POTA on John Flinchbaugh KD3EE

POTA in NY State

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

When traveling, we set aside a little time to explore and activate some parks. It gives me a reason to leave the house and see other places.

We stayed a night on Otsego Lake in Cooperstown, NY, so I had easy access to Hyde Hall (US-10044) in Glimmerglass State Park (US-2062), a 2-fer!

My picnic table outside the house was closer to the nearby tree than I usually like, so I deployed the 41-foot (12.5M) EFRW. Within about an hour, I only had 3 FT8 contacts. The bands seemed sort of quiet: I’d only see about 3 signals per cycle on 17M.

I figured it was a good time to compare antennas, so I setup the telescoping whip with the sliding coil. Immediately, that antenna showed me about 12 (4x) signals per cycle. I completed my 10 contacts for the activation with the new antenna and packed up, since we had to get the rest of the way to Vermont.

I checked PSK Reporter when I later got better internet access, and I was being heard, but I wasn’t hearing others. That EFRW was tuning just fine, but not hearing well. I used to struggle with activations with this 41-foot antenna being my main antenna. I may have been making it harder for myself than necessary when I started with the EFRW. The EFHW is pretty convenient enough, so I often use that these days.

Hyde Hall

Glimmerglass State Park

2025-12-19 US-8751

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I activated US-8751, State Game Land 52. I deployed the speaker-wire doublet again in an inverted-V to operate 1W on 20M. It ran NW-SE, and I used the 4:1 and a 1:1 current balun on the coax. It tuned well in 20m, and caused no USB disconnects! My 1W FT8 signal was heard in France and Spain.

The Evolve 3 keyboard had some dead keys: w t. It doesn’t seem I can fix that, so it may need to be replaced.

doublet

4:1 balun

setup

2025-11-29 US-8878

Sat, 29 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I activated US-8878, State Game Land 181. It’s my 39th unique park activated on my way to the next award at 40. I made 11 FT8 contacts at 2-4W with my speaker-wire doublet pulled up into a tree. I had extended the length to 44ft length per some online recommendations.

The battery was low on my little Evolve 3 laptop, and I wanted to charge it from LiFePO, but it wouldn’t charge. It turns out that I had inserted the barrel adapter into the headphone jack instead of the tiny power port. The laptop had died at 9 contacts with 3 people calling me, so I switched to my other laptop to finish up.

10M tuned OK, 40M tuned OK, and 20M tuned easily, but with both laptops, the radio would drop the USB connection immediately upon transmitting. I may need to add a current balun between the radio and matching transformer.

US-1418: 2025-10-30

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I ran out to Sam Lewis, US-1418, to activate when the rain stopped.

I took a few minutes to setup my normal EFHW running North-South to operate more to the East and West, though I did get a contact to Colombia.

I operated mostly low-power FT8, 1-4W, but mostly 2W. I chased and got 1 CW contact before it started getting cold and dark.

setup

antenna north-south

tiny s-biner

key and radio

US-1587

Sat, 27 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

On the way back from 3DPrintopia, I stopped to activate US-1587 Palmer State Park.

11 FT8, 1 CW contacts
10m, 15m, 20m
Gabil slider whip

setup

Pota.app Upload

Sun, 07 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Uploading to http://pota.app/ from a phone can be difficult sometimes, but I found a way to do it.

Export from POLO to Google Drive
In the mobile browser, zoom out just a little and turn the phone sideways to get pota.app to allow you to upload.
- make the zoom adjustment in chrome.
- alternatively, switch to desktop mode, but then you need to adjust back
Download the ADI file from Google Drive to local Downloads folder, then upload to pota.app. If you don’t download it, you’ll see a network error in pota.app.

US-9719

Sun, 07 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

US-9719 Susquehanna Riverlands.

40m mostly, 10m, 2W, FT8
40m CW, 5W
KD3EE is very nice for CW
Gabil whip with sliding coil is great
CA, MX, VA, NC, OH, etc
I was seeing interference on the touchpad, so reintroduced the choke at the feed point, and that fixed it.
I had removed the choke, thinking I could use the coax as another counterpoise.

entrance

setup

field

Camping and POTA

Sun, 31 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I went camping and operated there and in Michaux Forest, Pine Grove Furnace, and Caledonia. I ran the 40M EFHW in trees at the parks as a sloper and inverted-V for 40M, 10M, and 15M. I did FT8 and a little CW.

