Summer QRP => Portable Antennas

Summertime is QRPxpedition time here at W0VLZ. After a winter of playing with boat anchors in the basement I'm ready to get out to a park with my KX3. With any rig I always have to think about an antenna. Looking back on my blog and website I see that I've gone through this before.

Here are some links: 

https://w0vlz.blogspot.com/search/label/20%20Mtr%20Zepp Construction details and experiences using a 20 meter endfed halfwave wire "tuned" by 14' of TV twinlead. 

https://w0vlz.blogspot.com/search/label/20%20Mtr%20Crappie%20Pole%20Vertical A portable 20 meter vertical 

https://w0vlz.blogspot.com/search/label/20%20Mtr%20C-Pole Building and using a C-Pole Vertical

https://www.wiegandfamily.org/CrappiePoleAntenna/CrappiePolesPP.pdf My quest for a stand-alone 20 mtr portable antenna 

https://w0vlz.blogspot.com/search/label/30-10%20Mtr%20Clotheline%20Dipole A 30-10 meter "clothes line" dipole

See you next time from a convenient park.

73, Niel - W0VLZ

 

 

QRP in the Park .... 2017

I had a nice time at the park today ... sat in the shade, sipped on my Pepsi, and worked MD, ME and NY on 20 meter CW using my KX3 running about 5 watts. Signals were perfectly readable, typically S5-6.

Essex Park here in Rochester, MN (and most any other place with a shaded picnic table) is my summer shack. During the winter I can play with boat anchors in the basement but operating HF QRP during the summer lets me get out to the park and away from neighborhood static/noise. I can also put up a higher antenna than in my own yard.

What's this like? Take a look at this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUk99uFMvTI I'm ten years older, I've added feedline to the antenna, the rig has changed and the brand of pop has changed but Essex Park still has the same tall trees, picnic tables and shade.

Now, where's that second Pepsi?

QSOs on a "Poor" Band

Today I was reminded that it never hurts to try.

Earlier this week Beth and I, after looking at the weather forecast and our calendar, decided to find something to do outside today. We finally settled on a day trip and picnic at Great River Bluffs State Park, about an hour east of here and overlooking the Mississippi. We could do a little hiking and then Beth could read while I did a little hamming (Don't all wives pack along a book in case the OM decides to get on the air?).

Great plan, but then I looked at the propagation forecast. Conditions for 20 meters, my favorite band for QRP in the Park was listed as "Poor". Shucks, why bother packing the KX3 along and putting up the antenna if no one will hear me. I was about to leave the rig behind and take my own book. In the end the KX3 did come and Beth and I found an operating/reading position about 600' above the Mississippi. There was shade for Beth and trees I that could get my antenna into without a lot of trouble.

For a poor band 20 was doing pretty good today. WA3GPM (PA) came back to my first CQ before I was even properly settled in my chair. I was expecting to review Reverse Beacon Network hits and instead I had a QSO. Before Beth got her book finished I had also had good QSOs with KB1CL (MA), N7DS (MT) and N1WPU (ME).

Never leave town without your rig...it never hurts to try.

QRP - Houseboat Mobile

For a few days at the end of June we had a family houseboat vacation.

It's been several years since I've operated houseboat mobile. The first was in 1992 operating on Shuswap Lake, BC using a Heathkit HW9 and Hustler Mobile whip antenna.

The second time was in July 1995 operating on Lake Roosevelt, WA using the same HW-9 but with an endfed wire antenna.

This time we were in Voyageurs National Park on the northern Minnesota / Canadian border. I used my KX3 and twin lead fed 20 meter zepp.

For the antenna support I had one of my 16' crappie poles strapped to the upper deck railing. My antenna is 34' long with a 14' feedline. With this support it formed an inverted V sort of antenna with the far end dangling off the end of the boat...a prime example of "any antenna beats none at all". I did manage some QSOs, though, working WG0AT, N6TEM, VE3TLO and KD8DEU.

I had hoped to get on a little for Field Day but June weather in the Upper Midwest tends to be a little unsettled. This June was no exception. On Saturday June 25 we had thunder storms in both the morning and the evening plus we were under a tornado watch that evening.

One last visit to the Park

Yesterday it was sunny and the temperature reached 70 degrees, almost 20 degrees above normal for this time of year. Looking at the forecast it looked like this might be one last warm day until next spring. I felt a picnic table calling my name.

