WK4DS Amateur Radio Blog
Ten watts to Spain. Ten watts to Germany. Ten watts to Austria. The EFHW at 35 feet made all the difference.
Activating Hillsborough River State Park (US-1878) with a friend is one thing—making over 100 contacts in a single afternoon using QRP power and a homemade wire antenna is another. That's exactly what Chas and I accomplished using a 65-foot EFHW antenna strung 35 feet up in the Florida pines, a ground mounted vertical, his FT891, a Penntek TR-35, and my sBitx v3 running just 10 watts (Chas was running 50 watts today though). This wasn't just a Parks on the Air activation—it was a field test of how well minimalist gear performs in a multi-operator setup, complete with lessons learned about antenna placement, front-end overload, and working around the Florida sun.
Activating Hillsborough River State Park (US-1878) with a friend is one thing, making over 100 contacts in a single afternoon using QRP power and a homemade wire antenna is another. That's exactly what Chas and I accomplished using a 65-foot EFHW antenna strung 35 feet up in the Florida pines, a ground mounted vertical, his FT891, a Penntek TR-35, and my sBitx v3 running just 10 watts (Chas was running 50 watts today though). This wasn't just a Parks on the Air activation, it was a field test of how well minimalist gear performs in a multi-operator setup, complete with lessons learned about antenna placement, front-end overload, and working around the Florida sun.
Hillsborough River State Park entrance designated K-1488 for Parks on the Air activations.
Hillsborough River State Park: Location and Access
Hillsborough River State Park sits about 12 miles north of Tampa and makes for an excellent POTA location. When you arrive at the entrance, the first thing you're greeted with is a ranger station where you pay your four dollar entrance fee. Yes, you read that right—four dollars for the whole day. This is a really nice park with extensive hiking trails, a large loop perfect for biking, and the Hillsborough River running through it where visitors can enjoy boating and fishing.
There's plenty of infrastructure here for families… playgrounds, picnic areas with covered pavilions, and well-maintained facilities. For POTA activators, the key feature is the abundance of tall trees throughout the park, making it ideal for wire antennas. The main loop road has several pull-off areas with picnic tables that work perfectly as operating positions. Cell phone coverage is good throughout the park, which helps for spotting yourself on the POTA network and coordinating with other operators.
After paying the entrance fee, I drove around the loop a couple of times while talking to Chas on the phone, trying to figure out where he'd set up. Here's the kicker, though, he decided to drive over to my location so we could operate together from adjacent tables. This gave us the multi-operator experience but also taught us some valuable lessons about antenna placement and RF interference, which I'll get into later.
The 65-foot EFHW antenna strung into the tree canopy (highlighted in yellow) getting the wire 35 feet high made a dramatic difference in propagation. The wire itself is nearly invisible against the tree background.
The Antenna Setup: 65-Foot EFHW in the Trees
Today saw the use of a 65-foot long wire antenna, an End-Fed Half-Wave from Reliance Antennas. This antenna isn't rated for high power, so I held all of my transmit power to 10 watts or less throughout the day to prevent potential damage to the matching transformer. We deployed it using throw lines to get it about 35 feet up into a large oak tree, then Chas loaned me his 10-foot push-up pole and stand to support the feed point end of the antenna and get it a little higher off the ground as well.
I believe this additional height aided propagation dramatically. Getting the whole 40-meter EFHW that high off the ground, with the far end even higher in the tree, made a noticeable difference compared to previous activations where I'd run antennas lower. I made many contacts all over the United States, into Mexico, and even worked some European stations on the higher bands with just 10 watts. That's the magic of getting a wire antenna up high… height matters more than power in many cases.
The EFHW is resonant on 40m, 20m, 15m, and 10m without needing an antenna tuner, which keeps the station setup simple. I specifically avoided the WARC bands (30m, 17m, 12m) during this activation because the antenna isn't cut for those frequencies and I didn't want to deploy a tuner. Sometimes keeping things simple is the better approach, especially when you're testing equipment and learning how gear performs in the field.
The ranger station where you pay the $4 entrance fee to access the park for POTA activations.
Radio Gear: Penntek TR-35 and sBitx v3 Performance
Once I had the antenna set up and tested, I decided to use the Penntek TR-35 transceiver first. I really enjoy using this tiny little radio, the CW break-in is phenomenal, and the keying from the internal keyer circuit works flawlessly. It's a true QRP radio putting out 5 watts maximum, and I've made some additional accessories for it to turn it into a more complete field station. But even as it sits stock, it's a wonderful little radio that's almost impossible to damage from bad antennas or other field mishaps. Plus, it just works really well at making contacts.
I started on 40 meters and after working through a good run of stations, I decided to move up to 20 meters where activity was heating up. Chas started on 30 meters and worked his way through the WARC bands, eventually ending up on 10 meters where we made a park-to-park contact with each other from 30 feet apart. That was pretty funny, logging a P2P (park-to-park) contact when we could literally see each other across the operating area. I turned my output power all the way down, it showed literally zero output and I was still booming into Chas’ radio!!! Haha!
