I haven’t activated a park recently, so I made a point to get out today. This weekend is the Parks on the Air Fall Support Your Parks weekend. What better time to activate?
I made a last-minute decision to head back to the western boat launch area in Marsh Creek State Park (K-1380, KFF-1380), a site I’ve been to a few times in the past year. Looking at the surrounding terrain, you would think this is a terrible location. It’s down at water level near the lake, and you have to descend a large hill to get down there. Despite the terrain, I’ve always had good luck from there. Today was no exception. Not to mention there’s a beautiful view of the lake.
WB3GCK at Marsh Creek State Park (K-1380)
Using my TR-35 and my 19-foot vertical, I started out on 40M. Initially, I had a little trouble spotting myself. Even before I was spotted, a station in New York stumbled upon me and got things started. Eventually, my spot went through, and things really picked up. I made 28 contacts on 40M in the first 45 minutes. Up on 30M, I picked up 11 more contacts.
Before I left, I checked 17M, and I’m glad I did. I was getting some very strong Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) spots from Europe. In short order; I had three contacts, with the last two being SP6GNJ and CU3AA. Happily, my puny five-watt signal was making the trip across the pond.
Support Your Parks Weekend Activator Award
I ended up with 42 contacts, including two park-to-park QSOs, and the two DX contacts. Right after I uploaded my log, I received a certificate for activating a park during Support Your Parks weekend. I made a few contacts as a hunter yesterday, so I also received a hunter certificate.
I was long overdue for some portable QRP, so I went out twice over the weekend. As a bonus, we had some beautiful Fall weather here in southeastern Pennsylvania.
The bands, especially 20M, were in good shape, and I made a half-dozen SKCC contacts. There were a lot of Parks on the Air (POTA) activators, so I spent most of my time hunting them. The Pennsylvania QSO Party was also going on, and I logged a few of them, too.
On Sunday, I went for a bike ride on the Schuylkill River Trail and stopped in a park for a little radio time. This time I used my newly acquired (tr)uSDX with my ground-mounted 19-foot vertical.
My bike-portable setup on Sunday
The bench I was sitting on was getting full sun from time to time, which made reading the radio’s display a challenge. There were some loud signals on 20M that seemed to overload the radio’s front end. I could have used some attenuation, but, not being able to read the display clearly, I didn’t attempt to navigate the menus. (Note to self: Stay in the shade next time.) Despite these challenges, I logged three SKCC stations receiving good signal reports from each of them.
Nothing really exciting this weekend, but it was great to get back out portable again.
I took advantage of the decent weather yesterday and went for a bike ride along the Schuylkill River Trail and the Perkiomen Trail. Along the way, I stopped in a local park to make a few contacts in the Straight Key Century Club’s Weekend Sprintathon (WES) contest.
When I arrived at the trailhead, it was nearly full. Fortunately, I grabbed one of the last remaining parking spaces. After loading up my radio gear, I hopped on the bike and took off down the trail. As the trailhead parking situation would suggest, the trail was getting lots of use from walkers and cyclists.
WB3GCK taking a radio break along the Perkiomen Trail
I didn’t hear much contest activity, but I seemed to have a pipeline to Prince Edward Island in Canada. I made SKCC contacts with the special event station, VC3Y/VY2, on both 40M and 20M. I also worked VA3DXQ/VY2 who was doing a POTA activation. KS9KCC was booming in from Indiana, but they didn’t seem to hear my five-watt signal. (Later in the day, I logged KS9KCC from home on 40M.) After making seven contacts, I packed up and continued on my ride.
My homebrew 19-foot vertical and ground mount
It’s a good thing I went for my ride yesterday. The weather today is raining and dismal.
Also, on the 21st anniversary of the 9/11, please take time to remember those lost in that tragedy.
After a long drive home from North Carolina yesterday, we were still unpacking from our vacation and getting caught up on things today. I couldn’t pass up the annual Skeeter Hunt QRP contest, so I snuck out to make a few contacts. Besides, I was issued a single-digit skeeter number (#7) this year, so I couldn’t let that go to waste.
I drove a few miles over to Valley Forge National Historical Park, hoping to catch enough skeeters for a valid POTA activation (K-0761). The area I was in was busy with folks enjoying their picnics, so I parked my truck well away from them.
I didn’t plan to stay long, so I operated from the truck. I used my Penntek TR-35 and my trusty homebrew vertical. That turned out to be a wise move, since the truck provided some shade and an occasional cross-breeze through the windows.