At the campground, I contacted NY and ME on CW on 40M in the morning using the Gabil slider coil and whip. I discoverd that the my older Gabil antenna with jumpers on the coil has different thread size for the whip, so not interchangeable.

creek

pine grove setup

pine grove antenna

caledonia antenna

caledonia setup

caledonia inverted-v

US-8834

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I played a little FT8 at US-8834, State Game Land 136, with only 2W on my 40M EFHW in an inverted-V. I made 26 contacts, and looked for some CW, but barely heard anything.

signs

antenna

setup

car

US-4356

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I headed to US-4356, Boyd Big Tree Preserve for an activation. I took my time and med 51 contacts: FT8, FT4, 2 SSB, 2 CW. I stretched my 40M EFHW from pavilion to tree to the East. A bystander hung out for 40 minutes to see what I was doing, so I showed him around the bands.

deer

efhw

setup

above the clouds

main pavillion

US-9136 and US-2074

Sun, 17 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

While on a trip to New York with the kids, I activated a couple parks.

Bashakill Wildlife Management

At US-9136, I parked in the middle, and threw the 40m EFHW into a tree to operate 20M and some 40M, FT4 & FT8 I made 13 contacts in the US, Sweden, Germany, and Spain. I got sweat on (in?) the touchpad of the laptop, so the pointer was being very jumpy and hard to control.

Highland Lakes State Park

On the edge of US-2074, I barely got my 10 contacts in time. I used the magnetic loop, and aligned it to go up and down the coast on 40M.

Bashakill Setup

Bashakill Antenna

Highland Lakes Antenna

Highland Lakes Setup

Delaware POTA

Fri, 08 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

One morning, I headed to Delaware to have lunch and to activate US-1730, Alapocas Run State Park. It was also along US-9878, Northern Delaware Greenway National Recreation Trail.

I put up my homebrew delta loop with 4:1 balun. With the tuner on the X6100, I could get 1.5:1 SWR on 20M. For kicks, I only ran 1W and made 23 contacts calling CQ on FT8. The location was very quiet for listening.

On 15M, I got Italy with 1W.

I tested a new 5200mAh 12V Li-Ion battery, and it worked for the entire activation. It dropped from 12.3V to 10.9V or so which was plenty for the radio.

nearby

setup

antenna

US-4567

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I activated the Conoy Wetland along US-4567. I used the 40M EFHW running to the South East. I stayed on 40m, using FT8 and 4W. I got my 30+ contacts calling CQ POTA, and didn’t chase anyone.

I experimented with the counterpoise:

I saw 1.5:1 SWR with the counterpoise coiled up.
I saw a lower SWR with the counterpoise unwound.

setup

antenna

river scene

US-8843

Sun, 20 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I activated US-8843, State Game Land 145. I got 9 QSOs before day change (at 2W-4W) and another 18 QSOs after day change (at 6W). I setup the tactical delta loop, and grounded the black side that passes through the toroid. The feed is the red side. It tuned nicely at about 1.5:1 on 20m and 40m. It was slow going at 2-4W, but I was being seen in PSKreporter.

setup

antenna

balun

US-1418

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

When activating US-1418, Sam Lewis, I accidentally split the activation across 0000 UTC. Fortunately, I still got enough for the second day. I found some of my chokes broken, so swapped cable around a bit. I threw the 40M EFHW into a tree, and got 12 contacts, on FT8, on 15M and 40M.

setup

sunset

US-1139 Chino Hills

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I activated Chino Hills State Park, US-1139, twice while in Los Angeles. I hiked in 1.5 miles for one activation, and biked half way up one of the hills 5 miles for the second.

sign

road

setup

antenna

road

aprs

setup

US-9719: 2025-06-09

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I activated US-9719 Susquehanna Riverlands with 2W on the new Mag Loop. It made for a very quick setup, and I tried different directions. I got 11 contacts on 40m.

2w, low swr

mag loop

US-4361 King's Gap

Sun, 25 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The activation at King’s Gap Environmental Education Center, US-4361 was tough-going, even though I was at the top of the mountain. I used the GRA vertical whip with tapped coil. Internet access flaked early, so successfully spotted myself on APRS with APSPOT.

Setup

Antenna

APRS Spot

1W on 40m

Wed, 21 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Today I had some success operating 1W on 40m.

At 1330UTC, I made a handful of contacts, and got a strong -05 report. I even got a POTA in FL.

21 Tech Net - 2025-05-18

Sun, 18 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

My Weeks in Radio

French Creek State Park (US-1355)
- All FT8, 1-2W.
- Tried PSK, but no one responded.
80M EFHW, 130ft
- Built a 64:1 unun for it to help match better than the 49:1.
- Resonant in many places, maybe need tuner in one band.
Customizing Allstarlink node to make it easier to manage.
New R1CBU firmware for my X6100.
Getting tempted about the zbit or sbit, but the X6100 scratches that itch for being able to customize it.

