Posts Tagged ‘NPOTA’
It was an NPOTA weekend …..
April 18th, 2016 | 
Author: I worked about 5 or 6 new entities between Friday night and Saturday, so I am getting really close to my personal goal of working 100. The bands have been good the past couple of days, after totally stinking during the middle of the week, so that was a good thing.
I have lived relatively near Morristown National Historical Park my entire life. I think I've been there once before NPOTA. Yesterday, I decided to take Marianne and our dog, Harold up there for the afternoon, as dogs are welcome there. It was a beautiful Spring day, Marianne had an extremely rare Saturday off; and I wanted to do something with her. It seemed like a good opportunity to enjoy the gorgeous weather, walk the dog and get some good exercise in for ourselves. It's because of NPOTA that I discovered that dogs are welcome there. If I didn't see that while I was up there, activating the park, I wouldn't have known otherwise.
Much to our surprise, when we got there, we found out that a Revolutionary War re-enactment was taking place:
The highlight of the day was when one of the re-enactors came up to me and tapped me on the shoulder. He pointed to the American flag that is embroidered on the left sleeve of my jacket and he said to me, "Kind sir, a question, please. It appears that you have a United States flag on your coat; and yet there are so many stars? Certainly more than 13!"
I answered, "It's a long and sometimes bloody story, and I don't think we have time to go through it all, but I would like to thank you and your fellow soldiers for giving birth to the finest Nation on Earth."
He chuckled, and I chuckled at our impromptu time travelling scenario. In the end, it was great NPOTA day, even though this one didn't involve Amateur Radio. So hats off to the ARRL for reminding me about some of the really cool places that there are to visit around my QTH.
In the evening, I decided that I would go out early Sunday morning to activate Sandy Hook, which is part of the Gateway National Recreational Area - RC08.
I used the Jackite pole and my homebrew mast holder and the PAR END FEDZ 40/20/10. In a little over an hour, I made over 40 contacts on 40 and 20 Meters. Bext DX was Alberta, Saskatchewan and California. Not bad for 5 Watts, and if at all possible, the PAR will be my preferred antenna for future activations.
I would have stayed longer, but I had somewhere to go with my daughter Cara, so I made due with the time I had. It was a bit brisk while I was there, but it was sunny and clear. If you click on the bottom photo, you just might be able to make out the New York City skyline in the distance, on the horizon.
Sandy Hook was my third activation, and I hope to do at least two more in New Jersey - the Pinelands and the Appalachain Trail in the Northwest part of the state. When we go up to Lake George this Summer, I also hope to spend one day at Saratoga and activate HP42 while I'm in the neighborhood.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
HF Email From The Mobile?
Last summer when we were camping in the national parks, there were many campsites where we had no cell phone service. I am not complaining about that, but our work around to communicate back home to the XYL often required a trip to the pay phone (sometimes hard to find). I thought about perhaps using APRS’s capability of relaying short pieces of text as emails. Part of the problem is that there are many areas of the parks that don’t have any APRS digipeater coverage (Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks for example). How to get a message through?
Then I remembered my MARS station (AEN5AC) in Iraq. I was using an ICOM IC-7000 and an SCS PTC-IIusb modem to pass MARSGRAMS from my location north of Baghdad to another station at the US embassy in Qatar. The pairing worked quite well and I was consistently able to connect and pass traffic using PACTOR 3 at the 1400 baud rate. Could I use a similar setup to provide an HF email option while camping this summer?
I dug out my SCS PTC-IIusb modem. I had not used it since shutting down the MARS station in June of 2008. Everything was still in the box. To include the cables necessary to interface the modem with an ICOM IC-706MKIIG… the same rig I use for HF mobile.
