WWFF – WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio

Hunting Skeeters in the Rain

I arrived home the night before from a week-long vacation in North Carolina and still had some unpacking to do and things to catch up on. Still, I wanted to take part in the Skeeter Hunt QRP contest, which is something I look forward to each year. Despite the weather forecast for heavy rain, I got on the air for the first one and a half hours of the contest.

I drove over to Valley Forge National Historical Park (US-0761, KFF-0761), hoping to make enough Skeeter Hunt contacts to complete a POTA activation at the same time. Since I was focusing on contest contacts, I didn’t bother to spot myself on the POTA and WWFF sites.

It was drizzling when I got to the park, so I operated from the truck. Equipment-wise, I used my trusty Penntek TR-35 transceiver, along with a 17-foot whip and my homebrew loading coil. I started out on 40M, and it sure was rough going, producing only three contest contacts. I probably spent too much time on that band. Eventually, I gave up on 40M and moved up to 20M. The skeeters were more plentiful up there.

The rain was starting to come down heavier, and I still had some errands to run, so I packed it in. After about 90 minutes, I ended up with 13 skeeters and a couple of non-skeeters in the log.

Hunkered down in the truck, wearing my official Skeeter Hunt t-shirt

As I was leaving the park, the skies opened up, and a torrential rain ensued. My timing couldn’t have been better. Despite all the rain, it was a good time. I would have liked to stay longer, but I had things to do and places to be.

Many thanks to Larry W2LJ and the NJQRP club for organizing this fun event. I’m already looking forward to next year.

72, Craig WB3GCK

Stormy Monday Activation

Angry-looking clouds. Unsettled geomagnetic conditions. That sounds like a good time to go activate a park with a compromised antenna. So that’s what I did. When you get the opportunity to go play radio in a park, you just have to go for it.

Early on a Monday morning, I made a trip up to Evansburg State Park (US-1351, KFF-1351). We had some storms overnight, and there were some lingering dark clouds around. So, I hunkered down under a picnic pavilion. I didn’t have much time, so I went with the Elecraft KH1 and its internal whip. Along with the whip, I used a Tufteln 90-degree adapter. For keying, I used my trusty CWMouse paddles on my clipboard.

Picnic Table-portable with the KH1 at Evansburge State Park — Picnic Table-portable with the KH1 at Evansburg State Park

I installed the AXE1 extender coil for 40M and got started. The noise floor was very low, but I had to endure the occasional loud static crashes from storms in the area. Despite the unsettled geomagnetic field, the first five QSOs came quickly. After working a couple more, I gave 30M a try and logged three more.

With 10 contacts in the log, I removed the AXE1 and moved up to 20M. There was a bit more activity up there, and I made nine more contacts in short order. I shut down after an hour on the air with 19 contacts. That included four park-to-park contacts.

There are far better antennas than the KH1’s 45-inch whip, but probably none faster to deploy. Not to mention the huge fun factor in making contacts with such a diminutive antenna.

72, Craig WB3GCK

Trying a 29-Foot Wire with the KH1

When I tested a 35-foot non-resonant wire with my KH1 last week, I was pleased with the results. Continuing with that theme, I thought I’d try a 29-foot wire, another popular non-resonant length.

I drove back to Valley Forge National Historical Park (US-0761, KFF-0761) and re-created the setup I used last time. To support the wire, I again used my homebrew drive-on mount to support a partially extended 31-foot Jackite pole. I’m guessing the pole was up about 27 feet, give or take. I set up my camp chair nearby and ran the wire over to the KH1. Starting off, I used a 17-foot counterpoise wire.

My KH1 on a kneeboard with the roll-on antenna support in the background

First, I checked to see what kind of match the KH1 would find on its five bands. The SWR was very low on all bands except for 20M, where the best the KH1 would do was around 2.4:1.

I started my activation on 40M, and the wire seemed to get out pretty well. Although the band was noisy with static crashes, I made my first ten contacts in about 11 minutes. I eventually moved up to 30M, but I only had one hunter there.

At that point, I took a break to experiment with counterpoise wires. I tried both 29-foot and 13-foot counterpoise wires, but neither of them improved the match on 20M. I also tried repositioning the counterpoise with no luck.

I left the 13-foot counterpoise wire attached and went back to 40M. I made an additional handful of contacts on 40M before trying 17M. On 17M, I picked up three more before calling it quits.

