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In January 2021, I wrote about the North America Adventure Frequency (NAAF) which originated in the North America SOTA community. About a year later, how is this working out? Is anyone actually using it?

A few key points to remember:

• The NAAF is 146.58 MHz.
• This frequency is in addition to, not a replacement for, the National Simplex Calling Frequency 146.52 MHz.
• Local usage will likely vary depending on needs.
• Program 146.58 MHz as The Other Simplex Frequency in your radio.

I’ve noticed that quite a few SOTA activators are posting Alerts and Spots with 146.58 MHz. For example, K2CZH and KN6OUU posted these SOTA Alerts:

Here N8FN and WJ7WJ are spotted on 146.58:

Of course, the National 2m FM Calling Frequency (146.52 MHz) still gets a lot of use. I tend to use Five Two when I am activating in rural areas, some distance from the major cities. The frequency is usually quiet AND there are a number of folks that tend to monitor it. I use the NAAF when I’m near the big cities (Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder, …). Putting out a Spot is usually important, to get the attention of the more dedicated SOTA chasers watching SOTAwatch. That is, I don’t think there are a lot of people monitoring the frequency (compared to 146.52), so a spot on SOTAwatch gets them on frequency.

Some of the Parks On The Air (POTA) activators are also using NAAF. Here’s an activation alert by KD7DTS from the POTA website:

So I think the NAAF is working as intended. It is not a replacement for 146.52 MHz but a standard choice for portable operating when you want to stay off the calling frequency. Thanks to everyone that has given it a try.

73 Bob K0NR

The post How’s That North America Adventure Frequency Working? appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

I previously wrote about some of the tools I use for managing SOTA and POTA logs. See Tips and Tools for Managing Logs. I continue to learn about the file formats and various tricks for generating the logs. Some of this is not well-documented…at least I haven’t found it…so I am sharing what I’ve figured out. My apologies in advance if I get any of this wrong. Reader Beware!

Lately, I’ve been trying to figure out how to do one log file for both SOTA and POTA. I am not aware of a logging program that will handle both simultaneously. (Let me know if you do.)  The ADIF file format can handle this and is the way to go for such a log file. Also, an ADIF file can be imported into other logging programs and Logbook of The World. The complete documentation for ADIF can be found here: https://www.adif.org/

SOTA Logs

Our combination SOTA + POTA activations usually start out as a SOTA activation. Then, if the SOTA summit is inside a POTA-designated park, we may try to do both simultaneously.

The SOTA database supports uploading ADIF files, including support for Summit-to-Summit (S2S) contacts. The figure below shows a recent SOTA log, in ADIF format, displayed by ADIFMaster. The 6th column is MY_SOTA_REF, which is the SOTA reference for the summit I was activating. In this case, it was W0C/SP-084 and is the same for all of the QSOs. The 9th column is SOTA_REF, which is the SOTA reference of the other station’s summit, if any. Most of the rows are blank, because the other station was not on a summit. However, N0TZW and N3ALT were on W0C/PR-031 that day resulting in a pair of S2S contacts. If you get these fields set correctly in the ADIF file, the SOTA database will log the activation and the S2S contacts correctly.

POTA Logs

For simple POTA activations, you just need to get the QSO information correct and the file name indicates the park you were operating from. For example, the file name K0NR-K-4404-20211017.adi indicates the station callsign (K0NR), operating from park K-4404 on 17 Oct 2021. The POTA system will try to identify Park-to-Park (P2P) radio contacts in the file, by comparing activator logs. My understanding is that this works only for the simple case of two activators, each operating from only one park.

The figure below shows a POTA log using ADIFMaster. The 7th column is MY_SIG_INFO, which is the POTA designator (K-8295) for the park I was activating. This is the same for all of the rows. The eleventh column is SIG_INFO, which is the POTA designator for the other station. Most of these are blank because the other station was not in a park. However, there are six QSOs shown that were Park-to-Park. Note that the QSO with N7OOS was entered twice, with two different park numbers. This is because he was doing a double activation that day…putting two parks on the air at the same time. Yes, activating multiple parks at once is possible, even common, in POTA. A good example is when a national scenic trail runs through a national forest. One operating location is in both parks simultaneously.

It might be possible to have two POTA designators tagged to one QSO, I am not sure. But I think it is cleaner to just enter it as two separate QSOs. I know the POTA database will interpret it correctly. When I imported the file into Logbook of The World, it complained there were duplicate QSOs, which were easily ignored.