Others

WB3LNY, George:
- Dayton Hamfest.
KA3TKW, Tom:
- No net on holiday weekend.
- Enjoying zbitx and zbitx.
- Visited club in Letterkenny, satellite presentation.
- New power connectors for the zbits.
VE3HOH, Pete:
- Tried 6M with a quarter-wave on mobile.
  - Worked well, trying some repeaters.
  - Working simplex on trip from Pottstown to Pine Grove.
  - Fixing connectors.
  - 100W.
W3MW, Don:
- 2.4GHz station ready to go with loop yagis.
- Soon will have 5.6GHz by next month.
- UHF pre-amp.
- Pre-amp is more necessary, at the antenna, on these higher frequencies.
KC3VZU, Bob:
- Looking into RADTEL 880 w/ HF, VHF, UHF, SSB, 10W.

Swap and Shop

W3MW, Don:
- IC7300, 100w, portable, tuner, pack setup.
- Looking at Yaesu, FTX-1.

US-1355 French Creek POTA Activation

Sun, 18 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I visited French Creek State Park (US-1355).

I deployed my 40-meter EFHW, strung up into a convenient tree. I operated with low power, typically between 1-2 watts, on the 10-meter, 40-meter, and 20-meter bands.

I primary operated FT8, and I also attempted some PSK, but no one responded.

Setup

Pole spike

Antenna

POTA US-4567: Marietta Riverfront Park

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Rain was predicted later in the weekend, so I headed out to Marietta Riverfront Park (US-4567) for a quick activation to beat the rain. My initial plan was to rebuild my EFHW antenna, but I cut the new wire six inches too short, and I didn’t have enough wire on the spool to start again.

I opted for my 12.5m EFRW instead. It was 7 PM, so I focused my efforts on the 40m. I successfully got about 18 contacts before I packed up for the evening.

Marietta Riverfront

POTA US-1418: 2025-03-29

Sat, 29 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I setup at US-1418 for an activation. I tried to setup the 40m EFHW in a nearly vertical configuration, but my throw wasn’t high enough, so I went for a vertical 25-foot Rybakov instead. I used my 4:1 balun.

I got my activation working 10M and 15M FT8.

picnic table

antenna transformer

woods

Breakfast and POTA

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I went to the 985 breakfast and chatted lots of Vic and Jerry.

After breakfast, I hit the parks for some POTA. I started at Middle Creek where I tested my EFHW vs the Tactical Delta Loop.

Next, I setup at State Game Land 156 down the road with the telescoping antenna for a CB walkie talkie.

Middle Creek

EFHW

Setup at Middle Creek

Tactical Delta Loop

TDL Hub

Setup along the road

POTA US-1356 Gifford Pinchot

Sat, 22 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I visited Gifford Pinchot State Part, US-1356, and strung up the EFHW from a picnic table to a tree. I managed it in 1 throw to a nice spot. I made 20 contacts:

18 FT8
2 CW, including N4T, the Dry Tortugas DXpedition

Using R1CBU 0.29.1, I knew to pay special attention to undo the AM bug from SWR Scan by switching through modes after an SWR Scan. In this firmware, though, WSJTX would set digital mode (USB-D) and it would bounce back to USB, which doesn’t take sound from the connection to the computer. I had to work around it by disabling WSJTX’s ability to set the mode. Then I could set USB-D and it would stay there.

entire setup

US-1418: 2025-01-18

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I activated US-1418 one nice afternoon with the GRA-1900T on 40m. I was getting desperate, so tried vertical and horizontal orientations. I wonder if I was a bit too close to the metal pavilion.

horizontal

vertial

computer and radio

POTA US-1426

Sun, 05 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I made my first trip to US-1426, Swatara State Park for a quick activation. I stretched the 41-foot EFRW to a tree right from the car window, and made 13 FT8 contacts on 40m.

EFRW to the car window

Radio in the car

POTA US-9719

Sat, 28 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I activated US-9719 Susquehanna Riverlands. The tempurature was decent, though a little bit of a mist. I got lots of practice throwing very high in the tree. I used all my throw line to hoist my EFHW into the air. Some people lingered to watch while I struggled to get just the right branch.

I found a large section of coax was bad, so had to scramble a little to get enough cable. I worked 20M to get 2 CW park-to-park contacts and 28 more FT4 contacts

EFHW

Radio and Snacks

Throw Line in Mud

Hawaii

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I went to Hawaii for the first couple weeks of November 2024.

I packed up all the POTA radio gear and headed out to fly to Hawaii. I carried all my radio gear and big battery in my carry-on backpack.

I added a few repeaters, and scanned 2M, but didn’t hear anyone on my UV-K6.

I started out operating FT8 at the resort with the EFRW (12.5M) strung between columns on the patio. I could reach stations in Hawaii, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Oregon on 10m, 12m, 17m, and 20m. I had to turn up to 8W to get heard.

For parks, I operated 6 parks and 2 trails across 2 islands: beaches, lava fields, and volcanos.