Admittedly, I had high hopes for the 29-foot wire. I’ve used that length a bunch of times, although usually with a 9:1 unun and rigs with more robust tuners. In any event, it worked well on bands other than 20M. I managed 26 contacts in a little more than an hour.

On the drive home, I thought about some ways to improve the match on 20M. I’m not sure any of them are really worth the effort, though. For now, I’ll just stick with 35-ft when I use a random wire with the KH1.

72, Craig WB3GCK

Trying a 35-foot Wire with the KH1

I headed back to Valley Forge National Historical Park (US-0761, KFF-0761) to try out an antenna configuration I didn’t get to during my last visit. I was eager to see how well my Elecraft KH1’s internal ATU would match it.

The antenna in question is just a 35-foot wire with a 17-foot counterpoise. There’s nothing novel about this configuration, as it’s a popular choice for the Elecraft KH1. Since I bought the KH1 last summer, I had never tried directly feeding a random wire. Since I already had the 35-foot wire I used in North Carolina last year, I gave it a go this morning.

To support the 35-foot wire, I used a 31-foot Jackite pole on my homebrew drive-on mount. I sloped the wire down to my camp chair. I laid out the counterpoise wire in the grass and used a binding post to a BNC adapter to connect both wires to the KH1. To hold the KH1, I used a kneeboard from Tufteln strapped to my leg. I used my CWMouse paddles for sending.

Before starting my activation, I tried the KH1 on each of its five bands. The KH1 found a 1:1 match on both 40M and 30M. The 20M band gave the highest SWR at 1.6:1; however, the KH1 was putting out a full five watts on that band. On both 17M and 15M, the SWR was a respectable 1.3:1.

My 31-foot Jackit pole on a homebrew drive-on mount

Satisfied that the KH1 was happy with this antenna configuration, I got underway on 40M. The wire seemed to get ust fine, but it’s hard to judge an antenna’s performance on the air. There are just too many variables in play. Anyway, I made contacts all up and down the East Coast and out to the mid-west. I ended up making contacts on 40M, 30M, and 20M. It was a bit too early in the morning for 17M and 15M.

After an hour and 10 minutes, I wrapped up with 25 contacts in my log with nine park-to-park contacts. Not too bad for early on a Monday morning, I suppose.

Overall, I was very happy with the 35-foot wire with the KH1. I think it might be a permanent addition to my backpack. It certainly doesn’t take up much room. I’ll probably be using it for the upcoming Flight of the Bumblebees contest.

72, Craig WB3GCK

It’s Been a Minute or Two

Except for Field Day, I’ve been mostly off the air for the past few weeks. To remedy that, I took advantage of a rare day with outstanding weather for a quick, early-morning activation at Valley Forge National Historical Park (US-0761, KFF-0761).

Since I have to be careful with sun exposure these days, I drove straight to an area I knew would have shade all morning. My original plan was to experiment with a wire antenna with my Elecraft KH1, but for reasons I won’t bore you with, that didn’t happen. Instead, I used a whip antenna on my truck and ran coax over to my camp chair and table. My handy-dandy propagation app showed unsettled geomagnetic conditions, so I went with my longer 17-foot whip and homebrew loading coil.

Despite the poor band conditions predicted for 40M, there was no shortage of early risers hunting parks. Although there was a lot of static from impending storms, it only took five or six minutes to make my first ten contacts. After logging 20 contacts on 40M, I changed bands. I made a half-dozen contacts each on 30M and 20M.

I finished up with 32 contacts after an hour and 10 minutes on the air. Eight of those were park-to-park, including one with my friend Ken N3CU, and one on each of the three bands with Tom KG1A in Florida.

My antenna taken from my shady location — My antenna, as viewed from my shady location

I packed up and headed home to cut my grass before the rain moves in tomorrow. Except for a minute or two of sheer panic when I temporarily misplaced the keys to my truck, it was a good morning and fun to get back out in a park.

72, Craig WB3GCK

In Pursuit of a Kilo

Yeah, I know. That title sounds bad. What I’m talking about is finally making one thousand contacts at French Creek State Park (US-1351, KFF-1351). I’ve activated this park a bunch of times over the years, but I have yet to get that POTA Kilo Award. I was bound and determined to wrap it up this morning.

