My QRP-portable operations seem to have come to a grinding halt this month. I won’t bore you with the reasons, but a quick POTA activation today ended my slump.
I spent about an hour today in Valley Forge National Historical Park (K-0761, KFF-0761), parked in one of my favorite spots. The propagation forecast was less than spectacular, but I forged ahead.
WB3GCK at Valley Forge National Historical Park (K-0761, KFF-0761)
Using my trusty Penntek TR-35 and my homebrew vertical, I started out on 40M. After calling “CQ” a few times, I received an ear-shattering call from W1AW, the station at ARRL Headquarters. The operator identified himself as “John,” and said he was operating from “the Mothership” in Connecticut. That gave me a chuckle. What a great way to start an activation.
I normally reduce the power output of the TR-35, when I’m tuning up. After three or four contacts on 40M, I noticed I had forgotten to turn the power back up. So, for the first few contacts, I was only running a couple of watts. I guess band conditions weren’t all that bad after all.
After an hour, I had 15 contacts in the log, with two park-to-park QSOs. My best “DX” today was California on 20M.
It was just a short outing, but it sure felt good to get back out there.
I bought the Evolve III Maestro E-Book about nine months ago. Having used it for various ham radio applications during that time, I thought I’d offer some updated thoughts on this inexpensive laptop.
Spoiler alert! There really isn’t anything I dislike about the Evolve III laptop. Sure, it’s not the speediest machine ever built, but it has stood up to every task I’ve thrown at. I regularly use it at home for Winlink, NBEMS, and VarAC. I’ve also used it for these modes in the field for ARES-RACES exercises.
The Evolve e-book in use during this year’s Field Day
Power Considerations
Besides its small size and low cost, the thing I like best about the Evolve III is its battery life. Depending on what I’m doing, I can get eight to ten hours of run time. That’s way more than I need for my typical portable outings.
Since the “wall wart” charger it came with outputs 12VDC, I can charge the laptop from a 12V battery. For charging in the field, I bought a 6-foot cable on Amazon that has a 3.5mm x 1.35mm coaxial power connector on one end. On the other end, I added a 12V accessory plug (cigarette lighter type). I also built a second cable with an Anderson Powerpole connector.
A charging cable I built with a 12V cigarette lighter type plug
A 12V charging cable I built with a Powerpole connector
For Field Day, I operated all day without having to charge the laptop. I couldn’t have done that with other laptops I have used in the past. Before turning in for the night, I connected the Evolve to a 17 A-H gel cell battery to charge it overnight. (I had a fused 12V socket installed on the battery.) When I woke up during the night, it was fully charged, so I disconnected it. The Evolve lasted the rest of Field Day without further charging.
Field Day Configuration
My Field Day configuration made full use of the Evolve’s capabilities. I used it for logging, connecting to our shared log file via Wi-Fi. I also used one of the two USB connectors to drive my WKmini Morse interface to send CW with my KX3.
Since I only had one more USB connector available, I used a 3-way USB splitter to accommodate the other devices I needed to attach. I had the receiver for my wireless mouse attached to one port on the splitter and the KX3’s rig control cable connector to another port. I used the third port to connect a thumb drive, which I used for exchanging files with another Field Day participant.
This is a USB splitter I bought at Staples years ago. The extra USB ports came in handy during Field Day.
For backups, I had my N3FJP Field Day logger configured to save backup files to an SD card. Since my backup files included the entire networked log, I had everything I needed to submit our group’s entry on my laptop when I got home.
With all that going on, the Evolve performed flawlessly.
Some Additional Thoughts
I recently heard from a couple of hams who received Evolve laptops with a USB-C charging port. This is a recent design change, I suppose. I don’t have any hands-on experience here, but I think this might actually simplify things in the field. A 12V socket connected to the battery and a commercial 12V cell phone car charger should be all you need to charge the Evolve. Most cell phones and devices seem to favor the USB-C connectors these days, so suitable 12V car chargers are easy to come by.
