Posts Tagged ‘portable ops’
Some friendly NPOTA (and portable ops, in general) advice
January 22nd, 2016 | 
Author: If you've never done any type of portable operating and you're intrigued by NPOTA, and are thinking of activating a park or entity, there are several things that you need to do. To a lot of QRPers, this will all be "Elementary, my dear Watson", as so may of us are used to taking our radios to all kinds of off-the-beaten-path locations. But if you've never left the friendly confines of your Home shack before, here are some things to consider:
1) Scope out the entity or park before "Game Day". Know where you're going to operate from. Is there an out of the way place where you can set up, or will you be right in the thick of things? Are there any prohibitions/releases/permissions needed? You want to know about these things and get them out of the way and taken care of before Activation Day. There's nothing as disheartening as showing up and having a Park Ranger come up to you and say, "You can't do this, because (insert any number of reasons) .........". And, while we're on the subject of Park Rangers ......... I know this is so basic as to almost be insulting, but I'm going to mention it anyway. No matter what else happens during your activation, PLEASE ..... at all times be cooperative, courteous and respectful to NPS employees. They're just there doing their job. It's important that we present Amateur Radio operators and Amateur Radio operations through the best lens possible. Don't ruin things for your future brother and sister Hams by being rude, pushy, or by having an attitude.
2) Know your equipment, know your antennas. Know what works, what doesn't. Take what you need (with backups), but leave the fluff at home. If you've never done a portable operations gig outside of Field Day, then you need some practice. Portable operations are not quite the same as Field Day. Close, but not quite the same. First off, your activation more than likely won't be for 24 hours, so you're going to have to consider power. Power is the most important thing. 4, 5 or 6 hours at the 100 Watt level? You're going to need to bring heavy, fully charged deep cycle batteries with you. 4, 5 or 6 hours at QRP levels? Life gets much easier. Smaller, lighter SLAs or better yet, feather-weight lithium ion batteries will serve you well.
Second, you may very well be "it". Solo ... a party of one. So that means all the work will be performed by you. Make sure your setup will be manageable by you, alone without any outside help. Don't be overly ambitious. There's nothing wrong with just tossing a wire into a tree and going "au natural". If you can manage elaborate that's all well and good, but this is supposed to be enjoyable for you, too. The KISS* principle is a good one to remember and it applies to NPOTA and portable ops in general, very, very well.
Antennas. Unfortunately, there is no "one size fits all" solution, but the idea is to make a lot of contacts. You don't want to spend all your precious time setting up aerials to get on the air, so go with antennas that are relatively easy to set up quickly. Operating stationary mobile from the car? Hamsticks, Buddisticks, Buddipoles, screwdriver antennas are all good choices. Operating away from the car? End fed wires, Buddipoles, Buddisticks, dipole antennas, and the Alex Loop are all good choices, but again, your environment (presence of trees or not?) and/or park rules will be a big factor in deciding what you can or cannot use.
Logging. Logging is one of the most important aspects of NPOTA, and you really can't be casual about it. So far, in the early moments of NPOTA, it appears as though this program is quite the huge hit. It's not unusual to tune across the HF bands and hear pileups taking place. All these NPOTA chasers want credit for their time and effort. It's your duty as an Activator, to do your best to record the QSOs as reasonably accurately as you can. Bring an accurate watch with you, preferably one that can be set up to display UTC time. For the actual task of logging, whether you bring along your laptop, or log on your cellphone (Hamlog is excellent for this!), or even log using plain ol' paper and pencil, you need to perform this task efficiently and well. Keep in mind that you will need to upload your logs to the ARRL's Logbook of the World. This is how Activators and Chasers get credit. If you're not already on LotW, then you need to send in for a password and set up an account. If you're already an LotW user, you will need to download and install the latest version of Trusted QSL. This will allow you to set up locations for your account other than "Home" using the NPOTA entity designators as location names. THIS IS IMPORTANT! If you do not upload your log using the NPOTA entity designator as your location, neither you or your chasers will get credit for all your effort. Believe me, you do not want hundreds of e-mails from angry NPOTA chasers asking you why they didn't get credit for working you. Not that that would ever, ever happen! ;-)
If your NPOTA activation will be your first solo portable experience, go to a local park away from home and try your setup there. Some people would recommend setting up in the backyard, but it's way too convenient to just walk back into the house if you've forgotten something. When you're away from home, even if it's a short distance, and you discover you have forgotten something vital, you are way more than likely to never, ever forget it again. Don't feel bad about making a checklist for yourself. Checklists are very, very good things.
3) Know yourself. Know your limits. Everyone would like to go hiking and activate that trail, or activate that park in the middle of the beauty and solitude of Nature .....but if you can't walk to the corner mailbox without getting winded - you're not going to activate a SOTA peak or a mountain trail. If you need to, find a place with a parking lot (gives you the option to operate from the car if you're not the outdoors type or if the weather is bad), picnic tables (if you're only somewhat the outdoors type) and "facilities" so your activation can be an enjoyable, exhilarating experience that you will want to repeat, and not look back upon with dread. You're most likely to enjoy your outing if you're comfortable, so dress appropriately, bring along water (and snacks if you need to), bring along some type of folding chair if you think it will be required.
