Tag: Portable Ops

A Tale of Two Parks: Washoe Lake SP and Mason Valley WMA (US-2640 and US-7495)

ruminator2 Comments
This was my setup for the Washoe Lake SP activation, after I discovered I left the station battery behind.

Saturday morning I woke, made coffee, and sat down to collect my thoughts. It was a normal day. Well, it was until I decided there were a couple of tasks I needed to get done. So, I busied myself photographing the Fuji X100V and the X-E2 that were on my list to sell.

Once that task was done and the images reviewed, I wrote the descriptions and listed each camera on fleaBay. I realy do not like to use the service anymore because their fees are excessive. My cost to sell is on the order of 15 percent. But, it is the devil I know so I continue to use them.

That task done, I asked myself what was next. By that time, The Girl had wandered into my workroom, checked in with me, and moved to her daytime mat. I gave her a ruffle of the ears and a shoulder pat and turned back to my work.

“Nope, this is not going to do. We need to get outside.” So I fed her, took her out, and started to gather up a few things. We both needed some outside time and I decided to make a run to Washoe Lake for some air, some exercise, and some radio play.

The rig was basically loaded, so I grabbed a couple of water bottles, her gear, and we loaded up. I grabbed McD’s for lunch and we drove to the park, nibbling on fries as we drove. (Yes, she gets fries…)

At the park, I got her out and we got a short walk in. The wind was down and the Sun felt good. I let her sniff about while I got out my table, chair, and her mat. She stayed in the rig while I deployed the Chameleon MPAS 2.0 antenna with the mil-extension and the mil-whip. I used my hand-built counterpoise set — three wires about 16-feet long that I deploy symmetrically about the antenna. I’m confident I get a better ground plane from multiple wires and it takes only a couple of minutes to deploy them.

I then turned to setup the station and found that I had… wait for it… left the station battery behind. At that point, several thoughts passed through my mind, none of them printable. With the antenna deployed, I could not leave the site to retrieve the battery.

However, I had the Elecraft KX2 shack-in-a-box in the rig. So, I put away my exterior equipment (save the antenna), got the little radio out, connected it to the antenna, and turned it on. It powered right up, so I checked the 20m band but it was busy. So I moved to 15m and found an open frequency. I spotted myself on the POTA.app website and started calling.

I was puzzled that the little rig was putting out only seven watts. I checked the antenna match and power output settings and found nothing. Then, in the middle of a contact, the rig shut down. The battery was depleted.

It took only seconds to retrieve the spare from the rig’s kit. I plugged it in and powered the rig on. In my haste, I had changed frequencies, did not notice, and lost the contact I was working.

So, I paused, took a breath, changed back to my frequency, and found it occupied. “Poop!” I thought (well, kinda-sorta). Frustrated and harried, I searched for an unoccupied frequency, adjusted my log (HAMRS on my iPhone), and edited my spot. I restarted my call, CQ POTA DE AG7TX AR, and started working callers again.

We came up on the close of the day (1600h PST == 0000h UTC), so I took the last call and then cleared the frequency. I powered down the little radio, closed my log, and sat for a minute. What might have been a frustrating experience turned out fine. I had a spare radio that had a good battery. I made about 20 contacts (more than enough to make my activation), solved a couple of problems, and had a good day.

I recovered the station and the antenna and put them away. I got The Girl out of the rig and we took a ten-minute walk around the area we have been working. She sniffed, pulled on the lead to go faster, peed, and pooped — all the doggie things. Her gait is improving and maybe the muscle mass of her left hip is increasing. She limps less and all of that is good.

The day ended well with us heading back to the house for a good evening. I got the KX2 kit from the rig and put it on the charger. Both batteries needed to be charged.

The Yaesu FT-897D station at the end of my Mason Valley activation. I left the microphone in the 897 box. Shot with Sony A7iii and Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 at f/4.

I woke Sunday morning with the time change screwing with my natural rhythm. I made coffee (a substantial habit) and sat down at my desk. There are a few websites I check daily while I have coffee. As I worked through my second mug, I looked out the window and noticed the Sun shining. I checked the weather and we were in for another lovely day. So I checked the radio weather and it looks like propagation would be OK if not good.

I decided to go activate Mason Valley WMA. It is only a bit more than an hour away, is not heavily used (at least the area where I like to play radio), and I have not activated it in a long time (a couple of years). So, if propagation turned out to not be good, it was not a long trip to have spent.

I took The Girl out to eliminate and sniff. Then I fed her before I started preparations to go. (If I do not do things in the proper order, she will not eat.) I checked the KX2 and swapped batteries on the charger. This meant I was not taking the little rig with me. I grabbed a snack, The Girl’s gear, and we headed for the rig.

I started the rig and then realized I did not have a battery for the Yaesu FT-897D. Hmmm… I almost violated the First Rule of the Day… again. Well, for the second day in a row. I retrieved the Bioenno 30Ah battery from its charger in the camper and stowed it in the carry bag in the 4Runner.

Then we headed for McD’s for a breakfast sandwich and another coffee. Provisioned, we headed through town and then east on US 50 while I chatted with Older Son.