After finishing my run on 20 meters with the Penntek TR-35, I swapped it out for my sBitx v3. I throttled the output power on the sBitx for two reasons: first, to prevent damage to the antenna which isn't rated for high power, and second, to keep from running down my battery too quickly. I'd brought an 8 amp-hour LiFePO4 battery, and if I'd run the sBitx at full output power I could have easily depleted that battery in an hour or so, especially running FT8 on the lower bands which requires more transmit time. As it turned out, limiting power to 10 watts kept the battery happy all day and I still had plenty of capacity left when we packed up.
Initial station setup with the Penntek TR-35, Dell laptop for logging, clipboard with paper log, and CW paddle ready to make contacts.
The first thing I did with the sBitx was get on 15 m and attempt to make contacts there on FT8. This went pretty well and I made several contacts on 15 m before moving to 10 m to see what I could make on that band. The reason I skipped the WARC bands today was because this antenna is not resonant on any bands other than 40, 20, 15, and 10 m. So I stayed on those bands as I did not want to try and deploy an antenna tuner as well.
The sBitx v3 with improvised sunshade, Florida sun glare was a constant challenge throughout the activation. Notice the notebook to keep my arm off that rough concrete!
Contact Statistics:
Between Chas and me, we logged 118 total QSOs during the activation! 66 in my log and 52 in Chas's log(I did operate a little longer than him and we were not in a race either). Here's my detailed breakdown:
David's Stats (WK4DS):
40 meters: 5 QSOs (all CW)
20 meters: 50 QSOs (all CW)
15 meters: 1 QSO (CW)
10 meters: 10 QSOs (8 FT8, 2 CW)
Total: 66 QSOs
CW: 58 contacts
FT8: 8 contacts
Geographic Breakdown:
Domestic (USA): 56 QSOs across the continental United States
DX (International): 10 QSOs reaching six countries:
Spain: 2 contacts (EA4T, EA5BCO)
Germany: 2 contacts (DL4JCP, DJ9HX)
Mexico: 2 contacts (XE2BCS, XE2IF)
Austria: 1 contact (OE2IGP)
Canada: 1 contact (VE1ZZ)
Poland: 1 contact (SQ9JS)
Czech Republic: 1 contact (OL26WRTC - special event station)
Chas's Stats: Chas logged 52 QSOs throughout the day, primarily working 30m, 17m, and 10m (he might have done more but that is all I know of) while I focused on 40m, 20m, 15m & 10m. This band coordination helped us avoid stepping on each other while maximizing total contacts for the activation.
Combined Performance: For QRP power (my 10 watts maximum and Chas running 50 watts) and simple antennas, 118 total contacts in one afternoon represents excellent POTA performance. The 10 DX contacts on 10 meters with just 10 watts and the EFHW antenna particularly stand out, working Spain and Germany on FT8, then switching to CW for additional European contacts, demonstrates what's possible when propagation cooperates and you get your antenna up high.
Twenty meters was the workhorse band, delivering 50 contacts in my log alone. The concentration of activity on 20m CW (14.061 MHz) is typical for POTA activations, as this is where most hunters are listening for parks. The handful of 40m contacts at the start of the activation caught the tail end of daytime propagation before that band shifted to primarily short-skip domestic contacts.
Operating Challenges - Sun and Glare
Both Chas and I learned pretty quickly that the Florida sun was not our friend today, even though the temperature was pleasant. The glare from the sun continuously made us struggle to see our displays and adjust settings. I think Chas literally just toughed it out and lived with squinting at his screen. I, on the other hand, kept deploying improvised sunshades and repositioning my station to create shade for my equipment as the day wore on, as you can see in the photos. This is something to think about when planning a POTA activation, a simple popup canopy or umbrella can make the difference between comfortable operating and constantly fighting the sun. Add that to my growing list of field operation lessons learned.
sBitx v3 CW Keying: Improvements and Remaining Issues
The CW keying in the sBitx has been dramatically improved as the software revisions continue. The developers keep optimizing the scan time of the Raspberry Pi processor and how the program executes, making the keyer more responsive with each update. It's almost like using a regular radio now, though there are still quirks you need to work around.
I've learned that I have to pay very close attention to my sending cadence when working CW with the sBitx. The keyer isn't as forgiving as a traditional Curtis-style keyer circuit, and it will send errors if you're not careful with your timing. Knowing this limitation, I work much harder to stay at one speed setting throughout a contact when possible. It's easier to develop muscle memory and consistent sending rhythm at one speed rather than constantly adjusting the keyer speed up and down as I might do with other radios.