So, if you couldn’t tell, I’m a big fan of the Evolve III Maestro E-Book. So far, I feel the $89 I paid for it was money well spent. I’m hoping I can get several more years of good service from it.
I made an early trip to French Creek State Park (K-1355, KFF-1355) to get in a quick activation before the hot weather kicked in. Despite the lousy band condition predictions, I did pretty well in less than an hour.
Knowing that this park gets busy on holidays, I steered clear of the boat launch and picnic areas. Instead, I found a shady spot in a trailhead parking area. My rig today was my trusty Penntek TR-35 (5 watts) and my homebrew 19-foot vertical.
My parking spot in French Creek State Park near the Hopewell Lake Trail
My propagation app showed poor daytime conditions on 40M through 20M. Indeed, 40M was noisy; but I still heard quite a few loud signals across the band. Cell coverage here is poor (at least for my carrier). Using the Wi-Fi in my truck, however, I was able to post a spot and soon started receiving calls. It only took about 11 minutes to make my first 10 contacts.
My Penntek TR-35 and Elecraft T1 tuner
I moved up to 20M and started off searching for park-to-park contacts. I heard N4NYM in there, but it sounded like Bill had a pretty good pile-up going. Instead of trying to break through with 5 watts, I moved up the band and started calling CQ. Again, the band seemed to behave better than the predictions. In fact, I seemed to have a pipeline to Florida today. During my time on 20M, N4NYM called me; so I eventually got that park-to-park contact with him.
Speaking of N4NYM, I ended up my activation with a second park-to-park contact with Bill, this time on 17M. By this time, the weather was heating up; so I packed up and headed home to enjoy the rest of the holiday.
In about 55 minutes, I worked 24 stations with three park-to-park contacts. My best “DX” today was Nevada on 20M.
I’d like to wish my fellow Americans a happy and safe Fourth of July.
Today was one of those lazy days. I intended to go out to do some radio, but I came very close to talking myself out of it. In the end, I went ahead, and I’m glad I did. It turned out to be a fun activation.
I made a quick trip to nearby Valley Forge National Historical Park (K-0761, KFF-0761) and pulled into one of my favorite spots. Using my KX3 (5 watts) and my homebrew 19-ft vertical, I planned to spend an hour operating, regardless of the outcome.
Despite the “fair” propagation prediction, the 40M band produced 11 contacts for me. Once I moved to 20M, things got interesting. My 20M contacts included Germany and France. Sandwiched in between those DX contacts was one with fellow Polar Bear QRPer, VE3WMB. Michael and I exchanged the customary Polar Bear greeting, “GRRR.” My last contact on 20M was with W7AV in Washington State. It’s always fun to work both Europe and the West Coast in rapid succession. Moving back down to 40M, I picked up a couple of park-to-park contacts before calling it quits. My hour-long outing resulted in 20 contacts, including four park-to-park QSOs and the two DX stations.
As I was finishing up my contacts, I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw a man and woman closely inspecting my antenna. When I got out to take the antenna down, the woman asked me about it. I gave her my ham radio, POTA, and Morse Code speech, and I told her the places I contacted today.
The two people were soon joined by six children they had been hiking with. The woman asked me if I could explain to the kids what I was doing and how far I had gotten out. So, I gave the speech again. When I mentioned Morse Code, one girl excitedly said she didn’t know the Code, but she knew what it was. I’m not sure my impromptu show and tell produced any prospective hams, but it was fun talking with the kids.
In the end, I’m glad I talked myself into going out today. It was a short but fun activation. I didn’t take any pictures today; but, then again, there wasn’t anything noteworthy about my setup today.
Happy Canada Day to my friends to the north. To my friends here in the U.S., have a happy and safe Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Another Boschveldt QRP Club Field Day is in the books. The weekend started out rainy, but the weather improved for the rest of the weekend. The inclement weather didn’t stop us from having a good time.
