My Elecraft KH1 5-band handheld transceiver. Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max.
This is not a formal review. There are plenty of those out there in the wild. This article is a bit of my experience in using this little rig in the field. Perhaps someone will find something useful from my experience.
The KH1 was designed by one of my favorite radio engineers, Wayne Burdick of Elecraft. I do not know how long the little rig was in development, but it was released late in 2023. I ordered mine on 20 October 2023, an hour after I learned of its existence. It was delivered in February 2024.
It is a five-band CW mode (Morse Code) ham radio transceiver that is small enough to fit in my hand.
It has an internal battery pack that will run it for hours.
It has a small set of paddles that will store in their socket on the bottom of the radio.
Two knobs on the bottom provide access to volume and VFO and protect the paddles.
There are four small buttons on the front panel that provide access to many regularly used functions.
There is an internal speaker, but the little rig sounds much better with phones.
The rig has an internal log feature.
It will run with a short telescoping whip antenna and a counterpoise affixed to the radio.
There are a lot more features to the KH1 than listed above. But you can induct from that list.
There is a menu system for features/settings not directly settable from the front panel and bottom controls. The menu requires some learning and reading the manual is suggested. (I need to read it again a couple of times.) The manual is well written and complete to the best of my knowledge.
The display is bright and readable in daylight. It is backlit so is readable in low light. The bottom line can display decoded Morse Code if desired.
Deployment of the radio is very quick. The steps are:
Retrieve the radio from its bag (or other storage).
Affix the telescoping whip to its stud and extend it.
Attach the counterpoise and throw it out on the ground. (Or let it droop from the drivers side window of your rig if waiting for your SO to finish shopping.)
Unplug, turn over, and reinsert the paddles into their socket.
Turn on the radio and start operating.
I can have mine running in less than five minutes. It will match 15m, 17m, and 20m easily with the internal loading coil. It will kinda-sorta match 30m with same internal loading coil. The 40m will not match without help. The best I can tell, one can still operate the KH1 on 40 meters as the finals are resilient, but power is reduced.
Right after I received mine, I carried it with me one afternoon when I drove over to Lowe’s to pick up my son from work. While waiting, I deployed the counterpoise, affixed the whip, and was operating the KH1 with the antenna sticking out my slightly open drivers side window. (It was cold.) I chased three POTA activators while waiting the few minutes for my son. Recovery did not take much longer than deployment and we were off for home.
The receiver is very good. I do not have its specs and I do not care. I find that I hear plenty of signals and the three filter levels work well for my style of operating. When chasing activators, I can use a little XIT (transmitter incremental tuning) to move my sidetone away from the pack so the operator can hear me a little better than the others.
Rejection of strong adjacent signals is solid. I expect this from Elecraft radios.
I have used the KH1 to activate several parks for the Parks on the Air program. I am still getting used to the little paddles, but they function well and are adjustable. I use a pilot’s kneeboard to log on paper. I might be able to position my iPhone on the kneeboard and use it for logging as well. But, for now, I am logging on paper.
I also have the Elecraft AX1 and AXE compromise antenna systems. Given that the KH1 already has a loading coil and switch for the 15m, 17m, and 20m bands, the AX1 seems superfluous. However, I mounted the AXE on the antenna stud and affixed the 33ft counterpoise that accompanies the AXE to the KH1 and pressed the ATU button for 7.060MHz. The KH1 buzzed and fidgeted a moment before returning a 1.2 or 1.3 SWR match. This is plenty good enough to operate on 40m.
My KH1 puts out about four watts (indicated) on the 40m band. That is enough.
With the AXE and long counterpoise attached, the KH1 will find a match on the 30m band as well. I flipped the switch to the 15m/17m side and hit the ATU button. I got a 1.1 SWR match.
I removed the AXE but left the long counterpoise attached to my KH1 and the rig will match frequencies on the 15m, 17m, and 20m bands easily with the longer counterpoise. That means all I have to do is remove the AXE from the rig and replace the whip and I can operate on the higher bands. That makes changing bands very fast.
After several POTA activations and a SOTA activation, I really like this little radio. It does everything my KX1 does but adds the 15m and 17m bands, which I find more useful for my field operations. I have other rigs that will do the other bands if I want them.
I have not done much with wire antennas and the KH1 yet. That is an area I need to explore and I will.
I have an unbuilt MTR5b in my inventory that I bought to get 15m in a pack-friendly radio. Now it seems I will not need the 5b.
