I left my antenna at home, so had to improvise! Let's build another simple speaker wire antenna...
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ก.ค. 2024
- Click here to read full details about this activation, including all equipment links, at QRPer.com:
qrper.com/2022/05/qrp-pota-at...
Chapters:
0:00:00 Introduction & oops, no antenna!
0:09:54 Making the antenna
0:14:52 Deploying the antenna
0:17:00 Connecting antenna to the KX3
0:19:12 Beginning of activation
0:38:44 QSY to 30 meters
0:59:20 End of activation and pack up
1:04:42 Note about asking permission to activate
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Thanks for watching!
73,
Thomas
K4SWL - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Thanks for the video Thomas, you are the Ham on the Run.
Just picked up a second hand KX2 and I'm lovin it. Also built a K6ARK EFHW antenna to compliment it.
God Bless
73, de Noel W2MSA
A very nice combo you've made there! Thank you for the kind words, OM!
good to see the KX3 again.
I kept waiting for you to talk. I looked up from my PB&J sammich and realized YOU ARE TALKING. CW!
I'm not really much into commenting, but this is more what I really enjoy: field expedience. Thanks for your time and great efforts at reminding us about the fact that antenna theory REALLY is very basic, if you just think about it for a minute. ...as Dave Castler (another TH-camr) says, "most resonant antennas are just some for of a quasi-dipole." Thanks again for your good work -- I enjoy your stuff.
Great Thomas,
Mc Giver antenna ...
I also like wires a lot ... long ago, maybe 15 years, with the yaesu 817 I found myself without any type of antenna ... I had with me only a small cable of about 1 meter on the beach of Gallipoli, Puglia .. .searching on the beach I found some nets with an iron wire inside ... I pulled out one part of the wire and the other I left in the net ... you won't believe it but I connected Madagascar with only 2 watts, an Italian who was there for work ...
the wire was resting on the sand, I listened to it well and tried the connection ... I was amazed by this ...
never doubt the little wire ... it can still be a great antenna ...
Ciao my friend.
73. Giuseppe iz0gzw.
Now that is amazing!!! :)
every time i see you activate a park, it gets me more excited to get to know morse. Thank you Martin PA0KGB
Great activation! I'm glad you found that spool of speaker wire! 73 de Brian - K3ES
Made a wave oscillator from an old 555 timer and spare odds and ends a bit ago. I'm pretty confident I'm ready for my tech test, but jeebuz I've got a lot to learn afterward! 🤘🤠
I had a similar situation when I tried pulling my dipole apart with half of it stuck in a tree. I ended up loading the raingutter on the pavillion, using the cast iron BBQ next to the pavillion as ground.
I made a fairly quick QRP NVIS contact on 40m from Merritt Island, FL to Clearwater, FL. Then I made a fairly quick contact on 20m to Oklahoma.
Hi Thomas
Nice to get you on 2 bands P2P. Always great to work the mentor that got me into POTA
73
Greg. WA3GM
My two favorite radios are by far the KX2 and KX3. I tend to use the KX2 more often because of its size but the KX3 is really sweet. In fact, most of my European contacts have been made on the KX3. Good video!
Hey Tom, I occasionally find the time to activate a local park here for the POTA program but no one does field reports like you Tom! I only wish I had the amount of parks around here that you have at your disposal! I thoroughly enjoy each and every one of your escapades and your blog! 72 Gary KE2YK
TU OM!
Love this. I can study morse all day long but I only get to toss an antenna once a week at best. I’d love to see more of that. Even if you aren’t comfortable being fully on camera. You do grate and know a lot more than I do!
Trust me: I'm not the most knowledgeable ham out there. Not by a long shot. But that's the great thing about amateur radio: you learn as you go along and experiment! :)
That kx3 receiver sounds amazing. Much more quiet than sdr based transceivers. Aka kx2. Maybe the side tone being lower and the rode mic helped that. Thanks for bringing us along and if you ever want to be Daniel Boone , I can make that happen here. 😆 72, w4zxt
I'm looking forward to getting home and chasing. I'll attempt some POTA and maybe SOTA activations when I go to Big Bend NP later this year. I'm finding it helpful to improve my copy by listening to your QSO's. They are slightly predictable of course but the varying speed and "realness" make it useful. 73 DE NE5U
Morning, Thomas.
