambic Paddles and have used them since. I have another challenge, learn how to run a mechanical key. Couple that with learning to become more conversational should keep me busy for a while. I am also hoping that jumping backwards over the technological barrier, may be a place where things are a little less hectic.

I am looking at several different mechanical keys and when I get one (or more) they will show up here on the blog. Learning to use a mechanical key will be like learning a new musical instrument — how fun! I will still do POTA and SOTA, but I plan on opening new avenues to adventure. Hope to hear you out there. 73-Scott

The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat – or is it

I had good intentions today. When I went for my morning walk it was 8 degrees F and with the windchill, somewhere around zero. This was one of the coldest days I have ever experienced in Georgia. I have been colder, but not here. To celebrate a how low can you go day, I decided on a park activation. During my CW Innovations (CWI) Class I wished to try to make a day activation each week of the class.

Today, it was back to JL Lester Wildlife Management Area. It’s still the closest and I had pretty good luck there last time. I wanted to go over my random wire antenna since I wrote about it in my last blog. Everything was going along swimmingly until I tried to remove the trailer hitch from the receiver — it was frozen in place. Which meant I couldn’t use my K4SWL+ Antenna. Luckily, I had my Frankentenna in the back and broke it out. I ran it in stealth mode :Frankentenna Stealth Mode I hooked everything and away I went, or I didn’t.

I’m not sure what was happening, but I was not making any POTA contact. I don’t think I was making into the RBN either. I did get one hit on HamAlert from the Cayman Islands. I didn’t know if I wasn’t getting out or that there were not a lot of POTA hunters operating today. The bands did sound quiet. So thinking POTA today was a bust, I spun the dial and a guy calling CW on 20 meters. I gave a shout and he came right back to me. We had a nice QSO for about 10 minutes until QRM kicked in. We were both operating QRP from a park and we both had a KX2. Obviously, the radio worked and I was getting out. The thrill of victory is that I made an actual CW QSO and not just an exchange. First time in many years. It is this sort of activity that CWI encourages. So, I broke the ice and did it, usually it gets easier after the first one. One of my goals this year is to get more conversational with CW. I have taken the first step.

K4SWL+ Antenna

On a recent post on QRPER.com, Teri KO4WFP was at a park in Florida that did not allow wires (or anything else) in their trees. Many POTA activators use End Fed Half Wave antennas which usually require one end in a tree. While it doesn’t happen at all parks, not being able to hoist your antenna could bust an activation.

I realized this may happen to me even though Georgia appears to be pretty lenient when it comes to such matters, I decided to switch to a park friendly antenna. I have been a fan of QRPER.com for quite some time and occasionally Thomas will repost something from my humble blog. That being said, it was K4SWL that got me started using a random wire antenna. My basis for my antenna was his speaker wire antenna which was a 28.5’ vertical antenna with a 17’ counterpoise. I used it a few times in that configuration and then started to modify it. I call this antenna my K4SWL+.

Some of the differences are I use a push-up pole to get the antenna in the air and at the base I use a 9:1 UnUn and a 1:1 Choke to keep RF out of the radio. A random wire antenna can feed RF back into the coax.

The wire is 14 ga. coated flex weave from The Wireman. This was left over wire from some other antenna projects. When I started this project I was using 22-24 ga. coated wire from SOTABeams but realizing there was no need to save weight, used the heavier wire. This allows me to dual purpose the antenna both for FunComm and EmComm. The insulator at the top is 3D printed with my call-sign and the base is U-type lugs. I find these are the best as I do not have to take the nut off of the antenna studs and if pulled hard will come loose instead of damaging the UnUn. I connect the antenna to the top of the push-up pole with a small Nite-eze “S-biner” size 1.

The 9:1 UnUn comes from Palomar Engineering. I have already created a blog post about how to build it and it can be found here: http://[https://kk4z.com/2022/05/28/91-unun-qro/]

Part of this blog post was to bring the different components together into one blog post.

The 1:1 Choke can be found here: [https://kk4z.com/2022/08/15/lightweight-choke-balun/]

I made two different types but I found the second works much better.

