See Part 1 of this report.

We arrived at Pago Pago (pronounced “pango pango”) around 9 pm and were met by the shuttle van from Tradewinds Hotel. We stayed there for three nights, then took our 5-day side trip to Ofu Island, returning to Pago and the Tradewinds for another 6 nights.

The next morning, we rented a small SUV from the Tradewinds Hotel, which worked out great. Our first stop was the National Park of American Samoa Visitor Center, a 30-minute drive from the hotel. We received some good information about hiking trails and potential summits. The visitor center is located outside the park, so we made a point to drive a bit further to actually set foot in the park. We were thinking that if our trip got cut short unexpectedly, we wanted to make sure we checked the box on being in the park.

Olotele Mountain (KH8/TI-004)

The next stop was Olotele Mountain. My research on this summit was not conclusive. To start with, I found that some maps showing its location incorrectly, something we worked out when creating the KH8 Association Reference Manual (ARM). Some websites suggest that the summit could be hiked, but they did not provide any details. By studying a variety of maps and satellite photos, I concluded there was probably a road to the top, to support a developed radio site. This summit is not in the national park.

We headed toward Aasu on Route 2 and turned off at (-14.31473, -170.76616) to follow the road leading south to the summit. The road is not well-marked, but easy to spot once you know it’s there. This road passes through a residential area with plenty of barking dogs (they seem to be everywhere in KH8). At the top is a well-developed radio site.

We planned to set up the HF SOTA station and make some contacts from the summit, but the clouds moved in, producing heavy rain. At this point, we opted for a quick VHF activation, just working each other with handheld radios, checking the box on activating the first KH8 summit, but without points. Again, the thought was to get the first KH8 activation in the log, just in case. We also figured we would come back another day and do a more proper activation, earning the 4 points for this summit. And we did return to this summit after our visit to Ofu. We both worked quite a few stations on 10m and 15m using FT8.

Both times we activated Olotele, crews were working at the radio installation. We just chatted with them about what we were doing, and they were fine with that. One guy asked me what frequency we would be on and I said 21 MHz. He replied, “no problem.” We also saw a tour guide bring a group of tourists to the summit, which surprised us because the view is mostly blocked by high vegetation.

Mount Alava (KH8/TI-003)

While planning the trip, I noticed that the National Park Service had posted an alert on its website that said the trail to Alava was closed. Later, information was posted stating the trail is open, but the summit is off-limits. During our visit to the visitor center, the NPS staff told me that the main trail from Fagasa Pass is usable, with no problems. The specific thing that is not allowed is ascending the broken-down stairs that go up about 30 feet to an old structure, which provides an excellent view of the area. Often, this structure is referred to as “the summit,” and folks will simply say that “the summit is closed.” Trail conditions do change frequently in the tropical climate, so it is best to inquire locally for the latest information.

We activated Alava from near the bottom of these stairs, inside the activation zone. We saw some local folks climb over the locked gate and go up the stairs to get a better view, but we opted not to do the same. I am sure it provides a better view, but we were mostly after radio contacts.

As shown on the maps above, Alava sits on a long ridgeline that the trail follows, making the activation zone quite broad. We stopped about 500 feet west of the actual summit location indicated by the SOTA ARM. The trail seemed to end at this point, at the bottom of the stairs mentioned above. There should be a path that continues to the east, but I was unable to find it. No worries, we were within the activation zone, so we set up and made radio contacts.

This was a challenging hike due to the muddy conditions and the overgrowth of vegetation on the trail.

POTA (AS-0001)

When we arrived in Pago Pago, I expected to find many suitable locations for POTA activations. It turned out to be not quite that simple. Many of the roads skirt the national park instead of going through it. After studying the map a bit more, we settled on the Pola Island Viewpoint on the northeast side of the island. This is a convenient turnout on Route 6, heading to Vatia, also known as the Lower Sauma Ridge Trailhead.

We did seven activations here as KH8/K0NR and KH8/K0JJW. Most of the activity was on 15m and 17m, using FT8, FT4, and SSB. We tried 20m, but the propagation wasn’t all that great and we would get covered by stateside QRM. Bob/W0BV was usually listening and gave us valuable feedback on band conditions and whether our frequency was clear in the US. This was extremely helpful when operating from a remote location. We worked plenty of stateside stations, VK, ZL, JA, HL, B, South America, and the Caribbean.

W0BV recorded some audio of me working POTA on 15m SSB, quite a bit of fading at the time.

