Furrry Friends on Activation

During most of my summer activations, I ride to the park, which means I have to leave our furry family member behind. On almost all my activations, I try to combine other errands so that I minimize fuel expenses and wear and tear on the automobiles. Today, I had to pick up family members near Ann Arbor area; I decided to set out a little early and get an activation of K-1513 done. The idea was to take our dog along and walk along the trail for a bit and then get a quick activation done before completing the errand.

However, we were a little late in getting out of the QTH. So when we arrived at the park I had about 40 minutes before having to pick up the family members. So I decided to go ahead with the activation while my wife walked the dog. However, while I set up and worked the activation, our dog did not want to leave me behind. 

C'mon. Wrap it up and let's go for a walk!

She ended up waiting for me by my activation spot. With the dog staring at me during the entire activation, I was under pressure to get it wrapped up quickly and get on with the walk! I wonder how many of you take your furry family members for an activation and do they pressure you into wrapping it up soon.

JPC-12 Redux

 Yesterday, I wrote about using the JPC-12 antenna for the first time. I had indicated that I had used the antenna on 40m and 30m. I did not bother to tune the coil for the absolute minimum, but instead relied on the KX-3 tuner to touch it up to achieve minimal SWR. It did work very well.

Today, I wanted to try and use this antenna without the internal tuner. I set up the antenna with the coil in the center, between the fixed length elements and the telescopic whip.  So I went off to K-1495 for another activation. I forgot to take the nano-VNA with me. So I had to rely on the KX-3 SWR meter to establish tuning. The tuning was performed at 0.5W. The JPC-12 comes with two marks on the coil one each for 20m and 40m. They are good starting points and I was able to get about 1.3:1 match on both these bands within a few clicks of these marks. With the coil slider somewhere in the middle, got a similar match for 30m band as well. This was the first time I had used this antenna on 20m and got contacts with decent reports from both the coasts. 

Finally, for 17m I had to remove one of the fixed length sections and got a very good match. I was able to work an European station to boot at about 5W. 

To be fair, it was a rainy day and I decided to stick the antenna in a copse of conifers to prevent the antenna from getting wet. Despite, this the antenna performed exceedingly well.

So is this THE POTA antenna? I am increasingly convinced that if it is not THE antenna, it is exceedingly close to being one. 

Update 04 DEC 2023: I took the antenna out again today for activation of K-1522. I used the loading coil and tuned to 20m. The KX-3 read an SWR of about 1.5. Running 5W QRP had a successful activation with decent reports from responding stations. One of these days, I want to do an A/B test of my usual wire antennas against this one. The more I use it the more I like the JPC-12. 

JPC-12 set for 20m

Sidenote: Yes, the parking lot for K-1522 may look a little drab, but this is a park just a few blocks away from downtown Detroit. The GM headquarters is visible toward the left of the image in the background. However, the park it is situated on the beautiful Detroit Riverwalk, voted to be among the top 10 riverwalks in the country. The walk along the river offers views of Windsor, ON, Canada.

If you turn around and look the other way the city and the drabness magically disappear and lush nature beckons along the path!

Park Marker on the Detroit River Walk

 I love activating from this park and Belle Isle State Park, which is about a mile from this location; during peak seasons, it is fun to watch people enjoying themselves here...

Update: 2024/01/10 - I experienced the first failure of the antenna component. The extensible whip fell apart. It is to be noted that I have been using the whip for about 30 activations. I also left the whip stored in my car with temperatures well below freezing.  I have also been extending the whip in icy and windy conditions with temperatures in the 20F range (-7 C). I am not sure if that is a contributory factor. I have a replacement whip on order from a Chinese website. I still believe that this is a great antenna; it may not be built for extreme conditions but with proper care, it should last a long time. 

JPC-12 First spin

This is my first year of POTA, I started early spring and settled on using a random wire antenna for my activations. This served me well for all these months. But, with winter approaching, the Michigan parks are moving all the picnic tables into storage. With snowfalls imminent, all I may have access to is the parking lots. This makes finding a convenient tree and getting the wire up on it a little cumbersome. I used to have a Eurocom vertical, but setting it up involved cinching multiple hose clamps. Further, it is also much heavier and the sections did not reliably stay up. Getting the antenna into the same configuration multiple times was also proving to be difficult. After a quick survey, I found that many activators were using the JPC-12 vertical successfully. It had the right form factor and weight, which meant, I could use this antenna on the trails during summer and during my motorcycle based activations. 

I got the antenna a few weeks ago, but work meant, I could not get out to a park to test it out. I did testing with nano VNA and found the approximate detents for various frequencies. I did not require the lowest match. I wanted to get it pretty close and let the KX-3 antenna tuner touch it up. I finally got to take it out for a spin today. However, I can confirm you can get close to 1:1 to 1:1.2 match on at least the 40m, 30m, and 20m bands. 

The antenna comes with four fixed length sections that screw together, a telescopic whip, a tuning coil , SO-239 connector section, some radials (long ribbon data cables that can be split if needed) and a ground spike. All the screw connectors are M-10 which makes other mounting options possible. I went with the standard configuration of having the coil in the middle between the fixed length elements and the telescoping whip. I was concerned that it might take a little longer to set up and tear down compared to the wire up the tree, but I think with a little practice, I can easily put this antenna up in about the same time. 

