After a long hiatus, I am getting back to my weblog again. Work kept me exceptionally busy over the last few months. Most of my energy went into project work and the writing associated therewith. There was little writing energy left over after all that. What little was left went into my journal, which is also suffering from neglect.

Downtime was spent either building a couple of new antennas or in the field either as a Parks on the Air activator or chasing POTA and Summits on the Air (SOTA) stations.

I built (and revised) a 25-ft random wire for quick deployments. Wayne Burdick, the engineer behind the Elecraft radios, recommends such a wire for quick deployments with their radios.

It is a nonresonant antenna, meaning that is not tuned for any of the amateur radio bands. Therefore, a matching unit (sometimes called an Antenna Tuner — which it does not do, but instead transforms the impedance at the output of the matching unit to the impedance of the antenna or feedline). Burdick recommends using a BNC to binding post adapter directly to the radio. Then there is no feedline loss from the impedance mismatch and Elecraft ATUs can match a wide range of impedance presented to them.

A second wire called a counterpoise is attached to the ground side of the binding post adapter and thrown on the ground. This provides a ground connection that is necessary to complete the antenna. Both wires form the antenna and my last iteration was an adjustment to the counterpoise to use one wire instead of three (which were forever tangled).

I have not tested this configuration with an antenna analyzer. I will one day when I am in the field. But for now, in testing it on the air, it is working just fine.

This afternoon The Girl and I walked our normal route out at Silver Saddle Ranch. I have a bit of a slow day before things get busy again. I checked propagation and the ionosphere is quiet today (although I think there was an X-ray burst earlier in the day that caused a temporary radio blackout). I also noticed a handful of POTA activators were working. So I decided to give myself a few minutes of fun.

I spent a few minutes rearranging some of the radio kit in my 4Runner, then retrieved the 10-m SOTAbeams mast, the KX2, the Pelican case that contains the AME PP2 and Mini-B paddles, and a couple of Voile straps. I settled The Girl in the rig and walked the 10m to my operating point, the gate into the ranch road to the borrow pit and an old block of cottonwood stump.

It took me about ten minutes to deploy the mast, antenna, radio, and key. I used my iPhone to log with the HAMRS app. I spent a few minutes listening for the activators, then when there was a gap in the pileup, I sent my call.

In a bit more than a half-an-hour, I had four contacts in my log. By then it was 1530h local and I knew the kiddos would have all dispersed from school. So my route home would be clear.

It took me another ten minutes or so to tear down the station and pack things up. I paused for a few minutes to make a couple of photographs with my iPhone. I then carried the station back to the rig and we headed home.

It was a good day. Life is good. My dog and I are good together.

I have more to say and some lessons learned over the last few months activating parks for Parks on the Air. I also have more antenna builds to share as well as more stories and photographs.

The last few weekends I spent more time outside with The Girl. My weeks are mostly filled with work, either at the trading desk or at the engineering desk. We do get out everyday for some exercise, but there is always the pressure to return to the home office and get things done.

After working a slew of weekends the last quarter of 2021 and into January of 2022, I am at risk of burnout. So I am gave myself permission to take some time off on the weekends, work on some personal projects, and play. Weekend before last was a little Winter Field Day play. After passing the morning at the house waiting for the air to warm, we spent the afternoons in the hills out east of town. We had some great hikes out there, the old man huffing up the hills with The Girl looking over her shoulder or running back to encourage the old man to huff a little harder.

Then we returned to the rig where I put out an old furniture blanket for The Girl while I setup a radio and either chased SOTA and POTA activators or played search-and-pounce after the Winter Field Day runners.

Last weekend we had a friend accompany us on Saturday. She another ham who loves to hike and especially loves The Girl. The Girl begins wiggling before we even get close to our friend’s place. And then she will greet friend with more intense wiggles and lots of love. We drove out to my new favorite spot, parked the rig, and hiked out two more hills. The overlook from there is spectacular, with view of the Carson Range to the west, Carson Valley to the south, and Carson City to the northwest. We paused at the summit to look around, enjoy the view, and enjoy the sun on us.

We returned to the rig for water and a snack. Then I setup the Elecraft KX3 with a magnetic loop antenna. There were plenty of operators running for the three QSO parties in progress. But I did not want to work that hard, so I looked for POTA and SOTA activators. I saw their spots on my phone and listened for them on their spotted frequency. I logged four contacts Saturday. On completing each exchange, I offered our friend the key. But she declined, not feeling quite ready to take to the air.

We had a bit of an adventure on the way home, though. I violated the “first rule of the day” and went north, forgetting I was on the third peak and not the second. It was only about a hundred yards when I realized I was not on the trail I came up and that this one was steeper and more narrow than I preferred.

After a couple of failed attempts to back up the trail, I managed to get mostly turned around. But the ass-end of the rig was still too far off the trail to get squared away. So I stepped out to survey the situation, saw that I was still making progress, and returned to the cabin of the vehicle.