On 2024-11-04, I activated US-0753, Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, with the EFHW for 40m strung across trees in the picnic area near the rocky coast. I accidentally split the day, since I wasn’t familiar with the timezone offset. Fortunately, I had enough contacts for an activation in each of the 2 days. Much of the west coast of the big island also counts as US-4565, Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail.

On 2024-11-08, I activated US-0037, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, with EFHW stretched from a shelter and picnic table to a nearby tree on West Rim Road in the park. I struggled for a bit from my start at 10am. Conditions got better near 2pm local time, and I finished up my activation while having lunch with Emily.

On 2024-11-10 I went to US-2214, Kekaha Kai State Park, after running around a bit to find a spot. I wanted to work fast, and there were no trees in the vast lava field, so I deployed the whip and coil bungied to the fishing pole and the grill of the car. That activation went pretty fast.

On 2024-11-13, I visited US-0739, Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, which is also US-4565, Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail. It had closed an earlier day, so I couldn’t activate that day. It was good, because I hiked the mile or so to setup on the beach and toss the counterpoise for the vertical whip into the ocean.

On 2024-11-16, I walked across Waikiki to US-10923, Artillery District of Honolulu Historic Site. It was pretty early morning and slow. I strung the shorter EFRW (12.5M) from a table to a tree in an inverted V. I chatted a while with another traveling ham, and I didn’t manage to complete my activation. I ran out of time, and packed up.

My last activation was on 2024-11-17, at US-6425, Diamond Head State Preserve, I setup at a picnic table near the hiking trail, US-10913, Diamond Head Summit State Trail. The whole park is in the caldera of the volcano. The EFHW stretched from table to a tree. The antenna wire disconnected from the transformer, but it was close, so it received OK, but trying to transmit showed a high SWR where the antenna would never usually. It was super-windy as the sun set early over the mountain surrounding me.

US-1398 Pine Grove Furnace: 2024-10-20

Sun, 20 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I went camping and activating Pine Grove Furnace, US-1398, and Michaux Forest, US-5471. I stretched the EFHW over the parking lot, because I thought it wouldn’t be busy. I got 21 FT8 contacts and 2 CW contacts to other parks.

park

antenna over lot

setup

efhw

canoe passing by

W3RRR Hamfest and POTA

Sat, 05 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

W3RRR Ham Fest

I passed the test for Amateur Extra: 40/50 correct. I needed 37 correct.

US-4567, Captain John Smith Trail

POTA with Matthew, KC3WRY, at the boat launch under train tracks south of Marietta.
FT8 on 20M
1 CW P2P contact on 20M. I didn’t fumble so much.
I used the newly-printed and rebuilt EFHW winder and throw line. The velcro strap remains a problem for snagging the line.

Matt with 3D Printers

New Antenna Winder

First CW Hunting POTA

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I got in W1JMA’s log when they were activating US-7545. on 7047.5kHz. They looked me up in QRZ, so knew my name and location. I sent 599 and received 599. It was a super-minimal exchange, because I fumbled a lot.

I had to read a bit about how to correct errors, and I soon stumbled into AF3Z on 7036kHz, and I saw a funny series of attempted corrections: “a littr eee a littr eee a bit”

Later, I Got a second contact, KV4UD.

POTA Weekend

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I used the EFHW for everything. I activated 4 park entities:

Caledonia State Park after riding the Michaux GRVL ride.
Michaux State Forest from the ATV trail parking on the ridge.
Kings Gap Environmental Education Center late in the day, so I raced a little.
- antenna up in about 8 minutes
- 10 contacts within 26 minutes
- on the road again 14 minutes later
Pine Grove Furnace the next morning, where I ran out of battery, so I did the whole thing with 1W FT8. I practiced a bit and started putting out my call on CW to see if RBN would pick me up, but kept it to a shy 1W. It didn’t pick me up.

ATV Trailhead

Michaux

Running Hot

Kings Gap Environmental Center

A wire deployed at Pine Grove Furnace

Key Secured

POTA US-1425

Sat, 24 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I ran some errands and wandered off to Susquehannock State Park, US-1425 to play. I started with SSB phone, and immediately heard Hawaii. The bands were busy with QSO Parties for Hawaii, Kansas, and Ohio, so I kept hunting people and easily got my 13 contacts. I never switched to the computer for digital modes!

In addition to the QSO parties, I caught a contact from Italy and K8MRD of Ham Radio Tube in a park in Texas. I bothered one last operator with a little CW, but I failed pretty badly. The radio was decoding for me, but my keying wasn’t up to the job.

Radio

Antenna

POTA US-4567

Sat, 17 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I setup camp at Marietta Riverfront Park, US-4567, with the EFHW stretched from the pavilion to the nearby tree. I was expecting to get rained out, but it never came.

I got 23 FT8 contacts on 20m and 3 SSB contacts on 40m and 20m at 10W. I also spoke to a nuclear ship in Baltimore, and I heard some light house special event stations. It was so quiet there at the park compared to my desk full of computers that I thought the NR was stuck on.