I really like the Elecraft KH1. I plan to use it a lot this summer. I will also know a lot more about using the rig in a few more months.
I really despise the change to/from Daylight Saving Time. It interrupts my circadian rhythm for no good (to me) reason. Yesterday morning was the date to change to DST. So, my routine was AFU from the beginning.
Nonetheless, I had a couple of things on my list and got to them after I was sufficiently caffeinated, which required substantial caffeine. Older Son was busy with other things, so I went outside and retrieved some materials from the camper. I began rebuilding my end-fed random wire antenna.
I have a substantial amount of the copper-clad steel antenna wire that is quite small (maybe 26ga). It never releases its memory and will twist itself up readily. Witness the number of times I mentioned that in my travels when attempting to deploy that antenna.
I made new elements from the DX10 wire that Callum McCormick uses to build the DX Commander antennas. I bought and took delivery of 200m of the stuff late last week. So, I cut three 34ft pieces of wire and used one to make a sloping EFRW, the second to be the counterpoise (wire on the ground), and the third to be an extension to make the antenna work on the 80m band.
I setup a test antenna using the SOTAbeams Carbon 6 mast and the Elecraft KX2 would match it connected to a cobrahead adapter (direct connection to the radio) on all of the bands but the 12m band. I put a 9:1 Unun (matching transformer) between the wire and the radio and it matched all of the bands from 10m to 40m.
I then added the extension to make an inverted vee shape and then the radio with the 9:1 Unun would match all the bands from 10m to 80m. So, I have a working EFRW.
Then Older Son and I blew out the sunroof drains that were stopped up. I know they were blocked because I had water in the floormats of the 4Runner after a rainy night last week. Indeed, water was blown out of the passenger side drain when compressed air was applied.
I put away all the tools and went indoors to have a bite and take a break. Older Son and I decided to get The Girl out for a walk and a play and so we did.
She loves her ball. We have a lot of good plays with her ball and the thrower.
After walkies, Older Son decided to get in a workout so I elected to take The Girl and go activate a park. I wanted to play with the Elecraft KH1 a bit more as I am still learning the radio.
We drove out to Shelvin Rock Access SCA (K-10221) and I found a place to park. I got out the little radio, the small antenna bag (houses the Elecraft AX1 and AXE antenna plus some support materials), and a pilot’s kneeboard on which to keep my log. I sat on a rock, affixed the AXE to the antenna port and added the 4ft whip. I threw out the 33ft counterpoise and turned on the radio.
I set the rig to the 40m band and listened around 7.060MHz. There were stations either side of the frequency, but none heard there. I called a couple of times for usage but heard nothing. So I started the little radio calling CQ CQ POTA DE AG7TX K (calling any station for a Parks on the Air activation) while I spotted myself on the POTA website.
The little radio had tuned the AXE/whip combination to a very usable SWR (Standing Wave Ratio, a measure of the match of the radio to the antenna with 1:1 being perfect) of 1.2 or 1.3. It was putting out about four watts of power. In only a couple of minutes I started taking calls.
I worked several stations before no more callers appeared, so I changed to 10.111MHz on the 30m band and started calling, again letting the radio work while I respotted myself. I worked more stations.
I then rinsed and repeated the process at 14.059MHz on the 20m band. I finally called QRT (I am done and off the frequency) a few minutes before 0000Z (when the day changes), closed out my log, and put away the radio. I made 19 contacts in about 45 minutes — not a bad day.
I have a few notes from the outing.
I still have a bit of trouble with the paddles. They are small and need a bit more adjustment after my initial setup.
The AXE works perfectly with the KH1 and its whip antenna. The 40m and 30m bands are quite usable with the AXE screwed to the antenna port and the long counterpoise (33ft).
The Elecraft reflector correspondent who told me that the AXE would not work that way did not know what he was talking about. That is what I thought when I read his response and now I have proved it (again).
There is a bit of art to manual logging and managing this radio. I will need a few more repetitions, I think.
I am thinking that I really like this little radio. It is very handy, quick to deploy and recover, light in a pocket or pack, and has a very good receiver and very good audio (with headphones or earbuds). It is very easy to get it out and have a little radio fun without a big ordeal.
Wayne Burdick and Elecraft have once again outdone themselves with this little rig. It is a field operators friend and will be a lot of fun for POTA, SOTA, or quick operations.
I have activated a couple of parks by sticking the radiator out the window of my 4Runner with the counterpoise thrown on the ground/pavement.
