kk4z – Page 5

POTA/SOTA Antennas and More

My amateur radio club, West Georgia Amateur Radio Society (WGARS) decided to participate in Winter Field Day. We are going to operate from Talladega National Forest in Alabama. It doesn’t take much to get me out in the woods with a radio. As a club, we will be operating QRP and I will be doing CW.

Since joining POTA, I have been more inclined to build things. I had forgotten how much fun this can be. So today, I thought I would build a couple of antennas for the outing. My first antenna will be a replacement for my speaker wire non-resonant vertical. The idea came from Thomas K4SWL using speaker wire. It was an okay antenna but it was bulky and heavier (12 oz.) than I wanted it to be.

A British company, SOTA-Beams sells some remarkably thin antenna wire. It is insulated and approximately 24 AWG. The best part is they sell a 100 meters for $10.37 and their shipping rates are reasonable. You can find it here: https://www.sotabeams.co.uk/antenna-wire-lightweight-100m/.

A non-resonant antenna is an antenna that is not resonant on any of the frequencies you plan to use. In non- resonant antennas only forward waves exist. A non-resonant antenna radiates as well as a resonant one. Here is what I started out with.

The end insulator and the wire winders were 3D printed by my son. The battery is for scale. The antenna length is approximately 28-29 feet and the counterpoise is approximately 17 feet. Putting it together was straight forward with the end result looking like this. It weighs 3 oz.

I have discovered that I like working the low bands while on a POTA activation. It takes a little more doing as the antennas get more complex and heavier. My Frankentenna can reach 160 meters but it is a pretty heavy antenna. Again, taking a clue from K4SWL, I acquired a piece of military surplus radio gear. I found an antenna winder for a dipole that is fed with 30 feet of twinlead. I got excited! A doublet is one of my favorite wire antennas as the vertical element can also radiate giving you some DX capability. It will also tune a broader range of frequencies than a dipole. Here is what I started out with.

Note that it is made by the Hughes Aircraft company. I cut the wire at 67 feet per side which should give me an approximately 132 foot dipole. I should be good to go down into the CW portion of 80 meters. While it won’t be efficient, I am thinking I can get an impedance match on 160 meters with my Elecraft T-1 or AH-705 tuner. A half wave dipole for 160 meters is about 270 feet and would be too unwieldy for the field. Getting things hooked up was straightforward.

Everything wraps on the winder. I added a balanced to BNC adapter and two 25 foot lengths of reflective cord I picked up at Tractor Supply. It all weighs 1 lb 3 oz and it all fits in a gallon size freezer bag.

There will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 operators at our site, so I don’t know if I will have the room to get the big antenna up. I hope so.

In case you couldn’t tell, I am a big fan of Ziplock Freezer bags in the quart and gallon sizes. They are tough, waterproof and cheap. I buy them in bulk at Sam’s Club. When one wears out, I pull a new one from the box.

Low band POTA activations can be a challenge, but not impossible. My activation at Ft Mountain State Park in GA. proved that. I am one step closer to being ready for Winter Field Day. Should be a lot of fun. It’s supposed to be cold (cold for us southerners) Night time in the mid 20’s and daytime south of 50 degrees. I’ve lived in cold climates; but, what will get me is my hands. I get pretty fumble-fingered on the paddles when my hands get cold. Thank goodnes for propane heaters. We will be operating under the callsign W4D and hopefully be turning in a log to POTA as well. Hope to hear you out there.

POTA Activation K-3756 JL Lester WMA

I had a doctors appointment in the morning so that kind of scrambled my day. I decided to attempt a quick activation using my new IC-705 with the AH-705. Today was the best day to do it because we are supposed to get some real winter weather starting tomorrow. I’m not opposed to winter weather, I do not like driving around with a bunch of folks who are. And yes, true to southern tradition, people are at the stores buying milk, bread, and eggs. Can never to too sure.

The J. L. Lester Wildlife Management Area is located in Polk County, GA near Cedartown. It is 477 acres with hunting and fishing opportunities. Even though I wasn’t hunting or fishing, I am required to have either a hunting or fishing license, or a land pass. The land pass is $30 and the hunting or fishing license is $15 per year. I became a fisherman. I parked in a parking area near the eastern boundary. I was nice and quiet.