Yours truly operating in the 2022 Skeeter Hunt QRP contest
When I turned on the rig, the 40M band was buzzing with QRP skeeters, and I made most of my contacts there. Conditions, at times, seemed pretty good; I worked stations in WI, MO, and GA on 40M from here in southeastern PA. After running out of new ones on 40M, I moved up to 20M and picked up a few there.
At the end of my 1.5 hour session, I had worked 16 skeeters, one non-skeeter QRPer. There were other skeeters operating from POTA entities; I had at least four park-to-park contacts I know of.
The Skeeter Hunt is always a good time. I’m glad I could take part, even if just for a part of the contest. A big shout-out to Larry W2LJ for organizing this fun event.
We arrived on Saturday, after a long drive from southeastern Pennsylvania. After unloading and getting organized in the house we rented in Corolla for the week, I went outside and set up an antenna.
Currituck Sound, as seen from my antenna.
For the past two years at this house, I used a 29-foot vertical fed through a 9:1 unun. During both trips, I struggled with noise issues. I had a couple of antenna options I wanted to try this year.
This time around, I went with a Rybakov-type antenna. I strapped a 28-foot Jackite pole to the railing of the 3rd floor deck. I used a 26-foot vertical wire fed through my recently built weather-resistant 4:1 unun. My 26-foot counterpoise wire ran out to the side of the antenna and down the side of the deck stairs. It was a weird configuration, for sure. I ran 25 feet of RG-8X coax down to the second floor, where I could operate in the shade—in the morning, at least.
My Rybakov vertical configuration. The red line shows how I ran the counterpoise wire. Despite this weird-looking setup, it worked pretty well.
I didn’t test the antenna until early Sunday morning, and my KX3’s tuner matched it on every band from 40M through 10M. The noise levels on 40M and 20M were down around S2, a dramatic improvement over previous years and completely workable. The higher bands were dead quiet.
My antenna feedpoint. I used my weather-resistant 4:1 to create a Rybakov-type vertical.
My first contact was an interesting one. Fellow Boschveldt members, Glen NK1N and Rob KE3TI, were on an overnight backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. I sent Glen NK1N a text message to let him know I was on the air, and we connected on 40M. We chatted for a bit and exchanged SKCC numbers. Conditions were rough in the beginning but, towards the end of our contact, our signals improved.
Before quitting, I logged 10 SKCC Weekend Sprintathon (WES) contacts. There were bonus points for using a homebrew key, so I used a straight key I cobbled together a few years ago. I also worked Greg WA3GM, who was doing a POTA activation at a park near to my home in Pennsylvania. So, my jury-rigged Rybakov seemed to get out OK.
The homebrew straight key I used during the SKCC Weekend Sprintathon (WES).
Monday morning, I got set up on the deck to make a few contacts. I noticed the antenna was acting up a bit on the 40M band. The KX3’s tuner showed it found a 1:1 match, but the SWR went up when I transmitted. I had no issues with the other bands, just 40M. It seemed like I was getting some RF on the coax shield, so I added a common mode choke at the transceiver and changed to a shorter length of coax. That cleared up the issue. I’m guessing there was some interaction between the antenna’s counterpoise and the coax on 40M. Even before I resolved the antenna issue, I logged a half-dozen contacts.
My radio setup on the 2nd story deck of the rental house.
With six adults, four grand-kids, and two grand-dogs, there was always something going on in the house. However, I managed to get on the air for about an hour each morning after breakfast to make a few contacts.
Thursday evening was busy. I kept track of Winlink check-ins for an ARES-RACES net back home. Using DMR, I checked into another ARES-RACES net in Pennsylvania. When I’m down here, I always like to check into the Outer Banks Area Wide Net. Then, it was out to the dock to join my grand-kids for some crabbing.
As I was finishing up breakfast on Friday, I got a text message from my friend, Frank N3FLL, asking if I was on the air. I quickly moved my radio out to the deck and had a nice QSO with him. I also worked a few POTA activators including Greg WA3GM. I worked Greg on the first day, so it was only fitting that I work him on the last day, too. After that, it was time to take down the antenna and pack up the radios.
I didn’t spend as much time on the air as in previous years, but I worked some fellow SKCC members, chased a few POTA activators, and had a couple of nice ragchews. All in all, it was a great vacation with excellent weather. I’m already looking forward to next year.
I recently came across a product on Etsy that caught my eye. It’s a 3D printed project box with an integrated antenna wire winder. I couldn’t resist, so I ordered one.