4) Bring your cell phone and one of whatever VHF. UHF, VHF/UHF handheld(s) you may own. God forbid you sprain an ankle and need help, it just a call way, via telephone call or a repeater contact. The cell phone has an added benefit. If you are lucky enough to have cell service at your chosen location, you can log onto DX Summit or DX Heat and you can self spot your activation. You can quite literally go from calling CQ to pile up conditions within seconds. If you do self spot, please make sure to put "NPOTA" and your entity designator in the comments portion of the spot.
I really hope the above doesn't scare you off or deter you. It wasn't meant to, it was meant to bring some common sense ideas to be considered by new, or less experienced portable operators. Once you've left the shack and have gotten into the Great Outdoors, with your radio providing you with fun and companionship, I guarantee that you will be smitten and will want to go out and do it again, and again, and again, and again.
One last caveat. I am by no means an expert on portable ops. I'm not a SOTA Mountain Goat, nor a W1PID nor a WG0AT nor a N7UN, nor a K0JQZ for that matter. I'm just offering basic advice based upon my own limited experience. The comment box is always open, so please feel free to add to what I have written here; or correct me on anything I may have gotten wrong. We all learn when we share.
I've posted this video before, but to see how simple, easy and fun and successful this can be, here's the YouTube video that Sean Kutzko KX9X posted about his activation of Pigeon Key in Florida.
1) Scope out the entity or park before "Game Day". Know where you're going to operate from. Is there an out of the way place where you can set up, or will you be right in the thick of things? Are there any prohibitions/releases/permissions needed? You want to know about these things and get them out of the way and taken care of before Activation Day. There's nothing as disheartening as showing up and having a Park Ranger come up to you and say, "You can't do this, because (insert any number of reasons) .........". And, while we're on the subject of Park Rangers ......... I know this is so basic as to almost be insulting, but I'm going to mention it anyway. No matter what else happens during your activation, PLEASE ..... at all times be cooperative, courteous and respectful to NPS employees. They're just there doing their job. It's important that we present Amateur Radio operators and Amateur Radio operations through the best lens possible. Don't ruin things for your future brother and sister Hams by being rude, pushy, or by having an attitude.
2) Know your equipment, know your antennas. Know what works, what doesn't. Take what you need (with backups), but leave the fluff at home. If you've never done a portable operations gig outside of Field Day, then you need some practice. Portable operations are not quite the same as Field Day. Close, but not quite the same. First off, your activation more than likely won't be for 24 hours, so you're going to have to consider power. Power is the most important thing. 4, 5 or 6 hours at the 100 Watt level? You're going to need to bring heavy, fully charged deep cycle batteries with you. 4, 5 or 6 hours at QRP levels? Life gets much easier. Smaller, lighter SLAs or better yet, feather-weight lithium ion batteries will serve you well.
Second, you may very well be "it". Solo ... a party of one. So that means all the work will be performed by you. Make sure your setup will be manageable by you, alone without any outside help. Don't be overly ambitious. There's nothing wrong with just tossing a wire into a tree and going "au natural". If you can manage elaborate that's all well and good, but this is supposed to be enjoyable for you, too. The KISS* principle is a good one to remember and it applies to NPOTA and portable ops in general, very, very well.
Antennas. Unfortunately, there is no "one size fits all" solution, but the idea is to make a lot of contacts. You don't want to spend all your precious time setting up aerials to get on the air, so go with antennas that are relatively easy to set up quickly. Operating stationary mobile from the car? Hamsticks, Buddisticks, Buddipoles, screwdriver antennas are all good choices. Operating away from the car? End fed wires, Buddipoles, Buddisticks, dipole antennas, and the Alex Loop are all good choices, but again, your environment (presence of trees or not?) and/or park rules will be a big factor in deciding what you can or cannot use.
Logging. Logging is one of the most important aspects of NPOTA, and you really can't be casual about it. So far, in the early moments of NPOTA, it appears as though this program is quite the huge hit. It's not unusual to tune across the HF bands and hear pileups taking place. All these NPOTA chasers want credit for their time and effort. It's your duty as an Activator, to do your best to record the QSOs as reasonably accurately as you can. Bring an accurate watch with you, preferably one that can be set up to display UTC time. For the actual task of logging, whether you bring along your laptop, or log on your cellphone (Hamlog is excellent for this!), or even log using plain ol' paper and pencil, you need to perform this task efficiently and well. Keep in mind that you will need to upload your logs to the ARRL's Logbook of the World. This is how Activators and Chasers get credit. If you're not already on LotW, then you need to send in for a password and set up an account. If you're already an LotW user, you will need to download and install the latest version of Trusted QSL. This will allow you to set up locations for your account other than "Home" using the NPOTA entity designators as location names. THIS IS IMPORTANT! If you do not upload your log using the NPOTA entity designator as your location, neither you or your chasers will get credit for all your effort. Believe me, you do not want hundreds of e-mails from angry NPOTA chasers asking you why they didn't get credit for working you. Not that that would ever, ever happen! ;-)
If your NPOTA activation will be your first solo portable experience, go to a local park away from home and try your setup there. Some people would recommend setting up in the backyard, but it's way too convenient to just walk back into the house if you've forgotten something. When you're away from home, even if it's a short distance, and you discover you have forgotten something vital, you are way more than likely to never, ever forget it again. Don't feel bad about making a checklist for yourself. Checklists are very, very good things.