With a traditional Curtis keyer, minor variations in your paddle timing get smoothed out by the keyer circuitry and everything sends cleanly. The sBitx will occasionally miss characters if you vary your speed too much, if you slow down suddenly, you can actually outrun the radio's keyer circuit and it won't register that you asked for a "dit," so it leaves it out. This isn't a deal breaker, but it does mean the sBitx requires more disciplined sending technique than most modern transceivers.
I do tend to make more mistakes with the sBitx than I do with other more traditional Morse code radios, and I think all of this traces back to the timing limitations from the Raspberry Pi's scan cycle. But it's getting better with each software update, and for a radio that does CW, SSB, and all digital modes in a package this small and affordable, I'm willing to work around the keyer quirks.
Chas operating his Yaesu rig from the adjacent picnic table. His vertical antenna is behind me and to my right. My wire antenna is behind him.
My operating position in the foreground with Chas visible about 30 feet away in the background—close enough for a park-to-park contact but creating some RF interference challenges.
20-Meter Band Issues: IRF520 vs IRF510 Amplifier Problems and Receiver Front End Overload"
The final two photos show a couple issues I've been wrestling with on my sBitx. The first image shows my sBitx operating on 10 meters with lots of noise lines visible in the waterfall display. These noise lines are coming from Chas transmitting Morse code on a different band, his signal is getting into my receiver and creating visible interference. I don't remember exactly what band he was on, but the important lesson here is that antenna placement matters tremendously when you're running multi-station setups like this one.
sBitx running FT8 on 10 meters (28.074 MHz) showing the noise spikes from Chas transmitting on a different band nearby 9in the waterfall) this is what front-end overload looks like in a multi-op field setup. The vertical lines in the waterfall are RF bleed-through from his station 30 feet away.
Be mindful of where you place antennas if you're operating a multi-operator event. We were only 30 feet apart, which is far too close for optimal isolation. I was still able to work many contacts even with this persistent noise coming through, though. This is something you learn to work around if you're going to be an amateur radio operator in a multi-operator event of any kind…think Field Day here. It's just part of the game, so you expect it and adapt. We could have used bandpass filters to eliminate most of this interference, but I didn't bring mine to the park.
The next photo shows my sBitx on 20 meters, and on 20 meters my radio has a persistent issue that I'm still troubleshooting. I'm beginning to believe it has to do with the IRF520 MOSFET transistors that I used in the power amplifier section when I built this radio. These IRF520 transistors have significantly more internal capacitance than the IRF510 transistors that Farhan originally specified in the revised amplifier design. I think this extra capacitance is causing the amplifier to oscillate, and that oscillation is what you're seeing as the noise signal in the photo.
sBitx on 20 meters CW mode (14.061 MHz) showing the noise from what I am suspecting is from oscillating mosfets.
Here's the interesting part: as the radio warms up during operation, this spurious noise signal moves down in frequency within the 20-meter band. If I want to push it out of the way temporarily, I'll switch to 40 meters or 80 meters and run FT8 for a few minutes. You generate more output power on those lower bands, which heats up the amplifier section faster. Usually, if I just run FT8 first thing when setting up, it warms up the transmitter enough to push the oscillation down to below where I normally work CW on 20 meters anyway, giving me a temporary workaround.
This isn't a permanent solution, obviously. I'm convinced I'm going to have to address this capacitance issue when I get back home, probably by swapping out the IRF520s for the specified IRF510s or adding additional filtering to the amplifier circuit. But for now, knowing the workaround lets me keep the sBitx operational in the field for POTA activations, which is what matters most.
Multi-Operator Challenges: RF Interference and Antenna Placement
Operating two stations in close proximity taught us several valuable lessons about multi-operator setups. The biggest challenge was RF interference between our stations. With antennas only 30 feet apart, we experienced significant front-end overload, when Chas was transmitting on his station, I could see his signal bleeding through into my receiver on completely different bands.
The sBitx has a somewhat easy-to-overload front end compared to more expensive commercial receivers, which made this problem more pronounced. But even with a better radio, operating this close together without bandpass filters or careful band coordination is asking for trouble. The solution for future multi-op activations is simple: either space antennas much farther apart (100+ feet minimum if possible), or operate on bands that are far enough apart in frequency that filter roll-off provides natural isolation.
The position of your antennas matters just as much as the distance between them. If we'd oriented our antennas at right angles to each other instead of parallel, we might have achieved better isolation through pattern nulls. These are the kinds of things you learn by doing, and they apply equally to Field Day operations where you might have multiple stations running simultaneously.
Despite the interference challenges, we still made excellent contact numbers. Multi-operator POTA activations are worthwhile because you can cover more bands simultaneously, operate different modes at the same time, and keep the activation going continuously while one operator takes a break. Just be prepared to work around the RF challenges that come with the territory.
Who Should Activate This Park?