I pulled out my spare IC-706MKIIG. Coming back to Kansas from Field Day in California back in 2009, my IC-706MKIIG quit on me. I ended up buying a second at the HRO in Denver and sent the broke one to ICOM. ICOM fixed it and returned it. I kept it in the box and it went back on the shelf. I did order a 6 pin Molex connector with powerpoles to allow for an easy power connection (#9). I connected the two cables from the modem to the rig. Once cable is for the data and plugs into the 706’s 13 pin accessory connection (#4). The other cable connects to the 706’s CI-V interface (#6) to have the radio change frequencies based on what station is being contacted.
I had the basic hardware of a HF email station, except for a computer. I would need one that would function out of the vehicle. This would probably require a laptop. I also decided for the ease of simplicity that the computer should be Windows driven (instead of Linux). Gasp! The bottom line is that the software and drivers required to send email via HF and use the SCS PTC-IIusb modem is Windows based. The answer ended up being an Dell XPS 15.
Using a Windows based computer helped me with a number of summer travel tasks that could not be accomplished by my small Linux laptop:
(1) Run the software required for HF email (more on Winlink and Airmail later)
(2) Run ARRL’s TravelPlus for Repeaters
(3) Run RT Systems radio programming software for my TM-D710A
(4) Run RT Systems radio programming software for my VX-8RGs
(5) Read the SD card from my Canon digital camera
Interestingly enough, the new laptop does not have a CD/DVD drive nor an RJ-45 connection for a LAN cable. Neither of these have been a show stopper yet.
ARRL’s TravelPlus for Repeaters
I had purchased TravelPlus for Repeaters with the intent of installing it on my existing Linux laptop and running it under a VirtualBox Windows session (similar to how I run iTunes on my Linux laptop). However the software failed to install. I tried troubleshooting and looking at suggested fixes found on the forum sites but still had no luck. I tried installing TravelPlus using WINE. It installed but would not run as well.
Dell XPS 15 to the rescue. As the laptop does not have a CD/DVD drive, I copied the drive onto network storage. I then was able to install TravelPlus over the network and it is working without issue.
RT Systems Programming Software
The RT Systems programming software works fine under a VirtualBox Windows session. As I was moving all my vehicle related radio/computer tasks to the new Windows laptop, I attempted to install the programming software for the TM-D710A (used for beaconing the location of my vehicle and talking on VHF/UHF). Following a similar procedure that worked for TravelPlus, I copied the programming software from the install disks to a network drive. The software installation for the TM-D710A worked without a hitch. The software for the VX-8RGs (HTs we use for around camp and hiking) failed to load. The error said that I must use the original disk to install. A big challenge when the laptop doesn’t have a CD/DVD drive. The work around is that you find another Windows computer with a CD drive, load the software CD, then back on the driveless laptop, map the CD drive (like you would map a network drive). That worked and I was able to install the programing software for the VX-8GR.
HF Email Software
There are two main choices for software to allow for HF email: RMS Express and Airmail. I installed both. Airmail was the same program I used in Iraq and it offered easy configuration with the IC-706MKIIG and the SCS PTC-IIusb.
I now had all my equipment for a test run setup in my basement hamshack: spare IC-706MKIIG, SCS PTC-IIusb, and the Dell XPS 15 with Airmail. I connected the IC-706MKIIG to my Elecraft tuner and used my existing G5RV antenna. Airmail configures easily. The software has a list of stations offering mailbox services that can be viewed on a propagation chart by frequency and distance. Based on time of day, I selected a station in Texas that offered a 40M PACTOR 3 connection. Airmail allows me to click on the frequency in the propagation chart which then changes the dial frequency of the radio. After listening to see if there were any ongoing connections, I initiated contact. The modem lights flashed and the rig clicked between transmit and receive. The connection was made and I was able to send a test email as well as a position report.
Success! The position reports that go into the Winlink system are copied over into APRS. Now, even if I am not able to reach a digipeater with my VHF APRS beacon, I can send a position report over HF to let the XYL know where we are.
I then thought about the steps I would have to take of transitioning my IC-706MKIIG configured for HF mobile to be ready to work with the PTC-IIusb to send email. As the remote head is located up near the drivers seat, this would present problems with being able to observe the modem, laptop, and radio control head all at the same time.