The trip was uneventful and I remembered the trail at the park to my preferred operating position. I got The Girl out for a short walk and enjoyed the air and the Sun. Then I put her on her mat and started setting up the station. Again, I used the Chameleon MPAS 2.0 and the Yaesu FT-897D. The radio would not power up. Hmmm…

I checked the connections, but no joy. I thought this odd because I had used the radio only a week ago. I returned to the rig and checked the 897 box. I had a spare power cable. I retried it, swapped it for the cable connected to the radio, and the radio powered up. Hmmm… I thought. That is odd. There was nothing physically apparent from a brief examination. I will need to check it.

With the station setup, I picked up my iPhone to spot myself on the POTA.app website.

“#!#$$#%%#$#!!!” no freakin’ signal. Plus, in my haste, and had not posted an activation on the website. So, I took a drink of water, paused, and decided how to solve the problem. I could a) just start calling and then send my park number as part of the first exchange with a request for a spot or b)drive a half-mile back towards the main road to pick up a cellular signal.

I elected Plan B. So, The Girl and I drove back toward the main road until I got a good signal. I then posted an upcoming activation, and we returned to the OP. I set the radio to an open frequency on the 17m band and started calling (CQ). I was greeted with a caller after a couple of calls and started working stations. At this point I knew that the Reverse Beacon Network would pick up my general calls (CQ POTA DE AG7TX) and then the POTA website robot would scrape by call sign from the RBN. This would keep me spotted so that callers could find me.

The Sun was a little too much, so I moved the rig to shelter the station (and me) a bit. The hatch does a pretty good job of providing shade.

I worked the bands for a couple of hours until the number of callers fell off. My farthest call of the day was an operator in Sweden whom I have worked a number of times. When the upper bands are working, I get calls from Europe and sometimes South America. That is fun.

Satisfied and ready to head back home, I recovered the antenna and station. With the equipment stowed, The Girl and I did another walk. We then loaded up and headed home.

I reflected on the weekend as we drove home. The Fujifilm X100V sold Sunday morning. I knew I would want to pack it and get it prepared to ship Monday. I thought about supper and decided I had not had enchiladas in a long time. There is a Mexican place in the CVS lot on US 50 on the east side of town, but it was closed. So, I started for San Marcus Grill. I called a buddy who has been trying to engage for a shared meal, but he was just taking supper from the oven.

So, I was solo. The Girl would be fine in the rig while I got a bite of supper. I parked in the lot, dropped the windows a bit, and opened the moonroof a bit. She would have plenty of ventilation.

I went inside, was finally seated, and the helper brought chips and salsa. I ordered a Margarita because I have not had one in a very long time. In fact, I have all but given up alcohol since the first of the year. It was not that I felt addicted; but I thought the habit was not my best self and decided to try an experiment wherein I reduced my alcohol intake substantially to see how I feel.

The result is that I have almost no reflux overnight and I think I sleep a little better. So I will maintain the regimen even if I allow myself an occasional Margarita or glass of wine with supper.

I ate most of my enchiladas, so I did not pay the Dog Tax. Forgiven, I drove us home, put the battery on the charger, and fed her. We then settled in for the night. It was a good day.

There were things learned, of course.

  • Be sure to check the punch list.
  • Wait, I do not have a punch list.
  • If I do not leave necessary parts of the station in the rig, then create a punch list… even if it is just a note that I need to get a battery, radio, antenna, etc from storage and put it in the rig.
  • Have a backup plan. On the Saturday outing, I had a QRP radio in the rig and had batteries for it. This saved the activation.
  • On the Sunday outing, I had an Elecraft KX1 and battery in a box in the rig. That was my backup. And, I knew it was there.
  • I did not have a DVM in the rig. I should be sure to have a small toolkit in the rig with a ohm meter for continuity checking. Fortunately, I had a spare power cable so was able to operate.
  • I have a propensity for ad hoc activations. While this is OK it can lead to failures, such as a forgotten battery, no cellular signal for spotting, or other problems from lack of a punch list or moving equipment/items to and from the vehicle.
  • I should spend a few more minutes before leaving the house to post my intended activation, check the kit, and be sure I have everything needed for a daytrip.

As usual, I learned a few things. I hope the lessons stick. It was a good weekend. The weather was good. The Girl is healing, albeit slowly. I played some radio. One of my excess cameras sold (the X100V is still in high demand).

Oh yeah, hat tip to Dickens for my use of his meme.

Life is good. I am grateful.

After completing the Mason Valley WMA activation, I paused to make an image of the site and the Chameleon MPAS antenna. It was a good day. Shot with Sony A7iii and Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 lens at about f/8.

Parks on the Air: Washoe Lake SP, 16-17 February 2025 AAR

ruminator
The Yaesu FT-897D transceiver used for the day’s activation of Washoe Lake State Park. Although a legacy radio, it is still capable.

Sunday morning came gray, threatening rain and wind. I woke late for me, about 0700h, but I felt better than I have in a while. I think I slept better for a couple of nights. That does make a difference.