The setup was simple, the IC-705 running off of its own battery, N0SA paddles, AH-705 tuner and a Spark Plug EFHW with 65 feet of Buddipole antenna wire. The coax is RG-316. This is the first time I used the Spark Plug antenna. I hoisted the antenna wire about 20 feet up into a tree, and tied the Spark Plug off near my truck.

Here is the complete antenna set-up.

The setup in the truck was pretty simple. I used my center console desk and logged with paper. During the activation the AH-705 was on the passenger seat. Using the desk with the radio on it made it a little tipsy so for the photo, the AH-705 was a counter-balance. I will remedy this next time with a bungee cord. I had the earphones out; however, the IC-705 had enough volume for these not so good ears so the earphones were not needed.

I also discovered that I didn’t need the clock as the time on the IC-705 was easy to see.

How did everything play? Quite well actually, the AH-705 tuned the EFHW for the first time in less than 2 seconds. I was impressed. The AH-705 is more like a miniature AH-4. I have an AH-4 and it is a very capable tuner. I am looking forward to see how well the AH-705 compares to the AH-4.

One of the reasons I brought the IC-705 was for the keyer memories. I use keyer memories quite a bit. Using memories eases the QSO workflow. I started on 40 meters hoping to get 10 activations and if not maybe move to another band. However, I had a nice pileup going on for about 35-45 minutes and ended up with 21 QSO’s. As suddenly as it started, it stopped. I called CQ twice with no answer and then pulled the plug. the antenna and 5 watts were more than ample. Here is a map of the contacts.

Packing up was a breeze, all my Icom stuff fits into one case. The only things that are not included is the antenna and coax.

All in all it was a great activation. It lasted just long enough and no one was left behind. I can see where the the IC-705 is moving up the ranks as my POTA radio of choice. Because I am very familiar with the Icom architecture, using it is almost second nature.

As I was packing up Marty K4JMG stopped by to say hello before he started his activation at the same place. We chatted a while and swapped a few tales. Marty and I belong to the same ham radio club. It is always good to see him.

Thanks to all those who hunted me, I enjoyed the QSO’s. See you down the log.

IC-705 Stand

I bit the bullet and ordered an Icom IC-705. It really was a no-brainer for me as I already have several Icom radios. I have had other brands, but I keep going back to Icom. Anyhow, once I got the radio I needed a stand to keep it tilted at the right angle. There isn’t a whole lot out there. The commercial stands are rather pricey, and the 3D printed versions are nice but my son’s 3D printer is down for maintenance and upgrades.

I had a $30 gift card from Tractor Supply I received for Christmas, so off I popped. The stand is made from 1/16″ thick, 1″ x 1″ angle aluminum cut to 2″ long. I got a 48″ piece for 10 bucks. While there I picked up some M4 x 10 machine screws and some M4 washers (about another 2 bucks. Icom gives you the dimensions for all the mount holes in their manual.

I cut it to length, drilled the holes and then did a nice deburr on it. Needle files and a Dremel work great here. I then lightly sanded the whole piece and cleaned it with non-chlorinated brake cleaner (great stuff and cheap at any auto parts store).

The next step was a coat of primer, in this case zinc chromate, a throw back to my Army Aviation days, followed by a coat of high temperature flat black. It’s what I had on hand.

Finally, I added a clear coat and let it sit over night. Here is the final product installed on the IC-705.

It was a fun little project and only took a couple of hours time. The 705 sits back on that angled section at the back of the radio — perfect. I found a padded telephoto lens case that should fit it just fine for about 20 bucks. I’ve taken Icom radios to the field before and they hold up well. I’ve made some CW contacts from home and the radio works as well as my other Icoms. I made out to California and up into NY. I am looking forward to getting this in the field.

Begali Signature Paddles

Today is a dreary day in northwest Georgia. It looks like rain and thunderstorms most of today so little or no Ham Radio. Yesterday I received a package from Italy. After waiting almost 3 weeks, my Begali Signature paddles arrived. This is no fault of Bruna at Begali, she shipped them out early so that I would have them for Christmas. However, Fedex had different ideas and the paddles sat in a Fedex facility for 10+ days before they moved. So here they are.

Even the packaging is a work of art with a note from the master himself.

His daughter Bruna added a little holiday cheer.

To be honest, this is my third set of paddles from Begali.

So why did I choose the Signature this time? My first set of paddles were Benchers. That set up is what I call right angle arms. The contacts are to the side of the paddles and not to the rear. In my opinion they have a slightly different feel. The paddles came with the longer plastic finger pieces and the contacts screwed closed to prevent damage. I swapped the finger pieces out with the included short aluminum ones.