The project is pretty easy, the only caveat is to pay attention to what wire goes where. Putting it all together, you need a push-up pole, a Flag holder and maybe a trailer hitch extender. I will provide links below. The Flag Pole holder I used was not available so the link I used is a probable substitute. I have a trailer hitch on both my truck and my camper, When I pull into a campsite I have a choice of which hitch to use to keep my antenna clear from the trees. With the antenna up, I wrap the antenna wire around the push-up pole from tip to base, to prevent the wire from sagging near the tip. I attach the UnUn and choke to the mast with Stretch Velcro Straps. With my antenna up I have park employees drive by me all day along. Most of the time we exchange a friendly wave and occasionally one will stop by for a chat. I have had zero issues with this antenna at any of the parks I have visited.

How does it play? It has pretty much been a main antenna for just about all of my POTA activations. You can go back through my blog post and see what equipment I used with the antenna and the accompanying QSOMap. You do need an antenna tuner with this antenna and I typically use an LDG Z-11 Pro which I’ve had for 15+ years. The antenna tunes up from 80 to 6 meters and I have run the power as high as 65 watts. I normally run 10-35 watts depending on band conditions. I have tried it on 160 meters and while I can get a match, I don’t think much RF is leaving the antenna. I’ve made a few contact with it on 160. If you like to work 160 meters during a POTA activation, I suggest a Chameleon EmComm II with a 60’ antenna and a 50’ counterpoise. I run it as an inverted L with the apex about 20’ up my push-up pole and the end sloping down to something not a tree. Last time I tied it to the lantern stand at the campsite. It worked pretty well and I was able to make contacts on 160.

If you’re looking for an antenna that you can set up almost anywhere, with little or no hassles, take a look at this one. Don’t forget to check out the short video below. 73 — Scott

14 ga. Flexweave
Nite-Ize-Size-1-S-Biner
Jackite 31′ Pushup Pole
Flagpole Holder
Hitch Extender
Stretch Velcro Straps

Bits and Bobs

This morning I started waxing philsophically about kits and kitting. Some folks prefer to build a separate kit for each radio or each adventure. That can be a fun past time itself. I have tried that and it doesn’t work well for me (YMMV your milage may vary). When I do an activation or for that matter when I am hunting from home, I like to be familiar with my equipment. I like to know what it can and can’t do. One negative about multiple kits is you don’t put your hands on them as much which means they don’t get inspected or checked for damage, dead batteries etc. as much. I’ve seen many times where someone brought one of these kits to the field and something was missing, broken or dead, and they couldn’t get on the air.

This probably goes back to my Army days. We were issued one set of gear and that’s what we used. You knew how every thing worked and your kit was inspected frequently . A good example is my pocket knife of choice. While in the Army, I always carried a Swiss Army knife (SAK). It was used daily for a multitude of tasks. I developed a close relationship with SAKs. Forward to today, even though I can afford fancier knives and I have a few, my Every Day Carry (EDC) is still mostly a SAK. Why? Because I know the knife. I know the steel, how they are built and how to various blades work. For a while I was a UH-60A Blackhawk Crew-chief and the SAK was routinely used to work on the aircraft. Today, a SAK Small Tinker resides in my pocket. I have carried SAKs for over 50 years.

Back to radio stuff, I feel the same way. Even though I have quite a few antennas, I stick to a few that really work for me. I like going on an activation, knowing how my gear is going to work. Today, I was musing that I had my KX2 in its bag that came with the radio. It’s a nice bag but it’s a little tight fitting in my back pack. I decided to put some of the gear in a separate smaller bag. I have a 3D printed face cover and BNC connector cover to protect the radio bits so I can place the radio in my bag by itself. I also thought that my little QRP radios (KX2, IC-705, and QMX) use much of the same gear so I made one bag that all 3 radios can use. Then, when I go an activation, I can just swap out the radio and not worry about leaving something behind. Here is my new radio bag and list. For the rest of the pack contents see my blog post AAR on Bald Mountain: https://kk4z.com/2023/11/23/aar-bald-mountain/

The bag is a Condor Belt pouch. Nothin fancy, but sturdy enough and mashable enough to fit nicely in my backpack. Both my IC-705 and KX2 have a Begali Adventure mount and the Adventure paddle can be hand held. One thing not shown is an anti-slip pad that I use when operating from inside the truck. Here is the rest of the kit:
3’ RG-316 jumper
15” RG-316 with choke
Throw line and weight
Extra Bank Line
Begali Adventure Paddle
28.5 Random Wire Antenna with 17’ Counterpoise
Wire to BNC Adapter
BNC to SO-239 adapter
BNC to BNC adapter
3’ 3.5 mm Stereo Cable
Earbuds
Power Cable for there IC-705
Power Cable for the KX2 and QMX