A better application is to use Pro Audio Engineering’s (Howie Hoyt’s) bracket clamp to affix the AX1/AXE to something outside and run a short length of coaxial cable through the vehicle’s door seal if the weather is bad. That keeps rain out of the rig.
I had a good day and a fun, short POTA activation to boot. It was a good day. Life is good. I am grateful.
My pack and radio kit for the K-11225 Blue Slip Tower Site activation. Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max.
When I went to bed Thursday night, I was pretty sure that I wanted to get out and activate a park. I had my eye on Blue Slip Tower Site State Conservation Area for a week or so. It was unactivated and I did not have any first activations to my credit.
After dealing with my morning duties and getting some food at Rosie Jo’s Diner, I fed The Girl, gathered up my radio bag and KX2 shack-in-a-bag, and headed out to the rig. I put the location of the park into my iPhone and we headed out. Too late I realized that I had not brought a camera with me. But, there is always the camera in my iPhone.
The drive out took about an hour. I had posted my activation so hunters would know I would be there. I was not sure if I would have mobile phone service, but should not have been. There are two cell towers on the hilltop as well as the fire watch tower.
When I arrived at the site, the gate was closed but not locked. It was posted, though, that unauthorized vehicles were not allowed on the access road. There was not a no trespassing sign, however. There should not be — it is public land and a conservation area open to hunting.
The Girl on Overwatch. Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max.I got The Girl out the rig, put my radio and antenna bags into my pack, and grabbed the SOTAbeams 10m Travel Mast from the back of the rig. It was a bit of a struggle to keep her out of the mud, but she complied.
The hump up the access road to the top of the hill was neither long nor too taxing. It was a nice climb through the woodlot with a lot of birds calling just ahead of us. The Girl kept an eye open for the dreaded bushytail, not wanting to let one sneak up on us. She also kept an eye on me, I noticed. I had to call her back in a couple of times because she tends to range out a 75 meters if I do not keep her reeled in.
The fire watch tower at Blue Slip Tower Site. Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max.As mentioned above, I needed not worry about mobile phone signal because there are two cell towers on top of the hill. I had a good signal. I was tempted to climb the fire watch tower and operate near the top, but I worried that Sera might not pay attention and fall. So, I elected to sit on one of the footings and use the structure to support my antenna.
Although the wire is not visible, the SOTAbeams 10m Travel Mast that supports it certainly is. I affixed the mast to the tower leg. The antenna is an end-fed random wire about 28ft long. Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max.It did not take long to deploy the antenna. I considered using the end-fed half-wave for this activation, but decided that the slightly shorter end-fed random wire fit the setting better. I used a cobrahead (binding post adapter) affixed directly to the Electaft KX2 and threw the counterpoise wire out in the grass.
I fastened my kneeboard to my leg and set the rig on it. I grabbed a spare battery (lesson learned) and set it behind the little rig. The Girl settled into a spot in the grass to keep overwatch. I tuned the radio to the 30m band and selected 10.111MHz as my operating frequency. After listening a couple of minutes, I sent QRL? (is the frequency in use) and listened. I sent it again and listened again.
Nothing heard, so I set the radio to call CQ POTA DE AG7TX K and repeat while I opened the web browser on my iPhone and posted my spot. After a few cycles I checked the Reverse Beacon Network (again on my iPhone) and noticed that one of the spotting stations heard me. I knew I was getting out.
About that time the first call came in and I began working stations. The 30m band actually produced quite a few contacts, especially given I was running QRP (5 watts; low power). I worked stations to the east, mostly.
In the middle of my operation, a rancher drove up in his truck. “Did you see a cow come up here?” he called.
“Nope, nothing here.” I pointed out he had something hung under the passenger side of his rig so he got out to clear it. I sent AS AS (stand by) and chatted for just a few seconds before wishing him luck finding his missing cow. I then returned my attention to the radio as he drove off down the hill.
My Elecraft KX2 deployed on my kneeboard and ready to rock and roll. Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max.When that fishing hole was fished out, I moved to the 20m band and repeated the process. Twenty meters provided a lot more action and I worked a pretty good pileup until the calls thinned out. By that time I had about 30 calls in my log, so my activation was made. The skies were quite gray and I had missed some rain by only a few minutes. I really thought it might rain again.
I elected to move up to the 17m band, found an open frequency, and called a few times. Seventeen meters was quite a bit more noisy that the previous two bands. I figured I might take a call or two and then call it a day. I was starting to get cold and was ready for some food. I worked a couple of stations and then called QRT and shut off the radio.