Adjustment was easy. I loosened the contact screws, plugged the paddles into my radio, screwed the contacts in till I heard dits or dahs, and them back it out until they stopped. No other adjustment was necessary.

The fit and finish of the paddles are typical from Begali which is excellent. I have an engineering/quality background and have an appreciation for fine fitment and finish. Begali never lets me down. Even the work on the underside is perfection. The paddles make me think of Ferrari or Lamborghini.

For the finish, I wanted something a little different. I’m from the “chrome don’t get you home” crowd. The base of the paddle is military green and the top is their titanium finish. Both are more of a satin finish rather than shiny. I like the green as I am a former soldier. The finish creates an understated elegance that is a quiet statement of quality.

How do they play? First, they are different. The action feels a little different because of the different geometry of the arms. That being said, I do not think I have ever used a smoother set of paddles. Smooth as silk or purrs like a kitten come to mind. I am no speed demon with CW. I typically run in the neighborhood of 16-22 wpm. These paddles are smooth enough to go much higher. The arms are magnetically tensioned keeping the amount of force consistent through the swing. In short, they are a joy to use and to admire. The little time I have had them and used them, they have endeared themselves to me. The now reside on my desk top and are my go to home key.

Final thoughts. The whole Begali experience is something other companies should aspire to. From their customer service, packaging, and the product itself, is all top shelf. Their commitment to customer service leaves me feeling like they made this key especially for me. Is there another Begali set of paddles in my future? Probably, but not tomorrow.

Begali CW Machine

A little while ago I purchased a Begali CW Machine. I was fascinated by it. I thought it would be good for POTA/SOTA activations.However, there is not a lot of information available on it. First, let me be clear, this machine DOES NOT decode CW. Let me repeat, this machine DOES NOT decode CW. And that’s a good thing. I have not found a piece of software that can decode as well as the CPU between the ears period. Weak signals, QSB, QRM, QRN, and bug/straight key operators with their own style or fist, often throw the software into fits, throwing out a bunch of T’s and E’s. Learning to hear CW takes practice, it is not impossible.

So what does this thing do? Actually, quite a few things. first it acts like a memory keyer. It will handle paddles, straight keys and bugs and has several different keying modes built in. It is a memory keyer, that can play back recorded messages. But it goes one step further, you can insert text in the middle of a message. Here is an example. I have a message I use in POTA (hunter) That goes like this BK TU UR (pause) GA GA BK. I can do one of two things. I can wait for the pause, insert the RST, hit the decimal (dot) key to have the message continue, or I can type in the RST while the beginning of the message is playing, it will insert the RST, and continue to the end of the message without further action from me. I can also insert silent commands that are not transmitted. In the above example, the CW Machine goes on the air to play the message, however, at the end of the message I have a silent command that takes the machine back off of the air. Your paddles are always ready to send a message with the push of a button.

Why would I do that? Because I want to enter additional information that I do not wish to transmit. I tune in a station and I copy his call sign, KK4Z and hit enter. The call sign is now in a QSO buffer. The machine can now use that call sign as a part of a message; something like their call de my call. Once I have the call sign I can add some additional information. While waiting for the pileup to die down I hear he is from GA. I type GA and I press the + key, for POTA, I hear his park, I type in K-1234 and hit the + key again. I hear a lull and I send my call which is stored in a message memory. He comes back with a RST of 559, I hit the asterisk * and type 559, it is now stored. I send him his RST using a message like in the above paragraph, and it stores it. He sends me a 73 and I send him one, but now, the machine inserts the current time/date, the band (not the frequency), saves it to the logbook which is part of the machine, and clears the buffer for the next QSO. The logbook is stored in non-volatile memory which means it would require physical damage to lose it.

The CW machine is hooked up to your radio via one cable that plugs into your key jack. For it to work correctly, you must set your radio keyer to straight key. To use it with your computer, you need a serial to usb port adapter. Power can come from either the computer or a separate power source. Whatever, you are running your radio with (12v) will work just fine. The CW machine only draws about 20 mAh so it’s perfect for field operations. It could also run off of a 9 volt battery.

Mistakes are fairly easy to correct. lets say I typed in the other stations call sign wrong. I retype it correctly, hit the enter key and the call is updated. You can do this to other fields using different key strokes, but it all works like that until you save it. You can edit after it is saved, but it take a little more effort (slightly more) to get it right.