3) Know yourself. Know your limits. Everyone would like to go hiking and activate that trail, or activate that park in the middle of the beauty and solitude of Nature .....but if you can't walk to the corner mailbox without getting winded - you're not going to activate a SOTA peak or a mountain trail. If you need to, find a place with a parking lot (gives you the option to operate from the car if you're not the outdoors type or if the weather is bad), picnic tables (if you're only somewhat the outdoors type) and "facilities" so your activation can be an enjoyable, exhilarating experience that you will want to repeat, and not look back upon with dread. You're most likely to enjoy your outing if you're comfortable, so dress appropriately, bring along water (and snacks if you need to), bring along some type of folding chair if you think it will be required.
4) Bring your cell phone and one of whatever VHF. UHF, VHF/UHF handheld(s) you may own. God forbid you sprain an ankle and need help, it just a call way, via telephone call or a repeater contact. The cell phone has an added benefit. If you are lucky enough to have cell service at your chosen location, you can log onto DX Summit or DX Heat and you can self spot your activation. You can quite literally go from calling CQ to pile up conditions within seconds. If you do self spot, please make sure to put "NPOTA" and your entity designator in the comments portion of the spot.
I really hope the above doesn't scare you off or deter you. It wasn't meant to, it was meant to bring some common sense ideas to be considered by new, or less experienced portable operators. Once you've left the shack and have gotten into the Great Outdoors, with your radio providing you with fun and companionship, I guarantee that you will be smitten and will want to go out and do it again, and again, and again, and again.
One last caveat. I am by no means an expert on portable ops. I'm not a SOTA Mountain Goat, nor a W1PID nor a WG0AT nor a N7UN, nor a K0JQZ for that matter. I'm just offering basic advice based upon my own limited experience. The comment box is always open, so please feel free to add to what I have written here; or correct me on anything I may have gotten wrong. We all learn when we share.
I've posted this video before, but to see how simple, easy and fun and successful this can be, here's the YouTube video that Sean Kutzko KX9X posted about his activation of Pigeon Key in Florida.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
*KISS = Keep It Simple, Stupid!
NPOTA – Brrrrrrrrr!
Of course, W2LJ picks one of the coldest, windiest days of the Winter season (so far) to do an NPOTA activation. Of course! But it was a blast (of cold air) nonetheless - even if I still haven't warmed up some hours later.
We got a light dusting of snow yesterday, which was a prelude to today. It was sunny and clear, but the winds were blustery and our high temperature for the day was reached last night at Midnight. Ever since then, the temperatures have been dropping. As I type this, it's currently 16F (-9C) outside. While I activated NPOTA, it was 24F (-4C).
I headed out at 11:40 AM to the Washington-Rochambeau National Historical Trail TR23, which we know as Old Raritan Road in Scotch Plains, NJ. I wanted to set up at the historic Frazee House, but that part of Old Raritan Road is currently blocked off for repaving. I settled for operating at the entrance to the Ashbrook Country Club golf course in steady. It's right on the trail, as you can see from the photo above. At the entrance to the golf course is the remnants of a cannon that was used in the Battle of Short Hills in June 1777, as seen in the photo below.
Set up was easy, I've done it so many times at lunchtime at work that I could do it in my sleep. The cold made things a tad more difficult, though; but I was ready to get on the air at Noon (1700 UTC), just as I had planned.
I started out on 20 Meters, using the Buddistick. It really helps to bring a cell phone along on these kind of outings. Having a smart phone enabled me to go onto the DX Summit Website and self spot. Within a few seconds of sending the spot, I was busy handling QSOs. There was never a really deep pileup, but there weren't many lulls either. When a lull hit, I used the opportunity to either change bands, or turn on the car to warm it up a bit. As an experienced QRPer, and being used to working weak signals, you get into the mindset to avoid as much background noise as possible. While I was operating, the engine was off. I would rather be a bit cold than miss another QRPer because of engine noise.
After 20 Meters, I operated on 17 Meters for a while. I had wanted to use 18.086 MHz, but I could tell that was pileup territory for one of the DXpeditions. So I "QRL"ed on 18.072 MHz, and not hearing any answer, I camped out there for a while.
When the Jeep interior cooled down as to start becoming uncomfortable (I'm ALL about comfort!), I took the opportunity to warm the interior up, and to switch from the Buddistick to the 40 Meter Hamstick. I get a better match with the Hamstick, only 1.3:1, which is lower that the 1.8:1 that I get with the Buddistick. I still have to work on finding the ideal combination of arms and whip length for 40 Meters on the Buddistick. 40 Meters was as productive as 20 Meters. Most of the QSOs were made on those two bands, although 17 Meters was not a slouch by any means.
I called it a day at 3:00 PM (2000 UTC) just as I had planned. In the end, I made 88 QSOs, which is actually way better that any Bumblebee or Skeeter outing that I have had, and is not bad for 5 Watts to less than full sized antennas. My best DX was California, Arizona, Puerto Rico and two stations from Belgium. I worked a few of you readers that I know from here, and I thank you heartily for those Qs. I also worked my best friend and Ham Radio mentor, Bob W3BBO. I worked QRP notables Steve WG0AT, Guy N7UN, fellow QRP Fox hunter Chris KQ2RP, and I also worked Kay Craigie N3KN, outgoing President of the ARRL.
But the best QSO of the day was when I worked Dave KD2FSI, who I logged for at Jockey Hollow on Saturday. This was perhaps Dave's second or third CW QSO, maybe? It was a blast to be there and to hear his fist on the air!