As we’ve done for the past five years, we camped out on private property owned by a local businessman. There were only three of us this year: Ed K3YTR, Glen NK1N, and me. On the air, we operated in category 2A (battery) running QRP. We used our club callsign, W3BQC.
Given the lousy weather, I kept my antenna simple this year. I used a 29.5-foot vertical fed with my homebrew weather-resistant 9:1 unun. NK1N used an 85-foot inverted L, which performed very well for him. Once again, we used a battery operated Wi-Fi access point to network our logging laptops together.
This picture of NK1N’s set up shows the fog and rain on Friday.
NK1N and K3YTR admiring the trailer Ed K3YTR rented for the weekend
Glen NK1N testing out his gear on Friday
WB3GCK’s tent with my vertical to the right of the tree
Our common food prep area gave us a place to hang out during the rain.
Ed K3YTR assembling his VHF antennas
WB3GCK operating from the tent
Glen NK1N operating under his canopy
The radio equipment in my tent. This was the first Field Day for my little Evolve laptop. I used it for logging, CW keying, and rig control.
It’s just not a Boschveldt Field Day without a campfire.
I primarily operated 40M CW, while Glen covered 20M and 80M. We both made contacts on 15M CW. Glen had a contact with a station in Croatia and one in Hawaii. I think the Hawaii contact was a Boschveldt QRP Field Day first. By Saturday night, the weather had improved enough for us to take a break and swap some tall tales around the campfire.
The weekend was not without some equipment issues. Glen and I both had batteries fail. Fortunately, we had spares on hand, so our operations weren’t affected. K3YTR also had to spend some time troubleshooting his setup. I also had an issue with the Digirig Mobile interface that I planned to use to send a radiogram via Winlink (VARA-FM). However, Glen was able to successfully send the radiogram via HF.
On Sunday morning, we operated for a few hours before shutting down early to pack up. We had some rain and thunderstorms headed our way, so we wanted to pack up while everything was still dry. (The rain started about an hour after we left.)
We ended up with 233 CW contacts. No records were broken, but the three of us had a great time.
In a recent post, I wrote about a vertical antenna I put together with an old homebrew loading coil and a 12-foot telescopic whip. I intended to add some marks on the coil for each band, so I could eliminate the need for an antenna analyzer during band changes. This time, I actually remembered to bring a permanent marker and got it done.
I drove up to Evansburg State Park (K-1351/KFF-1351) this morning for a quick POTA activation. Before I got going, I used my antenna analyzer to determine the tap points for each band. I used a Sharpie® marker to mark the coil for 40M, 30M, 20M, and 17M. Since the coil has sufficient inductance to load the 12-foot whip on 60M, I also marked that band (the top-most mark on the coil). Before I started operating, I went back and checked each tap location to confirm repeatable results. Using a Sharpie marker is a decidedly low-tech approach, but it serves the purpose.
My homebrew loading coil. If you look closely, you can see the marks I added. As shown, the coil is tapped for the 30M band.
To change bands now, I just move the tap to the appropriate mark. I still use an antenna tuner to deal with any minor variations I might encounter. Now I can change bands in the time it takes to move the coil tap and hit the “tune” button on the tuner.
Despite the so-so band conditions this morning, the 12-foot whip performed well. In less than an hour of operating, I made 18 contacts. Most of my contacts were on 40 and 30. There were two park-to-park contacts I’m aware of.
The 12-foot base-loaded whip in use at K-1351
My operations were interrupted for a chat with a curious park ranger. I gave him my standard Parks on the Air spiel. He had encountered POTA activators in another state park, so he had some familiarity with the activity. After a few minutes, he left to look into a reported issue on one of the hiking trails.
So, I’m pretty satisfied with this antenna. It has a length advantage over my Gabil GRA-7350TC antenna. Comparing coil dimensions, I suspect it also has an efficiency advantage over the Gabil antenna.
Regardless, I now have another useful option in my antenna arsenal.
