JSCARC POTA # 28 @ GISP

JSCARC POTA #28 @ Galveston

Scheduling a POTA event always carries risk because of the unpredictable status of Houston’s quick moving weather conditions.  But today was a banner perfect day!  Slight breeze, early morning sunlight, and temperate weather in the low 70’s.  NO BUGS!  A good turnout:  AB4ME, K5KUA, W5OC, AB5SS and KG5URA.

We spaced ourselves out in the open field picnic shelters on the beachside of the park and operated across CW/FT8, and from 40m – 10m.

The setups (the configurations may have changed after I left early):

AB4ME
Xiegu G90 20W SSB
Pac 12 vertical
Homebrew End Fed Linked wire antenna
Carbon fiber mast

K5KUA
Yaesu FT991A FT8 /CW
Various hamstick antennas mounted on tiny tripod

W5OC
Elecraft KX2     5W CW
Sotabeams Bandhopper III
Carbon fiber mast

AB5SS
Elecraft K3S
Pac 12 vertical

KG5URA
Icom IC-705 + Hardrock-50 amp
REZ Recon 40 vertical + Faraday cloth ground

Highlights:

• AB4ME worked 31 QSOs in 30+ minutes with a pileup 20m/SSB using only 20W.
• K5KUA worked Fiji Island on 30m
• AB5SS discovered his new K3S has an auto protection feature that switches in the internal attenuator when RFI (interference) levels get too high
• KG5URA successfully tested using bean bags to hold down the edges of the Faraday cloth in the breeze.  It worked great.

Observations:

• 20m was quiet and great propagation early in the morning before 0800 and throughout the morning.
• Even though we spaced ourselves across the beach tables, we all noticed RFI affecting each other.  The next time we will have to space ourselves out even more between stations.
• The GISP facilities are awesome.  The picnic tables are close to the parking lots, and the restrooms (also closeby) are A++ in cleanliness and modernness, and size.

Soapbox:

AB5SS

I started out trying to make some FT8 contacts but discovered that I had RF on the coax getting into my rig causing the USB serial connection to disconnect from my computer immediately on transmit.  I tested/confirmed this when I got back home with the same result but a clamp-on ferrite core over the coax at the radio solved this problem.  I made a dozen FT8 QSO’s at up to full 100W out to confirm the fix.  

Moving on, I was able to make 14 SSB contacts in 13 minutes before I called it and packed up.  The RF environment was too high and my rig kept automatically engaging the attenuator (ATT) to protect the rigs front-end, making it hard to hear the other stations calling me back.  I tried moving to other bands (17m & 15m) but was getting significant interference from <another station>, no matter what band I tried.  I walked over to say bye to Joe & Jeff, and Jeff was experiencing the same thing on his G90 (on 17m, I think).  Though we were spaced out across the area, it could be we were all just too close to each other.  Or perhaps something is not quite right with <a transmitter’s setting>, and it’s generating distortion?  Possible if the bias is not set correctly on the FETs or if there is an issue with the band filters.

I may not have made a ton of Q’s on Saturday but it was a gorgeous day with perfect temps and a nice breeze off the Gulf.  We’ll be wanting these days for our future POTA outings in a few months 🙂

 

AB4ME I arrived early and got started on 20m, just because that’s what my JPC-12 vertical antenna was set to from when I last used it. The band was open and I logged 31 QSOs in 36 minutes before taking a break to see how everyone else was set up. It was interesting to see the variety of radios and antennas between just the five of us. The 20m band was more up and down as the morning went on so I switched from calling CQ to scanning up and down the band to make some park-to-park contacts. The weather couldn’t have been much better.

 

KG5URA

The weather for this POTA was just like the previous one!  Just beautiful with sunny skies and a light cool breeze.  I was using my new RES Recon 40 set on a faraday pad weighted down with bean bags.  I used a 5 lb dumbbell as a weight to secure the antenna.  Once I got everything set up I started out on CW mode but that quickly changed around 9:00 due to floor the noise coming and going.  I tried using my headphones but they only have one side and that failed to give me the silence I needed to decipher code.  I switched over to SSB on 20m.  

The bands were odd.  Kept getting noise in the midst of a QSO and had to catch the caller during the calm breaks.  The process worked most of the time and I ended up with 27 contacts by 11:30.  Many of the contacts were complaining about the odd band conditions so it apparently wasn’t limited to our location.  I was getting a number of calls from the west making my first contact with someone in Alaska.  I have been trying to contact Alaska for several years.  Only need Montana now to have a WAS.  I was hoping to work Dan KG5PVP but his location is blocked by mountain ranges so will try once he goes to a POTA location that I can reach and complete my WAS.

 

W5OC

Joe K5KUA and I arrived at parking lot at the same time.  During entry, the main gate station was not yet open, as expected.  As instructed previously by a Park Ranger, I needed to fillout the paper forms at the self serve kiosk and tape it to my car window.  Unfortunately,  none of the fill-out-yourself forms were found at the kiosk.  Maybe this was another example of the parks’ recent budget cuts as we’ve seen in the other parks, too. 

Jeff AB4ME beat everyone to the park.  He was already setup and operating while Joe and I unpacked and chose our spots for max separation to avoid RFI. 

Unless I’m sharing my radio with someone else, I’ve enjoyed doing these local POTAs with my easy to setup and lightweight Elecraft KX2.  It’s capable of up to 10W, but I usually keep it at 5W and utilize its internal rechargeable LiFeO4 battery.  I brought along a recently acquired Elecraft AX2 miniature 20m whip antenna, but I forgot to bring a BNC L adapter, so it was never deployed.  This antenna is an interesting compromise antenna that hooks into the KX2 antenna port and then telescopes as a whip attached directly to the radio connector.  It will never be as efficient as a full size antenna, but its novelty and convenience is cool.  I then deployed my trusty old Sotabeam Bandhopper 2 (linked dipole) with my Carbon-6 20′ telescoping mast serving as the apex, while its base was attached to a nearby water faucet pipe with a couple plastic ropes.

My 20m CW 5W logbook filled up nicely over the next half hour and attained 14 QSOs to exceed the rules of a certified activation.  After visiting the other guys for a few minutes, I thought I’d mess around on SSB.  I dialed down my power to 1W hoping to QSO with Jeff AB4ME who was roaming the 20m bands.  Instead, I found a couple of other loud stations and gave them a call.  Wow, I worked an Oklahoma and a Kentucky station using 1W on 20m SSB.  That was my highlight of the day.  The next time maybe I’ll experiment with QRPp levels under 1 W.  I packed it up early since I had a long drive to College Station later this morning.  Thanks to everyone for a fun, bug-free, and collegial time.

 

Joe K5KUA