Beth picked up lunch at our local KFC while I set up my KX3 and 20 meter zepp at Silver Lake Park here in Rochester. The Reverse Beacon Network showed that conditions were not that good. Only one skimmer gave me a two digit signal report. After going through the effort of setting up I went ahead and called CQ.

The couple of hours on the air/eating lunch/enjoying the weather and company netted me three contacts, about average for me on one of these local QRPxpeditions: WB3AAI/4 / Florida, KF4CLO / Texas and KC2ICA / New York. QSB up and down was the norm for the day. It was neat, though, that KC2ICA was running only 1 watt to a random length wire. That was just 28 miles short of 1000 miles per watt.

Time now to crank up the heat a little and switch over to winter operating ... Boat Anchors in the Basement.

Travels with a KX3

Big Bay State Park,
Madeline Island, WI

Beth and I have just returned from a short excursion to Wisconsin. We spent a couple of nights on Madeline Island, the largest of the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior and a long weekend near

Bukolt Park
Stevens Point, WI

Stevens Point in central Wisconsin. Of course my KX3 bag was one of the first things in the car.

My operating style is never highly competitive ... I find a picnic spot with a handy tree  (and, maybe, a good view), setup and then call CQ while checking the reverse beacon network to see if anyone might hear me. During this trip I was on both 20 and 30 meter CW working both coasts and as far south as MO. Along the way I also got to talk about ham radio to curious passers-by that happened to notice the wire in the tree and the techie looking gizmo on the table.

Spring 2015 in the Park

It is warming up nicely here in SE Minnesota and the city parks are finally open. Yesterday I took my KX3 along with my 20 meter end fed zepp to Essex park here in Rochester. I didn't have a lot of action but both QSOs were neat. I finally had to QRT when the high school kids started showing up for prom photos and it looked like I might be in the background.

My first QSO was with NM5S in the Magdalena Mountains of New Mexico. He was operating SOTA (Summits on the Air). I've activited a couple of summits but no 10 pointers like Alan was yesterday. Later this summer I'll probably find a summit or two to activate myself.

My second QSO was with N1SZO. Rod was running 170mW using a

Rockmite transceiver and a 1/2 wave vertical. He was almost 100% copy here in MN, that's 5600 miles per watt!

I'm looking forward to more QRP outings to the park but next time I'll pack along a Coke and the BBQ grill so that I can make a day of it.

A Clotheline Dipole

My Christmas list this year included two Coleman Clothesline/Laundry Reels ( http://www.coleman.com/product/clotheslinelaundry-reel/827E140T#.U07utZmHMR9 ). I replaced the clothesline with 25' of stranded/insulated wire and made up a center insulator with a coax fitting.

Now I have a field configurable 30-10 meter dipole. All I need to do is attach the coax and wire/clothesline reels to the center insulator, roll both sides out to the proper dipole length for the band of choice, lock each leg by wrapping the wire around the tab on the reel and then hoist it up in the air. The wire still coiled on the reels at the two ends of the antenna should not be a problem.

Spring is close here in southern Minnesota. Soon I'll be able to take it out and give it a try.

A Nice Day in Minnesota

Today, with nice weather and nothing on the calendar,

Beth and I headed for Frontenac State Park, one of my favorite places for picnic table QRP. The picnic area at Frontenac sits on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi. The view is great, the trees are plentiful and there's nothing to get in the way of my signal.

SOTA Trip to Steptoe Butte

On Sunday, August 4, I went a little beyond my regular picnic table QRP sort of laid back operating. With some spare time while visiting in eastern Washington, I decided to do a SOTA activation of Steptoe Butte.

Summits On The Air is an award scheme for radio amateurs and shortwave listeners that encourages portable operation in mountainous areas. See http://www.sota.org.uk . Basically "Activators" operating from mountain summits and "Chasers" both get credit towards awards.

Steptoe Butte rises about 1000 ft above the Palouse farm country. Located 50 miles south of Spokane, WA. it is within sight of Idaho. It is a state park with easy access to the summit.

As a SOTA activator I hiked the last feet to the summit and then set up my KX3 at the edge of the Steptoe Butte summit overlook. There are no trees on the summit so I strapped my 18' crappie pole to a rock pedestal, using it to support the high point of my 20 mtr end fed zepp.