The 6th column in the figure is MY_SIG, which indicates a special interest activity or event (e.g., POTA). In the general case, the logging program would use this field to interpret the meaning of SIG_INFO and MY_SIG_INFO. It appears that the POTA system does not require MY_SIG to be set to POTA and will just go ahead and interpret SIG_INFO and MY_SIG_INFO for POTA use. Not shown is another field called SIG, which is the special interest activity or event of the other station.

Creating a SOTA/POTA Log

When doing a combination activation, I’ll set up the logging program for SOTA or POTA based on whether I expect to have more S2S or P2P radio contacts. For example, if I just expect to work a few summits and many parks, I’ll use HAMRS with the POTA template. That way, all of the parks get entered correctly from the start. I will note any S2S contacts in the comment field and come back later to fix them.

The easiest way to manage ADIF files is via ADIF Master. You can also edit the files manually using a basic text editor but that can be error-prone. To add a new field in ADIF Master, you insert a new column (right-click on a column, then left-click insert column). Then create a label for the column by right-clicking the top of the column, followed by Custom, entering the name of the new ADIF field.

Here’s the short list of ADIF fields that may need to be used:

MY_SOTA_REF is your SOTA reference, the summit you are activating

SOTA_REF is the SOTA reference for the other station, assuming its an S2S radio contact. If you submitting a Chaser log, this is the SOTA reference for the summit you are chasing. Your MY_SOTA_REF would be left blank.

SIG is the name of the contacted station’s special activity or interest group (e.g., POTA)

MY_SIG is your special interest activity or event (e.g., POTA)

MY_SIG_INFO is your park number that is being activated.

SIG_INFO is the park number for the park you are working (P2P).

By editing my log files using ADIFMaster, I’ve been able to create log files that can be submitted to SOTA, POTA and LoTW without errors. It takes a little bit of work to get the file right. Before you submit a log file, it is always a good idea to view it using ADIFMaster, to try and spot any obvious errors. This is especially useful for POTA logs, when the turnaround time can take up to two weeks.

This is what I’ve learned. How about you?

73 Bob K0NR

The post More Logging Tips for SOTA & POTA appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

Stuart/KB1HQS has been experimenting with various modifications of the Arrow II antennas. Recently, he put together a video of the various mods, well done and interesting:

Ultimate Arrow Antenna Modifications

I am a big fan of the Arrow II style antennas for VHF SOTA. Initially, I used the dualband 2m/70cm antenna for satellite work as well as mountaintop activity. This started before SOTA was even a thing, as I hiked in the Colorado mountains and made radio contacts just for fun. These days, we normally carry the 2m-only version of the antenna, with split boom and 3 elements. My personal seamstress (Joyce/K0JJW) worked up a really nice rollup case for it. Sometimes, we’ll take along a separate 5-element 70 cm Yagi, which can remain fully-assembled and strapped onto my pack.

All antennas are a compromise between cost, size, weight, performance, convenience and durability. I have found that the 3-element Yagi from Arrow fits my needs really well. I have not been motivated to modify it. The Arrow antenna has a gain of about 6 dBd and is 37.5 inches long. We handhold the antenna and that is about as big/long as I’d like to hold. I am still in search of a higher-gain antenna for those special situations when I know that a few more dB of gain could make a difference. I’ve not really found anything I like. A longer boom would likely require a mast and, therefore, a guy system, which adds more weight and complexity.

Antennas are a never-ending source of options and experimentation, so go out and try something new.

73 Bob K0NR

The post KB1HQS Arrow Antenna Mods appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

Closing out 2021, here are the top five blog posts at k0nr.com during the year. Some people may see this as a lazy way of creating one more blog post for the year without much work. This is definitely true. I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Leading the list is this blog post…a perennial favorite that seems to make the top five each year:

Getting Started on 2m SSB

This is another popular article that explains some of the details behind the 2-meter band plan. This particular article is tuned for Colorado but it also provides a link to an article that covers the topic for the USA.