All the QSOs have been uploaded to LoTW. I can't wait to activate another NPOTA entity. The bug has really bit now. As the seasons change, and the weather gets warmer, the strategy will change from antennas mounted on the Jeep, to perhaps wires tossed in the trees. The best is definitely yet to come! Thank you Sean KX9X and the ARRL for sponsoring this great program!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
We got a light dusting of snow yesterday, which was a prelude to today. It was sunny and clear, but the winds were blustery and our high temperature for the day was reached last night at Midnight. Ever since then, the temperatures have been dropping. As I type this, it's currently 16F (-9C) outside. While I activated NPOTA, it was 24F (-4C).
I headed out at 11:40 AM to the Washington-Rochambeau National Historical Trail TR23, which we know as Old Raritan Road in Scotch Plains, NJ. I wanted to set up at the historic Frazee House, but that part of Old Raritan Road is currently blocked off for repaving. I settled for operating at the entrance to the Ashbrook Country Club golf course in steady. It's right on the trail, as you can see from the photo above. At the entrance to the golf course is the remnants of a cannon that was used in the Battle of Short Hills in June 1777, as seen in the photo below.
Set up was easy, I've done it so many times at lunchtime at work that I could do it in my sleep. The cold made things a tad more difficult, though; but I was ready to get on the air at Noon (1700 UTC), just as I had planned.
I started out on 20 Meters, using the Buddistick. It really helps to bring a cell phone along on these kind of outings. Having a smart phone enabled me to go onto the DX Summit Website and self spot. Within a few seconds of sending the spot, I was busy handling QSOs. There was never a really deep pileup, but there weren't many lulls either. When a lull hit, I used the opportunity to either change bands, or turn on the car to warm it up a bit. As an experienced QRPer, and being used to working weak signals, you get into the mindset to avoid as much background noise as possible. While I was operating, the engine was off. I would rather be a bit cold than miss another QRPer because of engine noise.
After 20 Meters, I operated on 17 Meters for a while. I had wanted to use 18.086 MHz, but I could tell that was pileup territory for one of the DXpeditions. So I "QRL"ed on 18.072 MHz, and not hearing any answer, I camped out there for a while.
When the Jeep interior cooled down as to start becoming uncomfortable (I'm ALL about comfort!), I took the opportunity to warm the interior up, and to switch from the Buddistick to the 40 Meter Hamstick. I get a better match with the Hamstick, only 1.3:1, which is lower that the 1.8:1 that I get with the Buddistick. I still have to work on finding the ideal combination of arms and whip length for 40 Meters on the Buddistick. 40 Meters was as productive as 20 Meters. Most of the QSOs were made on those two bands, although 17 Meters was not a slouch by any means.
I called it a day at 3:00 PM (2000 UTC) just as I had planned. In the end, I made 88 QSOs, which is actually way better that any Bumblebee or Skeeter outing that I have had, and is not bad for 5 Watts to less than full sized antennas. My best DX was California, Arizona, Puerto Rico and two stations from Belgium. I worked a few of you readers that I know from here, and I thank you heartily for those Qs. I also worked my best friend and Ham Radio mentor, Bob W3BBO. I worked QRP notables Steve WG0AT, Guy N7UN, fellow QRP Fox hunter Chris KQ2RP, and I also worked Kay Craigie N3KN, outgoing President of the ARRL.
But the best QSO of the day was when I worked Dave KD2FSI, who I logged for at Jockey Hollow on Saturday. This was perhaps Dave's second or third CW QSO, maybe? It was a blast to be there and to hear his fist on the air!
All the QSOs have been uploaded to LoTW. I can't wait to activate another NPOTA entity. The bug has really bit now. As the seasons change, and the weather gets warmer, the strategy will change from antennas mounted on the Jeep, to perhaps wires tossed in the trees. The best is definitely yet to come! Thank you Sean KX9X and the ARRL for sponsoring this great program!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Had a wonderful time today
My good friend Dave Hackett KD2FSI, fellow South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club member, decided to conduct an NPOTA activation. Yesterday, Dave posted on Facebook that he was going to travel up to Morristown, NJ to activate Morrsitown National Historical Park, HP28. I asked (tongue-in-cheek) if visitors would be welcome, and Dave answered in the affirmative, so I knew I had to get up there today.
If you saw Dave's setup, you would swear that you died and went to Ham Radio heaven. Dave recently purchased a minivan, which has become a custom outfitted portable communications center. Dave has hand crafted a wooden bed frame, with storage underneath that allows him to cart along everything he needs for portable Amateur Radio operations. If the need arises, Dave can operate quite comfortably from either inside or outside the van. He is equipped for just about any eventuality that you can think of, and if need be, he can "camp out" in semi-luxury as needed. I should have taken pictures for this post, but I was so excited about helping to activate an entity for NPOTA that I plumb forgot! (See my update below)
I got to the park shortly after Noon. It's been years since I've been up to Jockey Hollow and I took a few wrong turns. I ended up driving through Harding, NJ. Wow! Talk about seeing where the "1%" lives. What estates! But I digress.
I got to the Jockey Hollow parking lot and Dave was already good to go. He had his hybrid homebrew/commercial Buddipole on a painters pole at about the 15 foot level. He had just finished conducting a run when I drove up, so he was ready to take a break and stretch his legs for a bit when I arrived. We chatted for a bit while I admired his set up. Dave was using a Yaesu at 100 Watts off a deep cycle marine battery, and it was doing him in good stead.