JPC-12 in a functional carry bag.

JPC-12 debut at K-1518

So how does it perform? Exceedingly well. I worked 40m and 30m this morning and found the reception exceedingly good. The noise was pretty low. I made about 45 contacts running about 5W; the contacts gave me decent signal reports . I was surprised with the number of close contacts I worked; I was expecting a low take-off angle might prevent that. I could not try other bands as they did not seem to be open in the early morning hours when I was activating. 

The advantages

• Quality construction
• Light weight
• Quick setup
• Resonant on 40m, 30m, and 20m without a configuration change (except for tuning coil adjustment)
• Power handling up to 100W
• Can be used as a mast in a pinch.

The disadvantages: 

• Bands other than above will need removal of elements or adjusting whip height
• No guying solution provided; may not need one unless extremely windy.

This antenna gets this POTA activator seal of approval!

Update: 2024/01/10 - I experienced the first failure of the antenna component. The extensible whip fell apart. It is to be noted that I have been using the whip for about 30 activations. I also left the whip stored in my car with temperatures well below freezing.  I have also been extending the whip in icy and windy conditions with temperatures in the 20F range (-7 C). I am not sure if that is a contributory factor. I have a replacement whip on order from a Chinese website. I still believe that this is a great antenna; it may not be built for extreme conditions but with proper care, it should last a long time. 

Double Trouble!

 As winter tightens its grip over Michigan, I take the opportunity to squeeze POTA activations when possible. With temperatures in the upper 40s (about 5 deg C) I decided to ride down to Dodge State Park #4 K-1495. It was chillier than expected. When I reached the park, I noticed that they had removed all the picnic tables. So I was forced to activate right from my motorcycle. This means this was going to be a short activation. It was further reinforced by the icy winds blowing off of Cass Lake that was freezing my fingertips and making paddle operation difficult. 

As I was moving across the bands I first got a call from KQ4DJG which I logged. Within a few minutes, while in the midst of another QSO, I get a call from KQ4DJF. I had assumed that the caller wanted to correct the call and I responded that I got DJF. Then DJG comes back. I was confused about it and tried to asked DJG OR DJF? but got no specific response. I noted this and then went on with my other QSOs. Upon looking the QRZ it appears both calls are possibly related and almost always work together. I'm sure on SSB the confusion could have been sorted out quickly, but the CW skills were not sufficient to indicate that two stations were distinct. 

Would it have been better to send KQ4DJG ES KQ4DJF? Any experienced CW op care to comment?

Lemons and Lemonade

WFH RTO POTA

It is true! Like many of the recent hams -- new or returning back -- I will cite the recent COVID-19 pandemic as an important factor for my return. Upon my return last year, I started my foray into HF and then on to POTA. I started learning CW and now am sufficiently proficient to inflict pain and suffering on other CW ops; HI HI

Fortunately, the brunt of the pandemic is in our rear-view mirrors and life returns to normal. For me that means that the RTO [return to office] mandates are kicking in. We are now asked to come back to work; despite having proven over the last few years that we can do our work remotely and still be productive. 

Even when I was WFH [working from home], my POTA activations were always reserved for the weekends or late summer evenings when the sun was up late. One would hope RTO would crimp my POTA schedule. But fear not! It seems to have the opposite effect.

Milliken State Park K-1522 is barely a stone's throw away from my office in downtown Detroit. Today was especially nice. A 60 degree day in mid-November? What's a POTA activator to do but to go POTA activating. So come lunch time, I headed out the the park, a quick 2 min drive with my lunch box and POTA gear. 

I worked at a furtive pace! Got the antenna set up and the CQs going within 7 minutes of getting on-site. A near record for me! I had very little time. The parking situation at our work garage is not ideal and I risk losing my spot in the garage if I stay out too late. So I did not dally and went out to the trusty 20m band that almost never seems to fail.

POTA and a Lunch at K-1522

I got 14 contacts in about 22 minutes. I also managed to eat my lunch in between. Thanks to the memory keying putting out CQs when I grabbed a bite! A quick wrap up and check to ensure I am leaving nothing behind...I was back at work within 40 minutes. The stars seemed aligned today; the traffic, the weather, the band conditions. Hopefully I will be able to repeat it a few more times over this winter! Hope to catch you during lunch sometime!

One Oh Oh; Twice Over

My 100th successful POTA activation:

I've had a busy summer activating nearby parks. As the number of activations were growing, I was looking forward to my 100th successful activation.  (I have had one failure to date). I have always wanted to do something special for the 100th one. After looking at parks nearby me and some of the stats, I settled on K-1513: Mike Levine Lakelands Trail State Park. This is not a park in the traditional sense. It is basically an equestrian and biking trail that winds its way for a little over 30 miles along an old railroad track. It has a mix of paved and unpaved portions and traverses several counties. I chose this park because:

• I have never activated it
• It seems to have had fewer activations
• It was conveniently located and fit my plans for the rest of the day

I had a few vacation days to burn before the end of the year. Today's weather was going to be tolerable. As much as I would have liked to ride my motorcycle for the activation, my plans to combine with other errands meant that I had to use my automobile. 