I started off this morning 36 contacts shy of the one thousand mark. Since we’re gearing up for a bit of a heatwave here in southeastern Pennsylvania, I headed out early to beat the heat. I was hoping for good band conditions and lots of early-rising hunters.

Hopewell Lake in French Creek State Park

My setup today was my usual Penntek TR-35 (5W, CW) and my 12-foot base-loaded whip. I normally use my Elecraft T1 tuner to touch up the SWR on the lower bands. This morning, though, the T1 refused to find a match. It took me a few seconds to realize that I forgot to set the tap on the coil. So the antenna had a bit more inductance than it needed. Doh! Once I corrected that faux pas, all was right with the world.

Given the early hour, I started out on 40M. It didn’t take long for the hunters to show up. After 12 minutes, I had my first 10 contacts logged. Although not at a breakneck pace, I had a steady stream of callers. When I hit 20 contacts, I was feeling like I had a shot at getting the 36 I needed.

The activity eventually dried up on 40M, so I moved up to 30M. After an hour on the air, I had 33 contacts logged. And then it slowed way down. After an hour and 15 minutes, I finally had the 36 contacts I was looking for. Thanks to W8AJF in Ohio for being number one thousand from this park.

My long-overdue Kilo Award at French Creek State Park

I made a couple more on 30M before dropping back down to 40M for a few minutes before shutting down. After 90 minutes on the air, I had 43 contacts—seven more than I needed. The temperature was warming up, so I packed up and headed off to run a few errands.

I don’t normally get too wound up about POTA or WWFF awards, but I do love a challenge now and then. Thanks to all the hunters who came out to play this morning.

72, Craig WB3GCK

Crowded Day in the Park

I tend to avoid activating my local parks on weekends. In this area, parks can get pretty busy in the summer, especially when the weather is nice. Being an old, retired guy, I have the luxury of doing my portable operations during the week. Sometimes, though, when the opportunity presents itself on a weekend, you just have to go for it.

I was overdue for a visit to Norristown Farm Park (US-4363, KFF-4363). Being a Saturday with reasonably nice weather, I expected the park to attract a fair number of visitors. To avoid the crowds, I headed out early.

When I rolled into the parking lot at 0800 (local), it was about half full and filling up quickly. It looked like some sort of organized event was forming up. I only planned to operate for an hour hoping to finish up before their event got started.

I set up my usual 12-foot loaded whip and TR-35 and got started on 40M. Electrical noise can sometimes be an issue at this location, and that was the case today. Fortunately, the bands were in reasonable shape, so I could copy all but the weakest stations. (My apologies to anyone I missed.)

Noise notwithstanding, I made my first 10 contacts with no problems. When things slowed down on 40M, I switched to 20M. Up on 20M it was wall-to-wall with contesters, so I stuck to the less-crowded WARC bands. The 30M band was fairly productive, but I only had three contacts on 17M. One of those contacts, however, was with IK4HLO in Italy. After just under an hour on the air, I had 29 contacts in the log with three (known) park-to-park contacts and the one DX QSO.

Apparently, the organized event was a walk/run event benefiting a charity. As I was taking down my antenna, a group of participants left the parking lot and took off down the multi-use trail. Driving out of the park, I noticed that the other parking areas were nearly full. So, my early start turned out to be an excellent strategy.

Have a great weekend!

72, Craig WB3GCK

A Soggy Memorial Day Activation

The weather has really put a damper on this holiday weekend. Today was no exception. Nevertheless, I had a successful early-morning activation at French Creek State Park (US-1355, KFF-1355).

I got off to an early start and headed up to the Hopewell Lake boat launch area in the park. The picnic area was devoid of picnickers, as one would expect early in the morning with periods of drizzle. So, I hunkered down in the truck with my usual Penntek TR-35 (5W, CW) and 12-foot loaded whip setup.

My location overlooking an empty picnic area

I also brought along a new 20Ah LiFePO4 battery I just bought. That battery was serious overkill for the little TR-35. It probably could have powered that rig for a week, but I wanted to give it a little test. I plan to use it for Field Day next month.

The gray box on the floor houses my 20Ah LiFePO4 battery. My activation barely put a dent in its capacity.

The hunters were also up early and raring to go. I had a steady stream of calls on 40M for about 40 minutes. When things slowed down, I spent the rest of my time on 20M. The 20M band did pretty well for that early hour. I didn’t work any DX today, but once again W6LEN made it into my log from California. Jess has great ears!