Hillsborough River State Park is an excellent choice for both first-time and experienced POTA activators. Here's why:
For beginners: The $4 entrance fee is minimal, facilities are excellent with clean restrooms and covered picnic areas, and the tree coverage makes wire antenna deployment easy. You don't need to hike to reach good operating locations…everything is accessible by car right off the main loop road.
For experienced activators: The park's location north of Tampa puts you in a good spot for both domestic and DX contacts. The tall pines support wire antennas at significant heights, and there's plenty of space to spread out if you're running a multi-operator activation.
Best practices for K-1488:
Arrive early morning (8-10 AM) or late afternoon (3-5 PM) to avoid midday heat and sun glare
Bring sunshade or canopy, there's limited natural shade at the picnic tables
Plan for 2-3 hours of operating to get a good contact count
Cell coverage is good for self-spotting on the POTA network
Spring and fall offer the best weather conditions
If you're in the Tampa Bay area and looking for an easy, productive POTA park with good facilities, Hillsborough River State Park should be on your list.
Activating Hillsborough River State Park proved to be a highly productive POTA outing. Between Chas and me, we logged well over 100 contacts using QRP power and simple wire antennas…proof that you don't need high power or expensive gear to have success in Parks on the Air. The 65-foot EFHW at 35 feet worked exceptionally well, the Penntek TR-35 remains one of my favorite field radios for CW, and the sBitx v3 continues to impress despite some remaining amplifier quirks on 20 meters.
Key lessons learned: antenna height matters more than output power, multi-operator setups require thoughtful antenna placement to avoid interference, and limiting transmit power to 10 watts keeps your batteries happy all day. If you're looking for a beginner-friendly POTA park in Florida with good tree support and easy access, Hillsborough River State Park (K-1488) is an excellent choice.
Have you activated K-1488 or other Florida state parks? Share your experiences in the comments below, I'd love to hear about your favorite POTA locations and antenna setups.
Want more POTA activation reports and technical amateur radio content? Check out my other WK4DS blog posts for detailed equipment reviews, antenna builds, and field operation tips.
Frequently Asked Questions About POTA Activations
What is Parks on the Air (POTA)?
Parks on the Air is an amateur radio operating activity where hams set up portable stations in state and national parks to make contacts. Activators (operators in parks) try to make at least 10 contacts to qualify the activation, while hunters (operators at home) try to contact as many parks as possible. It's similar to Field Day but focused on public parks and conservation areas. POTA encourages hams to get outdoors, test portable equipment, and promote amateur radio to park visitors. The program started in 2016 and has grown to include thousands of parks across the United States and internationally.
How do you activate Hillsborough River State Park for POTA?
To activate Hillsborough River State Park (K-1488), you need to set up your amateur radio station within the park boundaries and make at least 10 contacts. Pay the $4 entrance fee at the ranger station when you arrive, then find a suitable operating location with trees for antenna support. Most activators set up at picnic tables near the main loop. Operate from battery power or a generator, no AC mains allowed for POTA activations. Log your contacts using a smartphone app like HAMRS or POTA Logger, then upload your log to the POTA website within a few days. The park has excellent tree coverage for wire antennas and is open from 8 AM to sundown year-round.
What is an EFHW antenna and why use it for POTA?
An End-Fed Half-Wave (EFHW) antenna is a wire antenna that's fed at one end through a matching transformer (typically a 49:1 unun), making it incredibly easy to deploy in the field. For POTA activations, EFHWs are popular because they require no ground radials, work on multiple bands without a tuner if cut for harmonically-related bands, and can be thrown into trees using a throw line and weight. My 65-foot EFHW works on 40m, 20m, 15m, and 10m, covering the most productive POTA bands. Getting it 35 feet high significantly improved propagation compared to running the same antenna closer to the ground. A properly deployed EFHW antenna at height will often outperform a vertical antenna at ground level for DX contacts.
Can you run two stations at the same POTA activation?
Yes! Running multiple operators at the same park location is allowed and encouraged in POTA. Each operator logs their own contacts and submits their own activation log. Chas and I each operated our own stations about 30 feet apart, which let us cover different bands simultaneously and maximize the total contact count. However, you need to be mindful of RF interference between stations. With our antennas so close together, I experienced front-end overload on my sBitx when Chas was transmitting on nearby bands. Solutions include better antenna separation (100+ feet apart if possible), using bandpass filters on receivers, or coordinating to operate on widely separated bands like 40m and 10m simultaneously.
What's the best QRP radio for POTA activations?
For CW-only POTA activations, the Penntek TR-35 is exceptional. It's lightweight (under a pound), battery-efficient, has outstanding CW break-in, and is nearly indestructible, perfect for field operations. For multi-mode operation covering CW, SSB, and digital modes, the sBitx v3 offers incredible value and capability in a portable package, though the CW keying requires careful technique and practice. Other popular POTA QRP rigs include the Elecraft KX2/KX3 (premium price but premium performance and battery efficiency), QRP Labs QCX-mini (CW-only, ultra-portable and inexpensive), and the Xiegu G90 (good SSB performance, acceptable CW, built-in tuner). Choose based on your preferred modes, budget, and how much weight you want to carry into the field.
