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I had some spare time today to put the MFJ 1788 loop to the balcony test once again. Up to this point I have not been able to make any CW contacts with the antenna. I was able to pull in some State side WSPR spots but that was it. I was coming to the conclusion that my DX was going to be Canada to U.S contacts. Today I set the Loop antenna for 15m and the SWR was great at 1.1:1. and up and down the band I went. I heard KP2/AG2J calling CQ at 21.025 and he was booming in here. I called out to him and low and behold he came back to me with a fast report! Fast report or not my 5 watts signal from the balcony just made it to the Virgin islands!! I then heard KH6LC from Hawaii..........but I was not able to make contact BUT for the first time I was hearing some DX stations. I then was able to contact PJ4LS with some repeats on my part but I still had my 1788 loop signal down to the Antilles off the coast of Venezuela!! The other station I heard but was not able to contact was ZZ80MT in Brazil. This was a good afternoon on the radio of me I was able to hear and make some DX contacts.

Rather than activating summits, I spent the weekend at my small ranch near Rocksprings, TX. I have a nice QRO station there with 107 foot Rohn 55 Tower, a Log Periodic, 40 Meter beam and wires on low bands. I can work a lot of stuff from there. However, I had a plan this weekend to test a few antenna configurations for my QRP operations from SOTA summits.

So I set up my operating position just as I would on a summit. I was testing one of the SOTA beams EFHW antenna with counterpoise and a homebrew 29 ft. wire. I brought along two tuners including Hi-Tee Tuner from SOTAbeams and a recently acquired Hendricks SLT+ 80m-10m end fed half wave tuner.

The SOTAbeams combo was my first configuration. I put the antenna over a limb about 15ft. up and let it slope down to another limb about 7 feet up and then down to the radio. The antenna wire terminated into a 4mm plug that prevented me from running through the eyelets of my pole. I plugged the wire into the tuner (which will only take a 4mm plug, there is no binding post) as well as the counter poise. The antenna tuned nicely and I had QSO with a station in Arizona. As I finished that QSO I tuned across the SOTA frequencies and heard W0CCA calling CQ SOTA from a summit in Arizona on 20m. Cool, now could I work him with this set-up? I usually don't have to wait long in a pile-up but for this QSO I would have to. I was tempted to run over to the QRO shack and make the contact to ensure I got the points since he was on a 10 pointer,  however I resisted the temptation. My faith in QRP was rewarded, Cap finally heard me and gave me a 229. Cool.

So now I set-up the simple 29 ft. wire. Since it didn't have the banana plug on it, the Hi-Tee Tuner was useless, so I set up on the SLT+. I was able to use my pole this time, so the wire was higher off the ground in an inverted L configuration. By that time KX0R was calling CQ SOTA on 20m from a summit in Colorado. Evidently the pile-up had run it's course because I got him on the first call. So my little tuned wires had netted 12 SOTA chaser points. I am regularly amazed by QRP, how much you can do with a few watts and some wire.

A great day of QRP/SOTA fun.

I occasionally use the Yaesu FT-817nd on my SOTA expeditions if I want to use higher bands on the activation or for some odd reason want to operate SSB:-). I actually prefer it to the KX3 simply because it is less bulky and it performs well in the field. One of the concerns I have with taking the 817 is; should I take an external power supply since the internal, rechargable, battery can have a relatively short life span. This is due to the power required to operate the 817 versus smaller, CW only radios. I was looking for a higher capacity battery made for the 817 and came across an interesting offering on EBay. The link is http://www.ebay.com/itm/3000mAh-Polymer-Lithium-Battery-pack-back-door-holder-Yaesu-FT-817-ND-radio-/331093734430?pt=US_Radio_Comm_Antennas&hash=item4d16b9741e#ht_4797wt_706

  The product is a 3000mAh LiPo battery that fits the 817, a replacement for the battery door that allows the battery to be charged by an external charger (included) and a nice stand for the radio. (The battery that comes with the 817 is 1400mAh) All this for $89. Now, it is a product made in China, so it is tough to determine quality, (that's also true for certain US producers as well). I ordered the package and will test it to see if it is as advertised. W4RT offers a similar product but it's priced at $150.00 and the battery is a NiMH.

I have no commercial interest in this product, but it seems worth the money if it delivers as advertised.

A few months back I ordered a Pico Paddle from Palm Radio. It is very small paddle, weighing only 12 grams by itself or 27 grams with the magnetic quick mount. The paddle is extremely well engineered and comes in a nice travel case with two quick mounts and cable. I have recently been using the paddle on my SOTA expeditions and have found it to be a very good paddle to have in the field. There are a few oddities about the paddle that are worth talking about, but overall it is a very well made, functional paddle.


 The cable used to interface with your rig is a little unique, in that it is a 2.5mm - 3.5mm and it is reversed with the tip being the dah. So it is a little different than the typical set up. If you are using the paddle with an FT-817 or a KX-3 or similar commercial transceiver, a simple adjustment in the menu will fix the reversed cable issue. If you are left handed, then it's perfect. The problem comes if you use the Pico paddle on a home-brew radio that doesn't have the ability to adjust the dits and dahs. You can do you own fix by cutting and reversing the wires and I suppose if you are using the paddle at a home station this would be sufficient, but the cable wires are thin and the solder job doesn't  hold up well with portable use. There is a pre-made reverse wired cable available from MTechnologies that is a much better alternative.

One nice feature of the paddle is the quick mount. It a very strong magnet that allows you to mount the key on the radio. In the field this is a nice feature and prevents you from having to hold a small paddle and log at the same time. I recently used it in combination with my MTR on a SOTA  trip and I really liked the way the radio and paddle were integrated.

This trip to the Wichita Mountains in SW Oklahoma was not a firm plan. Unlike many of my SOTA expeditions, I only carried my radio gear in case I was able to use. Unfortunately, I was in Ft. Worth, Texas to attend the funeral of my Aunt and as always, at funerals and weddings, there are always lots of family and friends to catch up with. I figured that the reunion might last through the weekend. However, after the funeral on Friday most of my relatives dispersed back to their busy lives.  I suggested to Cris, my XYL, that we sneak off to the Wichita Mountains for a SOTA date. She agreed, so we set out for Lawton, Oklahoma, which is a 2.5 hour drive from where we were. Upon arriving in Lawton around 10:00p.m., I opened up my iPad and put together a plan.

I had lived in Duncan, Oklahoma for eight years in the '80's and early '90's and had visited the Wichita Mountains multiple times with my family and our Boy Scout Troop, but never with summits in mind. So the must do summits in the Wichitas are Mt. Scott and Elk Mountain. Mt. Scott is a drive up and Elk Mountain is a nice 1.1 mile hike, one way. I knew if I started early, three summits were doable, maybe even four. But which one would be the third? I remembered KC5CW and KD5ZZK operating from a four point summit not far from Mt. Scott, so after a little research, Mount Cummins was added to the list. Below is a report on the trip.

For this trip I used an MTR 20/40, 500 mah Lipo battery, 21 foot collapsible carbon fiber pole and a LNR 10-20-40 "trail friendly" End Fed Half Wave antenna.

Mount Scott W5O/WI-002

This is an easy summit. The weather was on the chilly side with temps in the mid-30's when we started out. Upon arriving on the base of the mountain, there was a squad of army soldiers getting ready for a run up the mountain, something that would appeal to Fred, KT5X, but I was happy to drive up this one. At the summit, there was only one other car, so I had a pick of operating sites. I elected to get out of the wind and down a ways from the summit.