In the end, I collected about 30 contacts and one DX station in Italy. It was a good day.
It did not take long to recover the station. The Girl and I enjoyed the walk back down the hill. The gate was open, so I left it. I was taught to leave gates in the condition I found them.
As I loaded The Girl and my kit into my rig, the rancher drove up.
“Did you find your cow?”
“Yes! She was stuck between two trees and calving! I managed to get the calf out, but now I need to get a chainsaw to free the cow.”
“Good luck!” I called and watched him hurry off to his place to get the tools needed to free his cow. It reminded me of the so many times I worked around the farm when I was a young man. Those are good memories. It was good work.
On the way home I stopped a Hucklebuck BBQ for a bite. The place is billed as the best BBQ around. They were not kidding — the brisket is the best I have had since I left Texas. I left warm and full and even brought the dog tax to The Girl.
I do not have a long list of lessons learned from this expedition. There were things I might have done differently, but they were not big changes. This one was pretty routine.
The contact map from my activation of K-10214, Niangua SCA.
Wednesday morning I knew that I would have a hydraulic model running for several hours later in the day. After a couple of test runs, I started the first full run and sat at the computer for a few minutes, watching for an error/warning and listening to the fans run.
That was not going to do. So I looked at the POTA.app map to see what nearby parks I have not yet activated. I found a small conservation area (Niangua State Conservation Area, K-10214) about 45-minutes out and decided that would do. The sun had come out and I wanted to be outdoors.
I got The Girl ready and we walked out normal loop. I stuffed her into the rig while I went upstairs to retrieve my radio bag. Then we were off.
I called my buddy Dick on the way and we chatted about radio stuff until I got near where I thought I should exit the Interstate (dead reckoning). I pulled off the highway and looked at the map on my iPhone. My intuition was correct — I had exited on my turn instinctively.
So we drove the few short miles to the parking area, where I parked the rig and got out to survey. I decided to pull the rig forward a few feet and deploy the drive-on mast mount. I then retrieved the antenna bag from the back of the rig and the SOTAbeams 10m travel mast. I selected my end-fed half-wave antenna from the kit and the matching transformer.
This was my operating position and station for the K-10214 activation. The KX2 is a great radio and the Begali Traveller key outstanding.The radio was the Elecraft KX2 barefoot and I affixed the matching unit directly to the radio. I draped a short counterpoise wire off the front of the rig and connected it to the radio. I thought about using the factory paddles, but decided that I wanted the better feel of the Begali Traveller set.
Setup time was about 20-minutes, with some of that spent hunting the antenna bag in the back of the rig. Hmmmph…
I listened on the 10m band for a few minutes and checked the spots. One other activator was working 10m. So I decided to try. I picked a frequency, called QRL (is the frequency in use?), and listened. Nothing heard, so I punched the memory button and started calling while I spotted myself on the Internet.
After calling a few minutes there was no response. The 10m band was not open (for me). I listened for a couple of minutes on the 12m band and heard other stations operating, but every time I picked a frequency someone started calling.
“?#%@$# that” I thought, “I’ll just move to 15m.” So, I did.
I setup near the 21.060 QRP (low power) watering hole, listened, called QRL? again, and started calling while I respotted myself on the Internet.
In just a couple of minutes the callers started trickling in. What followed was about 1.75 hours of working stations. The 15m band provided a few contacts, then the 17m band filled out my quota. I worked both until I fished each hole dry.
Then I switched to the 20m band. I then spent the next hour working an almost steady pile-up of callers. About five minutes into the 20m band, my KX2 suddenly turned itself off. It would not restart.
“Battery died!” I thought. I dashed to the drivers side of my rig and grabbed the spare KX2 battery. I dashed back to the radio and plugged in the spare. I turned the radio back on and finished working my buddy Dick (he was the contact I was working when the battery died).
“K7ULM? BAT DIED” I sent. He repeated his exchange and I logged the contact.
I had noticed that the KX2 was only putting out about 5-6 watts although I had it set for 10 watts. The battery was running low and I did not realize it. Fortunately I had a ready spare and it took only a few seconds to grab it and be running again.
I was logging on my iPhone (HAMRS), which works for me when I am in the field. I saw a text message banner pass at the top of the screen. It was my buddy Dick who said “20m is not working very well today…”
The drive-on mast mount was made by a maker friend, Tim W7ASY. I used the 10m SOTAbeams Travel Mast to deploy my 40m end-fed half-wave antenna for this activation.“Ha!” I thought, funny guy.