I had posted to the SOTAwatch2 database an announcement of my intention to activate Steptoe Butte. My first CQ was picked up by the Reverse Beacon Network, compared to SOTA database and an activation spot automatically posted to the same SOTAwatch2 database. Instantly any SOTA chaster knew my frequency and operating status. I'm used to calling CQ for a while and getting one or, at most, two responses...suddenly it felt like I had a pileup to work, unfortunately I've no practice working pileups. In less than two hours I did work 15 stations in 9 states but I could have done better.

Notes to self for the next time:
- Copy directly to a log sheet rather than my QSO pad
- Avoid using my cellphone clock requiring me to punch it to get the current time
- Narrow selectivity first
- Use RIT to tune through the pileup for calls

and, a related safety item:
- If the antenna is within easy reach of curious public, hang a "Do Not Touch" note on it.

Hopefully next time I won't leave so many chasers without a QSO.

It's not quite Spring in Minnesota

Last week Beth had an all day conference scheduled in the cities. I had the day free so this sounded like a great opportunity for some QRP in a different park.

Plans are made to be changed. The night before Beth's conference we got over 6" of snow and the temperature was forecast to be in the mid 30s. In the past I have participated in the FYBO QSO party but I wasn't planning on it this year. Where might I operate my KX3 from while staying warm and dry?

Eventually I thought of the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting. Located in St Louis Park, just west of
downtown Minneapolis, it is home to a great collection of antique radio, television and broadcasting equipment. It also includes a ham radio club, W0OEP, built around two Collins stations. On Friday I was more interested in the beam outside.

Steve Raymer, the museum curator, helped me get my KX3 plugged into the club yagi and I was on the air, warm and dry: a good combination for a cold snowy day in Minnesota. 20 mtr CW QSOs included VE3OF in Ontario and KK4BOB in Florida. Operating time was interrupted a couple of time, once while Steve demonstrated the museum spark transmitter and the other for a museum guided tour.

Spring and QRP in the Park

Unfortunately spring hasn't yet arrived in SE Minnesota. It has, though, in central Texas. A couple of weeks ago Beth and I were down in Austin, TX visiting friends. My KX3 bag has a designated spot in the car. I rarely leave town without it.

During the week in Austin I enjoyed QRP QSOs with KA3J, W8WL/0, WA9FZP, KC2ZBZ and KI4TS. The most interesting QSOs, though, were the eyeball ones. On April 1 an old friend Dick, W5TA, stopped by for a visit while I was spending a few free hours in a Pflugerville city park.

On April 5 Beth and I took a trip down to Bastrop State Park. Unfortunately, in September 2011, 96% of the park was burned.  Only around 100 acres were saved. The rest is still blackened tree trunks. While set up and operating from one of the overlooks Jerome and his family came through on a hike and stopped for a rest and a snack. His young son wondered what was going on at the next table. Introductions led to a nice conversation about ham radio and a demonstration of morse code.

CQs on a Quiet Band and KX3 Trolling Mode

Today it was great weather here in SE Minnesota for getting outside (and it was even a lazy Sunday afternoon!). Beth agreed and she also needed a little time to finish some reading before a Book Club meeting. We packed up a lunch and headed for Bear Creek Park here in Rochester.

Bear Creek Park has restrooms, picnic tables and plenty of tall (but not too tall) shade trees. While not on a hill, it is also not in a hole or valley. It works pretty well for an afternoon QRP outing. In short order Beth and I repositioned a table for shade and antenna.

When I flipped on my KX3 I was not impressed with band conditions. Across 20 mtrs I heard very few signals. I had thought I may try out KX3 / SSB by checking into the Elecraft net on 14303.5 KHz but I didn't bother trying. I moved down to around 14060, the 20 mtr QRP CW frequency, checked the frequency with a few "QRL?"s and then tried a CQ...still no luck. At this point I considered pulling out my own book and calling it a nice day for reading in the park. Chalk one up for solar cycle 24. I'm glad I reconsidered.

The KX3 does have what I call trolling mode. It can be set to send a canned message (such as a CQ), wait a programmable number on seconds, and then repeat the message. During the wait time RIT can be used to tune around for calls. The message buffer can be loaded using paddles but the easiest and most reliable method is to use the KX3 utility provided by Elecraft.

After a few minutes in KX3 trolling mode W5ESE, Scott, in Dripping Springs, TX came back to me. We had a fine QSO discussing the Flight of the Bumblebees QRP contest and central Texas. After wrapping up with Scott a short CQ netted a nice QSO with VE3/W8FIB. Tom was taking a break from fishing and running 3 watts using his K1. According to his grid square location his fishing spot is about 30 miles SW of North Bay, Ontario.