You can run the CW machine in several different configurations. At the minimum. it needs a paddle/key and a PS2 compatible keypad. Yep, it uses a PS2 port. Basically you enter data with the paddle and commands with the keypad. You can also replace the keypad with a keyboard. This requires a PS2 compatible keyboard (Logitech still makes one the K100). This works well as you can now run the machine like a mill. You type and it sends CW. If you get a keyboard, make sure you get one with a keypad. the machine recognizes individual key strokes, the 1 on the keyboard is not the same as the 1 on the keypad for example. For those whose fingers get stiff in the winter time, this will reduce your errors. Another way to run this is with a computer using the computers keyboard and key pad. And finally you can run it from a Surface Go2 using its keybaord and attach a keypad to the machine.

One feature I really like is the ability to change CW speeds. With a twist of the knob I can go from 10 to 35 wpm (my setting). I sometimes have issues going from one speed to another when using a paddle. I’m just not that good. With the machine you can match the other station, without making a lot of errors. This really works well when you have someone activating at 13 wpm. I often bust a pileup because I am sending at a speed they can comprehend. It’s also fun on the other side. I typically run in the 16-20 wpm realm. Depending on the operator, I can copy up to about 25 wpm. When I hear one of these stations, I can crank it up and we have a quick staccato QSO.

LCD Display. The CW Machine has a one line LCD display should be readable in direct sunlight. It is adjustable. The screen is rather small and basically has one line that can scroll sideways to see what is going on and also to adjust the settings. There are annunciators that surround the one line of text to show you the status of the machine. It’s not a full sized computer screen, but there is sufficient information to run the machine without a computer.

So far I’ve been working it from home as a hunter for POTA. It works quite well in this capacity. I have used all of the configurations I mentioned and the easiest is using the machine with a computer. I have logged about 100 contacts so far and spent a lot of time reading the manuals. I would not call this plug and play, there is a learning curve. I am getting comfortable enough to try and activation with it.

Log files. The machine itself can hold about 12,000 QSO’s. It is easy to export to ADIF and it takes me about two minutes in ADIF Master to get it ready of POTA. basically I delete two columns, rename two columns and its ready.

Things I like to see changed. One is to go from a serial com port (DB9) to a straight usb port. Doing this would not only get rid of the serial/usb adapter, it could also get rid of the external power port. There are so many ways today to power something via usb. The display could be bigger and have more information available on it. There is plenty of real estate on the top of the machine to put a bigger more up to date display. A good example is the one Xeigu uses on its G90. Lastly, this is more of a niggle than anything else, put a better speaker and audio driver in there. Really, all this needs is an update, there are better components available today which could easily take this to a new level.

Caveats. It’s pricey. Right now it’s selling for about 295 Euro. Not for everybody. It takes time to learn. This machine does a lot, but to unlock the magic, there is reading and testing to be done. This is probably not for the techno-challenged. It does not decode so if you do not know CW, you have to jump that hurdle first. Who is it for? Someone doing POTA/SOTA activations who wants to travel light, have something to share the workload, easily maintain a log (especially if you have poor handwriting like me), works well in cold weather (when my fingers do not), and sips battery power. Right now it has become my POTA/SOTA go to logger/keyer. I am only using ACLog now as my master log. It is easy to import the ADIF from CW Machine (after tweaking it) into ACLog. There you have it. I will probably update once I get it out on an activation.

Begali Simplex Basic and More

The Begali Simplex Basic is probably one of the best values when it comes to CW paddles. I have had mine for several years and it easily preforms above my skill level. At the current exchange rate it sells for about $135.00. This is the paddle that currently resides on my desk.

As you can see, I like to mix work and play. I often have the radio on and make CW contacts while I am working in the office. The Simplex Basic is a very pleasant set of paddles to use. They weigh in at 2.75 pounds and with the sticky mat underneath, they do not move. You can find the mat here: https://tinyurl.com/mvr4mvm8. I like a light touch and the Simplex is very capable of doing that. To set the paddles, I screw the contact in until I hear a dit or a dah, and them back it off about a 1/4 of a turn. The action of the paddles are very smooth. I can detect no rough spots and the feel remains very consistent.

The base is cast and the top has a rough, but not too rough finish to it. the bottom and a band around the bottom of the base is smooth to allow Pietro to sign his name and apply a serial number.