W3FIS, Dr. Paul Ross, stopped by to activate, so we chatted a while after nearly 25 years since I last saw him when I was in college.

US-4567, Marietta

POTA US-4567

Sun, 04 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Ben and I grabbed dinner and headed to the Columbia Riverfront Park to activate US-4567, Capt John Smith Trail.

Since there were more people around, I setup the simple GRA-1900T next to our picnic table instead of throwing wires. 20m was very busy, so I was getting a bit lost in all the traffic. I moved to 40m and re-tuned to rack up my more local contacts. As the sun set, our reach got better on 40m. Of course, I accidentally crossed 0000UTC again into the next day, so it was 2 activations: one (incomplete) with 5 QSOs, and the other with 14 QSOs. I operated all digital, since it got dark, and we were looking to pack up soon.

Columbia Riverfront Park

POTA US-1418

Sat, 03 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I headed back to US-1418, Sam Lewis to tried a quick activation on my way to my parents’ house, but I got sidetracked. KN3A, Scott, was already there, so I chatted with him for a few minutes, and then setup my station on the other side of the park. I used my GRA-1900T for a quick setup on 20m. I saw Scott hunting up the band with his big, very local, signal, and then set out to do some FT8. The band was busy, but then just shut off nearing 1900UTC.

I heard about a storm coming from the local repeaters. I tried a bit on 15m, but decided to pack up as I heard more thunder. I only got a few contacts, since I didn’t give myself near enough time.

US-1418

Sat, 27 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

At Sam Lewis, US-1418 I tried setting up down near the low playground on the corner near the road. There were no trees with good spots. All the viable branches were very high, and I couldn’t quite get a line over them.

I resorted to an inverted-v supported by fishing pole in the middle at 9ft or so. I operated mostly FT8 on 15m, 20m, and 40m, and I did a little SSB on 40m. I got Canada, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, etc.

Setup at Sam Lewis

985 Breakfast and POTA

Fri, 19 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

985 Breakfast

It was good to chat radio with everyone, and Luke talked about restoring his antique loose coupler radio.

US-1380 Marsh Creek

After breakfast, Vic KC3TYX, and I made our way to US-1380 Marsh Creek for a park activation and to compare notes on how we operate.

The weather was pleasant, and Vic started on 20m with a vertical ham stick and faraday cloth for a ground plane.

I tossed a EFHW to slope from the picnic table up into a tree. I got it in a good spot with the first try. I was on 40m to give him some room, but the band was pretty dead in the middle of the day. I still had a little interference, since Vic was running 100W. I eventually switched to 20m when Vic had enough contacts, so I could finish my activation. Only 15m and 20m really worked for much. I did all digital + 1 phone to another park in Tennessee.

Vic operating SSB

FT8 at US-1380

US-1337 Caledonia

Sat, 13 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

We headed to Caledonia State Park for the Arts & Craft Fair for a couple hours. I threw the 12.5m EFRW into a nearby tree. 40m was dead. 20m and 15m were very busy with SSB contesters for the IARU HF World Championship. Via FT8 and SSB, I could hear lots of EU on 15m, 17m, and 20m, but not much in local signals. Not many people were hearing me, so I only made 4 contacts in the hour or so that I tried.

Firecracker Hamfest and POTA

Sat, 06 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Firecracker Hamfest

Matt and I wandered around and talked to some people. I only bought a few small things:

tiny efhw kit.
nice 65W PD 20Ah power brick.
broken kenwood HT, won’t power on, but charges. (took a chance, but no plan.)

US-4356, Boyd Big Tree Preserve

EFHW from pavilion, across side trail entrance, into a tree.
Rough time with SSB to start. I couldn’t be heard. I’d stalk these multi-operator activators for 10 minutes, prepare my logs, and then not be able to contact them.
Operated all FT8 on 40m.
One SSB P2P at the end.
It was very hot.

While operating, I got an email from a contact, so I sent a photo and explained my setup with WSJT-X and the x6100.

On a bench at Boyd

POTA US-4567

Fri, 05 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

US-4567, Capt John Smith Chesapeake Trail, stretches from New York to the Chesapeake Bay following the Susquehanna River, so that means we can activate from any public land within 100ft of the river. I drove from Turkey Hill to Bainbridge evaluating spots along the river:

Riverfront park in Columbia would be nice
The boat launch on south side of Marietta has a nice bit of beach.
The park on the north side of Marietta is a bit too busy, but did have a nice area of grass and trees.
I setup at the Riverfront park in Bainbridge.

I threw the EFHW into an inverted-V in tree and back down to a bench. I worked SSB first for some park-to-park activations, and then switched to FT8 on 40m.