While going through my stash of old parts, I came across a coil assembly I built over 20 years ago. Originally, it was part of a homebrew antenna inspired by the MFJ-1622 Apartment Antenna; but I used it over the years with a variety of whip antennas while “stationary-mobile.” As I moved on to other antennas for my portable operations, the coil was relegated to the junk box and forgotten—until now.
I also had an old MFJ-1956 12-foot telescopic whip that I haven’t used in years. It was stashed away in the basement waiting to become part of a new antenna project. Having just installed a ⅜-24 antenna mount in the bed of my pickup truck, I thought the coil and whip might work well with it.
The coil is a beast. It’s made from 1.5-inch PVC pipes and wound with bare copper wire—16 awg, I think. I used four strips of nylon grommet edging material to keep the turns evenly spaced. (I don’t remember where I got the grommet material, but it’s similar to this Panduit product.) The coil is about 5.4 inches long and 2 inches in diameter with 40 turns. Using an online calculator, I figured the coil is approximately 25.4 μH.
The homebrew coil I built more than 20 years ago.
The coil assembly weighs in at a hefty 14.1 ounces, and the overall length is 10.5 inches. The whip is 24 inches collapsed and weighs 9.6 ounces, so it wouldn’t be my choice for a backpacking antenna. However, on my truck, it should do fine.
Using another online calculator, I reckoned the coil should be more than enough to resonate the 12-foot whip on the 40M band and possibly the 60M band. Since the whip, coil, and mounting bracket all use ⅜-24 hardware; it was just a matter of slapping it all on the truck to see what how it would perform.
To test it out, I made a trip to Valley Forge National Historical Park (K-0761, KFF-0761) this morning. With a minor geomagnetic storm underway, the forecasted band conditions looked pretty dismal. I also got an early start, since we were expecting some severe storms around mid-day. So, I wasn’t expecting much, in the way of contacts.
I mounted the antenna on the back of the truck and broke out the antenna analyzer. It took a bit of fiddling to find resonance on 40M. The lowest SWR was around 3.8:1. That’s not great, but my little Elecraft T1 tuner handled it with no difficulties. On the air, I was getting some decent spots from the Reverse Beacon Network, and I made about 8 contacts before moving to 30M.
My homebrew coil and 12-foot whip mounted on the back of my truck.
The SWR on 30M was down to about 2:1. Again, the T1 made sure my TR-35’s finals stayed happy. I made one park-to-park contact on 30M before moving up to 20M
The SWR on 20M was about 1.3:1 across the band. I made another seven contacts here, before stopping to do some experimenting with the antenna.
I checked 17M and measured an SWR of about 1.2:1 across the band. I didn’t try to make contacts on 17M. Instead, I went back to 40M to pick up a few more contacts before shutting down.
I intended to bring a Sharpie® pen along to mark the coil for each band to speed up band changes. Of course, I forgot to bring one along. Oh well, I’ll do that next time. For 15M and above, I’ll need to bypass the entire coil and shorten the length of the whip accordingly.
The static crashes were getting louder, and I heard thunder off in the distance. So, I called it quits. Just as I shut the rig off, the heavy rains started. I quickly took down the antenna and packed up to leave.
Despite the lousy band conditions and heavy QRN, I ended up with 18 contacts. I had three park-to-park contacts today. And, as it turns out, this was my 20th POTA activation at Valley Forge, earning me a “Repeat Offender” award for this park.
It looks like this mash-up of antenna parts works pretty well. I’ll give it another shot in a few days. Hopefully, the weather and band conditions will be better.
Larry W2LJ recently released the details for this year’s running of the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt. Of particular note is a slight change in the date; this year’s Skeeter Hunt has been moved to the 4th Sunday in August.
There’s also a new bonus point challenge for this year. Larry has asked me to be one of the 15 “Palindrome Skeeter” bonus stations (Nr. 66).
Here’s Larry’s announcement with all the details:
The long anticipated announcement for the 2023 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt – the 12th Annual, if you can believe that!