Nicely done. Improvise, the sign of a true ham Forgot your antenna? Just get a hunk of wire and make one.
Barry, KU3X
Thanks for yet another excellent video. They are all good but I enjoyed learning from this particular one. Super educational for a foundation learner. I can't wait to get on the air and emulate your success .
Very kind of you. Thank you!
You know you have too many radios when you say to yourself, "If I can remember how to do this."
Guilty! The issue with the KX3 is the controls are *almost* like that of the KX2. I'm more familiar with field functions of the KX2 and shack functions of the KX3. :)
I live the tuner in the Kx2 and I am sure its a good in the KX3. They can make a random wire work well.
Could you start another blog about all the different pencils you use? I've been a long time watcher of your channel. I actually own all of the radios that you use though every time I come to your channel, I'm so interested in your handwriting and in your utensil choice!
Ha ha! I'll put this in my ideas box. Yes, I'd be happy to do that. Might take me time to put it together.
Going to be up in the Pisgah National Forest next weekend, going to do my first POTA activation, with the KX3, and LNR trail friendly antenna, most likely going to do the activation from Hawksbill Mountain. Come on up if you can!
I hope you had fun at Hawksbill! I plan to activate it later this summer. Sorry--but I was camping in WV during your visit!
there is always plenty of wire trash scattered around the parks around where i am. found 200+ feet of house power
wire dumped near where i operate and a working microwave oven. stuff people dump these days.😸
Need to be super careful about discarded microwave ovens - if they "leak" microwaves you may end up in a hospital - if you're lucky!
Tom, do you have a blog post that describes the Bluetooth speaker you have for use with the KX3?
I do mention the model I use in this post: qrper.com/2022/01/three-watts-of-pota-power-with-the-mountain-topper-mtr-3b-an-efhw-and-hazel/
You can find them on the used market.
Do you have any recommendations for activating a park that's a couple hundred yards wide and 185 miles long? There could be multiple persons activating this park all at the same time. I'm thinking about doing a bicycle mobile in the C&O Canal National Park. Would the multi-day event all be one activation or separate activations each day when we stop for the night?
If it's one POTA unit (some are considered different units if they span multiple states) you can only activate it once per UTC day. The Blue Ridge Parkway is similar: when you submit the logs you must indicate if you were in NC or VA.
How many watts can you run through that antenna? I have the material and am gonna make one as an "emergency" antenna.
So that 16 gauge wire could handle quite a lot of power. The big limiting factor would be the radio and the ATU's power requirements. All of the work is done by the ATU to find an impedance match. I'm not sure I'd want 100 watts being pushed through that antenna that's directly connected to my radio. You might need to think about RF exposure and what's happening at the feed point. I really couldn't answer that. For QRP power, though, this is fine.
What paddle are you using?🎙🇺🇲👍
It's a NOSA SOTA paddle that is not currently in production. It might be again someday and if so I'll post an update on QRPer.com. More details about this activation are in the field report, if interested: qrper.com/2022/05/qrp-pota-at-fort-dobbs-no-antenna-no-problem/
Great video! What logging software do you use? Thanks for your great videos!!!
he uses HAMRS
Hiltsy is correct: I typically use HAMRS on my phone. If I have my tablet PC, then I use ACLog by N3FJP.
Oh my Lord why is the KXPA 100 soooo expensive , I so want to add it to my KX3 set up but here in New Zealand I could buy a whole base unit that has a built in 100 watt amp for the same price . One day maybe I can afford to import a second hand unit ,,,
The KXPA100 is insanely expensive. I bought mine used--it included the ATU--for $800 a few years ago. I felt like it was a great deal then. Very pleased with it. They are super expensive, though.
@@ThomasK4SWL I read your article when chasing a second hand unit and your words struck home and lit a fire still burning to own one someday, Sounds like you did really well to score that unit as they don't seem to ever come up on Ebay etc Well done sir I am somewhat envious from afar. But know your work and it is in good hands. Regards and 73's from New Zealand