 

The POTA radio setup had the FT-991 in the back of the SUV, connected to my notebook computer for logging and digital operating. We just stood at the back of the vehicle under the hatch, which provided rain cover during the occasional storm. This was not super convenient, but we managed.

We used the power analyzer shown above to monitor the battery voltage, so we didn’t run down the battery. The end-fed antenna was supported by the SOTAbeams pole and connected to the radio using 50 feet of RG-8X coaxial cable. We kept the antenna as far away from the radio as possible and inserted a common-mode filter in line with the coax. This avoided the EMI issues we experienced in Hawaii, so we were able to use the notebook computer running WSJT-X.

The number of POTA contacts (including Ofu Island, described in Part 3) were:
KH8/K0NR: Phone 39, Data 213, Total= 252
KH8/K0JJW: Phone 18, Data 21, Total= 39

Next stop is Ofu Island.
On to Part 3

The post KH8 SOTA/POTA (2) – Tutuila Island appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

Bob Witte, KØNR, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

 

what is your shack monitor real estate? For many of us, our hobbies and computers are intertwined, there are many programs out there that can enrich our radio experience. As we indulge in programs I find the monitor real estate becomes a bit crowed. Sure you can put things in the taskbar until needed again and I did this but then the taskbar became a bit crowded. 

As I became more involved in contesting I found I needed more programs running as well needed to see them up close and personal on not taskbar jumping. Also many modern transceivers today have a monitor-out option, which is nice and allows a larger view of the waterfall. But that is another monitor that is needed just for this option. Now a basic setup is two monitors. In my case, I have one monitor for the Icom 7610, 2 monitors for my PC and one monitor for Ham Clock running on a Pi 3. Some may think that two monitors for your PC is a bit excessive and there are some very large monitors one can easily fit everything into. I find these monitors to be pricey and I found 2 Samsung 24-inch monitors for 1/2 the price of a very large PC monitor. 

The part of the hobby I really enjoy is contesting and 2 monitors allow me to comfortably have Win4icom radio control program running, N1MM+ logger, VFO A and B waterfalls working ( as I operate SO2V) and finally an open window of Firefox as well. My second monitor looks after N1MM+ VFO B logging window and VFO B waterfall along with the open Firefox window. This monitor is on my right, I also have my external VFO B RC-28 knob on my right as well. This way everything to do with VFO B is on my right. Therefore when I look to the right it's all about VFOB.  I use Firefox to monitor live contest scoring, reverse beacon network and during slow times look up contesters I worked on QRZ.COM to learn about them. The final monitor looks after Ham Clock and I mainly use that for the solar conditions as well as which bands are open for me as Ham Clock has VOACAP on it.. For example, if I am taking part in a German, North American or Spain contest I setup the a VOACAP in the country or continent I am working and I get informed about the open and closed bands between them and my location. Elwood does a great job at updating this program and it is well worth adding it to your station's software. 

Finally, all my monitors are on swivel arms so they can be adjusted to my liking. Because I spend a lot of time in front of the screens I like to have the most commonly used ones at eye level and my left and right monitors set up so that my head does not have to move just my eyes. For me the less neck movement the better over the long-term contesting adventures. The Ham clock monitor is the only one up high and I only check that screen now and then. 
So what does your monitor real estate look like?

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

For decades, Joyce/K0JJW and I have working towards visiting all 63 of the US national parks. We are nearing the end of the list, with just a few parks left. One of the most challenging places to visit is the National Park of American Samoa, located in the only US territory south of the equator. That would be number 61 for us, with only Crater Lake NP and Lassen Volcanic NP left to visit.

Obviously, if we are going to travel to a distant island, we should consider doing a Slacker DXpedition. American Samoa is a US territory, so FCC radio licenses are valid there. It is also a separate entity for DXCC, with the prefix KH8. KH8 is listed at #87 (out of 340) on the Most Wanted list at Clublog, so it is a bit rare in terms of DXCC. Parks On The Air (POTA) has already been set up for KH8 and the national park there has been activated a number of times. I checked into the Summits On The Air (SOTA) situation and discovered there were summits that qualified for the program, but that a KH8 Association did not exist. The next thing you know, I am the KH8 Association Manager working with the SOTA Management Team to establish the KH8 association.

Travel

We usually try to pack light when traveling. On a typical airplane trip, we can generally get by with each of us having one carry-on bag. But once you add snorkel gear, camera gear, binoculars, hiking boots, radio gear, and a few other items, it becomes necessary to check a bag — or two. Still, we focused on keeping the amount of luggage to a minimum so we could navigate the airports without assistance.