The box will accommodate a T-130 toroid, and the snap-on lid comes with a gasket. There is a pre-drilled hole for a BNC-F panel mount connector, and there are marks to guide drilling for the output and ground connectors of your choice. You can choose from two colors: orange or green. The vendor states that it is “UV and weather resistant.”
I like the idea of having a box to enclose the balun or transformer. My preference for portable antennas is to avoid exposed components or circuit boards.
I used mine to build a 4:1 unun for portable use in a Rybakov configuration. The unun consists of 19 bifilar turns of #24 solid hookup wire on a T130-2 toroid. You can find plans for winding the unun here and other places on the Internet. For the output and ground connections, I used #10-24×3/4″ stainless steel machine screws, along with some nuts, flat washers, and lock washers.
Inside view of the 4:1 unun. I used double-sided foam mounting tape to secure the toroid. I also use a small piece of packing foam (not shown) between the lid and the toroid for added stability.
To go along with the completed unun, I prepared two 26-foot wires; one for the radiator and one for a counterpoise. I finished up by attaching a length of 2.5mm bungee cord. This cord keeps everything together for travel. I have also used it to secure the box to a vertical support, e.g., fiberglass mast, fence post, etc.
The 4:1 unun deployed in a Rybakov vertical configuration with a 26-foot radiator and a 26-foot counterpoise
In the field, this Rybakov antenna worked as well as others I have built over the years. I tested it using my Penntek TR-35 and Elecraft T1 tuner with 18 feet of coax. It tuned up easily on 40, 30, 20, and 17 meters, and I made a couple of QSOs while testing. The integrated winder made it easy to deploy and take down.
The 4:1 unun packed up for travel
I have a feeling another one of these boxes is in my future. Maybe a 9:1 unun next time?
I logged into the POTA.app site this morning and noticed that I had 99 park-to-park QSOs, just one away from the next award level. With my vacation coming up, I probably won’t be able to activate a park for another couple of weeks. My obsessive nature couldn’t take looking at that 99 number all that time, so I set out today to rectify that.
I started the day just one away from the next POTA Park-to-Park award. Of course, I had to go out and get a few more.
I drove down to Valley Forge National Historical Park (K-0761/KFF-0761) this morning for a quick activation. We’re still under a heat advisory, so I got there early to avoid the worst of it. On arrival, I found a shady spot and parked my truck.
I set up a camping chair and small table in the shade and used my 19-foot vertical on the back of my truck. My rig today was my Penntek TR-35 at 5 watts.
My setup behind my truck at Valley Forge National Historical Park (K-0761/KFF-0761)
The CW hunters were out in force early today. It took all of 15 minutes to make my first ten contacts. Operating for exactly an hour, I finished with 25 QSOs in my log. Best of all, five were park-to-park QSOs, so I had more than enough to put me over the top.
With my mission accomplished, I can stop fixating on that pesky “99.”
My daughter and her family went on a road trip to Michigan for my grandson’s hockey tournament. They needed someone to stay with their dog, Cooper, who is recovering from recent leg surgery. I volunteered to stay at their house near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, while they were gone and spend some one-on-one time with my “grand-dog.” Of course, I took some radio gear along with me.
Cooper is recovering nicely from his surgery, but he still needs to restrict his activity. He’s OK on his own for a few hours, so I planned to squeeze in a couple of short radio-related outings while out there.
Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area (K/KFF-4356)
After feeding and walking the grand-dog on Thursday morning, I headed out for a quick POTA activation. The Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area—now that’s a mouthful—is only about 25 minutes away, so I could get an activation in without leaving the dog alone for too long.
The parking area, on a hill, was vacant when I pulled in. I passed a huge high tension tower near the park entrance, but, fortunately, the power lines didn’t run anywhere near the parking lot. I set up the TR-35 in the cab and mounted my trusty homebrew vertical on the back of the truck.
Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area entrance. You can see one leg of a huge high tension tower behind it. Fortunately, the powerlines didn’t run near the parking lot.
I started out on 40M, and the band was in excellent shape. Despite being sandwiched in between some mountains, my five-watt signal was getting out fine. I was getting some very strong spots on the Reverse Beacon Network. I logged my first ten contacts in less than 15 minutes.
My parking spot at the Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area. The woods were behind me, out of the shot.
After making 20 contacts on 40M, I moved up to 20M. There, I logged another 10 contacts, including SM0NSJ in Sweden. After about 50 minutes on the air, I started packing up to make my way back to the house.
The final tally was 30 contacts, with one park-to-park, and one DX QSO. Looking at the POTA website, it looks like this was the first CW activation at this park in more than two years.
