Tag: funcomm

POTA Activation K-2169, Me, VaraC, 160 meters and more

This weekend I had the opportunity to activate Cloudland Canyon State Park in NW Georgia. It was a digi weekend with me running FT8 and experimenting with VaraC. I also tried a new antenna combination to see how it would work on 160 meters.

The weather. I book my campsites 4-6 months in advance so I take what I get when I go. This weekend called for rain Friday and was supposed to clear up Saturday PM. It didn’t. It drizzled/rained from the time I got there until 0200 hrs Sunday morning. Since I mingle FunComm with EmComm, this was another test of my gear. The only issue I had was I needed to better seal the window where my coax goes into the camper. You shouldn’t let the weather stop you from going as long as it’s safe. I go year round and because of that, I have a good understanding of my gear and my clothing under varying conditions.

The gear. The antenna was a Chameleon EmComm II ver. 1. This version had a clunky antenna wire and insulator that is more from permanent/semi-permanent installation so I didn’t use it much. This year, Chameleon had a Black Friday Sale of 25% off. I decided to upgrade the wire to a 60′ Kevlar with a winder. I also ordered their new 40-meter OCF dipole which will be used on SOTA activations. I had some 14 gauge Flexweave wire that I cut to 50′ for a counterpoise. My intention was to use this antenna down to 160 meters. I ran the antenna as an inverted “L” ish. The vertical portion went about 25′ up my mast and the horizontal portion was more of a slope and facing north. The nice part was that the entire antenna fit within my campsite. I used the lantern hook on the site to secure the antenna. For rope, I used #36 tarred bank line. The rope is a little sticky so it holds knots well and does not absorb water like para-cord does. I used a clove hitch to secure the antenna ring to the mast and it held fast. The Bank line has replaced all of my para-cord.

The radio was First Peter, my IC-7300 that I bought new in 2016. I use an LDG Z-11 Pro that I have had for 15+ years to keep everything matched up. I was running 25-35 watts. My other IC-7300 is Second Peter. My backup radio was my new KX2. I keep it in a backpack so it is easy to toss in the truck.

Propagation. It was different, not bad, but different. There was a lot of solar activity and I believe it pushed the MUF up above 20 MHz. I had a lot of success on the higher bands which is typically not the case in the winter. My antenna easily tuned 160 meters and I made about half a dozen contacts using FT8. How did I do? I started at about 2030 hrs UTC Friday and finished up at about 2200 hrs UTC Saturday afternoon. I made a total of 325 contacts covering 42 states and 12 countries. Some of the interesting (to me) DX was Angola and South Africa. Both of those stations called me. Angola was on 10 meters and South Africa was on 12. No DX on 40 meters. I had a Facebook request to work 40 meters for local contacts. I did my best but 40 was rather flat this time around. It had the second-highest count of contacts. Breakdown by band was: 10 meters – 18, 12 meters – 18, 15 meters – 13, 17 meters – 7, 20 meters – 136, 30 meters – 19, 40 meters – 90, 60 meters – 12, 80 meters – 6, and 160 meters – 6. One of the surprises other than the lack of low band activity was that 17 meters was fairly dead. Typically on an activation, my money bands are 17, 20, 30, and 40. This time only 20 and 40 panned out. I manage 10 bands at this park in case I want to go for another N1CC award.

VaraC. For the past week, I have been evaluating VaraC mainly for EmComm. There is a lot to like about it. For one thing, it uses the same modem as Winlink. If you have it set up for Winlink, you are good to go for VaraC. VaraC can upload files and low-res pictures. PSKReporter showed favorable propagation on 20 and 40 meters. I made a few contacts with it and did some beaconing. I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks like I can create a document in FLMsg, save it, send it via VaraC, and reverse the process at the other end. pretty nifty. I think pairing Winlink with VaraC just might be the ticket.

Recap. Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays this operator from completing his park activation… I had a lot of fun. I try not to let the elements stop me from doing what I like to do. 73 – Scott

EmComm and FunComm

As I have said earlier, I practice EmComm to prepare for natural or man-made disasters when normal means of communication fail. FunComm is pretty self-explanatory, it’s things I do for fun. Fun things may include POTA, Field Days (winter and summer), supporting bike rides, and other club activities. I always like it when I can blend the two together. When I participate in POTA either for a weekend camp-out or a day activation, isn’t it kind of a practice run for an EmComm event? I use the same antennas and most of the time the same radios. My equipment gets a good exercise and I learn more about how they operate under different conditions.

Recently, I bought a new camper, the old one wasn’t working well for the things I like to do. The new camper is so much better but not without its growing pains. I had to find a better way to use the radios inside the camper. To save words, here is a picture of what I have been using. It works okay but because it uses part of the bed, it made sleeping uncomfortable. After this last camp out when I woke up all sore and twisted feeling, I decided it was time to find a better way.

The new desk stacks the radio and power supply above the computer. This reduces the overhang on the mattress. The desk area for the paddle does overhang a little but sliding the desk to the right when not in use alleviates that.

The other thing I did was make a cut-out on the door side to make it easier to get my legs out. This works really well and does not impair the stability of the desk.

The last thing is the main desk is 30″ deep and the shelf is 20″ deep. This leaves plenty of room for the radios and enough room to slide the computer under the shelf if I need the desk space for something else.

Sitting behind the desk, the radio controls were easy to get to.

The desk is made from one sheet of 3/4″ plywood with (2) 1×3″x8″ boards. The stain was a can of Minwax I had laying around, I think it was Golden Oak.

Construction was simple, using hand tools found in most garages. It is not a piece of art, I don’t have the time. My philosophy is that “Perfection is the enemy of good enough”. The desk is glued, screwed, and nailed without any fancy joinery. If I waited until I had time to do a better job, the wood would still be at Lowe s.

I tried it out in the driveway and everything works and feels good. The radio is easy to get to and the computer is a little high but not uncomfortable. With the cut-out, it is easy to get in and out of the camper. The next test will be at the end of the month during my next camping trip. Hope to hear you out there. 73 – Scott