For all the details – please go to www.qsl.net/w2lj or go to the Skeeter Hunt page of this blog (the next to last tab on the right – located under the KX3 photo up at the top).
A few points to remember:
1) Due to a personal commitment, the Hunt has been moved to the 4th weekend of August – the 27th.
2) New Bonus Point Challenge for 2023:
Fifteen Skeeters have graciously consented to act as Bonus Skeeters. They have been issued numbers that are palindromes (numbers that are the same forward and backward) – Skeeters 11, 22, 33, 44 …… right through 151. When you work one, that QSO is worth 100 points – and you can work as many as you can up to 1,000 bonus points. The Bonus Skeeters are highlighted on the roster.
3) Skeeter numbers for the rest of you will be issued in the same way as they have since the beginning of this event. Send an e-mail to either w2lj@arrl.net, or w2ljqrp@gmail.com NO SOONER THAN June 21st, the First Day of Summer. You will receive an e-mail back with your sequential number, or you can check the roster, by clicking here. Please do not apply for a number via the Facebook page, as I may very well miss your request – and we wouldn’t want that to happen, would we? Numbers will be issued right up until the Midnight before the day of the event.
I hope you’ll have fun and enjoy the Hunt this year – good luck and happy QRP’ing!
Regular readers of this blog know that my homebrew 19-ft vertical is my go-to antenna for “stationary-mobile” operations. I use a low-tech mounting system in the bed of my truck involving a plastic milk crate, a cargo bar, and some bungees. When we go on our annual vacation to North Carolina, unfortunately, I have to remove the crate to free up storage space. I plan to activate a park or two while on vacation this year, so I wanted to come up with an alternate antenna arrangement.
I bought the GRA-7350TC antenna with this specific scenario in mind. Previously, I tested this antenna with a magnetic mount that I had stashed away in the basement. Although a couple of successful POTA activations proved its viability, I wanted something better than my little mag mount.
Browsing around on Amazon, I found a stainless steel bracket with an SO-239 to ⅜-24 mount. I was reluctant to drill holes in my truck, but I thought a couple of small holes in the truck’s bed wouldn’t be too bad. So, I placed an order.
The Sirio M1 stainless steel antenna mounting bracket I found on Amazon
The bracket arrived the next day. It’s really heavy-duty and possibly overkill for my application. My local hardware store had an excellent selection of stainless steel hardware. I bought some #12 x 1-inch sheet metal screws and some star washers.
The next step was figuring out exactly where to mount it. I had to make sure that I could still close the truck bed cover without hitting it. By dumb luck, I chose a spot where I could use one of the screws that fastens the truck’s bed liner. This placed the mount close to where I wanted it. Then, it was a quick task to drill pilot holes for the three additional screws. Mechanically, it felt solid, and an ohmmeter check confirmed continuity to the truck’s body.
The bracket installed in the bed of my truck with the antenna installed. The black screw is an existing screw I took advantage of.
I gave the new mount a trial run at Ridley Creek State Park (K-1414, KFF-1414). It took me about a minute to get the antenna set up on the mount, and it was a perfect fit. I ran an 18-foot length of RG-8x coax (much longer than I really needed) to the Penntek TR-35 inside my truck.
Using an antenna analyzer, I first tuned it up on the 40M band. I couldn’t get the SWR down below 2:1. This also happened when using the antenna on a magnetic mount, too. I’m guessing a different length of coax or a counterpoise wire might help. In any event, I tuned the antenna to resonance and used a tuner to keep the rig happy. The first QSO was a station in Georgia who gave me a decent signal report.
The Gabil GRA-7350TC antenna in use
The SWR on 30M was a bit lower but still above 2:1. Again, I had no problems making contacts with the antenna. On 20M and 17M, the SWR was down to about 1.2:1 or thereabouts.