Fit and finish is what you would expect from Begali. Even though it is their Basic and least expensive set of paddles, it is still a beauty to behold. I am not a speed whiz nor am I a perfect CW op. I like to cruise around 16 to 20 wpm and I have had the paddles up to 25 wpm. the paddles didn’t flinch. I like to do Parks on the Air (POTA). I mainly do CW, so if I have hunted you, it was probably on this key. I have a set of aluminum finger pieces ordered for the Simplex. I really don’t need them; I thought it would dress the paddles up a little.

If you are looking for a good set of paddles, the Simplex Basic can not be beat. Yes, you could get a cheaper set of paddles, but not at this quality level. At this price point, I am not sure you could find a better paddle.

With all that being said, I do have another set of paddles on the way. This time is it the Begali Signature. My first set of paddles were made by Bencher. They had what I call right angle levers where the contacts are to the side instead of to the rear like the Simplex. I wanted to try a right angle lever set up again. Hopefully they will be here by Christmas. that will make my third set of paddles from Begali. No, I am not selling any of the others 🙂

Another long term project I have is I ordered a Begali CW Machine. It is a complex keyer/logger. It comes with a 75+ page manual. I plan to use it during activations. It will replace my keyer and computer. The nice part about it is it only draws about 20 milliamps of power (according to Begali). Once I get my hands on it, I’m sure it will take some time to get it set the way I want it. I will keep you posted.

POTA Activation Ft Mountain State Park and the Begali Traveler Light

This past weekend I activated Fort Mountain State park in North Georgia. The park is on top of the mountain and I was at just over 2,500 ASL. One of the things I wanted to accomplish was make a few contacts on 160 meters. This can be a difficult band because one wavelength is about 540 feet. Which means most portable antennas will not work. I dug into my Frankentenna bag and came up with my Chameleon Micro Matching Unit and two 65 foot Chameleon Wires.

I strung this as an inverted vee dipole and fed it with RG-8x into the cabin. Yes, I was was in comfort and luxury for this activation. The apex of the vee was about 15 foot above the ground. I put the antenna analyzer on it and at 160 meters my SWR was abour 6:1, close enough for my antenna tuner to match.

Inside the cabin, the setup was pretty simple. I had my trusty IC-7300 with an LDG Z-11 Pro. I used a K1EL winkeyer and a Begali Traveler Light Key. Logging and digital modes were handled by my Microsoft Surface Go2.

How did it play, most of my contacts were CW and the keyer and key worked as advertised. I used FT-8 for some bands and especially 160 meters as there was a CW contest going on. A nice thing about the newer ICOM radios is to work digital modes, all you need is a USB cable between your computer and the radio. I was running about 35 watts and made at least 10 contacts on 7 bands and 5 on one (11 on 160). I was satisfied that everything worked as advertised and made about 130 contacts.

The paddles I used were the Begali Traveler Light. The weigh in at about 15 oz and are a delight to use. When portable operations allow, this is the key I bring. They may not work lugging a backpack, but for activations like this, they are great. Begali fit and finish is excellent and the design is reminiscent of Italian Sports cars.

Looking at the side, the paddles are not that big. Near the bottom-center is a place to attach a thigh strap. You can also get these in black.

Open up, there is plenty of move for even my big hands.

Even the bottom of the paddles are wonderfully executed. The Traveler Light is magnetically dampened and I am becoming a fan. The action is smooth and consistent, and a joy to use. This is my second Begali Key, my first a Begali Simplex Basic. I believe there will be a third under the tree this year.

Everything worked well. the keyer takes some of the load off of the opertator and AC Log helps mind the frequency and the Date/Time. I tried to use the AC Log Winkeyer interface, but I don’t think the Surface Go2 wasn’t quite up to the task. It seemed to lag more than I wanted it to. Plus, it was nice to have the Winkeyer buttons close at hand. All in all I had a lot of fun, even though on the first day I was a little more fumble fingered than usual. Thanks to all the Hunters/Activators who worked me. Here is a short video of the activation.