How many contacts should you expect from a POTA activation?
Contact numbers vary widely based on propagation conditions, time of day, your operating skill, and whether you're spotted on the POTA network. A successful activation requires at least 10 contacts to count, but most activations yield 20-40 QSOs in an hour or two of operating. Our 100+ contacts in one afternoon between two operators was excellent, partly because we covered multiple bands and modes (CW, FT8) and had good propagation to Europe on the higher bands. If you're new to POTA, expect 15-30 contacts on your first few activations. Using CW typically yields more contacts than SSB due to pile-ups from hunters chasing parks, and FT8 can be productive when propagation is marginal or when SSB isn't getting through.
My 66 contacts plus Chas's 52 gave us 118 total QSOs from K-1488 on February 17, 2026. Ten of mine reached six countries across two continents, all at 10 watts or less.
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David / WK4DS
Overall, today we had a wonderful day and made many contacts and was able to test antennas and enjoy ourselves in the warm Florida sun far from home where all the cold weather and dreariness is at. So until next time, get your radio out and go power it up and make a contact on it. That’s why you bought it after all.
Chas grabbing a photo from his perspective for posterity! HaHa! Look at all that stuff I brought!
Joint POTA Activation with NA2B at Moody Branch: 104 CW Contacts in 4 Hours
Today I went to a POTA park to meet up with Chas NA2B, another amateur radio operator that lives just down the road from Chito Branch nature Reserve where I have been spending a lot of time here lately. He saw I was at the park on the spot page and simply hopped in the car and drove over for an eyeball QSO and to see if I wanted to meet up with him at some point and setup for an activation.
Today I had the pleasure of meeting Chas NA2B for our first joint POTA activation at Moody Branch Wildlife Management Area (US-6317) in Florida. What started as a chance encounter on the POTA spot page turned into a memorable 4-hour operating session that netted 104 total CW contacts between our two stations.
Today I went to a POTA park to meet up with Chas NA2B, another amateur radio operator that lives just down the road from Chito Branch nature Reserve where I have been spending a lot of time here lately. He saw I was at the park on the spot page and simply hopped in the car and drove over for an eyeball QSO and to see if I wanted to meet up with him at some point and setup for an activation.
This blog post will be an amalgamation of both discussing the activation as well as my new friend.
Planning the Activation
We communicated a good bit over the past week via text to line up a good day, (turns out every day is a good day for Chas…haha) and chose Tuesday as I had some business to attend to on Wednesday and the weather was way warmer than the previous day. The weather actually turned out to be about perfect to be honest about it. We agreed on Moody Branch US-6317 and 9:30 as the start time. We had planned to operate till about 2 if things were going good so on the day of, I load up the truck and head out. It takes about an hour to get there from where i was staying so I stopped and grabbed coffee and snacks along the way. Who doesn’t want a caffeinated CW op on the other end of their QSO???
When I get there I am greeted with the standard issue Florida DNR signage and to my amazement there is a pavilion for us to operate from! Now to be fair, Chas had told me about it and the proximity to the parking lot. You see it was literally 15 feet from my truck to the table. Having the table this close allowed for an incredible amount of gear to be brought out. HaHa
Chas had already arrived and was setting up in the back of the pavilion so that I could have the closer spot and access to some really good trees to hang my antenna in. I decided to setup the antenna “properly” by putting the antenna tuner at the antenna instead of at the radio. This should provide better radiation than using the tuner to match the feedline as part of the antenna system. I simply set the case on the ground and set the tuner on top of it and tied the antenna wire to the case itself. The distance was about 50 feet from the table so I had to couple both of my longest coax cables together just to reach the tuner out by the tree.
The Setup: Remote Antenna Tuner Configuration
I put the antenna tuner way out here on purpose. The remote tuner setup keeps the feedline from becoming part of the radiator. This is important at it creates a more efficient antenna overall.
Since it was so far from the table, I just left the nanoVNA with the tuner so it would be nearby when I wanted to make band changes, of which there was many!
I strung the wire up like an inverted L type from tree 1 to tree 2 and tuned it for 40 meters to start with. Today I chose to start there as I was wanting to make contacts on all the bands I could with the Penntek TR-35 QRP radio. I also decided at the outset that I would work bands other than 20 meters today to see what I could come up with. I usually seem to have great luck with all the bands…other than 60 meters so far… haha. I also chose to run 10 watts or less all day too…well except for 40 meters, I ran 40 watts on 40 meters and still only made one FT8 contact there… lol. The band was just too noisy for me to hear anyone.