Choose Your 2m Frequency Wisely

New this year, is the post about the North America Adventure Frequency, which was promoted by the ARRL Contest Update newsletter:

North America Adventure Frequency: 146.58 MHz

This post is my attempt at humor concerning the SOTA obsession of small transceivers:

The Truth About Tiny SOTA Transceivers

Once again, coming in at fifth place is one of my personal favorites that talks about proper kerchunking of repeaters. It even introduced a new Q-signal for kerchunking, although I must admit it may not be catching on.

Proper Kerchunking

Editors Choice

Just for good measure, I am including one more post that I think is notable. I wrote this one after looking around the web for a good explanation of what is a valid QSO? I never did find a good, up-to-date definition of a QSO, so I wrote one. This one may turn out to be an evergreen article but so far it has not gotten a lot of hits.

What Is a Valid QSO?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

73 Bob K0NR

The post Top Five K0NR Blog Posts for 2021 appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

I’ve been interested in the idea of a microphone-centric radio and wrote about it here: How About a Mic-Centric Mobile Transceiver? Shortly thereafter, I discovered that QYT has introduced a VHF/UHF ham rig that has the display and controls in the microphone (Model KT-WP12).

You may want to watch the video by Tech Minds, which does a good job of introducing the radio.

I was very keen on trying this radio out, so I purchased one, paying about $110.

On the Bench

First, I did some bench tests to check the basic performance of the radio. The receiver sensitivity, transmit frequency and FM deviation all looked very good. The one specification that was disappointing was the RF power output. On the 2m band, the output power was 20.6 W, while the 70cm band was 15 W. The specification for the radio is 25 W. The power was measured using an HP 8920A RF Communications Test

I’ve noticed this on other radios from Chinese manufacturers: the basic specs of the radio check out, except the RF power level is low.

User Interface

As you might expect, cramming all of the controls into the microphone is a challenging user interface design. I spend quite a bit of time playing with the radio at home before actually using it on the air. Overall, I found the user interface to be acceptable, but several areas that should be improved.

QYT relies on the menu system to provide control of many of the settings. This is similar to the various Chinese handhelds where you push the MENU button to access the menus, followed by UP/DOWN to sequence through the menus, followed by MENU to access the specific setting. Then the UP/DOWN buttons choose the value of the setting and another push on MENU to accept it. The volume control setting is buried in this menu system, which seems like a poor choice. Fortunately, Mick/M0VMK pointed out that the volume can also be set by enabling the monitor feature (big button on the top of the mic) and hitting UP/DOWN.

This design depends too much on the menu system. A few user-defined buttons would be a real help. This radio could benefit from a serious redesign using User-Centered Design.

This radio has one receiver but allows for three independent frequencies to be displayed simultaneously. There is a scanning mode that tries to emulate a multi-receiver radio. This too is all too common with the Chinese radios…somehow they have it in their heads that this adds value for the user. My experience is that it mostly confuses the user. Most users would be better served with a single frequency display, supplemented with dual-watch and scanning capability.

You probably won’t be surprised that the user manual is terrible, also common with Chinese manufacturers, but this one is particularly bad. Same with the programming software…it mostly works (I had a few crashes) but it is poorly written.

On The Air (SOTA)

I was very interested in trying out this radio for Summits On The Air (SOTA) use. The idea is that the radio can be stuffed into a fanny pack, with the microphone, speaker, display, and controls in your hand.

The basic concept of holding everything in the palm of my hand worked out quite well. The display was visible in bright sunlight, the speaker audio was clear, and the microphone worked great. I made a number of SOTA contacts and received good signal reports. I held the microphone in one hand and pointed the 3-element Yagi antenna with the other hand. (Joyce/K0JJW assisted with logging and we took turns working the SOTA chasers.)

As soon as I fired up the radio, I heard interference on the 2m band, not very strong but noticable. It sounded like it was coming from an FM broadcast station. Pointing the Yagi antenna in the direction of the FM station on the adjacent mountain seemed to confirm the source. I did not hear any interference on the 70cm band. I’ve operated from this SOTA summit before and have not noticed any interference with other equipment, including Yaesu handhelds. Also, I switched to my Yaesu FT-90 and the broadcast station was not heard. As various people have suspected, this indicates that the receiver in the QYT is not very robust in terms of rejecting off-channel signals. Of course, this is an anecdotal report, not based on bench measurements.