What if I just dedicated the spare IC-706MKIIG rig to the task of HF email? It would save me time and bother in pulling and plugging cables. It would also give the camping option of being able to operate HF from outside the vehicle.
Using an additional iPortable box, I rack mounted the spare IC-706MKIIG and the SCS PTC-IIusb. Now I will have a spare HF rig with me, so if one goes out I will still be operational. I also attached the Tarheel screwdriver antenna’s rocker switch to raise and lower the antenna on the side of the box. During normal HF mobile operations, the TurboTuner (connected to the other IC-706’s tuner connection and CI-V connection) manages achieving a correct match between the operating frequency and the screwdriver antenna.
I only have the one TurboTuner. The TurboTuner requires a connection to the CI-V. So does the SCS PTC-IIusb. My solution was to leave the TurboTuner alone. Instead, using the rocker switch, I can manually tune the antenna while visually observing the 706’s SWR meter.
To transition between using the 706 dedicated to HF mobile to the 706 now dedicated to HF email, I have to do the following:
(1) disconnect the antenna feedline from the TurboTuner
(2) disconnect the control line that goes from the TurboTuner to the Tarheel screwdriver antenna
(3) connect the antenna feedline directly to the HF email 706
(4) connect the control line to the rocker switch
(5) connect the laptop to the SCS PTC-IIusb via a USB cable
(6) connect the iPortable’s powerpole connection to the junction box in the back of the vehicle
… then I am ready to go. The iPortable box rests nicely on the vehicle’s tailgate, next to the laptop. All at about lawn chair height. Not only can I use this setup to send email via HF, but I can also use it for causal National Parks On The Air contacts as well.
What’s left to do:
(1) Constant cooling fan modification for both IC-706s (see AD5X’s article)
(2) An extended control cable for the Tarheel screwdriver antenna. This will allow me to further remote away from the vehicle, but still use the antenna.
(3) A length of antenna feedline for remoting.
(4) A length of powerpole-ready powerline to attach to either the travel trailer battery or directly to the spare vehicle battery… again for remoting away from the vehicle.
(5) I have a set of Heil headsets that worked with my IC-7000. I think if I get the AD-1ICM, I should be able to use them with the 706.
(6) A Heil HS-2 hand PTT switch to use with the headset.
I had hoped for better results
I got to the park on time, right before Noon (1600 UTC). I allowed my TomTom GPS unit to bring me up to Jockey Hollow via a new route which I had never taken before. This brought me up through the Great Dismal Swamp, which is designated as a National Wildlife Refuge. It is truly a beautiful area and as I was driving through, I could see herons and egrets and all sorts of birds in the marshes. Seeing that the Great Dismal Swamp is designated as a National Wildlife Refuge, I was wondering why it's not listed as one of the NPOTA WR entities. A little Googling revealed that the Swamp is administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and not the National Parks Service. That's a shame because that would be a really beautiful area to set up a portable operation from.
Anyway, I got to the Park and got set up, which by now, only takes me a few minutes. After so many lunch time QRP sessions, I could do this in my sleep, or with my eyes shut.
Since I was planning on operating some SSB in case there was a lack of activity, I brought along my big, heavy Werker deep cycle battery. I figured that this way, I could operate for an extended period of time at the 10 Watt SSB level if I needed to. And boy, did it turn out that I needed to!
The first thing I did after setting up was tune to around 14.061 MHz - the neighborhood of the QRP Watering Hole. I was shocked by what I heard - wall to wall CW signals! There was literally nowhere to sit where there wasn't a station calling "CQ TEST". I didn't realize that today was the RUDX, the Russian DX Contest - and boy, it filled the band!
I went on up to 17 Meters and heard some Europeans that were very loud. Knowing that meant the band was wide open, I easily found a clear spot at 18.082 MHz and proceeded to call "CQ NPOTA". The band was wide open, but as it turned out, there wasn't much if any activity. I worked K0IG right off the bat and then ...... nothing.