I didn’t see much of the park, but what I saw looks beautiful. I will definitely need to go back there to do some hiking on the trails.
PA State Game Land 246 (K-8941)
My original plan for Friday morning was to take a bike ride on the Northwest Lancaster County River Trail and operate from somewhere along the trail. I’ve been wanting to ride this trail since I did some portable operating from the trailhead about 4 years ago. Unfortunately, as I was putting the bike on the rack for the trip out here, I found that the rear brake was locked up. I didn’t have time to deal with it; so, sadly, I left the bike at home. Another time, I guess.
With the bike out of the question, I instead drove a few miles down the road to PA State Game Land 246 for another POTA activation. There was only one other vehicle in the parking lot, and he left about 15 minutes later.
All alone in the parking lot for Pennsylvania State Game Lands 246 in Middletown, PA
Band conditions seemed in great shape; it didn’t take long to make my first ten contacts. One of my first contacts was with fellow QRPer, W1PID, in New Hampshire. I hadn’t worked Jim in a while, so it was good to hear him calling.
I had a few stations that worked me on multiple bands. W6OUL in California heard my five-watt signal on 30 and 20 meter bands. Those were my longest contacts of the day. Meanwhile, K9VIC in Illinois reached me on all three bands used today (40M, 30M, and 20M).
I was on the air for exactly one hour, ending up with 34 QSOs with one park-to-park contact. After that, I packed up for the short drive back to the house to hang out with the grand-dog.
Backyard Bust
On Saturday, I stayed around the house and planned to do some casual operating from the backyard. It’s been a couple of years since I last operated from here, and it has always been somewhat of a challenge. It’s in a low spot, and surrounded by houses, but I thought I’d give it a go today.
I started with my trusty 19-foot vertical on my homebrew ground mount. The receiver noise was horrendous. The Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) showed I was getting out with double-digit signal-to-noise readings. I just couldn’t hear anything. I figured the vertical was just the wrong choice for this environment.
Next, I went with the Alexloop, figuring that it would be better in this noisy environment. Like the vertical, I was getting decent SNR readings on RBN, but it was receiving only slightly better. Not great, but a little better.
Although I got skunked, I got some practice using the Alexloop with the TR-35. I used a resistive SWR bridge between the TR-35 and the loop, and I figured out the output power settings that work best on each band to get the bridge’s LED to extinguish at resonance. I also got to test a little battery pack I put together with three 18650 Li-ion cells.
So, this little mis-adventure wraps up my operations from here in south-central Pennsylvania, and I’m heading back home tomorrow (Sunday). At least I got in a couple of fun POTA activations while I was here.
One antenna I plan to try during my annual Outer Banks, North Carolina, vacation this summer requires a 4:1 unun. If the antenna works as hoped, it’ll be in place for the entire week. So, I need an unun that can stand up to the elements.
About a year ago, I built a 9:1 unun in a weather-resistant housing made from PVC pipe parts. I had some parts left over from that project, so I built a 4:1 unun version. The construction of this unun is like the last one, however, this one has a ground terminal.
Weather-resistant 4:1 unun components
I wouldn’t want to take this unun on a backpacking trip; it weighs in at a substantial 8.6 ounces. When I’m going to be operating from a location for an extended period, however, this should do the trick.
Parts
The parts for the housing are similar to the last one, but there are some additions for the ground connection.
About 2.5 inches of 1.5-inch PVC pipe
(1) 1.5-inch PVC end cap (slightly rounded top)
(2) 1.5-inch PVC end caps with flat tops
(1) SO-239 panel-mount connector (along with some #4 hardware for mounting)
A 4:1 unun wound on a T130-2 toroid
(2) #10-24×3/4″ stainless steel machine screw (along with some #10 flat washers, nuts, wing nuts, and lock washer)
The PVC end-caps with flat tops can be hard to find. If you search online for furniture-grade end caps, you might find some.
Construction
You can find plans for winding the unun here and other places on the Internet. The one I built for this project uses 19 bifilar windings of #24 solid hookup wire on the T130-2 toroid.
To start, you need to glue the two flat top end caps together. When dry, drill the holes to mount an SO-239 connector in the center.
The underside of the 4:1 unun. The SO-239 is recessed to provide some protection from the elements.
For mechanical reasons, I added the #10-24 stainless steel screw for a ground terminal in the lower half of the connector housing. A short length of wire runs from the ground screw through a small hole and connects to one of the SO-239’s mounting screws. I installed another #10-24 screw in the slightly rounded end cap for the antenna connection.