Equipment: QRP vs. Comfort
I only ran 10 watts or less the rest of the day because I didn’t have my large battery with me that I bring to power the sBitx at full power. I only had my 8 Ah battery and I didn’t want to deplete it early. I also had the 3Ah battery for the TR-35 and used it with that radio, but those were the power sources I was constrained to. This made me have to work a little harder for contacts, but it also made it a lot more fun to get DX stations in the log! I got at least 2 European stations in the log so I know it doesn’t take a ton of power to do it.
WK4DS (left) and NA2B (right) running simultaneous CW pileups on different bands at Moody Branch
Once setup I used two radios, the Penntek TR-35 QRP rig and the HF Signals sBitx V3. Both of these radios are cool in their own respect. I like the sBitx because I can run FT8 without needing to also connect a computer to the radio. The sBitx will internally log the contacts too so I could theoretically do an activation then when I get back home, down load the contact list and reformat it in ADIF and send it to the POTA site. That is kinda cool. The Penntek TR-35 is small, light weight and has a great receiver in it as well as awesome filtering. This little radio has everything you need and nothing you dont.
Above is me and Chas running pile ups on two different bands at once! We were both running CW today and at times I struggled to hear as my side tone and his were the same. I solved this by adjusting the side tone up a little so then mine and his were different ever so slightly and I could hear mine easily again. I think Chas stayed on 20 meters the whole time today. He racked up 61 contacts with the simple wire antenna. What a day in the field!
sBitx V3 running FT8 with new color-coded software from the open-source development team
This is what you see with the latest software release from the open source team on Github. This software has been made VERY good by this team of dedicated people and if you want to use this software yourself, just follow this link to JJ’s github page to learn more.
NA2B's minimalist CW station: paper logging, pencils, and a clean operating position
Chas had a really clean operating position today. He had plain pencils, which will ALWAYS work, a pencil sharpener and notebook for log data. He was in a blissful state. I also like the battery pack he has too. If I had brought my 36 Ah battery, I would have brought the Scout 555 out and ran it as well. Maybe forgetting it was a sign that I needed to let that radio rest a little…haha. His station looks so clean though, I was impressed.
My station on the other hand looked like I set off a “ham-grenade” lol… I had the logging computer, the foldable keyboard for the sBitx and the whole Penntek station was just piled in the orange storage case. Along with all that, I also had all sorts of other stuff that isn’t in this photo scattered around the table… It was kinda crazy how much crap I brought out.
Operating Highlights
Chas setup his camera and grabbed this photo of us below for the blog. I like how his station has one box on the table and mine is covered in stuff! HAHA!
I will be honest, it was a lot of fun just hanging out while doing the activation. I do so many of these by myself that I forget that I can have someone with me while I do this.
We didn’t get in a hurry, we just took our time and whatever calls got in the log is what we got. There were a couple of time we both had decent pileups to work through, him more so than me as he had more power and 20 meters typically has more operators on the band. It wasn’t about QSO count…till it was… but all day we just made contacts and played radio.
Right before we finished for the day, I asked Chas how many contacts he had. Chas had 60 calls in the log and I had 38. I told him that we needed to have an even 100 calls between us before we stopped for the day. This total number of QSOs was completely arbitrary, but a cool little milestone none the less so we pushed on for a little longer. We finished the day with 104 total calls in the logs. Win! Chas had 61 as a final count and I ended up with 43! What a day!
Multi-operator POTA setup at the pavilion - note the contrast in station complexity!
After about 4 or 5 hours of fun and games, we decided to break down and head back to our wives to get some lunch. It was a great day and I am glad I made a new friend as well.
Activation Summary:
- Park: Moody Branch WMA (US-6317)
- Operators: WK4DS & NA2B
- Total Contacts: 104 (43 WK4DS + 61 NA2B)
- Mode: Primarily CW, some FT8
- Bands: 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m
- Radios: Penntek TR-35 (QRP), HF Signals sBitx V3, Yeasu FT-891
- Power: 10 watts or less (QRP), 40w on 40m, 50 watts on 20m
- Antenna: Inverted L wire antenna with remote tuner, (Chas ran a random wire)
- Duration: 4-5 hours
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WK4DS - David
One of the reasons I like POTA
The first picture is one of the main reasons I like POTA. Being out in the field with a portable radio and being able to make a reliable contact with it is just special to me.
The parking lot was almost full when I arrived and fortunately for me, the space I wanted was open! That is me all the way over to the left at the end of the row. The perfect spot to be if others are in the lot as there is no trail here so no one will be tripping over the antenna parts when the come and go.
Today I found I had about an hour of free time and the weather was perfect for a change so I gathered up the gear and went to K-2169 for a quick activation. Since the weather was so nice I opted to setup on the tailgate.
When I operate at home, I am in my “shack” which is actually a spare bedroom I have repurposed for my hobbies. That is the one thing I like and don’t like about it. It is indoors. I like it when it is raining or cold outside but I don’t like it when it’s nice weather outside. This is the biggest reason I like going to Field Day in June, that is second only to the camaraderie with the other people.