My backpack stays packed and ready to go complete with a radio. Because it gets used often, I do not worry if the gear is ready, I just grab and go. Part of my Army training that has stuck with me, is I go through my gear when I come back from the field and get it ready for next time. As I said earlier, I plan on doing a one day activation a week along with one weekend activation a month. 72 — Scott

Day Activation at JL Lester WMA K-3756

Going with my goal to improve my CW skills I set out this morning to a nearby WMA for a POTA activation. It is the closest one to my house but it is still 30 miles away. CW is a participation sport, and like many things, in order to get better, you must practice. One of the things I have done was to sign up for a CW class in this case CW Innovations. One of the things CWI stresses is getting on the air and making contacts. I believe in that, and part of me joining CWI was forcing me to practice what I preach. The course is 10 weeks long starting next Monday. It is my plan to try to get out and make one day activation a week along with practicing from home. I like to activate but sometimes I get distracted at home and other things take precedence. By setting a schedule, I hope to break the pattern.

The JL Lester is a small WMA and I chose the less populated parking area. It’s a quiet place. My antenna was my 28.5’ random wire. It’s the easiest antenna I have to set up. It takes a few minutes and puts no wires in the trees nor holes in the ground. A win-win for everyone. The antenna is a permanent resident of my truck. The radio for this trip was my Elecraft KX2. It is a perfect radio for a short duration activity. Hook up the antenna and plug the paddle into the radio; I’m in business.

I was set up by mid-morning and thought I would start on 40 meters. Forty was already dead so I moved up to 20 meters and jackpot! I had quite a flurry of activity. I kept my speed at 18 wpm. Slow enough for those still around 15-16 wpm but fast enough for zippy guys. It can get hard to adjust your speed. I often falter when going from 16 wpm to 22 wpm. The band was in okay shape. There was a bit of QSB which made hearing some of the stations a little difficult. There was also some pile-up QRM. I really prefer it if everyone would send their call once and let me grab one. Sending a call 2-3 times slows down the whole process. I have to wait for everyone to stop sending before I can respond. Like today, most times, I stay on long enough to work everyone in the pile-up. Today I stayed on until no one was calling and then went QRT.

It was a pretty fast run, I made 32 contacts in less than 50 minutes. Could have made a few more if…

Below is a QSO map and a short video describing the activation. Thanks to all for your patience. I had some trouble with a few call signs due to QSB and a short between the ear cups. Hope to see hear you out there next week. 72 — Scott

The long and the short of it

My first campout for 2024 was at Vogel State Park located at the base of Blood Mountain in the Chattahoochee National Forest. It is Georgia’s second oldest state park having been established in 1931. The park contains 233 acres and includes a 22 acre lake. The park has camping, picnicking, hiking, and is known for its spectacular fall foliage. Nearby, the alpine village of Helen provides various attractions and good food. Be sure to check out the German Bakery/guesthouse.

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to improve my CW skills.
This weekend, it was going to be a me and the key weekend. I am going to spend the weekend only doing CW (or so I thought). Over the past year, I used a lot of FT8 mainly because the bands were in poor shape during my camping trips. I still plan to use FT8 some but for the most part it will be CW. In addition, to help me improve my skill, I signed up for a class with CW Innovations. It is a 10 week intensive CW course. My hope is to get my speed up to where I can do the occasional contest. Those contest boys are pretty zippy.

The weather for the trip was iffy. Friday night, the park was under a winter weather advisory with freezing rain predicted. I try not to let weather stop me from an activity. When I was in the Army, they never called off a field problem due to weather. Today , while I err on the side of safety, I still go regardless of the weather. It teaches the limits of my equipment and me.

I decided to bring the Elecraft Brothers. My K3(S)/10 and my KX2. In addition to running CW, I also plan on operating at QRP levels. This is not much less than I usually run while camping which is about 25-35 watts. My antenna ended up being my 28.5 Foot random wire antenna with a 17 foot counterpoise. I also brought my EmComm II which has better NVIS capability. Often my campsite dictates which antenna I use (I ended up using the random wire due to space constraints and the chance for freezing rain). I will be using a notepad and my Lenovo T14 for logging.

It all started out innocently enough. I was finishing up a bout with the Flu which was probably Covid, and thought I was well enough to make the trip. I reserved the campsite months ago and I figured I could give it a go and if things went south, I could come home the next day.

