Tag: elecraft

POTA FunComm with EmComm Practice

This past weekend I spent some time at Florence Marina State Park US-2174. It had been a while since I had a chance to get out and I felt the need for a shakedown cruise. Peak hurricane season is just a couple of weeks away and I wanted to make sure I was ready. While most people connect hurricanes with the summer season, September is acutally the busiest month.

I usually work FT8 as a digital mode when doing a POTA activation but I wanted to test out my other modes making sure my radio system (radio, computer, antenna, etc) was in good working order.

I have been busy the past couple of months working on some projects on the EmComm side of the house and I haven’t had the opportunity to test my portable gear. In particular, I haven’t had the chance to use my Elecraft K3 with digital modes. It is a great radio so I took it and the manual with me. For EmComm, always bring the manual. My antenna was my 28.5′ random wire vertical with a 17′ counterpoise. This is a good antenna for parks as it does not put wires in the trees nor holes in the ground. Being a vetical, it does tend to be more Dx than local. If I need more local operation, I have other antennas I can use. Attached to the antenna is a homemade 9:1 UnUn and a 1:1 current BalUn. Coax was RG-8x fed into the back of the K3. The auto-tuner on the K3 is fairly wide ranging so an external tuner is not needed. This configuration allowed me to work 40-10 meters easily. My spare radio was an Elecraft KX2.

I used mains power at the campsite however, my two Honda generators will power the camper and the radios.

Band conditions were poor, you can’t pick the conditions when responding to a disaster. I booked this campsite a couple of months in advance. When I deployed to Hurricane Katrina, I had similar band conditions. You work with what you got.

I spent some time setting up the radio to run on digital, it took me about 10 minutes to get it sorted. I worked through my apps starting with Winlink. I didn’t update my propagation chart, so I had to download it via radio. I had to hunt around to find a node to connect to. Band conditions again made things difficult. I did manage to connect to a node in TX on 20 meters. I was able to get the report and send an email. Next up was VarAC. It started right up and I sent a few beacons and checked it on PSKReporter.

I had 1 bar on my cell phone and was able to get the map copied before it winked out again. Vara is a great mode and has weak signal propagation very close to JS8Call. From my experince, it is less than 1 S-unit difference.

Later that evening, I checked into one of my EmComm nets using FLdigi. Along with FLdigi, I use FLrig, FLmsg and FLamp. All worked well except that the band condtions prevented 100% copy. The rest of the time I was on FT8. the bands were up and down and the only band producing anything was 20 meters. I only made 161 contacts. On a weekend with normal band conditions I would get between 400-600 contacts. I decided to call it quits late Saturday afternoon and head home. Besides the poor band conditions, it was oppressively hot and humid. There is only so much you can do inside a small camper. Here is the QSO map for the trip.

As you can see, really strange propagation. It was almost like someone built a wall SW to NE. My antenna is normally omni-directional.

It was a good trip and I managed to check all the boxes I needed to check. if you are involved in EmComm or if you live in an area prone to hurricanes, now is the time to check your gear. For those living in a hurricane prone area, make sure you have a spare antenna, tucked away somewhere. Take it out check it and run it with your radio on the bands you think you will be using. Hurricanes can and will take out you antenna farm. Don’t forget to check out the video. Stay safe and stay ready de Scott

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

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