Two nice QSOs and a nice couple of hours in the park ... Don't be afraid to call CQ in a quiet band.

Back Home

Beth and I just returned from a 5100 mile road trip. My KX3 went along. Even with hot weather and family obligations I managed a few picnic table QRP QSOs.

One of our first stops was Pratt, KS. With 4 hours of free time I asked around for the local park. Lemon Park has lots of trees, shade and tables...prefect for my afternoon. I had nice QSOs with K5KW on 40 and W7LXN on 30

Another stop was Pullman, WA. Here I had an afternoon in Sunnyside Park. I set up next to a walking trail and the frizbee golf course so I had a couple of eyeball QSOs in addition to the ham radio ones. From here I worked KC4ZPB, W9CC and VE3XY, all on 20 CW.

My KX3 running 5 watts CW feeding a 20 mtr endfed zepp continues to be a fun traveling companion.

KX3 in Silver Lake Park

Today the weather finally turned warm, sunny and dry. It was also Mother's Day, a good reason to avoid the restaurants for a picnic in the park. I did get a chance, though, before the picnic to practice my favorite operating pastime. I found several signals on 20 mtr CW. Gary, K5ON, answered my CQ. We had a great QSO. The KX3 again performed great....love that roofing filter.

Packing my Elecraft KX3 for a trip

I'm getting ready for summer trips and outings with my Elecraft KX3. I found a the right size padded bag at Goodwill for $3.00. See my video at  KX3PicnicTableQRPPack

Elecraft KX3 is here!

Today I was at the Rochester, MN UPS depot at 10AM sharp to pick up my new radio. I got serial number 43 of, I expect, thousands. Elecraft has crammed a lot into a small box. I spent most of the day figuring out how to use it.

One QSO so far. KB5AE in Ada, OK answered my CQ on 20 CW. He reported a fine 579 signal down his way.

Elecraft KX3 On Order

It's winter here and I'm already thinking about spring!

After 10 years I'm retiring my faithful K1 for a brand new Elecraft KX3. See http://www.elecraft.com/KX3/kx3.htm for the details.

I'm excited. The KX3 It covers all amateur bands, 160-6 meters, operates phone, data and CW, and it is software defined and DSP-based. It will allow me to do digital/PSK31 from the picnic table without an attached computer and the the receiver looks like it should be great.
The first thing on my list was the ATU. With it I should be able to easily load into my favorite end fed half wave antenna. Next was the roofing filter. QRM can always pop up. I ordered the KX3 assembled to make certain everything was aligned right and that it worked straight out of the box. Why the mic? The rig supports CW, phone and data. This will allow me to try a little QRP phone operating, especially if demoing the rig.

Unfortunately the estimated ship date is almost two months away. I'll have to wait.

Another Chance to Operate QRP

Beth and I try to get away at least once a month. Almost always I pack along my K1 (and Beth, a good paperback). This time I also had along my Crappie Pole 20 mtr C-Pole vertical.

Last weekend we took the trailer down to the Wisconsin Dells, about 150 miles southeast of Rochester. Besides doing some of the the usual tourist stuff (and there is a lot of it at "the Dells") I got on the air, both from the campground and from an I 90 Rest Stop at the Minnesota/Wisconsin border. Stations worked included KF4IZE, K4ZH, WG0AT/P (A real high for the weekend. See Steve's video report here), WA3SEE and KI4UUZ. The weather was great for sitting at the picnic table with the K1 and I had no problem making a few contacts.

With cooler weather approaching my picnic table QRPing will move into the basement and start to split time with the boat anchors...but we'll still see what can be done outside this winter for the Arizona ScQRPions FYBO contest.

QRP on the Road

Beth and I just got back from a trip covering 4900 miles in eleven western states. I had packed my K1 and 67' end fed wire antenna so I operated along the way. QTHs included Pt Defiance (in Tacoma, WA), Paradise (on the south side of Mt Raineer) and West Cliffe, CO (south of Denver). I worked WA7NCL, N7MOB, K0FTC, KD6L, W6LOH, KK4IP, N5RDN, KG8YT, KD8A, WB0UFF, W4HEX in nine states. Signals on 20 tended to be a down but it was still fun to get on the air and see who I could work. My most memorable contct was with W4HEX, Will. He was operating mobile CW near Mongomery, AL. At the time he was using his K2 and a Hamstick on his pickup but backup rigs included a K1 and a K3.