Not wanting to waste too much time, I got out of the Jeep and switched from the Buddistick to my 40 Meter Hamstick. I went down to 7.037 MHz, called CQ and was greeted by the normal NPOTA pileup. I was stoked and began to work station after station. The only bad thing was that the initial pileup lasted for only a few minutes, and then I began the monotonous routine of calling "CQ NPOTA" and waiting minutes in between answers.
Getting bored, I decided to give 20 Meters another try. Off came the Hamstick and up went the Buddistick. I called CQ for a bit and got a couple of QSO completed on 14.060 MHz, but it was tough. The stations calling me were loud, but their calls were being blanketed by even louder DX stations. Those guys had to be using mondo power. How much do they allow over in Europe, anyway?
Sitting there, disappointed as heck, I was ready to pack it in and head home a bit early. Then an inspiration occurred that maybe I should give 20 Meter SSB a whirl. Even though I'm not an avid fan of SSB, I decided to give it a shot. I was rewarded with a small run of about a dozen stations before that too, ended up petering out.
I had gone up to HP28 with a spiral notebook, thinking I would fill pages with call signs. After all, my outing to TR23 in January netted me over 80 QSOs. For some reason. I was thinking I would break that record easily. Just the opposite happened! I ended up with only 27 QSOs - but you know what? I discovered that a bad day of Amateur Radio is STILL better than a good day at work. So I'm a happy camper, anyway.
This only gives me more incentive to go back up to HP28 later this year, but this time throw a wire into a tree. I know that's kind of verboten, and on Facebook, someone actually related how they were asked to leave a park the other day for doing that. With that in mind, just before I left, I went to the visitor center and explained that I was an Amateur Radio operator and what NPOTA was (she knew what it was, by the way) and asked if there was any prohibition about wires in trees. She said as long as it was temporary, and would cause no damage and would not interfere with anyone else's visit, that they were OK with it.
So when I got back to the car, just for the heck of it, I attempted to launch a line over a limb just to see how it would go. 30 plus feet on the first try.
I'll be back, Jockey Hollow!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
I had hoped for better results
I got to the park on time, right before Noon (1600 UTC). I allowed my TomTom GPS unit to bring me up to Jockey Hollow via a new route which I had never taken before. This brought me up through the Great Dismal Swamp, which is designated as a National Wildlife Refuge. It is truly a beautiful area and as I was driving through, I could see herons and egrets and all sorts of birds in the marshes. Seeing that the Great Dismal Swamp is designated as a National Wildlife Refuge, I was wondering why it's not listed as one of the NPOTA WR entities. A little Googling revealed that the Swamp is administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and not the National Parks Service. That's a shame because that would be a really beautiful area to set up a portable operation from.
Anyway, I got to the Park and got set up, which by now, only takes me a few minutes. After so many lunch time QRP sessions, I could do this in my sleep, or with my eyes shut.
Since I was planning on operating some SSB in case there was a lack of activity, I brought along my big, heavy Werker deep cycle battery. I figured that this way, I could operate for an extended period of time at the 10 Watt SSB level if I needed to. And boy, did it turn out that I needed to!
The first thing I did after setting up was tune to around 14.061 MHz - the neighborhood of the QRP Watering Hole. I was shocked by what I heard - wall to wall CW signals! There was literally nowhere to sit where there wasn't a station calling "CQ TEST". I didn't realize that today was the RUDX, the Russian DX Contest - and boy, it filled the band!
I went on up to 17 Meters and heard some Europeans that were very loud. Knowing that meant the band was wide open, I easily found a clear spot at 18.082 MHz and proceeded to call "CQ NPOTA". The band was wide open, but as it turned out, there wasn't much if any activity. I worked K0IG right off the bat and then ...... nothing.