My goal for the 100th was to activate a new (to me) park and get at least 100 QSOs. I have never cracked a 100 QSO activation yet.

I chose the trailhead parking at Hamburg township. There were off and on sprinkles on the way to the park, but when I reached there, it was just cloudy.  I carefully backed up my SUV and positioned in such a way that I can perform the activation on the back of the SUV with the hatch opened. By now my experience slinging the arborist line meant I had the random-wire antenna up and functional in a few minutes.

Hatchback activation

There was a minor problem. The lamp on the hatch stayed on and did not have a cut off switch [NOTE: This is an older vehicle that uses incandescent bulbs and not LEDs] . This was going to drain my batteries! So I had to unscrew the housing and pull the harness off the lamp to conserve the vehicle battery. 

I got started at around 1600 UTC.  I realized that the bands were in good shape. I worked 17m, 20m, 30m, 40m on CW and 20m and 40m on SSB. Once I reached the 100 mark, I was hoping for a lull in hunters; but they kept on coming until I had about 132 QSOs in three and a half hours. I realized during the QSOs that this was a needed park for quite a few hunters who were thankful. I ended up getting my first POTA SSB DX from Italy; not bad for 7W indicated by my radio. I also had one other CW DX from France for the day. The band was getting progressively better, but the temperatures were falling and I had errands to run. So I took the first lull in hunters to QRT and head on with the other tasks for the day; but not before reconnecting and installing the lamp on the hatch!

Shameless brag:

Screenshot showing 100 activations

Screenshot showing 132 QSOs for activation

I had great fun today and was glad to have accomplished the goals. I look forward to my 100th unique park in the future, but I am not sure if it will surpass the excitement of today. Hope to catch you on the air soon

73

The ugly duckling

 The Elecraft KX-3 is the radio that I use for POTA activations. I got my radio with the KX-PD3 paddle. While the KX-PD3 is well built and works like a charm, it seems to require periodic maintenance. Every other outing, I find I need to clean the contacts out or the paddles keep missing dits or dahs. So I found myself using the compact morse paddle such as this one https://www.amazon.com/Mini-Key-Automatic-Morse-Stainless/dp/B09KC3JYC8

While the compact morse paddle is great, it adds to setup and tear down time as I have to remove it from the box and hook it up to the radio and reverse it when I QRT. The convenience of the paddle attached to the radio such as the KX-PD3 cannot be beat. While looking around in the web, I ran into a post by fellow ham mentioning the QRPBuilder kit for a single lever paddle for the KX2/KX3: https://qrpbuilder.com/kx_single_lever

Now this intrigued me. It was cheap and I do not have to worry about putting it through the rough paces in the field. Granted, that this is not an iambic two lever paddle [ they sell a kit for that one if you need it ], but I rarely use the iambic feature and was not a concern to me.  The kit comes with all that is needed to build it. The instructions for building it are downloadable from their website. They rate the build at medium high difficulty.

I am not an experienced kit builder and in fact this is the first kit that I have built. Bear in mind, I have done some tinkering with soldering iron though, such as the occasional ESP32 project builds and replacement of busted USB ports etc. This build was a little challenging. I took it very slow and built it over 3 days. I went through their assembly instructions several times. The instructions are clearly written and easy to follow. The challenge is to keep everything aligned through the process as there are no detents or jigs to help with the alignment. Another factor contributing to the challenge is the fact that the structural rigidity of the kit depends on soldering.  I used a small dollop of gorilla glue between the plastics to tack them  give more strength to the final assembly. The wait for the 24 hour cure time accounts for the 3 day build time. After soldering the 2x2 connector in the first step, I verified that the connections are solid using a multimeter. The patience did pay off in the end as the paddle worked the first time I plugged it in. The 2x2 connector and the mounting screw holes are perfectly aligned and plug in smoothly even when compared to the KX-PD3

The QRPBuilder paddle for KX-3

So there it is, the assembled paddle attached to the radio. Not a great looking piece, but boy does it work! After a few tweaks, I got the paddle travel to work to my liking. If you get a KEY ERR message when radio starts up, do not despair; verify that the contact screw is not making constant contact as you power the radio on.

So off I went POTA activation and got two parks with this paddle today.  I was a little worried that the stiff paddle piece would cause the radio to move while in operation, but so far it has not been the case. This is my first paddle that does not either use springs or magnets for return. I found the operation very fluid. It takes a little getting used to as I did make a few errors, but overall, I rate this kit build a 5 out of 5.

Besides the cost, an advantage I see over the KX-PD3 is that the paddle is quite a bit away from the surface with the radio legs extended. This translates to the ability to operate the radio on slightly uneven surfaces. The KX-PD3 skims so close to the surface that the paddles experience interference even on moderately uneven surfaces such as picnic tables. 

In summary, I had quite a bit of fun building this kit. I may pick up the iambic paddle version of this kit and build it just for kicks!