K1EL Keyers

K1EL keyers are well known and are pretty much universally accepted interfaces for most amateur radio software programs. If you are keyboading CW or running CW scripts from your computer, you need to use this interface. The reason is how the computer allocates processing time. From the K1EL website Windows is a multi-tasking operating system which means that the CPU is shared between many different tasks. This makes it very difficult to accurately time CW due to constant task switching. This results in unevenly timed dits and dahs. For example, in the middle of a word you might have an R with a really long dah in the middle or an A that sounds more like an M. By off loading CW generation to a separate dedicated microcontroller, all the timing problems disappear. Logging programs running on the PC send ASCII letters to Winkeyer for conversion to Morse, this allows the PC to focus on more important things.

I have both the WK Mini and the WinKeyer USB. The biggest difference is the Mini has to have a computer connected to it and the WinKeyer USB can operate stand-alone because it has buttons. Both are USB powered. The WinKeyer USB can run on batteries. I have a USB power port that I hook-up to the radio battery. It can also charge my phone.

How does it play? When hooked up to your computer, both can be controlled by software. ACLog by N3FJP has an excellent interface. Here is a screenshot of my setup on my Surface Go2.

As you can see, you can create CW scripts right in ACLog that will play through the WinKeyer. The scripts correspond with the F-buttons at the top of your keyboard. Or you can have a mini F button window within ACLog which you can click with a mouse or if you have a touch screen a touch of your finger. The latter is my preferred method. One of the benefits of controlling your WinKeyer with ACLog is you can pull data out of ACLog to use in the script. Notice in the F2 script, there is a $ and an *. The $ sign pulls the call sign in the Call window of ACLog and the * pulls the RST from the Sent window. Theoretically, you can make exchanges without even touching a paddle as long as everyone is using the same format.

The WinKeyer USB also works well in stand a lone mode (not hooked up to a computer). It can store up to 12 messages in two banks. There are plenty of ways to customize the messages. I will give a few hints but the instructions that come with the keyer are extensive. With the WinKeyer USB you can use the messages in ACLog and Winkeyer USB interchangeably. However, you must use the F buttons to trigger an ACLog message and the WinKeyer USB buttons to trigger a Winkeyer message

The first thing you do is plug the keyer into your radio and set the radio keyer to STRAIGHT key. The keyer will handle the rest. You plug your paddle into the keyer. Besides sending CW with your paddles, you can edit and change the messages and parameters of the keyer. There is also an app for your computer to interface with the keyer. It looks like this.

What is nice about Winkeyer USB is you can type in the message and not have to send CW via the paddle to create the message. It gives you more control over how the message is set up. Looking at message 1, it is a standard CQ message. However, I want it to repeat until I stop it (send a dit or dah with the paddles to stop it). Winkeyer was a beacon mode however it beacons at a set period of time. For example at 20 wpm I set my CQ to repeat every 13 seconds giving about a 3 second space between call. During my activation I slowed my wpm down to 16 and now I had no gap between CQ’s. The solution was to use the wait command and then the go to message 1 command. The wait command is the /W03 it means wait 3 seconds before continuing. the /1 means play message one. So now no matter what speed I set the keyer, I will always have a 3 second gap.

Next is the /R command. What this does is it treats the next 2 letters as a prosign like SK, KN, or BT. For POTA, I like to send BK as a prosign so the command is /R BK.

The last command you see is /Z3. What this does is slow the rest of the message down 3 wpm (you can change the amount). When doing a Park to Park (P2P) sometimes the park number catches you off guard. Your brain is thinking something else. So by slowing down the park number is gives an operator a chance to catch up and get the number.

When using radios like the Xeigu G90 which does not have CW memories or the Lab599 TX-500 which only has two. The Winkeyer gives you options to help make operating more comfortable. Let the keyer call CQ while you take a sip of coffee or let it say thank you while you are finishing up logging the contact. With the WinKeyer USB, you can keep the message buttons close at hand. The WK mini weighs in at 1.5 oz and the WinKeyer USB weighs 7 oz. Both are small and easy to toss into a pack. For more information: https://hamcrafters2.com/index.html

POTA Activation Flag Mountain, AL

I consider my home park to be Talladega National Forest. It’s the closest park time wise and because it is so large, it offers many opportunities for activation. One of the things I enjoy is the feeling of remoteness driving down those forest service roads. This past Friday (11/26), I decided to try a new spot. It was on Flag Mountain. There is nothing there except woods and the road.

For me, any park activation means about an hour drive each way which eats up a lot of my POTA time. For this activation, I wanted to try an in-truck cab solution to help reduce the set-up time. Since I would probably be along the side a one lane dirt road, it would be safer. As a bonus, I would stay warmer as the temps were in the 40’s throughout the day. This bushwhack style of operation turned out to be fun and gives me more flexibility to work different parts of the National Forest.