I also encountered an anomaly where after my transmission, the radio did not revert back to receive quickly. There was a few seconds where no audio was coming out of the transceiver. This caused me to miss a few responses to my CQ call. This issue requires some additional investigation. It may have just been operator error on my part. However, I suspect that the radio was probably locking onto another frequency but I am not sure (see previous comments about the three frequency scanning mode). So file this issue under “stay tuned for more information.”

Note that I did not use the radio very much on repeaters, focusing on SOTA simplex operating with no transmit offset or CTCSS.

Conclusion

On the positive side, I really like the microphone-centric approach that this radio uses. The user interface can be improved but it is good enough.

The two big limitations of this radio are 1) low RF power output and 2) weak off-channel receiver performance. Now you might say that the RF power is not off by that much but my interest is having a SOTA radio that greatly exceeds the power of a typical 5 W handheld. On the 70 cm band, this radio only put out 15 W, so only 4.7 dB better than a handheld. The poor receiver performance will tend be an issue on summits that have radio installations nearby. In some cases, this can completely prevent a VHF SOTA activation.

I will probably use this radio again for SOTA activations but I’ll be bringing along a backup rig, just in case.

The post Checking Out The KT-WP12 Transceiver appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

When operating portable, I use Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries from Bioenno. Most of my portable operating is for Summits On The Air (SOTA) and I wrote about it here:

My SOTA Battery Journey

For POTA activations, I purchased a larger, 20 Ah Bioenno battery and use it to power a Yaesu FT-991 (and other radios). This battery has worked out really well. It is a bit large for backpack portable and weighs 5.4 pounds, but I have taken it along on a few SOTA activations.

Powerwerx PWRbox

I decided the battery could use a case to protect it while being tossed around in the back of the Jeep. Powerwerx has a really good battery box that includes a digital voltage readout, automotive (“cigarette lighter”) socket, dual PowerPole plugs and high-current binding posts.

Initially, I did not think I needed the extra gizmos, and I did not want to take up more space with the battery system. Later, I figured that I could always pull the battery out of the box and use it in its original form.

The power switch is handy for turning on/off the battery power and the digital voltmeter provides a simple view of the battery condition. Most of the time, I use the PowerPole connectors to connect up my radios but occasionally the automotive socket comes in handy.

I used some of the plastic packing material that came with the box to hold the battery in place. A little bit of cutting with a sharp knife produced a good fit. There is enough room above the battery for the Bioenno charger, so it makes for a nice kit. The charger connects to the original charging plug on the battery.

As expected, Powerwerx did a good job of wiring up the various components and included fuses in both the positive and negative cables. The box is big enough to hold a 40 Ah battery and I am tempted to upgrade it for larger capacity, but the 20 Ah battery has been sufficient, so far.

I’ve used this battery box for multiple POTA activations and a few other situations when I just needed to power up a radio at home. It works great. The voltmeter gives me a quick check of the battery status and the PowerPole connectors make for easy hookup.

The PWRbox costs $109.99, battery not included.

73 Bob K0NR

The post Power Box for Bioenno Battery appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

This is a report on my single-operator contest effort during the ARRL November Sweepstakes (Phone) HF Contest. Some other potential titles for this article are:

A Slacker's Guide to Working the Sweepstakes
How To Almost Work 50 States On a Weekend
A Simple Way to Get On the HF Bands

Contests on the HF bands can be a fun way to make a lot of contacts and get some new states or countries. The ARRL Sweepstakes promotes contacts between US and Canadian stations, so it is an opportunity to work those states and provinces.

The Club Challenge

I don’t usually work the Sweepstakes contest but Bill/K0UK put out a challenge to the Grand Mesa Contesters club to get on the air and contribute whatever points you can to the aggregate club score. I thought this was a good idea and decided to join in the effort. I already had committed to teaching a General License class on Saturday, so that limited my operating window to mostly Sunday. No problem, I could still make a significant number of contacts on Sunday.

I read the rules for the contest to make sure I knew the operating times, entry categories, what stations I could work for points, and the contest exchange. Sweepstakes has a complicated contest exchange, that includes a serial number (every contact gets a unique sequential number), precedence (operating class), your callsign, the last two digits of the year you were first licensed, and your ARRL section. Wow. For me, the section is just Colorado (abbreviated CO), but some states have multiple sections. It is a great idea to have the list of ARRL and RAC (Radio Amateurs of Canada) sections available. So the information I gave to the other station was something like this: 105 A K0NR 77 CO. In the example, 105 is the serial number that incremented with each radio contact.