Shortly after, we got back down to business. Dave folded down the seat, so I could set next to him (very comfortably) on his padded bed frame/bench seat/storage cabinet. I offered to log for him while he took the microphone. Dave called "CQ NPOTA" for a bit and we had a few bites. Then I decided to whip out my cell phone, bring up DX Summit and spot him on the cluster.
Quite literally, all Hell broke loose! It was like standing next to a dam when it decided to burst. We were at the business end of a pileup and were having the time of our lives. A little over an hour later, Dave decided to take another break, so I operated station KD2FSI for a few more QSOs, while he stretched his legs. When things quieted down, we both took a break to discover that we had made over 100 QSOs in that short amount of time. We worked all up and down the East coast and as far West as Arizona and New Mexico.
While Dave was operating solo, he also worked into Canada, the Netherlands and Belgium, I believe. It was a great time and I'm very grateful to Dave that he let me be his wingman for the day. As far as Amateur Radio goes, Dave is still considered a "rookie" as he is licensed for less than three years. Let me tell you, Dave is no rookie! Dave has taken to HF operating like a bird to the air or a fish to the water. He is completely at home behind the microphone for phone operations and behind the keyboard for digital operations.
And, oh yeah, he's also learning to get comfortable behind the key for CW operations. I'm hoping that he'll really be comfortable by Field Day!
UPDATE:
Dave posted some photos to the SPARC Facebook page, so I am going to do a little cross posting here, so you can see his wonderful set up.
Dave's minivan parked on his homebrew mast holder. The mast is an extendable painter's pole. I'm guesstimating about 15 feet high. His Buddipole is a hybrid of homebrew and commercial W3FF parts. By his outing yesterday, it was obvious that Dave's concoction is a huge success!
From the back of the minivan looking forward. Dave's laptop is sitting on his handcrafted bedframe/storage unit. As you can see, it also serves as a desk. He had only a thin cushion on it, as he was not spending an overnight at the park. For sleeping purposes, Dave has a much thicker and comfortable memory foam pad that his son gave him for Christmas. This thin pad was just the thing for using his bedframe as a bench when Dave was running stations while I logged for him.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
If you saw Dave's setup, you would swear that you died and went to Ham Radio heaven. Dave recently purchased a minivan, which has become a custom outfitted portable communications center. Dave has hand crafted a wooden bed frame, with storage underneath that allows him to cart along everything he needs for portable Amateur Radio operations. If the need arises, Dave can operate quite comfortably from either inside or outside the van. He is equipped for just about any eventuality that you can think of, and if need be, he can "camp out" in semi-luxury as needed. I should have taken pictures for this post, but I was so excited about helping to activate an entity for NPOTA that I plumb forgot! (See my update below)
I got to the park shortly after Noon. It's been years since I've been up to Jockey Hollow and I took a few wrong turns. I ended up driving through Harding, NJ. Wow! Talk about seeing where the "1%" lives. What estates! But I digress.
I got to the Jockey Hollow parking lot and Dave was already good to go. He had his hybrid homebrew/commercial Buddipole on a painters pole at about the 15 foot level. He had just finished conducting a run when I drove up, so he was ready to take a break and stretch his legs for a bit when I arrived. We chatted for a bit while I admired his set up. Dave was using a Yaesu at 100 Watts off a deep cycle marine battery, and it was doing him in good stead.
Shortly after, we got back down to business. Dave folded down the seat, so I could set next to him (very comfortably) on his padded bed frame/bench seat/storage cabinet. I offered to log for him while he took the microphone. Dave called "CQ NPOTA" for a bit and we had a few bites. Then I decided to whip out my cell phone, bring up DX Summit and spot him on the cluster.
Quite literally, all Hell broke loose! It was like standing next to a dam when it decided to burst. We were at the business end of a pileup and were having the time of our lives. A little over an hour later, Dave decided to take another break, so I operated station KD2FSI for a few more QSOs, while he stretched his legs. When things quieted down, we both took a break to discover that we had made over 100 QSOs in that short amount of time. We worked all up and down the East coast and as far West as Arizona and New Mexico.
While Dave was operating solo, he also worked into Canada, the Netherlands and Belgium, I believe. It was a great time and I'm very grateful to Dave that he let me be his wingman for the day. As far as Amateur Radio goes, Dave is still considered a "rookie" as he is licensed for less than three years. Let me tell you, Dave is no rookie! Dave has taken to HF operating like a bird to the air or a fish to the water. He is completely at home behind the microphone for phone operations and behind the keyboard for digital operations.
And, oh yeah, he's also learning to get comfortable behind the key for CW operations. I'm hoping that he'll really be comfortable by Field Day!
UPDATE:
Dave posted some photos to the SPARC Facebook page, so I am going to do a little cross posting here, so you can see his wonderful set up.
Dave's minivan parked on his homebrew mast holder. The mast is an extendable painter's pole. I'm guesstimating about 15 feet high. His Buddipole is a hybrid of homebrew and commercial W3FF parts. By his outing yesterday, it was obvious that Dave's concoction is a huge success!