Despite the time spent fiddling with the antenna, I logged 13 contacts, with three park-to-park QSOs. I also worked W1HNJ on 40M and 30M. As part of Museum Ship Weekend, they were operating the radio console from the hospital ship, SS Hope. The radio console is now part of the Chatham Marconi-RCA Wireless Museum on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
I still have some tinkering to do, but I think the mounting bracket will work just fine. I won’t be retiring my homebrew vertical anytime soon, but the GRA-7350TC gives me another option when the need arises.
Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer here in the States. Although I had some family activities planned over the three-day weekend, I squeezed in some QRP-portable operations.
POTA at Marsh Creek State Park
On Friday, I drove over to Marsh Creek State Park (K-1380, KFF-1380) for an activation. I figured it wouldn’t be too crowded on a Friday, but I was wrong.
I wanted to operate from one of the picnic tables overlooking the lake. When I got there, folks getting a jump on their holiday picnics had already claimed them, so I ended up operating from the truck. I gave my newly acquired Gabil GRA-7350TC antenna another try, using the old magnetic mount I used last week. Like last week, I used my TR-35 transceiver at 5 watts.
My location at Marsh Creek State Park (K-1380, KFF-1380). The GRA-7350TC is mounted on the roof of my truck with a magnetic mount.
Band conditions were less than stellar on the lower bands, but a mini pile-up promptly greeted me on 40M. After logging a few quick contacts, things slowed down considerably. I spent most of my time on 30M, where band conditions seemed a little better. I also did some hunting on 20M before packing up. I finished up with 20 QSOs in the log, including five park-to-park contacts.
I don’t think the GRA-7350TC performs as well as my homebrew vertical, but it sure is easy to set up. Although I can set up my homebrew vertical in under three minutes, the Gabil antenna goes up even faster.
By the time I left, the parking lot was nearly full. I guess people were eager to get their long weekend started.
Bike-Portable in the Park
On Saturday, I went for a short bike ride on the Schuylkill River Trail. This was my first time on the bike since my latest round of knee issues sidelined me back in March. Before heading out, I threw in my TR-35, Elecraft AX1, and bike mount.
I started off from a trailhead parking lot close to Towpath Park—I didn’t want to overdo it with my knee. A mile and a half later, I was in the park setting up the radio. I set up the radio on a park bench near the remnants of the Schuylkill Canal and mounted my AX1 on the bike’s handlebars.
My park bench setup in Towpath Park
I planned to do some POTA hunting on 20M, but I found the band was wall-to-wall with contesters. I worked one contester in Wisconsin on 20M, but I had no success beyond that. My 5 watts and 40-inch whip was no match for the high-power contest stations in pile-ups. I checked 17M, but I didn’t hear much of anything there.
My view of the old Schuylkill Canal in Towpath Park
With one meager QSO in my log, I packed up and continued on my ride. It sure felt great to be back on the bike again. While I didn’t do so hot on the radio, my knee held up great on my short three-mile ride. I’m looking forward to longer rides.
Valley Forge POTA Activation
On Monday, I headed out early to get in a quick POTA activation at Valley Forge National Historical Park (K-0761, KFF-0761). I rolled into one of the picnic areas and found a nice shady parking spot.
My shady parking spot at Valley Forge National Historical Park (K-0761, KFF-0761)
As I was setting up, a gentleman walked up to ask about my antenna on the back of my truck. I gave him a quick explanation of ham radio and Parks on the Air. Normally, passersby would just thank me and move on. This fellow, however, tried to engage me in one of the most bizarre conversations I’ve ever heard. After a few minutes, I politely disengaged myself from his rambling and got on with my activation.
Today, I used my TR-35 and my 19-foot homebrew vertical. It took about 10 minutes to log my first 10 contacts on 40M. In a little more than an hour, I logged 23 contacts on 40M, 30M, and 20M. There were lots of activators out and about this morning; I made seven park-to-park contacts I know of.
All in all, I had a good weekend, and the weather was spectacular. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well and took some time to remember those who gave their lives to protect the freedoms we enjoy.
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 