Operating at US-4567 in Bainbridge

POTA US-1743 White Clay Creek

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Matt and I activated POTA US-1743, White Clay Creek, DE. I deployed the 20m-long EFHW into a tree, which worked nicely with no SWR. Matt deployed a telescoping dipole on a mast. I worked only 40m, and Matt ran 20m. We didn’t interfere with each other at all. I forgot my 5525 power splitter to run both the laptop and radio off 12V battery, but fortunately I didn’t need it for the computer.

Matt Operating

Matt's Dipole

POTA National Mall

Sun, 23 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I was traveling to DC the weekend of ARRL Field Day, so I found some time e-bike from the hotel to activate US-0655, the National Mall from a park bench at the mall. I clamped the GRA-1900T right to the bench. Field Day was happening, so traditional bands were very busy. I jumped to 17m for a quieter, POTA-only experience. The LiFePO4 battery hadn’t been charged in a while, so it went dead by the end of my activation. It was a bit of a race against the dwindling battery. With the battery completely exhausted, and running on the internal battery of the x6100, I got to 12 contacts.

I had played with the radio the night before. I tried my gra-1900T and the 12.5m EFRW in the hotel room. We were on the 9th floor of 10 floors in Downtown DC. I barely got out for a moment on 40m with the wire, then nothing. The whip did absolutely nothing.

POTA at the National Mall

Tuning the GRA-1900

Sun, 16 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Initial Tuning

The one-page document that comes with the GRA-1900T antenna detailing the jumper positions on the coil and the lengths at which to set the whip for each band didn’t seem to match up all that well, which led to some frustration out in the field.

I decided to use my NanoVNA to reconstruct my own instructions for using the antenna. I extended the whip fully and recorded the resonant frequency for each jumper position of the coil. Knowing those frequencies, I can set the jumper and shorten the whip until the SWR sweep on my x6100 is happy. The SWR graph on the x6100 can be misleading sometimes, because it often shows a birdie dip or 2 in the graph, but now I’ll always know that I’m to shorten the whip to get where I need to be.

I’ll eventually apply labels to the coil with these frequencies.

US-1425 Susquehannock State Park

I took the GRA-1900T out to Susquehannock State Park for a field test. My plan to tune the antenna worked well. I set the jumper for the frequency below my intended operating frequency and shortened up the whip until the x6100 showed a good SWR curve. Easy!

Oops, Broken Fishing Pole Mast

Since I hadn’t used the fishing pole at the park, I forget I had it and left it behind when I packed up. 2 days later, I returned to retrieve it. Some kids had found it, had trouble collapsing it, dug in the dirt with it, and broke a section.

I was able to put it back together with the remaining sections, and I 3d-printed a new fork/loop to make it useful for supporting wire.

Two Parks in One Day

Sat, 15 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

US-1356 Pinchot

I setup at a pavillion far away from everyone else, so as not to burden anyone wondering what I was doing. Putting up the 20m-long EFHW, I got the socket and throw line stuck in a tree. I had to cut it loose.

I tried 10m for 2 FT8 contacts, but that’s all the further I could stretch that band. The rest of my contacts came on FT8 40m, and one P2P SSB contact on 40m before I packed up.

US-1418 Sam Lewis

At the second park, I operated mostly 20m with the GRA-1900 coil and whip. I was struggling to get that to the right settings, so I finally just extended it and hit the tuner on the radio.

I accidentally crossed the 0000UTC mark into the next day, which means it’s a new activation. I scrambled to try to complete the new day, but fell short.

Sunset at Sam Lewis

POTA US-4356

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 23:38:50 -0400

After a bike ride in Harrisburg, I visited US-4356, Boyd Big Tree Preserve. I used the 20m EFHW sloped up into a tree near the main pavilion. I spoke to a park in Western PA, and a museum ship on Great Lakes in Toledo, OH. 15m FT4 was busy with lots of contesting, so I also ran some FT8 on 20m.

The go-box is over-stuffed again with extra rope. I need to slim it down again.

Camping, POTA, and Testing the EFHW

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 22:54:16 -0400

SPARC Elmer Night

I spent the Elmer Night tuning EFHW again with the NanoVNA. I proved that I saw the same graph when the antenna was stretched shallow vs a higher inverted-V.

I tried folding back the EFHW wire. It changed the tuning slower than cutting the wire. DX Engineering has a video about this. I didn’t get it finished at the meeting, since because it got dark.

Memorial Day Weekend POTA US-4361, Kings Gap Environmental Center

Matthew and I setup at Kings Gap Environmetal Center (US-4361) near the campground. I spent the most the time still slowly tuning my EFHW, and then dodging the rain. I barely made any contacts by the time I got the antenna in the air, and then the thunderstorms returned. We bailed, and I put the antenna up back at the campground strung over the site from tree to my fishing pole to telephone pole for the rest of the weekend. The twisted cords I’ve been using started unwinding, so it’s soon time to replace it with braided mason line.