After a couple more tries, I got close enough that I was able to back down the trail about 20 feet. I made a run at the snowfield and made it about halfway. I backed up and made another run and got about three-quarters of the way. The third attempt I made it 90 percent, but had enough traction to continue crawling until the right front hit soil and drug us out of the snow.

It was then easy going back to the correct trail. I was not looking forward to calling another friend for help and having to eat crow.

The Girl and I returned Sunday about noon for more outside time. I parked the rig and we got out to walk to the site of our previous day’s experience so I could make a couple of photographs. Then we turned south and climbed the same route as Saturday. A group of off-road bikers passed us on the way up to the summit in two parts. I saw the first group peel off the trail to some single-track and then turn back south. The second group stopped near where the first dropped over the edge of the ridge, but did not see where their compatriots had gone. One rider returned to our location and to the summit. He then turned around and coasted a bit, calling “Sorry buddy for driving past so many times. I lost the rest of the group.”

“No worries!” I called back. The Girl and I finished our ascent and paused at the top, as I like to do. I heard dirt bikes approach as we headed back down. We walked up to them paused on the slope, chatting. One called to The Girl “here buddy!” and she immediately responded.

I chatted with them a couple of minutes and then we parted ways, The Girl and I returning to the rig. There I setup my table and the KX3, but this time chose a different antenna I wanted to test. The Girl relaxed on her mat while I played a little radio. Again I was chasing SOTA and POTA activators, not wanting to work so hard working the QSO parties.

About mid-afternoon I put everything away, tired, a little cool, and ready to be home for the rest of the day. We crawled back down off the hill and toward the house, listening to some chatter on the local repeaters as we moved.

In the end, it was another good day. I came away with some contacts, knowledge of the antenna under testing, and a couple of nice images. Below is an example of why I love the west and why I love being in the mountains.

Life is good. I am grateful.

Work is keeping me busy these days. So, I was not able to make the usual excursion to a remote site in central Nevada. I also did not have time to make a plan for when, where, or how I was going to setup a portable station and operate, if even for a few hours.

Therefore, when Saturday morning arrived, I had only a notion that I would drive up to one of my usual operating points in the Pinion Hills/Pine Nut Mountains, setup one of my portable radios, choose an antenna, and see if I could hear any stations. I knew that The Girl and I both needed a walk/hike as well. So I thought that the higher location I often use would be a good place. There is not much traffic, I could setup just over the hilltop where I might have a little shelter from a northerly wind and get some sun exposure, and there is an old juniper stub that I can strap an antenna mast to.

So, I loaded a few things into the rig, got The Girl fed, added some water and a snack to the mix, and we headed out. As we turned up the road to the public lands, I noticed there was not a lot of activity in the area. That meant it would be quiet on the trail.

The trip up to the OP was easy, as usual. The road has not changed much since the last time we were up here. I realized I should drive up here more often on the weekends because there are so many more people out at Silver Saddle Ranch, where we usually walk on the weekends. I prefer to encounter as few two- and four-legged others as I can. In part, that is because I am not very social and in part because there are so many with bad behaviors in the latter.

There are rarely others out in the area where I like to operate. It even occurred to me that if I had a hot-tent, I could camp at the next hill up. I am confident the 4Runner would make it up there with no problem. However, I am just as confident that I could not get the camper up there.

After parking the rig, The Girl and I got out for a hike to warm up and let her burn off some energy. I paused at the overlook to make an image of Carson City, with the Carson Range and Slide Mountain in the background. I love the view from this place. We turned south and climbed part of the hill while I chatted with Older Son. I saw tracks from what was probably a pickup truck on the trail. It was clear they were made when the soil was wet and the drive had slid off into the rut. I saw where the vehicle drug but did not high-center. It looks like it can get pretty sloppy on this trail if it is wet.

Fact noted…

On return to the rig, I started setting up the station. I decided to use a home-built doublet for the antenna. It is a non-resonant antenna that I feed with open wire (not coaxial cable). Older Son and I built this antenna a couple of years ago with some THHN wire I had in the garage and some electric fence standoffs I purchased.

I put a 4:1 BALUN at the end of the open feedline so I can reduce the impedance (by a factor of four) and run a short length of coax to the station. Deploying the antenna took me about 15 minutes.

I initially thought to use a new linear amplifier I bought for portable operations, but after fiddling with it for a few minutes, I realized I need more time with the equipment to become familiar with it. So I retrieved the other amplifier (the KXPA100 matched to my Elecraft KX3 transceiver) and used it for the deployment. I connected a Microsoft Surface Go 2 to the radio for logging. This little computer is nearly a perfect logging machine for these kinds of deployments. It is also easy to power from the station battery.

I briefly considered deploying a second antenna. But, I decided I would operate for only a couple of hours so elected to use just the doublet.

I sat down at the radio about a half-hour after starting the setup. I checked everything, entered the appropriate data into the logging software, confirmed the computer and radio were communicating, and then started listening for calling stations.