To get to KH8, we connected through Hawaii, to catch the main flight to Pago Pago on Hawaiian Airlines. This flight only goes two or three times a week and is the only option coming from the 48 states. We decided to enjoy four days on the island of Kauai, which turned out to be an excellent idea.

Radio Gear

We normally only use frequencies above 50 MHz for SOTA, but given the lack of VHF activity in KH8, we compromised and took along HF gear. Our Icom IC-705 is a good choice for that as it also has the VHF/UHF bands included. We also packed a pair of handheld radios, which were useful for basic communications on and off the trail.

We had two main radio setups: a backpackable station for SOTA and a higher power station for POTA. Scoping out our likely SOTA summits, we definitely needed a compact station that could be carried up some summits that would involve a challenging hike. For this station, we used the IC-705 (10 watts output) driving an end-fed multiband wire antenna from PackTenna, supported by a carbon fiber fishing pole. The IC-705 does not have a built-in antenna tuner, so a small, manual external tuner did that job. A Bioenno 4.5 Ah battery supplied the power to the radio.

The antenna system travels in a small pouch and consists of the Z-match tuner, RG-174 coaxial cable, and the end-fed wire antenna. The antenna can cover 30m up through 10m, using a tuner, so it was an efficient way to cover the bands we planned to use.

With the remote location and QRP power levels, we concluded that SSB might be a limitation. Our solution was to utilize digital modes (FT8 and FT4) to enhance our weak-signal performance. I sometimes operate CW, but I don’t think I can handle the pileups we expected at KH8. Joyce doesn’t do CW at all. Our plan was to use my Windows laptop, running WSJT-X, for digital processing. I would have taken this computer along on the trip anyway, so it made sense to have it do double duty, even though it’s a bit large to carry up the summit—more on that below.

POTA Station

We could have used the SOTA station for POTA as well, and we did in a few situations. However, we opted to take along a Yaesu FT-991, with 100 watts output, thinking that would help us when running SSB and if band conditions are poor. This is our normal POTA radio, powered by a 20 Ah Bioenno battery that can supply 30 amps continuously, providing a decent margin for the FT-991 (max current spec is 23 amps). However, FAA regulations don’t allow large batteries to be taken on an aircraft. I am used to carrying smaller batteries while flying, so this was all new to me. The short story is that you can carry on two lithium batteries, each limited to 160 watt-hours. (Read the regulations carefully yourself to understand the fine points.) For a 12-volt battery, 160 watt-hours corresponds to 13 amp-hours. So maybe I could carry two 13-amp-hour batteries and get by with that. Well, the Bioenno battery, which is the closest in size (12 amp-hour) has a maximum continuous discharge of 20 amps, which is a little light for the FT-991 keyed down at full power. I was also worried about the battery capacity and how long we would be able to operate. (In retrospect, this approach might have worked and deserves further consideration in the future.)

Another option was to take an AC power supply along, which might have been useful, but AC power was not likely to be available at a typical POTA spot. Ultimately, our solution consisted of a power cable with battery clips that connect to the battery in our rental car. We already had our radio gear set up with powerpole connectors, so crafting a cable with battery clips and powerpoles on it did the job. From experience, I know that it is possible to get excited about making radio contacts and overlook the fact that your car battery is now depleted. To avoid this, I inserted a 12-volt power analyzer inline with the DC cable, allowing us to monitor the battery voltage. I was vigilant in monitoring the voltage and running the car engine regularly.

Rounding out the POTA station were two 25-foot lengths of RG-8X coax and an end-fed long wire antenna from MyAntennas. This antenna was needed to handle the higher power level of the FT-991. For antenna support, we used a SOTABeams 32-foot Travel Mast.

The National Park of American Samoa is POTA AS-0001. This park had already been activated 33 times, primarily by KB2FMH and KH8RRC. There are two other POTA parks in KH8 (both unactivated), but we did not operate from them.

Alerts and Spots

Our operating schedule was fluid, so we used the SOTA and POTA websites to post our activations once we decided to go out,  and to spot ourselves once we were on the air. Some of this could be done from our hotel room using an internet connection but at the operating location, we typically did not have a network connection.

We did have a Garmin Inreach satellite communicator that works anywhere on the planet, so we sent messages via the SOTAmat system. This requires some preplanning to set up access and learn the system but it performed well. The only disadvantage to this method is that Inreach messages can take 5 or 10 minutes to send, depending on when the satellite passes over.

