As the saying goes, “There are those who travel light, and those that wish they’d traveled light”.
When it comes to Parks On The Air, unfortunately, I fall into the latter category. I know, it’s a problem, but I’m trying to mend my ways. One reason, (excuse), is that being a relatively new Ham, I love to experiment. Radios, antennas, operating modes, and creature comforts. It all adds up to more stuff.
Another reason I don’t travel light is because I’m typically pretty close to my vehicle during activations. Think car-camping vs backpacking. Weight and bulk aren’t usually an issue for me.
So today, a beautiful summer day with crystal clear skies, scattered clouds, and a gentle breeze blowing off Lake Michigan, I couldn’t resist heading up the shore to Illinois Beach State Park, K-1000, to do an activation.
My goal was to activate the park with minimal gear and effort.
I grabbed my Xiegu G-90 go bag, an extra LiFePO battery, a Hamstick, an MFJ 1979 whip antenna, a small tote full of necessities, a stadium seat, and a cup of coffee.
An hour later I was at the park under the shade of a large Oak tree setting up my station.
After a short time setting up, I was ready to get on the air. An FT8 activation of the park was my goal for today.
I self-spotted on the POTA page, fired up the radio and laptop and was on the air. I use HAMRS, GridTracker, and WSJT-X for logging and situational awareness.
K-1000 was officially activated in 30 minutes. After an hour 20 contacts were in the log. 30 contacts for the day. Not bad for a Hamstick stabbed into the sandy soil and 15 Watts.
My Xiegu G-90 go bag consists of a repurposed computer bag into which is packed:
- Xiegu G-90 HF radio
- DigiRig external soundcard and connectors
- 6 Ah LiFePO battery
- 49 feet of coax
- a complete Super Antenna
- an antenna analyzer
- Evolve III mini laptop
- RocketBook Mini notepad
The antenna analyzer was brought just in case. Not used. Doggone it.
The antenna is a 20-meter Hamstick tuned to 14.074 MHz for FT8. The Hamstick is mounted to the Super Antenna UM3 mount and SuperSpike, plus the four ground radials. 49’ of RG8X coax connects the antenna to the radio. In the right hand photo below, note that the Allen head setscrews on the antenna have been replaced by thumbscrews
My contacts came from about 260 degrees around to about 230 degrees of my location. The southwest area of the country was unrepresented.
After an hour of FT8 I decided to give SSB a whirl. My reception was great. I was hearing stations from all over the country. Reaching other stations…not so much. My emphasis was on contacting other parks, Park to Park, or P2P in POTA-speak. I thought I might have better luck with the MFJ whip. Up to that point I had been using the FT8-tuned Hamstick with the G-90’s internal tuner. Whip up, ears on, PTT…nothing.
Note to self. When switching modes on the G-90, don’t forget to increase the transmit power. D’oh! When one changes modes on the Xiegu G-90, power drops back down to minimum. One Watt doesn’t cut it on SSB. After I increased the power way up to 15 Watts, I had better success.
Nothing great on SSB, but better. A few single parks, a two-fer park with two operators, a two-operator park, and two WY stations.
Note #2 to self. Leave the tote full of “necessities” at home next time. Nothing from that tote was ever used.
Note to self #3. The extra battery went unused. I hope it doesn’t miss me the next time I go to the park.
See, I’m getting better.
That was about it. The Cubs baseball game had started, and I wanted to beat the Friday afternoon rush back to my QTH in Chicago’s northern suburbs, so I packed up and headed back home.
Today was a beautiful summer day by the lake playing radio. During an activation I make it a point to get up from the picnic table, stretch my legs, take a short walk, and enjoy the scenery. Being “in the moment” is just as important to me as the activation itself. Make some time to smell the roses.
73 from Bill KD9TWA
KD9TWA.com 