From the back of the minivan looking forward. Dave's laptop is sitting on his handcrafted bedframe/storage unit. As you can see, it also serves as a desk. He had only a thin cushion on it, as he was not spending an overnight at the park. For sleeping purposes, Dave has a much thicker and comfortable memory foam pad that his son gave him for Christmas. This thin pad was just the thing for using his bedframe as a bench when Dave was running stations while I logged for him.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
New Year’s Day
Is always a kind of lazy day at the W2LJ household. Marianne and I are not big party-ers and in fact, last evening, we had to wake up to watch the ball drop in Times Square on TV. We were both fast asleep quickly after. Our two kids were up later than we were, talking with their friends online.
I got on for a bit last night for SKN. I don't know if it was just bad band conditions with the remnants of that CME lingering; or perhaps it was my atrocious bug fist. I made no contacts last night.
During the day today, I did a bit better. I worked five different NPOTA activations (6 QSOs):
N8XX - TR04 - North County National Scenic Trail
W1BXY - NS76 - Weir Farm National Historic Sight
NC8IN - NS55 - Ninety Six National Historic Sight
NR3P - SS01 - Assateague Island National Seashore
KK4ZUU - BP02 - Mnasassas National Battlefield Park
K7UPJ - NS55- Ninety Six National Historic Sight
I just realized now that I worked NS55 twice. Basically, I was dial twiddling, working the ones I could hear decently. There were a few others, but QSB was so bad on 20 Meters at times that I bypassed a few, thinking conditions would get better. They didn't, and going back to try and work those again, I found them to be gone. Sometimes the Propagation Princess is a cruel mistress!
Only N8XX and NR3P were CW, though. I had to break out the microphone and resort to SSB for the others. As Yoda would say, "A disturbing trend in The Force, I sense".
As mentioned in an earlier post, the 2016 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt will be featuring NPOTA - but let that be just a foot note. I would hope that a lot of you who read this blog regularly will step up the plate and activate NPOTA entities using CW (and QRP).
Remember, it doesn't have to be an elaborate set up, with multi ops and crazy antenna installations that last all day. This NPOTA program was tailor made for portable QRP ops! Go to one of the entities, throw a wire into a tree, or perhaps break out the Buddistick, Buddipole, Alex Loop - what have you. Get on the air for a few hours and hand out some contacts!
Also, remember that this is a year long celebration. There were a bumper crop of NPOTA activations on the air today. It seems that everyone wanted to be active on "Day One", but there are 365 days left (this is a Leap Year, don't forget). So get out there and have some fun. That's what this is all about - going outdoors, setting up and having some fun.
This is OUR specialty, guys! Let's show them how it's done!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
I got on for a bit last night for SKN. I don't know if it was just bad band conditions with the remnants of that CME lingering; or perhaps it was my atrocious bug fist. I made no contacts last night.
During the day today, I did a bit better. I worked five different NPOTA activations (6 QSOs):
N8XX - TR04 - North County National Scenic Trail
W1BXY - NS76 - Weir Farm National Historic Sight
NC8IN - NS55 - Ninety Six National Historic Sight
NR3P - SS01 - Assateague Island National Seashore
KK4ZUU - BP02 - Mnasassas National Battlefield Park
K7UPJ - NS55- Ninety Six National Historic Sight
I just realized now that I worked NS55 twice. Basically, I was dial twiddling, working the ones I could hear decently. There were a few others, but QSB was so bad on 20 Meters at times that I bypassed a few, thinking conditions would get better. They didn't, and going back to try and work those again, I found them to be gone. Sometimes the Propagation Princess is a cruel mistress!
Only N8XX and NR3P were CW, though. I had to break out the microphone and resort to SSB for the others. As Yoda would say, "A disturbing trend in The Force, I sense".
As mentioned in an earlier post, the 2016 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt will be featuring NPOTA - but let that be just a foot note. I would hope that a lot of you who read this blog regularly will step up the plate and activate NPOTA entities using CW (and QRP).
Remember, it doesn't have to be an elaborate set up, with multi ops and crazy antenna installations that last all day. This NPOTA program was tailor made for portable QRP ops! Go to one of the entities, throw a wire into a tree, or perhaps break out the Buddistick, Buddipole, Alex Loop - what have you. Get on the air for a few hours and hand out some contacts!
Also, remember that this is a year long celebration. There were a bumper crop of NPOTA activations on the air today. It seems that everyone wanted to be active on "Day One", but there are 365 days left (this is a Leap Year, don't forget). So get out there and have some fun. That's what this is all about - going outdoors, setting up and having some fun.
This is OUR specialty, guys! Let's show them how it's done!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Skeeter Hunt – NPOTA News
Several things:
First - The NJQRP Skeeter Hunt for 2016 is moving from the second Sunday in August to the third. So please mark Sunday, August 21st on your calendar for this year's Skeeter Hunt. There are two reasons for this. The most important is that yours truly has an outstanding monthly commitment each 2nd Sunday of the month. That's the Sunday I go help out at the soup kitchen in the next town over. I kind of blew that off the past couple of Augusts, and that's not right. There are some things more important than Amateur Radio, and this is one of those.
But hey, the organizer shouldn't go AWOL, right? (That's how I feel, anyway). So I have moved it back a weekend to the third Sunday in August, where it shall occur forever more. Another added benefit is that this makes the spacing between Flight of the Bumblebees, the Skeeter Hunt and QRP Afield and the Peanut Power Sprint a bit more even.
Second - I have gotten blessing from Sean Kutzko KX9X to incorporate NPOTA into the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt this year. Is that COOL or what? I'm not exactly sure how it's going to all work out. Maybe bonus points for activating an NPOTA unit for the Hunt - or possibly some special "memento" for activating an NPOTA unit during the Hunt. I'll have to ruminate on that one for a bit - but there's time.