Today, since I wasn’t in my regular truck (I commandeered one of my shop trucks while they put new shoes on the dodge) I didnt have my usual antenna kit. So today I deployed the 41’ random wire antenna that I used in Hawaii. I also coupled it to my Icom IC-705 with the automatic antenna tuner as well. This makes band changes a breeze…
I threw a line over a tree beside the truck and pulled the wire up as high as I could and tied on a 13’ counterpoise. The tuner connects to the radio with two cables, a co-ax transmission line and a signal/control cable that is simple a 3.5mm stereo cable commonly referred to as a “AUX” cable. It has two AA batteries in it and works fine with these but if possible I will power it with the main battery I feed the radio with, so I also included a power cable in my harness I made up for it. This harness is 6’ long and allows me to connect random wires right to the tuner.
To lift the burden of the wire tension off of the tuner, I also have a small cord connected to the radio end of the 41’ wire so I can anchor it to something near the tuner. This works really well and keeps me from pulling the tuner off the table when something moves the wire like wind, squirrels or people which in turn would cause damage to my tuner.
Today was a pretty good day too, I got my activation in a fairly short amount of time, I was outside in the wonderful weather and I was able to just play radio a little while. That being said, I netted less than 20 QSOs today with signal reports showing I was not very strong…probably because the wire was poorly deployed and not even all the way.
The key of choice today was once again the Gemini I picked up off of eBay a while back. I have ran into two problems with it since getting it. I also use it a lot as it has a great feel and normally works very well. Issue number one is detailed in a previous blog post where I bumped the lever arms at some point and this shifted the action off center causing it to send dits nonstop. I dismantled the key and realigned the lever arms, which is really easy once you see what needs to be done. The second happened just the other day during an activation. I got all setup and started to call QRL and it was just sending trash. I couldn’t get it to send anything correctly at all, just a mess of dits and dahs with no coherent outcome. So I fell on the backup, the N6ARA key and it saved the day. Once back home, I took the key apart to find that the center ground post that the contacts touch when keying, had worked loose and it was about to fall out. It has one small screw that holds it on the base plate and I simply tightened this screw and it was back in business. The lesson here is to have a spare key with you…fortunately I had one and was able to get the activation.
Looking at the map, we can see how the radiation pattern started about 700 miles away probably due to my terrible antenna deployment, but people were still able to hear me so that is all that mattered. lol…
Do you have any tales from the outer planets that relate to anything like what has happened here? If so, let me know in the comments. I look forward to working all of you on the air at some point.
72 de WK4DS
Today I activated the smallest park I have personally ever seen.
This activation included me having to use my backpack rig in its entirety. I used the ICOM IC-705, wire antenna and the rest of the whole kit from the normal pack I use.
I have been wanting to activate this park since we arrived in Tampa over a week and a half ago, but the park is closed on certain days and I had to arrange it to where I would be in Ybor city, and the park would be open at the same time…with good weather. Today was that day.
I even found a good parking space relatively close to the park and only had the walk about one block. This is unusual for me, as I am never able to find parking that is even remotely close to the location I want to go. So the Lord was already looking down on me on this day.
So this park is really nothing more than a museum with a large patio area that is also fenced with a huge brick and wrought iron wall, on the side of the museum. It sits on about 1/2 of one city block of space, this includes both “park” and building.
So today it is only me, a chicken and the park employees who were cleaning the fountain while I was there.
Ybor city has some sort of ordinance that protects the chickens, and there are chickens literally everywhere.
So in order to draw less attention to me and to not risk getting thrown out of the park for putting antennas in the trees, I opted not to throw a line into the trees to haul up an antenna, but rather instead, ran it across the back corner area and fixed the end of the antenna to the top of the fence gate as shown in the photo.
I ran the radials along the ground. I know this is not a very good setup, but I really only wanted to get the activation and then go shoot some photography as well.
Well, I started on 15 meters since I could see it was open and actually made several contacts there before moving to 17 meters. 17 meters actually netted me some contacts today too!!! Boy howdy! Today, even with my terrible antenna setup, I have landed an activation and still have yet to goto 20 meters. This is in large part to a team of dedicated hunters who are listening with good receivers and MUCH better antennas than what I am using. 20 meters netted several more contacts and I shut down after 50 minutes.
Way back over there in the back is where you can see the table that I used for the activation. It is kinda nice to have a big table to spread all the gear out on when you are doing an activation. Plus, in the middle of the day there is little to no activity in this park so I didn’t have to share space with anyone else too. If I could have escaped the band noise, and put the antenna in the tree (to be honest I probably could have if I had just done it quietly) and it would have been an epic activation.