I had talked to friends about possible activating Prison Hill, a low-point Summit (on the Air) hill that would be my first SOTA activation of 2025. But it was raining at 0800h so I thought maybe not.

I was engrossed in my coffee and in working on my Winlink/Digirig/VARA install on my station computer. After months of no attention, nothing worked anymore. Thank you, Microsoft. It is likely that there were more than one updates that resulted in a reset of the sound settings.

Why do I say this? Well, the settings I remember establishing for the Digirig were gone. I did not change them. No one else has access to the computer. Induct.

But with the help from another ham, who wrote an excellent how-to, the process was relatively straightforward and I had Winlink, the Digirig, and VARA FM talking once again. I was able to exchange email with the local Winlink gateway. It was not long before I had VARA HF talking to the Elecraft K3 and then WSJT-X and JS8Call followed.

So, I made another mug of coffee and some hot cereal for breakfast. That left me at about 0930h and the rain was gone and the Sun was shining. I decided to get out for an outing and maybe play some radio.

The Girl has not been out of the house but for the backyard to eliminate and to the vet for checks since her knee surgery about a month ago. She has asked to go with several times of late. I decided to take her with because she could be with me in the rig while I operated the radio and I could get her out for a little walk without endangering her knee.

Spooner Lake SP was full of tourists and we had enough snow that there was no good place to operate. So, grumpily, we headed back down the hill. I decided to go to Washoe Lake SP and play there.

What I did not know is that the wind was howling through Washoe Valley. The warning signs prohibiting high-profile vehicles were flashing. When we got the our operating point off Bellevue Road, I could barely stand to deploy the antenna.

I elected to use the Chameleon MPAS 2.0 in the vertical mode. I drove the spike well into the wet ground, affixed the counterpoise and matching transformer, then deployed the mil-extension and whip. The antenna leaned about 30-degrees under wind pressure.

I retrieved the Yaesu FT-897D from its case and the support equipment for it. This legacy radio is old, but I have 300Hz and 2.3KHz filters in it and it works very well. Plus there is not a lot of fiddling with cables and such. I also know how to run the rig.

Everything took longer than usual — a factor of the wind and the length of time since I last setup the portable station. But, after about 20 minutes, I had the station assembled and was ready to operate.

So, I said goodbye to Older Son and started hunting other activators. I used HAMRS on my iPhone for logging as well as reading spots from the POTA website. I made a couple of contacts and then started looking for an open frequency on the 20-meter band.

I landed on 14.290MHz in the phone portion of the band and called a couple of times to see if the frequency was in use. In between calls, I started a spot for myself on the POTA website. Hearing nothing, I pressed the spot button and started calling.

It took only a few minutes before the first few calls started coming in. For the first few minutes it was a steady stream, but no pile-up. Then ka-blooey! the frequency blew up and I spent nearly the next three hours working a huge pile-up. Sometimes there were so many calls I could not get even a fragment of a call sign.

I did not move from the frequency or change modes for about three hours. At the end of that time I had 206 contacts in the log. At the end, the calls trailed off. A last call brought a few more. Then the frequency went quiet. I offered my thanks and indicated I was ending my occupation of the frequency (QRT).

I shut down the radio, made a photograph, and then got out and began recovering the station. The wind had abated some so it was not as bad as when I deployed the station. But it was also cooler and the Sun had fallen behind the Sierra.

Once the station was put away, I got The Girl out and we walked around the site. She sniffed, peed, and pooped and had a good time. It is good for her to exercise her leg. She lost a lot of muscle mass from the starboard hip. It will take time for her to recover that.

With that out of the way, I picked her up and put her in the rig. Then I clambered in myself, started it up, and called my buddy in Montana. We both marveled at the run.

As usual, I learned a few things.

  • Deploying a portable station is a skill. I had no problem with the setup. I had everything needed in the rig with me. But, I was not as efficient as normal. That is a lack of practice.
  • When my deployment skills are fresh, I can deploy that station (FT-897 and Chameleon MPAS) in about ten minutes. This deployment took between 20 and 30 minutes.
  • My code skills might be a little slower than they were when I last ran a frequency. But I was still able to copy the callsigns and exchanges at 18wpm.
  • The mental game was pretty challenging. I had so many callers, sometimes five or more at the same time. During some of the busiest periods I could not even get a fragment of a call sign. Fortunately, if I just waited someone would put out their call sign in the clear.
  • That gave me an opportunity to pull one caller off the pile, work him (or her), and then let everyone know I was ready to take another call. (I called QRZ.)
  • The 20m band was hot and had legs. It was unusually busy and I was hearing callers from Southern California and Oregon. Normally those are harder areas to work. Arizona, Washington, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico were LOUD.
  • My noise floor was between S4 and S5, which is quite high for the location. There was some noise on the band. There was also some fading at times.
  • Recovery of the station took a little longer than I wanted. But, I was mentally tired after all that work. It was a good kind of tired.
  • I am well on my way to a second Kilo at Washoe Lake SP. That surprised me.
  • It was a good day, despite the wind. I was shocked at how busy I was.

It was a very good day. I am grateful. Life is good.

Most of the contact map for my activation of Washoe Lake State Park, US-2640.