Antenna Project

It turned out that my HF antenna at the house fell down some time ago because the rope holding the wire had rotted away. So my first task was to do a quick but effective antenna installation. We have a 30-foot Ponderosa pine in the backyard, which is my preferred antenna support. I have a number of wire antennas stashed away in my basement, including dipoles, end-fed halfwaves, G5RV’s, etc.

For this contest, I decided to use an end-fed antenna from MyAntennas.com, about 44 feet long. This antenna has a 9:1 matching transformer (an “unun”) that matches the high-impedance of the wire to something closer to 50 ohms. An antenna tuner is required to do the final matchup over multiple HF bands. This antenna is long enough to be effective on 40 meters and any higher band, which matches my usual operating habits. I had a Yaesu FT-950 transceiver available which has an internal tuner that was able to match the antenna on 40m, 20m, 15m, and 10m. This is not an end-fed halfwave…it is a “random” length of wire that is not resonant on any ham band but will radiate pretty well using the matching transformer. The advantage of this antenna is its simplicity and ability to handle multiple bands, with the push of the internal antenna tuner.

My main challenge was to get this antenna up into my favorite Ponderosa pine tree. Again, I took a simple approach. I grabbed my spin-cast fishing pole, attached two 5/16-inch hex nuts to the end of the line (to act as a weight), and cast the nuts up over the top of the tree. This may sound difficult, but it only took me three casts to get the fishing line on a limb that I liked. I let the line out and let the weight drop to the ground. Then I attached a 1/8-inch synthetic rope onto the fishing line and pulled it back up over the tree. Soon, I had my antenna support rope passing over the very top of the tree. It was a simple matter to attach and hoist the undriven end of the antenna to the top of the tree. The antenna is longer than the height of the tree, so I sloped the antenna away from the tree.

A length of RG-8 style coax connected the antenna and the transceiver in the ham shack. I did not ground the antenna transformer or add a counterpoise, hoping that the length of coax would be sufficient to act as a counterpoise. This worked out OK and the FT-950 was able to drive the antenna using just the internal antenna tuner on all bands.

Station Setup

You don’t have to have a computer to log your contacts during the contest, but you really should. Even with 50 contacts written on paper, it becomes difficult to remember which stations you’ve already worked. Also, the logging program automatically generates the serial number mentioned above. Very helpful.

For most contests, I use the N1MM Logger+ software, which is arguably the standard in ham radio contest loggers. It is free to use and is available here. I probably use about 10% of the power of this software but it is relatively easy to use, once you get familiar with it. It has templates for all of the contests, so it keeps track of your score and warns you if you’ve already worked a station. It automatically generates the cabrillo format for submitting your log electronically.

Results

With a 100-watt-and-a-wire station, you have to compete with much more capable stations during a contest. These folks may be running 1kW and gain antennas. I used the “search and pounce” technique, tuning around to find strong stations calling CQ. I typed the callsign into the logging program to make sure we have not already worked and then I called them, just saying my callsign. If they hear me, they will call me back, providing their exchange information. I enter that into N1MM and give them my info. It is as simple as that.

I can usually judge how well my station is doing by how quickly I can contact another station. If they answer me on the first call, that’s great. If it takes a few calls, it usually means that someone else is beating me out in the pileup. I was happy with the performance of the station — I was making contacts at a decent rate.

I made 187 QSOs in about 7 hours of operating, which works out to one contact every 2.5 minutes or so. That rate is not going to win the contest but it was good enough to keep me having fun.

The scoring multiplier for the contest is ARRL and RAC sections, with a maximum number of 84 sections. I worked 66 of them, so not too bad but not a clean sweep. I worked 45 of the 50 US states, missing South Dakota, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Utah, and Alaska. Except for Alaska, the missing states are relatively close to Colorado, so a little more time on 40m (or 80m), for shorter skip distance, would probably have gotten them. The point is that you can achieve Worked All States (WAS) on a single Sweepstakes weekend.

This is a good example of how to get an HF station up and running and make some radio contacts. I often encounter hams that are new to HF and not quite sure how to get on the air. It does not have to be complicated…get a basic transceiver, power supply, coax and a wire antenna and give it a try. Doing this on a contest weekend means that you’ll have plenty of stations to contact.

73 Bob K0NR

The post Working Phone Sweepstakes appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.