Over the next couple of hours, I worked stations from California to Pennsylvania and Florida. I did not make a lot of contacts, probably about 15 of them. Most of the activity was on the 20m band, but I also worked a station on 15m and heard another who could not hear me. About 1530h local, the 40m band came alive, suddenly. That gave me the opportunity to work a few more stations.

Then I got cold as the sun faded toward the mountains. I knew it was time to tear down the station and head back to the house. I let The Girl out of the rig so she could sniff around a bit as I put away the equipment. We then did a short walk around the top of the hill before climbing back in the the rig (which was warmed up) and heading down the hill.

I learned a few things from this deployment, as I usually do.

• It is possible to do a hasty deployment for a field activity without a lot of planning.
• Such a deployment requires a decent go kit, preferably stored in the vehicle.
• Never take unproven equipment to the field without a backup.
• The backup plan has to be proven equipment or there is a risk of complete failure of the mission.
• A hasty setup can yield a fair number of contacts. I would have had a lot more contacts if I had run a frequency instead of playing search and pounce. I just did not want to work that hard. I wanted a little radio fun for the weekend.
• Part of the Winter Field Day experience is to get out of the house and operate portable in more difficult weather. It was not cold, but it was cool and I got cold by the end of the day.
• A longer deployment would require additional personal equipment than I carried in the 4Runner. But I was fine for the afternoon.

In all, I had some fun, made some contacts, and practiced my Morse Code. All of my contacts were Morse Code. I had a microphone with me, but did not use it.

That was my Winter Field Day 2022 experience. It was good. And then, I was treated to a beautiful view of Carson City and the Carson Range on the way back home.

After working Winter Field Day 2022 on Saturday (post to come), I decided to get out again Sunday for some outdoor time and maybe to run the radio a little.

Much of Sunday morning was spent working on a variety of chores. Besides, it was cold in the morning (maybe 18°F) and I did not want to get myself out in that, much less The Girl. Therefore, about noon we loaded up a couple of things and headed out east from Carson City.

As I expected, the Silver Saddle Ranch parking areas had many vehicles. I was right in my assessment that the open space areas would be busy. So we continued on east then turned east onto Brunswick Canyon Road and then south to where I like to operate portable in the Pinion Hills/Pine Nut Mountains.

I bypassed the first to locations I use to operate and continued south and up to a new location I scouted several times over the last couple of years. I was sure the 4Runner would have little trouble traversing the trail, now that the mud has dried. And, I was correct.

I parked the rig, got my sling pack out, and got The Girl out, who was quite excited. We hiked the trail south through a saddle, a hill, and another saddle to climb the next hill. I think that the 4Runner will traverse this trail, too. There were quad tracks and the trail was wide enough, mostly. There were a couple of icy patches that might be a challenge and a couple of steep sections that might also be a challenge.

I will walk it again another time. It also occurred to me that a quad might be in my future for such outings. I could even add a trailer to the quad to carry camping gear and supplies, should I elect to do some tent camping at these more remote areas.

It was a good hum up the trail to the top of the hill. I paused to drink a little water. The Girl ate snow. Then I made a few images and we headed back north to the rig.

What a gorgeous day it was! The air was cool, in the mid-40°F range. But there was plenty of sun to keep me warm.

Back at the rig I put out some water for The Girl and then setup my portable station. For this outing I used the Elecraft K1 and a random wire antenna strung from a 10m SOTAbeams Travel Mast. Deployment took only a few minutes. I also connected the PowerFilm 30w foldable solar panel to the battery to continue recharging it after using it for WFD.

I made two contacts, one SOTA activator and one POTA activator. I heard a Japan station calling, but decided I did not want a ragchew. So I just listened on the bands for a bit, soaking up some sun while The Girl also sunned herself on the mat I laid out for her.

As the sun fell towards the Carson Range, the breeze come up a little — enough to make me chilly. So, I decided to pack the station and walk a little more. The Girl jumped up to go hunt critters as we walked.

I found a Gadsden Flag on a short poles with a solar-powered lamp a dozens steps from the OP. I stopped to make a few more images and give The Girl a chance to play. Then we headed back down the hill toward home, a big drink of water, kibbles for The Girl and hot chow for me.

What a beautiful day and what a great day. I am grateful.

Not having enough radio play on Sunday, I took along my Elecraft K1 radio on our outing Monday. The weather was nicer than Sunday, plenty warm (warm enough for shirtsleeves).

Again, after our walk, I setup a random wire antenna affixed to the 10m mast. The K1 was easy to setup and I found a place to sit on the ground as my table and chair were not in the rig.

The radio matched the antenna readily and I started hunting for SOTA and POTA activators. I worked five stations over an hour and a half, one of them in Florida, all with seven watts of output.

The mental exercise of copying and sending Morse Code is good for me. It provides an excellent change of pace from my normal work, which is highly analytical.

In addition, I get out of the house with The Girl, we have a good time working (I work her when we walk), and I often talk to Older Son or a friend while I walk.

I still have a lot to learn about the K1. It is a capable radio. It is still possible to find one, but that factory stand is nearly unobtanium. I managed to snag a couple of them.