Summits On The Air

Complete KH8 SOTA information can be found here in the Association Reference Manual:
https://www.sotadata.org.uk/en/association/KH8

There are 11 SOTA summits in KH8. Many of these are not accessible due to rugged terrain and dense tropical vegetation. The most accessible summits are listed below. See the SOTA database for more information and specific activation tips. In all cases, assume the trail condition can change and inquire locally for the latest information.

Tutuila Island

Olotele Mountain (KH8/TI-004) – Drive Up Summit.
Olotele Mountain is a developed radio site with multiple towers on it. There is a single-lane paved road to the top, making this a drive-up summit. This is the easiest summit in American Samoa. It is NOT in the national park.

Mount Alava (KH8/TI-003) – 3.9 miles one-way, 1300 vertical feet, in the national park.
This is a well-known summit and hiking trail, promoted by the national park. The trailhead is relatively well-marked, starting at Fagosa Pass. This trail used to be a road, generally wide but overgrown in spots.

Matafao Peak (KH8/TI-001) Steep trail, 1500 vertical, 1.5 miles one way
The highest summit in American Samoa. There are widely varying reports on whether the trail to the summit is hikeable or not. Trailhead is at Fagosa Pass. We did not attempt this summit.

Ofu Island

Tumu Mountain (KH8/MI-003) 3.0 miles one-way to the summit with 1500 feet of elevation gain. This trail used to be a road, generally wide but overgrown in spots, rope assist in one spot.

Let’s Go!

So that was the basic plan. Fly to Hawaii, hang out there for a few days, then continue on to American Samoa. Activate a few summits on Tutuila and then travel to Ofu Island to activate one more. Interspersed would be POTA activations, lots of snorkeling, and sightseeing.

More to follow in Part 2.

73 Bob KH8/K0NR

Side Note: Kauai SOTA

We were not focused on SOTA in Kauai, but I looked up what summits were available and discovered the answer to be quite straightforward. Out of the 11 SOTA summits on the island, only one has been activated: Nounou Mountain (KH6/KU-011). The rest are very difficult to access.

So Joyce and I decided to do the summit. As advertised, the trail turned out to be muddy and had some difficult sections requiring some minor rock scrambling. The weather was hot and humid, making this a good warm-up for KH8. In particular, I discovered that my SOTA station had serious EMI problems. I thought I had worked this out back home, but my notebook PC was producing a high level of noise that was interfering with the receiver, and the RF from the transmitter was disrupting the USB data connection. This messed up the activation of Nounou, but it caused me to work on the problem before arriving in KH8.

The workaround I came up with was to use my iPhone with the SDR-Control Mobile  app, connecting to the IC-705 via Wi-Fi. This eliminated the need for the USB cable, which was acting as an EMI radiator. The iPhone display is relatively small for running FT8, and the app has a few anomalies, but it did the job. On the plus side, the iPhone is a lot less to carry up a summit.

The post KH8 SOTA/POTA (1) – The Plan appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

Bob Witte, KØNR, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

In this episode, we join  Martin Butler M1MRB, Dan Romanchik KB6NU, Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT, Edmund Spicer M0MNG, and Ed Durrant DD5LP  to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin Butler (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief, and the episode's feature is Xiegu G90 one year on.

We would like to thank our monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate

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Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

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Hello and welcome to the 582nd installment of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this episode, the hosts talk with Justin Overfelt, AB3E, about topics related to the Open Research Institute (ORI), FCC and the "haunted" 219MHz amateur radio band. It's a fascinating look into a world of licensing, history, mishandling, stagnation, weirdness and much more. Thanks for listening and have a great week.

73 de The LHS Crew

Russ Woodman, K5TUX, co-hosts the Linux in the Ham Shack podcast which is available for download in both MP3 and OGG audio format. Contact him at [email protected].

Ham College episode 125 is now available for download.

Ham College 125
Technician Exam Questions Part 12. T3C – Propagation modes: sporadic E, meteor scatter, auroral propagation, tropospheric ducting, F region skip, Line of sight and radio horizon.

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George Thomas, W5JDX, is co-host of AmateurLogic.TV, an original amateur radio video program hosted by George Thomas (W5JDX), Tommy Martin (N5ZNO), Peter Berrett (VK3PB), and Emile Diodene (KE5QKR). Contact him at [email protected].