The contact counter on my logging software said I had more than 65 contacts. I had worked through the pile-up, catching a fragment of a call or getting lucky when an operator called in the clear (between jumbles). My brain was pretty fried after working on the hydraulic model and then a number of big pile-ups.
I decided i had enough. The frequency was quiet — no callers. I sent DE AG7TX QRT SK (my call sign and I am signing off). Another caller appeared, so I worked that operator. (He was loud; it was an easy exchange.) I sent QRT again and turned off the radio.
I finished with 68 contacts in the log. I was the sixth activator of the park and the first code activator. Of course, there were lessons learned:
The end-fed half-wave is a much better antenna than the AX1/AXE. Of course I knew that, but fast deployments have been a thing for me lately. I had the room for this activation and took advantage of a superior antenna.
I thought the battery in the KX2 was in better shape. I thought that it was charging or at least not being used because I had used an external battery for the previous activations. I was wrong.
The lesson is to always check battery state of charge before going to the field.
Always have a spare battery handy. Things go bad.
Working a big pile-up is part of the fun of radio. Park activations provide that opportunity. But it is hard brain work and requires focus.
Expect to be tired after a park or summit activation. I was.
It was a good day. I chatted with Dick on my way home. I had 68 contacts in the log over an hour and three quarters. When I arrived home, Older Son was going through his workout. We went to supper after he finished and cleaned up.
I then showered and readied myself for bed. As I wrote, it was a good day. I am grateful. Life is good.
This is my portable digital radio station, as it is as of Sunday morning. I have Winlink Express, WSJTX, and JS8Call all running the KX3. Image captured with iPhone 13 Pro Max.
A week or so ago, I was motivated to get some of the digital modes operational on my portable station. I did not bring the Digirig Mobile that I specifically purchased for the Elecraft KX2/KX3 radios with me this trip. It was one of several things left behind because I simply did not have enough time to prepare for the trip. So, I did what I always do… I bought another module.
It is not actually a waste because I will put one in each of the KX3 and KX2 go-kits. Then there will not be a (significant) risk of leaving the module behind (again).
The WSJTX software gives access to the FT8 and FT4 modes, which are useful for quick exchanges such as those for a POTA or SOTA activation, or for a contest1. I have yet to use these modes for any of those things. But I do use them when home (in the radio noise) so I can play a little radio. I have yet to use FT8 for a park activation, although that is a thing.
JS8Call is a digital mode based on the FT8 engine, but permits more text than the quick exchange of the latter mode. That is, a full conversation contact is possible along with a lot more capability. This is a potential mode for emergency communications when voice operations are not possible or not advisable. I do use this mode to make contacts when at home and the noise is too much for me to hear other stations.
Both FT8 and JS8 are called weak signal modes because the computational engines are capable of extracting usable signals at the noise floor or below. This is amazing!
I spent a good part of Saturday getting everything running and testing the results. The main issue I encountered was a change in Windows 11 that treated the soundcard (the Digirig) as a DVD device with a data rate of 48KHz. I think the software was expecting a datarate of 44.1KHz (the CD rate).
Once I sorted this problem out, all three programs worked fine. I was able to send and receive email (Winlink) via HF radio. I was able to make contacts using both WSJTX and JS8Call modes. And these tasks were accomplished with the KX3 at five watts output into the Elecraft AX1/AXE antenna. The antenna is a tiny thing that I use when there is no room to deploy something larger. It is truly a compromise antenna. Yet I was able to accomplish my goals in a noisy environment using a compromise antenna and five watts.
The next step is to get the FLDIGI suite working on my Surface Go 2 and with the KX2/KX3 radios. This is another digital software package that has a lot of capability for many modes. It will be useful in an emergency setting when other means of communication (Internet, phones) are unavailable. But, for now, I want to spend time working with JS8 so I can learn its capabilities. I also need practice with Winlink so I can get around in it efficiently.
Setup of WSJTX and JS8Call are closely related (use the same engine). Once one of them is working, the odds are that the other will work with only some small adjustments.
Use the USB mode and not the DATA mode on the KX2/KX3 radios. That is what works best, at least for me.
The bitrate of the soundcard is a big deal. It took some hunting to find it and I did not see it documented anywhere else. The search engines failed me in that regard.
Getting VARA HF to work with the soundcard can also be a bit fiddly. The sure to pay attention to the ALC function of the radio (set the audio output of the soundcard or audio input the radio carefully). Any audio compression should be turned off. I suspect the same will be true of other modems (ARDOP, Packet, etc), although I have not tried them (yet).