The whole rig packs really neatly into this old camera bag. Thanks to KV9L for the idea on repurposing a camera bag for my POTA gear. That was genius of him and I had about 4 bags just sitting in the corner not being used at all…
I tied the end of my wire to the top of the wrought iron fence (which I think is actually aluminum but who’s checking?) and then laid it on top of some bushes in between my radio tuner and the fence to get it off the ground a little. I am obviously getting some capacitive coupling with the fence and this may be why I got as many contacts as I did. I also used 10 watts and not 5 today for all but 2 of the contacts… I know it says 5 on the log, but I made the note, that after the second QSO I turned it up to 10 after I took this photo. Something quite rare for me is to run more than 5 watts, but as you can see in the reports, people were barely able to copy me and then it was much easier after that with 10 watts. Once things got going I forgot to turn it back down and so you have it… From the map below, it looks like decent single hop propagation and since I was running such low power and a terrible antenna, I am happy to see even this many contacts.
Got K9IS in the log on two different bands today, that is kinda cool and I am starting to recognize several other calls that are showing up in my logs more and more. K4RUM, W8NGA, and WA9VFD area calls I have seen before that I am aware of, I am slowly trying to put names to these calls too as I like to learn the first name if possible. This is just something I like to do.
This is the remote tuner for the IC-705, It is designed to be used with it and it is actually designed to be strung up in the trees as a remote tuner. I made up a 6 foot cable for it that has the power, tuner control and coax all in one cable so it stores more conveniently. It is rolled up in the bag photo on the top right corner of the bag, I just used the spiral wire loom to make up the cable, that way when one of the three cables wears out, I can replace it easily.
Here is the view from the end of one of the radials to the tuner module. I ran two 10’ radials in opposite directions to help the wire get out.
The antenna ran up to this fence section across those bushes, so as you can see, it was really low to the ground. This still got me an activation though so I am happy with it.
You can see the park employee in the background where they were cleaning the fountain. This is why I didn’t bother putting up a wire or even asking about radio, since I was running CW, I wore headphones and I don’t think they even knew what I was doing. No one ever came over to see…
Here you can see the power setup for running the external battery, I run a power distribution block with power poles so I can plug in the tuner and the radio power, then I run them through a power meter back to the battery. Both the radio and the tuner have separate fuses for them so none of the devices are powered without fuse protection.
There was a good bit of rf hash in the area, but then again, there are numerous neon signs and no telling what else in the area, it is right smack dab in the middle of the city here so all bets are off here… I could still hear pretty well once I dialed the filters in a little better.
All in all, it was a great activation and I am happy to add Ybor City Museum to my list of parks. I think I have activated as many parks in Florida now as I have in Georgia! LOL Anyway, get that radio out and power that sucker on!!!
72 (well this time I was using 10 watts so 73 haha)
David WK4DS
What have I learned from documenting my antenna position?
The short answer … nothing world changing really.
But honestly I have learned a lot about what it takes to make contact with a QRP radio. The most important part is you setting up the radio and trying to make contact with it. I know this sounds obvious but it is often overlooked as people will look at the band prediction information like the space weather forecast and such and get paralysis through analysis from, this. They will not even bother to turn on their radio. This is a sad result that generates no activity and creates a group of operators that do not operate…
The next best thing I have learned from doing this small experiment is that I was not collecting near enough data to have a informed answer in any way, shape, or form. I was literally only recording my transmitter power, the signal reports (and this is totally subjective and not accurate really), and the antenna direction then generating a QSO map of my contacts from that time. This is not enough information to have any sort of relevant value to even bother with documenting the antenna position or elevation or any of that stuff. What I did learn though is that the antenna elevation and the counterpoise make a large difference and how well the antenna performs if you’re using wire antennas. I would attempt to get the wire as high in the trees as possible and it always seemed that the radio would here and talk much better when I did.
Antenna direction
I posted once on Facebook about this phenomenon of antenna direction and the location of the contacts and a reply was made that I had a omnidirectional contact chart mainly because I was where the radio operators were also at. This was said as a joke but it actually had merit. This actually made a lot of sense. What the charting of my contacts does show is that there is almost 0 NVI (near vertical incident) with wire antennas strung in the trees. Almost all of my QSO contacts are several hundred miles away usually showing that the near vertical incident is almost nonexistent with my wire antennas.
What this has basically taught me is that even if the prediction is for poor band conditions get out and try anyway this will normally result in you at least making a few contacts if not getting an activation in a park or just having a good time in general you don’t have to sweat it too much just get the wire up in a tree put out a counterpoise of some form and the antenna will do its job once you tune it with a tuner. It’s all the better if it is a resident antenna anyway as you do not have to tune this antenna to be able to use it.
Antenna Direction
Parks on the air is a wonderful activity and I really would recommend you try it out if you have not done it already it is a lot of fun and I get to operate QRP radio in the park and I’ve become the DX! This is something that I have never experienced under normal operating conditions as a US amateur operator. It is literally not something that happens to me normally. So if you want to try out being the “DX” this is an easy way to do it without breaking the bank from having to travel lol