Third - On a personal level, Sean announced some new NPOTA units the other day. This was a biggie for me, because in the Northeast, the Washington - Rochambeau Historical Trail was added. This is the route taken by General Rochambeau's French forces and General Washington's Continental forces as they both marched on towards the siege at Yorktown, which all but brought the American victory in the Revolutionary War.
The Washington - Rochambeau Historical Trail is within a stone's throw from my house - literally. To make this situation even better, there is the Frazee house located on the trail in Scotch Plains, NJ - the next town over. Rather than try and explain the significance of the Frazee house in my own words - allow me to post something from the official Website.
"As the legend holds, after the Battle of Short Hills, General Cornwallis and his troops passed by the house while marching toward the Watchung mountains, located a few miles to the north. Known to the locals as a prolific baker, Aunt Betty was baking bread at the time. Hungry and tired, the troops smelled the bread and Cornwallis approached her stating, "I want the first loaf of bread that next comes from that oven." Betty is said to have replied, “Sir, I give you this bread through fear, not in love.” Evidently impressed by her courage, Cornwallis is said to have stated, “Not a man in my command shall touch a single loaf.” While history offers evidence that Betty lived in the house and did, indeed, bake bread, the story of the actual conversation is not authenticated by primary source documents. The words allegedly spoken by the principals are found in the earliest authoritative source on the subject, F.W. Ricord's History of Union County, page 513, which is one of the sources cited in the National Register of Historic Places filing that led to the Frazee House being placed on the Register."
I'll have to look onto getting permission to operate from the property that the house is on. If that's not obtainable, there are plenty of other locations that can be operated from on the Trail, right in my local area. In fact, right in front of the Ashbrook Golf Course, is a monument to The Battle of Short Hills.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
First - The NJQRP Skeeter Hunt for 2016 is moving from the second Sunday in August to the third. So please mark Sunday, August 21st on your calendar for this year's Skeeter Hunt. There are two reasons for this. The most important is that yours truly has an outstanding monthly commitment each 2nd Sunday of the month. That's the Sunday I go help out at the soup kitchen in the next town over. I kind of blew that off the past couple of Augusts, and that's not right. There are some things more important than Amateur Radio, and this is one of those.
But hey, the organizer shouldn't go AWOL, right? (That's how I feel, anyway). So I have moved it back a weekend to the third Sunday in August, where it shall occur forever more. Another added benefit is that this makes the spacing between Flight of the Bumblebees, the Skeeter Hunt and QRP Afield and the Peanut Power Sprint a bit more even.
Second - I have gotten blessing from Sean Kutzko KX9X to incorporate NPOTA into the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt this year. Is that COOL or what? I'm not exactly sure how it's going to all work out. Maybe bonus points for activating an NPOTA unit for the Hunt - or possibly some special "memento" for activating an NPOTA unit during the Hunt. I'll have to ruminate on that one for a bit - but there's time.
Third - On a personal level, Sean announced some new NPOTA units the other day. This was a biggie for me, because in the Northeast, the Washington - Rochambeau Historical Trail was added. This is the route taken by General Rochambeau's French forces and General Washington's Continental forces as they both marched on towards the siege at Yorktown, which all but brought the American victory in the Revolutionary War.
The Washington - Rochambeau Historical Trail is within a stone's throw from my house - literally. To make this situation even better, there is the Frazee house located on the trail in Scotch Plains, NJ - the next town over. Rather than try and explain the significance of the Frazee house in my own words - allow me to post something from the official Website.
"As the legend holds, after the Battle of Short Hills, General Cornwallis and his troops passed by the house while marching toward the Watchung mountains, located a few miles to the north. Known to the locals as a prolific baker, Aunt Betty was baking bread at the time. Hungry and tired, the troops smelled the bread and Cornwallis approached her stating, "I want the first loaf of bread that next comes from that oven." Betty is said to have replied, “Sir, I give you this bread through fear, not in love.” Evidently impressed by her courage, Cornwallis is said to have stated, “Not a man in my command shall touch a single loaf.” While history offers evidence that Betty lived in the house and did, indeed, bake bread, the story of the actual conversation is not authenticated by primary source documents. The words allegedly spoken by the principals are found in the earliest authoritative source on the subject, F.W. Ricord's History of Union County, page 513, which is one of the sources cited in the National Register of Historic Places filing that led to the Frazee House being placed on the Register."
I'll have to look onto getting permission to operate from the property that the house is on. If that's not obtainable, there are plenty of other locations that can be operated from on the Trail, right in my local area. In fact, right in front of the Ashbrook Golf Course, is a monument to The Battle of Short Hills.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Tomorrow is always another day
So ..... you're a QRP DXer. You hear a country you want to work, but it doesn't go well. What do you do? You never give up, that's what! If you don't work them today, you may work them tomorrow, and in my case that happened to me, today.
I started my lunchtime QRP session fully intending to work the N3AQC QRP-pedition to the USS Requin which is docked by the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh. John K3WWP and Mike KC2EGL were there today, and I figured that maybe, just maybe, I might be able to hear them on 40 Meters. So I set up the Buddistick for that band - magmount base, all four 11 inch arms, untapped coil, extra long whip. I was able to get the SWR down to about 1.5:1 and I heard plenty of signals, but no N3AQC. They started at 10:00 AM, and by the time I was able to get to the parking lot, it was 1:30 PM, so I don't know if they were on lunch break also, or perhaps they had just called it a day by then, or perhaps they were on 20 and 30 Meters. But tuning around for about 15 minutes and not hearing N3AQC, I decided to switch over to the higher bands, as lunch time is only an hour.