Not wanting to waste too much time, I got out of the Jeep and switched from the Buddistick to my 40 Meter Hamstick. I went down to 7.037 MHz, called CQ and was greeted by the normal NPOTA pileup. I was stoked and began to work station after station. The only bad thing was that the initial pileup lasted for only a few minutes, and then I began the monotonous routine of calling "CQ NPOTA" and waiting minutes in between answers.
Getting bored, I decided to give 20 Meters another try. Off came the Hamstick and up went the Buddistick. I called CQ for a bit and got a couple of QSO completed on 14.060 MHz, but it was tough. The stations calling me were loud, but their calls were being blanketed by even louder DX stations. Those guys had to be using mondo power. How much do they allow over in Europe, anyway?
Sitting there, disappointed as heck, I was ready to pack it in and head home a bit early. Then an inspiration occurred that maybe I should give 20 Meter SSB a whirl. Even though I'm not an avid fan of SSB, I decided to give it a shot. I was rewarded with a small run of about a dozen stations before that too, ended up petering out.
I had gone up to HP28 with a spiral notebook, thinking I would fill pages with call signs. After all, my outing to TR23 in January netted me over 80 QSOs. For some reason. I was thinking I would break that record easily. Just the opposite happened! I ended up with only 27 QSOs - but you know what? I discovered that a bad day of Amateur Radio is STILL better than a good day at work. So I'm a happy camper, anyway.
This only gives me more incentive to go back up to HP28 later this year, but this time throw a wire into a tree. I know that's kind of verboten, and on Facebook, someone actually related how they were asked to leave a park the other day for doing that. With that in mind, just before I left, I went to the visitor center and explained that I was an Amateur Radio operator and what NPOTA was (she knew what it was, by the way) and asked if there was any prohibition about wires in trees. She said as long as it was temporary, and would cause no damage and would not interfere with anyone else's visit, that they were OK with it.
So when I got back to the car, just for the heck of it, I attempted to launch a line over a limb just to see how it would go. 30 plus feet on the first try.
I'll be back, Jockey Hollow!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Weather forecast is looking good
The plan is to leave the house somewhere around 11:00 AM (1500 UTC) and be up there and on the air by around 12:00 Noon (1600 UTC). I plan on working 40, 20 and 17 Meters - CW around the QRP watering holes. I'll be packing some water and snacks and hope to stay for three or four hours. I am going to see if I can get the PAR END FEDZ 40/20/10 up in a tree in the parking lot. If not, I'll just rely on the Buddistick for 20 and 17 Meters and a Hamstick for 40 Meters.
Last Saturday, I went to the Cherryville hamfest out in Flemington, NJ which is run by the W2CRA, Cherryville Repeater Association. This was the very first hamfest that I ever went to as a newbie Ham back in 1979, and it's always held a special place for me. Unfortunately, over the years (and especially since the dawn of eBay) the Cherryville hamfest seemed to be on the down slope. Like a lot of hamfests, it suffered from poor attendance, lack of vendors, etc was plaguing it - and seemed to be spiraling towards its death knell.
Happily, between last year and this year, that trend seems to be reversed. Attendance is still nowhere near where it used to be, but it's growing. The number of vendors is still down (but again, growing), and for the most part the really bad junk is gone - and by junk I mean non-ham related garbage. I mean really, who wants to buy a roto-tiller at a hamfest? Sure there's still lots of non-Ham stuff to be seen, but it also seems there are more and more treasures to be found.
I purchased some new SO-239 chassis connectors as well as two old butterfly type variable capacitors that I got for five bucks. The capacitors have long stems on them, so they should be useful in my magnetic loop antenna project. I need to clean them up with some contact cleaner, but some initial testing seems to indicate that they are in the 200 pF range. KJI Electronics was there, and I purchased a Diamond antenna for my VHF/UHF handheld. What a difference when you buy the real brand and not a cheap knock-off!