Equipment. To be able to bushwhack, I needed a space to operate from when sitting in my truck. I came up with a rather simple arrangement that I built in a couple of hours. It’s a flight deck that sits on top of my center console.

It’s a couple of 2×6’s and a piece of 3/8 plywood that I had laying around. It takes about 10 seconds to install and It is small enough to stay in the truck. In use it looks like this:

It was very stable. I even had my coffee cup on the free standing end and it didn’t tip over. It was very comfortable to use. On the flight deck you see my Rite-in-the-Rain notebook, Begali Traveler Light, and K1EL keyer. I will talk about the paddles and keyer in another post.

The radio was my trusted IC-7300. I normally like to bring one of my QRP radios, but next weekend we rented a cabin at Ft Mountain State Park and I want to try to make some CW 160 meter contacts. My thinking is I may need a little extra power. Next to the radio is a 20 amp/hr Bioenno Battery and next to it, is a LDG Z-11 Pro. On top of the radio is a windshield sunscreen to help keep the radio cool.

The antenna is my Frankentenna. It starts with a MePhoto camera tripod, a home made 3/8-16 to 3/8-24 thread adapter, Chameleon Micro Matching Unit, a Buddipole 7 section lightweight shock-corded whip antenna (12′), and a Chameleon CHA 60′ extra wire. It was fed with 18′ of RG-8x.

Operation. I operated CW with 35 watts. I set my code speed at 16 wpm. I can copy faster, but I find during an activation, slowing down makes it a little easier for me. My hearing is not that good, I do the best I can. How did it do? Very well I think. I was able to work stations from Alaska to France. All in all I made about 42 contacts in a couple of hours time. Here is a QSOMap (I need to get better at these).

Here is a short YouTube video of the activation.

It was a fun half a day. I learned a few thing like wear headphones/earbuds to help with my hearing. Overall, I enjoyed the bushwhack style of operating as it gives me more options for operating out in the wilds. I plan on doing more of this style of activating along with more traditional parks. 73

N3ZN ZN-Lite II

I like paddles — a lot. Sometimes I feel I am drawn to them like a moth to a flame. You can only use one at a time but isn’t variety the spice of life? To be sure, I’m no speed demon at the paddles nor am I 100% accurate, but I am passionate about CW, and surely, that counts for something. Pictured here is one of Tony’s, N3ZN’s creations. It is his ZN-Lite II and while it is not the lightest paddle on the market, it is near the top and it is a well built machine. By itself, it tips the scales at about 4.5 ounces with the attached cable. Add the plastic base and the weight is still less than 6 ounces.

The paddle itself is well built and the action is smooth. The adjustments are generous and precise. Once set up the way you like it, I found it is pretty easy to switch over from another paddle. In other words, going from your desk paddles to these is pretty easy.

On the bottom of the paddles, there is an 8-32 screw hole. This can be used to attach the paddles to the base of your choosing such as a flight deck.

The ZN-Lite II also comes with a plastic base. Here is how I like to attach it.

In use. While I am writing this I am using the paddles to make POTA contacts. Because the paddle is light, it takes two hands to use it. One to hold the paddle and one to operate it. For portable operation, I found the best way to use them is either attached to a flight deck or on a flat surface such as a picnic table. Trying to grab it fist style interferes with the paddle levers and while you can hold it by its sides, well, it just wasn’t for me. Here is a picture of how I use these paddles.

In general, I found the paddles fun to use. When your doing something for fun, fun counts. I appreciate the precision and quality that went into these paddles. They are durable enough to be knocked a around bit in a pack (don’t run them over with your car). Where do they fit? I think these paddles are great for portable operations. In my way of thinking they would work for POTA activations or even Field Day. They would excel for those who wish to travel light and fast. An Example might be POTA RADAR (Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio). I think for SOTA there are better options out there as operators are often holding their paddles fist style in their hands. However, these may work well if someone devised a leg strap for them. Here is a YouTube video I did for these paddles.

Overall, I like the paddles, they are currently sitting on my desk and I am making contacts with them. They have a good feel, and enough of a fun factor to keep them in the rotation (I never thought I would say that). I have exchanged a few emails with Tony and he has always been responsive and helpful. If you want to find out more about Tony’s paddles, here’s a link: https://www.n3znkeys.com/