As soon as the sun went down and the winds picked up I was not feeling well. I ended up with a scratchy throat and associated coughing along with a good case of the chills. No matter how I tried, I could not get warm. My camper has two good heaters, my small ceramic heater which is usually more than enough and the built-in overhead heater/AC unit which will bring the camper up over 90 degrees. Even with both running, I still felt chilled. It was already starting to rain so I had to wait until morning to pack things up. It was not a fun night.

The second big thing to happen was me not making any CW contacts. I called and called Friday night and only made one contact. Cell service was sketchy so it was difficult to check if I was being picked up by the RBN network. I was running 10 watts which usually is enough to at least make the required number of contacts. I was stumped. By the way, on Saturday morning, I made contact with the NCS of the EmComm net I check into on CW and LSB. Hmmm! Back to Friday night. I had about an hour and a half to make the other 9 contacts for a valid activation.

I didn’t want to do it, but I switched over to FT8. I did it to see what was going on out there and to make enough for a valid activation. My FT8 app lit up like a Christmas tree. I had contacts from the west coast and Europe with points in-between to include Canada. What a head scratcher. I’ll include a a QSO map below.

The only thing I can think of is the propagation was not falling on the ears of the hunters and with spotty cell service I could see I wasn’t making it into the RBN. The park sets down in the mountains a bit but it has had 137 valid activations so the signal does get out. It is funny that I could check into my EmComm net with the NCS in SC and not work more than one hunter.

Saturday morning, I packed up after the rain stopped and headed for the house. Back home and under the care of my good wife I began to recover. I still have some gear to dry out and a few things to fix, but that can wait a day. You can’t always have a great activation. While I planned to have a “me and the key” weekend, I was glad to have the ability to operate FT8 which saved the day. Sometimes, a little extra planning makes the difference. I enjoyed the weekend, even though I wasn’t feeling well. A little adversity does add spice to life. Till next time 72 — Scott

I was extra good this year

I hope everyone has had a very Merry Christmas and is looking forward to a Happy New Year. For those not celebrating Christmas, I wish you a joyous holiday season. Bah, Humbug! Is not in my volcabuary this year.

Back in early December, I ordered another Begali Paddle. This time I ordered an Expedition. As you can see in the photos, it was done in Turtle with my Callsign engraved. As a surprise Christmas Gift, my wife paid for them! She’s a keeper. I am planning on pairing the Paddles with my K3(s)/10 radio. I like to keep a set of paddles with each of my portable radios – all set and ready to go.

The Begali’s are a wonderful family. Whenever I order a set of paddles from Begali, Bruna always ensures that I get what I want and we often exchange multiple emails throughout the process. I now own 4 Begali paddles. Her last email was a request that I let her know I received the paddles. I will send her a link to this blog post.

Why the Expedition? I wanted a set of heavy paddles to take with me on POTA activations and both of the Field Days. Weight is not an issue when carrying my kit a short distance. Having heavier paddles keeps them from moving around. I wanted a set of paddles that could take a little knocking around common to portable operations. According to the Begali website: The Expedition is a no-frills high-performance key. It is rugged enough, and not too expensive, to be tossed into the baggage for a DX expedition. Along with the paddles I received a nice Christmas card, care instructions, a microfiber cloth, a cable, and a pen. I ordered some CRC 3-36 oil for the paddles to keep them looking good. I wasn’t sure about the Turtle finish when I ordered them, but hey, you only live once. When I opened the box, I was amazed at how good they looked. The marbling effect has a nice patina and is somewhat subdued. Understated would be a good word to describe the finish. I am very pleased with the finish and the engraving.

How do they play? Very well thank you. The paddles come set up, ready to go, with the contacts closed during shipment to prevent damage. My adjustment is simple. From closed contacts, I back them off until I stop hearing the dits (or the dahs) and I am good to go. I nice feature about the Begali’s is they all have a similar feel. I have no issues going from one set to another. I received my paddles on the 23rd and as a part of my family tradition we open gifts on Christmas Eve. This dates back to my great-grandfather whose birthday was on the 24th. I did spend some time last night trying the paddles out and for portable rugged paddles, they are as smooth as silk.

I have been off the air these past few weeks, mainly due to the holidays, I am getting on the air today to reconnect with friends on the POTA-verse. One of my goals for 2024 is to get better on CW and the only way to do that is to get on the air.

I want to take a moment and thank everyone I have made contact with and especially those that visit this website. It’s you that keeps me going. Starting mid-January, I will be enrolled in a CW Innovations class to help with my new years resolution. I am looking forward to making new friends and new code buddies. 73 de Scott