After about an hour and 20 minutes, the rain picked up a bit, so I started packing up. I ended up with 52 contacts, including a handful of park-to-park contacts. This was a vast improvement over my last visit to French Creek.

On this Memorial Day, please take a little time to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

72, Craig WB3GCK

Ridley Creek Eyeball QSO

I happened to be in the vicinity of Ridley Creek State Park (US-1414, KFF-1414) yesterday morning, so I stopped there on my way home. My short activation turned out to be an interesting one.

I pulled into one of the picnic areas and, because of the questionable weather, I operated from my truck. I was using my Penntek TR-35 (5W) and a 17-foot base-loaded whip. As soon as I got started, I was met with some horrendous intermittent interference on 40M through 17M. This area is normally dead quiet, so this was highly unusual. I initially suspected it might be coming from a hybrid car parked in the area. Despite the noise, I still managed to make CW contacts and complete my activation.

WB3GCK and K3YR (r) at Ridley Creek State Park (Photo credit: K3YR)

As I was making my last QSO of the morning, a fellow walked up to the truck and introduced himself. Herb K3YR had been operating from a nearby picnic pavilion and could hear my CW. He saw my POTA spot and figured I had to be somewhere nearby. As he walked around the loop, he spotted my antenna and came over for an “eyeball QSO.” Since the noise I had been hearing stopped right before Herb showed up, we both assumed it was his SSB transmissions I was hearing.

Herb K3YR activating Ridley Creek State Park

After chatting for a bit, Herb headed back to the pavilion to continue his activation, and I started packing up to leave. I stopped by the pavilion on my way out to have a look at his setup. After we took some pictures, I got on my way.

I’ve only encountered other activators in the same park a handful of times over the years, but I’ve met some really nice fellow hams that way.

73, Craig WB3GCK

Got It Made in the Shade

We’re in the middle of our first heatwave of the year here in southeastern Pennsylvania. This isn’t my favorite kind of weather, but I wanted to get in a POTA/WWFF activation today. To avoid the forecasted heat, I made an early-morning trip to Valley Forge National Historical Park (US-0761, KFF-0761), hoping for some early-rising hunters.

When I got to the park, I headed to a picnic area where I knew there would be several hours of shade. I parked my truck in the shade and set up a chair and table nearby under some large trees.

My shady operating spot in Valley Forge National Historical Park — My shady operating spot

I took a quick look at the band conditions before I left the house. The geomagnetic field was active, and the band conditions were predicted to be “fair” at best. I figured the higher bands would be tough today, so I planned to focus on 40M, 30M, and 20M. So, antenna-wise, I went with a 17-foot whip and my homebrew loading coil on the back of my truck. I ran some coax over to my table, where I had set up my Penntek TR-35 (5 watts, CW).

My truck-mounted 17-foot whip in Valley Forge National Historical Park — My truck-mounted 17-foot whip

I started out on 40M around 0800 local time. As soon as I turned on the rig, I heard some ear-shattering signals. That was certainly a good sign. There were plenty of early morning hunters out there, so it only took about 6 minutes to make my first 10 contacts. The hunters kept me busy on 40M for about 40 minutes until the activity slowed down.

I spent the rest of my time on 30M and 20M. The activity there, although not as brisk as on 40M, produced a fair number of contacts. After about an hour and 40 minutes, I had 53 contacts in my log.

One of my contacts was with a fellow Straight Key Century Club (SKCC) member. Fortunately, I had a straight key hooked up and ready to go to complete the standard SKCC exchange.

Some highlights:

Working Jess W6LEN out in California on both 30M and 20M
A park-to-park contact with Jim N4JAW, aka Ham on a Bike
Working on-the-air friends I hadn’t heard in a while: AB4PP, W1PID, and KK4Z

As I was operating, two park vehicles came by and parked a couple of spaces away from my truck. At first, I thought it was a National Park SWAT team coming to check on my suspicious activity. Instead, two rangers and a maintence worker donned backpacks and headed down one of the trails. Apparently, there are more important things in the park than some old ham radio operator.

Despite the hot weather and mediocre propagation forecasts, today’s activation was a lot of fun. Except for a few pesky ants, my shady spot under the trees was magnificent.

72, Craig WB3GCK