POTA Antenna Test 3

Mon, 20 May 2024 03:19:48 -0400

I compared the 20m EFHW with the 12.5m EFRW at Sam Lewis (US-1418). I threw really high and made both antennas nearly vertical into high trees, not inverted-v.

EFHW could hear pretty well, and the SWR sweep showed again that I could shorten it, so I did lower it and take off a few cm.

The EFHW didn’t seem to like its counterpoise. With the counterpoise, it was giving me an SWR of 2-2.5:1 on 40m when I transmitted. If I removed the counterpoise or kept it coiled up, the SWR was lower. I still made most my contacts on 40m.

I think the radio may have again been interfering with the mouse when transmitting. I already had chokes on both ends of the feed line, but adding the counterpoise helped that common mode interference. It was a rough day.

The EFRW would not tune well at all on 40m with or without its single counterpoise. That surprised me greatly, because I had tested that same unun with my existing EFRW antenna out the front window at home.

I wonder if it had something to do with each antenna being mostly vertical. I wonder if they needed more radials instead of a single counterpoise. K4OGO (Walt of Coastal Waves and Wires) always adds so many radials to his verticals.

This had me questioning everything. I thought I was doing something really good by getting the wires high and vertical. When I brought the radio home and connected to the same old EFRW, it was again performing normally.

I also learned that the POTA website cuts off your activation and starts a new one at 00:00UTC, 8pm, so I ended up with 2 QSOs counting toward a second (incomplete) activation at the park.

EFHW into tall tree

EFHW winder

EFRW winder

EFHW Test 2

Sun, 19 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I ran out to Susquehanna Riverlands State Park (US-9719) to test the EFHW again. This time I tied it to a bush and a picnic table and raised the center with the fishing pole mast.

I took the time to sweep all the bands with the X6100’s built-in analyzer app. 40m looked like it could stand to have the wire slightly shorter, but when I transmitted, the SWR looked fine. I saw about 1.5:1 SWR on 40, 20, and 15. 10 was a little off, so I guess I’ll add the 100pf capacitor that most people use.

The tuner made 12m and 17m work, so I made FT8 contacts on 40m, 20m, 15m, and 17m.

I was also trying out some of the combo winder/unun I 3d printed and made some notes. I’ll post my remix soon of another person’s OpenSCAD code. I like the all-in-one designs that wrap up into one package, but I wonder how much that will hinder my random experimentation with antennas.

While transmitting, I noticed the Evolve 3 laptop’s mouse would stop responding. I had seen this on other laptops using the 1/4 wave HF vertical. I added the common mode choke to the feed line near the radio, and that cleared up. There was already a choke near the antenna, but I guess it wasn’t enough. I love when I can see a clear cause and effect or problem and solution.

Riverlands Sign

Riverlands Rain

Riverlands Operating

EFHW Test

Wed, 15 May 2024 21:36:49 -0400

Ben and I took the radio gear for a walk to Hawk Point overlooking the river in Susquehannock State Park (US-1425) for a POTA activation. We threw the 20m EFHW into the trees in an inverted-V. I checked the SWR on 15M, and it came in about 1.5:1 or so.

I could hear really well with it, and I contacted Argentina, Texas, California, and Italy among other closer places on 15M FT8. I spun the dial down to 20M SSB to hear a park in Illinois, but it was busy and the sun was setting quick, so I didn’t wait to try to make contact.

I’ll have to try the other bands next, but my randomly starting up on 15M worked great.

Using the little box as a winder for the wire didn’t work out so well. It became an immediate tangle as I tried to unwind it. I’ll switch to a 3d-printed winder instead.

Hawk Point

985 Workbench - 2024-04-29

Mon, 29 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

My Week in Ham Radio

Built and deployed a 1/4 wave ground plane with radials
- wire soldered to an UHF chassis plug
- fed from the bottom
- hung in a tree by cord
York Hamfest and 2 parks out that way
- Codorus
- Sam Lewis
- EFRW
- Mostly ft8
- 40m hot at 5:30pm
- 2 phone contacts in Canadian parks for park-to-park QSO
- Took some time to experiment a little
- Fishing pole mast with 3D-printed fork on the end to catch the wire
- Stop pulling on coax…loosened ends
SPDX RTTY contest (Poland)
- 2 contacts
- ended at noon UTC on sunday, so ran out of time
AubsUK firmware for Quansheng
- 10 scanlists
- automatic scan on power-up, feature request
Picked up a new podcast: Ham Radio Workbench
Simplex Net: heard 16 of the 38 people

My Questions

with nicer weather and time to experiment with antennas, how would you recommend iterating and experimenting? I have:
- the QRP transceiver
- digital modes & pskreporter
- nanovna
- some modeling software I could learn
- the latest ARRL Antenna Book