Before I forget ........ I have a friend who has a "hardly used, very good condition" SGC-2020 QRP radio that he wants to sell. I am not privy to the price. But if you're interested, send an e-mail to [email protected] and I will forward it on to him. He's not looking for eBay type money, but he's not interested in getting taken, either.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Weather forecast is looking good
The plan is to leave the house somewhere around 11:00 AM (1500 UTC) and be up there and on the air by around 12:00 Noon (1600 UTC). I plan on working 40, 20 and 17 Meters - CW around the QRP watering holes. I'll be packing some water and snacks and hope to stay for three or four hours. I am going to see if I can get the PAR END FEDZ 40/20/10 up in a tree in the parking lot. If not, I'll just rely on the Buddistick for 20 and 17 Meters and a Hamstick for 40 Meters.
Last Saturday, I went to the Cherryville hamfest out in Flemington, NJ which is run by the W2CRA, Cherryville Repeater Association. This was the very first hamfest that I ever went to as a newbie Ham back in 1979, and it's always held a special place for me. Unfortunately, over the years (and especially since the dawn of eBay) the Cherryville hamfest seemed to be on the down slope. Like a lot of hamfests, it suffered from poor attendance, lack of vendors, etc was plaguing it - and seemed to be spiraling towards its death knell.
Happily, between last year and this year, that trend seems to be reversed. Attendance is still nowhere near where it used to be, but it's growing. The number of vendors is still down (but again, growing), and for the most part the really bad junk is gone - and by junk I mean non-ham related garbage. I mean really, who wants to buy a roto-tiller at a hamfest? Sure there's still lots of non-Ham stuff to be seen, but it also seems there are more and more treasures to be found.
I purchased some new SO-239 chassis connectors as well as two old butterfly type variable capacitors that I got for five bucks. The capacitors have long stems on them, so they should be useful in my magnetic loop antenna project. I need to clean them up with some contact cleaner, but some initial testing seems to indicate that they are in the 200 pF range. KJI Electronics was there, and I purchased a Diamond antenna for my VHF/UHF handheld. What a difference when you buy the real brand and not a cheap knock-off!
Before I forget ........ I have a friend who has a "hardly used, very good condition" SGC-2020 QRP radio that he wants to sell. I am not privy to the price. But if you're interested, send an e-mail to [email protected] and I will forward it on to him. He's not looking for eBay type money, but he's not interested in getting taken, either.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Thinking
This time I have a hankering to go on up to HP28, Morristown National Historical Park, which actually consists of four different areas:
1) The Ford Mansion
2) Washington's Headquarters Museum
3) Jockey Hollow
4) Fort Nonsense
The best area for operating without causing too much undo commotion to anyone else, is from the parking lot at Jockey Hollow. Jockey Hollow is where the Continental Army wintered in 1779-1780 - a winter which turned out to be way more severe than the previous winter, which has become better known as "The Winter at Valley Forge".
That's where Dave KD2FSI activated HP28 back in January (and where I logged for him as he handled his really first big HF pileup). I noticed some pretty tall trees right next to the parking spots (the parking lot is big), so maybe I can quietly throw my PAR END-FEDZ 40/20/10 into one of them. Of course, the main bands for operating will be 40 and 20 Meters. As is always the case for W2LJ, operations will be primarily CW - but I am thinking of perhaps even doing a little QRP SSB if activity on the CW bands gets lax. I'm not sure if HP28 has been activated via CW. Maybe I can be the first.
This weekend, if I get the time, I would like to finally experiment with building a magnetic loop antenna for 40 - 10 Meters. I have some coax in the basement that's too short for anything else and would serve well, I think. I have a 365pF variable cap that I got from eBay. I have been reading some articles lately and it doesn't look like building a rudimentary loop would be all that difficult. If I have success with it, maybe I can eventually come up with a homebrewed version of the AlexLoop WalkHam model that I can use for portable ops. It might prove to be a viable option when I want to be away from the Jeep, and yet I can't hang an EFHW, or doublet.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