The final assembly was straight forward. I soldered the toroid’s input wires to the center pin of the SO-239 connector. Then, I attached the toroid’s ground wire to one of the SO-239’s mounting screws.
This is how the toroid is installed in the Weather-Resistant 4:1 UNUN.
Next, I inserted the PVC pipe section into the connector housing. I then installed a ring lug on the output wire. I left the output wire just long enough to make the connection to the output bolt in the rounded end cap. Before mounting the end cap to the PVC pipe, I added some pieces of foam around the toroid core to hold it in place. Then I press-fitted all the PVC parts together.
Testing in the Field
I tested the 4:1 unun in the field recently, and it performed as expected. I used it as part of a Rybakov vertical, with a 26-foot radiator supported by a Jackite pole, another 26-foot wire on the ground for a counterpoise, and 18 feet of RG-8x coax. My little Elecraft T1 tuner matched it with no problems on 40M, 30M, 20M and 17M, the bands covered by the rig I was using. Similar 4:1 ununs I have built worked well from 40M through 6M, so I’m confident this one will, too. While I was testing, I had a couple of nice CW rag chews on 40M and 30M.
The weather-resistant 4:1 unun in use. In this configuration, there’s a 26-foot radiator and a 26-foot counterpoise wire.
Wrap-up
Like its 9:1 counterpart, this unun is probably a bit over-engineered. My weather-resistant 9:1 has served me well through several camping trips and two Field Days, so I expect this 4:1 version will do likewise. So, bring on that beach weather!
This weekend was a Parks on the Air (POTA) Support Your Parks weekend. There are four seasonal events with the chance for activators and hunters to earn plaques. Even though I stand little to no chance of getting a plaque, I figured this would be a good weekend to activate a couple of parks.
Marsh Creek State Park (K-1380)
On Saturday, I headed over to the western boat launch area in Marsh Creek State Park. I’ve operated from this spot twice in the past year, and it’s not usually busy. Not today, though. The parking lots were jam-packed, with a steady stream of boaters coming in. I drove around to the other side of the lake to check out the picnic area.
When I arrived mid-morning, the picnic area parking lot was fairly empty. I figured the place would get pretty busy towards lunchtime, so I found a shady parking spot and operated from the truck. I used my Penntek TR-35 (5 watts) and my usual 19-foot vertical.
I forgot to take pictures of Marsh Creek State Park (K-1380), but I did take this picture in the cab of my truck.
My first contact was with my friend and fellow ARES-RACES member, N3FLL. Frank said he was doing some POTA hunting today, so I was happy to give him a park.
After I had logged 26 CW contacts (with three park-to-park QSOs), the inside of the truck was getting pretty warm. Plus the great smells from all the surrounding barbeques reminded me it was lunchtime. By the time I left, the park was getting crowded with folks taking advantage of the summer weather, so my timing was perfect.
Valley Forge National Historical Park (K-0761)
I wanted to get a bike ride in, so Sunday morning I rode from the Pawlings Road trailhead into Valley Forge Park. It was a little over two miles to the Betzwood Picnic Area. I operated from this location once before six years ago. The elevation isn’t very good, but I gave it a shot, anyway.
I found a picnic table in a shady spot back along some trees. I had a hill right behind me, but the shade was more important today. On this trip, my rig was the TR-35 and my Alexloop.
The Schuylkill River Trail entering Valley Forge National Historical Park from the west.
One of my favorite stretches along the Schuylkill River Trail. This section is in Valley Forge National Historical Park.
Once again, I neglected to take pictures of my setup, but here’s a picture I took while packing up to head back.
Even if you don’t qualify for a plaque, activitors and hunters participating in the Support Your Parks event get a certificate.
Hunters also received certificates for working parks during the Support Your Parks Weekend. My park-to-park contacts earned me this one.
My first contact was with W3DET on 30M. This was my first QSO with Dave in a while, so it was good to hear him again. I made four more contacts before giving 20M a try. I picked up one contact on 20M, so I moved down to 40M, which is the least efficient band for the Alexloop. However, the 40M band produced four park-to-park contacts.
Since it was so hot and humid, I packed up after making the required ten contacts and headed back to the trailhead. There was nothing extraordinary today, radio-wise, but I had an enjoyable bike ride.
When I got home and logged into the POTA website, I found I had received a certificate for activating during the Support Your Parks weekend. There sure were a ton of stations on the air this weekend, so I hope all the activators and hunters had fun.
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 