So I took two of the 11" arms off, put the coil tap in its accustomed position and put the Buddistick back on the roof. Tuning around, at 14.018 MHz, I heard them - PZ5W - Suriname. The same station from yesterday, and they were even louder than they were on 15 Meters. So without even thinking, I dialed in a 1kHz up split and gave a call ... and was heard. I sent my info and completed the exchange and then looked down at the KX3.
In my haste, I hadn't touched up the SWR with the autouner. My SWR was 1.7:1 and the KX3's power had folded back to 3 Watts. So what I couldn't accomplish with 5 Watts yesterday, got done with 3 Watts today. That felt nice - really, really nice.
Looking at my watch, I saw I had about 15 minutes left before I had to break down and go back into the building, so I prowled around the band some more for a few minutes. Lo and behold, T2TT - Tuvalu coming in loud and clear! Argh! Ten minutes was not enough to even consider it a decent try, but I did - and failed.
But ...... tomorrow is always another day.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
I started my lunchtime QRP session fully intending to work the N3AQC QRP-pedition to the USS Requin which is docked by the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh. John K3WWP and Mike KC2EGL were there today, and I figured that maybe, just maybe, I might be able to hear them on 40 Meters. So I set up the Buddistick for that band - magmount base, all four 11 inch arms, untapped coil, extra long whip. I was able to get the SWR down to about 1.5:1 and I heard plenty of signals, but no N3AQC. They started at 10:00 AM, and by the time I was able to get to the parking lot, it was 1:30 PM, so I don't know if they were on lunch break also, or perhaps they had just called it a day by then, or perhaps they were on 20 and 30 Meters. But tuning around for about 15 minutes and not hearing N3AQC, I decided to switch over to the higher bands, as lunch time is only an hour.
So I took two of the 11" arms off, put the coil tap in its accustomed position and put the Buddistick back on the roof. Tuning around, at 14.018 MHz, I heard them - PZ5W - Suriname. The same station from yesterday, and they were even louder than they were on 15 Meters. So without even thinking, I dialed in a 1kHz up split and gave a call ... and was heard. I sent my info and completed the exchange and then looked down at the KX3.
In my haste, I hadn't touched up the SWR with the autouner. My SWR was 1.7:1 and the KX3's power had folded back to 3 Watts. So what I couldn't accomplish with 5 Watts yesterday, got done with 3 Watts today. That felt nice - really, really nice.
Looking at my watch, I saw I had about 15 minutes left before I had to break down and go back into the building, so I prowled around the band some more for a few minutes. Lo and behold, T2TT - Tuvalu coming in loud and clear! Argh! Ten minutes was not enough to even consider it a decent try, but I did - and failed.
But ...... tomorrow is always another day.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
DX Spray …. it works!
Unlike the grand vistas that Jim W1PID encounters in the beautiful locales of New Hampshire, the views that I am afforded during my lunchtime QRP sessions are a bit more urbane. However, as the season changes along with the leaves, even in a suburban setting there is beauty to be found:
Not bad for a parking lot view, eh?
As I was setting up the station, I noticed that the "stick" part of my Buddistick was ......well, rather sticky. I happened to have a can of this in the trunk, so I applied a bit to the whip and then proceeded to rub it in using some 3" gauze bandage from my First Aid kit. Hey, you use what's on hand!
Little did I know that WD-40 actually stands for "Whopping DX - 40 Meters". I didn't get on 40 Meters, but the can didn't know that, and the DX Spray seemed to work equally well on 15 and 17 Meters. In short order, after applying this miracle spray to my Buddistick, I worked T47GDXC, SM3PZG, RA1AOB and TF4X all in the space of about 15 minutes.
Who knew? If I was aware of what WD-40 really stood for, I would have been applying it to my antennas years ago! Just think ..... all the wasted time, all the wasted opportunities! I could be on the DXCC Honor Roll by now.
Some would attribute my success today to the sun and something called "improved band conditions". But I, for one, know better. I have learned the secret of the magic "DX Spray".
Sob ....... weep!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Not bad for a parking lot view, eh?
As I was setting up the station, I noticed that the "stick" part of my Buddistick was ......well, rather sticky. I happened to have a can of this in the trunk, so I applied a bit to the whip and then proceeded to rub it in using some 3" gauze bandage from my First Aid kit. Hey, you use what's on hand!
Little did I know that WD-40 actually stands for "Whopping DX - 40 Meters". I didn't get on 40 Meters, but the can didn't know that, and the DX Spray seemed to work equally well on 15 and 17 Meters. In short order, after applying this miracle spray to my Buddistick, I worked T47GDXC, SM3PZG, RA1AOB and TF4X all in the space of about 15 minutes.
Who knew? If I was aware of what WD-40 really stood for, I would have been applying it to my antennas years ago! Just think ..... all the wasted time, all the wasted opportunities! I could be on the DXCC Honor Roll by now.
Some would attribute my success today to the sun and something called "improved band conditions". But I, for one, know better. I have learned the secret of the magic "DX Spray".
Sob ....... weep!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