Discussion

Dipoles, sloped or flat?
- Flat leaves nulls toward the ends
- Sloped fills it in to be a bit more omnidirectional
- An antenna close to the ground is going to be NVIS
- Vertical is omnidirectional
Ron’s seeing infinite SWR on the “screwdriver” antenna.
- Others have had problems as well.
Mike wonders about viability of using 6m FM in his area
My Question: How should I evaluate and structure my experiments with antennas?
- Conditions change constantly
- Learn to read solar data
- Take notes on conditions and try to test in similar conditions
- Vic’s experiments:
  - endfeds
  - hamsticks
  - radials
  - aluminum screen or faraday cloth for ground plane
- WSPRnet and pskreporter help gauge how you’re getting out
- See what you can hear
- Qualify callsign for different tests, so I can tell them apart in pskreporter: kc3wwc/a, kc3wwc/b, etc
Ken wonders about TNC for packet radio on HF/VHF
- Glenn, N3MEL would be the person to contact
We heard lots of interference and doubling in the beginning of the net
- This was likely another manifestation of intermod
- Tropospheric ducting happens more in morning in the summer

York Hamfest and POTA

Sat, 27 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

York Hamfest

I ran to York for the Hamfest and I saw a handful of new friends from SPARC and 985. I only bought some BNC adapters, a speaker that’s OK but not great, and a wireless keyboard/touchpad for my Raspberry PI projects.

POTA

While I was out, I figured I may as well play a little radio and activate 2 parks.

Codorus, US-1342

I ran the 12.5m EFRW stretched from high in a tree to a picnic table. I started at the picnic table, but moved into the car when it started to rain. To reach the car, I stretched my coax a bit and camped that to the table, and I ended up with no signal. The feed cable (RG174 with SMA connectors) had pulled loose from the SMA connector, so I had to debug that and push them back together. I operated 17m mostly, FT8, and contacts came a bit slow.

Sam Lewis, US-1418

This time I stung up the 21.56m EFRW, 2-3m off ground on ends, stretched between trees, and a fishing pole mast supporting the middle peak. 17m was still a bit slow, but 40m was hopping for FT8. I had a steady stream of contacts.

Before packing up, I spun the dial and found a park-to-park SSB on 40m: 2 operators on one radio at the intersection of 4 parks in Canada, so that counted for 8 hunter points.

Ridley Creek POTA

Sat, 13 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

We had some time in West Chester to visit Ben and see the new Mini Countryman, so I stopped by Ridley Creek State Park to activate. I had lots of tangles trying to toss my 21.56m EFRW into a tree – it took 30 minutes just to get started, but I had the wire at least 25 feet into the air. I operated FT8 and FT4 on 10m from a pavilion. I hit lots of Western US, some Europe, Brazil, and even New Zealand!

Eclipse 2024

Mon, 08 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Matt and I ran to Erie, PA to watch the eclipse, and activated US-1402, Presque Isle State Park before eclipse. 10m was a bit slow, but I got there on FT8. I ran my 71-foot (21.65m) EFRW sloped up into a nearby tree from our station on a picnic table.

I got some audible screaming on the speaker in addition to the normal clicking when I hit the tuner. I usually have a choke near the radio, and that was missing.

It was cloudy and even some rain in the morning, but it cleared and we saw some blue sky before the eclipse started around 2pm.

Totality was at 3:16pm EDT. I have a video in 360 degrees.

Totality

985 Workbench Net - 2024-03-18

Mon, 18 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This Week in Ham Radio

I keep tweaking the outside 2m dipole
- I got it a little higher
- It tests different day to night
- Signal is good then gone every so many seconds
- Checked it for loose connections in the wind. It seems fine.
I’ve been learning to configure fldigi more
BARTG RTTY contest over the weekend
- I finally successfully ran the frequency for a bit calling cq and getting responses
- I stuck to the 5W QRP class
I’m scanning more frequencies for satellite repeaters
Weather is nicer, so I got out on my bicycle. It’s time to activate some parks (on the bike?). The Tram mirror mount for vertical antenna might clamp nicely to the bag rack.

Day of Radio

Thu, 25 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

ARRL/FCC/ARCC in Harrisburg

KA3TKW and the 21 repeater group hosted a lunch with representatives from the ARRL, the FCC, and the ARCC.

POTA

I stopped at State Game Land 246 near Middletown to activate on 10m FT8/FT4.

I used 2 different antennas: - initially used Grabil whip fully extended, shorted coil, w/ tuner - 12.5m EFRW thrown into a tree Both antennas seemed to perform similarly. I was skipping far: lots of contacts came from Oregon, Washington, and I even got Alaska.

Clipperton DX

Later that day, I also contacted the Clipperton DX station, TX5S, on 40m via FT8