If you find you do not have enough headroom with the audio input or the audio output, an adjustment to the soundcard levels is appropriate through the Windows Sound setup page. (Which one will depend on what version of Windows you are running.)
I am generally good at remembering how to do these configurations once I sort the approach out. However, it is probably a good idea to get the setup procedure recorded in one’s radio notes in case adjustments need to be made under the pressure of required operations.
That is my report for this little exercise. In total, I probably spent five or six hours fiddling with the equipment and software and another few hours playing with the radio. It was an intellectually challenging exercise because there are so many moving parts. But, it was still a good day.
I also had the chance to visit with my buddy in Montana, who decided to work on some of this as well.
Maybe some of these notes will help someone else over the hump. I know there was a lot of research to solve simple (ha) problems.
Life is good.
1Yes, some contests permit use of the FT8/FT4 digital modes.
A couple of weekends ago I decided it was time to not work all weekend. On Saturday morning, The Girl and I headed out, not knowing where I might end up. We walked for an hour out at Silver Saddle Ranch, then headed east on US 50. I was on the phone with my buddy Dick and indicated that I needed to get out and do something away from the house.
At first, I thought I would drive down to Yerington and activate the wildlife management area north of town. But, as I turned south on US 95, I decided that either Buckland Station or Ft. Churchill were both closer and needed to be activated.
Buckland Station won the coin toss. I parked the rig and looked for a place to deploy a wire. Seeing none, I retrieved the drive-on mast mount and the 10m SOTAbeams mast from the rig and set them up. I also retrieved the Elecraft KX3 and a small battery from the rig.
A little wider shot of the Buckland Station deployment. The KX3 is in the foreground and the SOTAbeams mast, random-wire antenna, and part of the drive-on mast are in the background. Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max.I used the Sagebrush Antenna deployed to near vertical with the distal end affixed to the top of the mast. The opposite end went to a cobrahead adapter and direct to the radio. I threw the counterpoise on the ground around the rig.
I sat down at my folding table with my back to the sun (it was chilly), started a log on my iPhone (HAMRS), and listened on 20m near the QRP watering hole of 14.060MHz. With nothing heard, I called QRL? (“Is the frequency in use?”) a couple of times, then hit the message button to transmit “CQ CQ POTA DE AG7TX AG7TX POTA K” a couple of times, then paused to listen for a caller.
The KX3 station setup at Buckland Station for a POTA activation. Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max.While the radio was sending my general call, I spotted myself on the POTA network. After a few minutes, the calls began to come in. I worked each station as I could and even managed a few DX (foreign country) contacts. The most memorable being an OH1 station located in Finland.
I worked the bands for an hour or so and made my quota for an activation. I was cold, so The Girl and I headed home after a brief pit stop.
The door of Buckland Station. This is what arriving travelers and Pony Express riders would have seen a hundred years ago. Shot with Fujifilm X100V at f/8 with Reggie’s Portra film simulation.I woke Sunday morning again not wanting to spend the day working. So I puttered a bit over my morning coffee and then decided to get The Girl out to walk and do another POTA activation.
I grabbed a snack because my blood sugar has been falling unexpectedly, some water, and a battery for the radio. We loaded up into the rig and headed west to Spooner Summit. I pulled off onto the forest road and parked the rig at the staging area where I like to work.
The Girl and I then headed out to walk before I set up a radio. Again, I talked to my buddy in Montana as I walked. But I kept my eyes open for critters as I have seen a big coyote who is not afraid of humans several times.
She was ready to rest when we returned to the rig, so I gave her some water and put her in the 4Runner. She settled right down for a nap in the sun.
I retrieved the new line-throwing kit from the 4Runner, stretched out the line, and affixed the throw weight. After four or five throws, I was unable to hit my target branch. Instead of fumbling more, I retrieved the drive-on mast mount and the 10m mast from the rig and setup a wire antenna. I again used the Elecraft KX3 barefoot (10-15w of power) and set up my table and chair.
A wind had come up, maybe gusting to 10–15mph, but variable direction. It was kinda-sorta from the south, but was curling around to the point I could not get shelter.
So I put on my heavier hoodie, put my back to the wind (and the sun), and worked the radio. The higher bands have been good lately, so I started on 10m and worked my way down.
Again, it took an hour or hour-and-a-half to make my activation quota and work the bands dry. The sun was falling lower in the sky and I was cold, so I quit.
It did not take long to put away the station and get The Girl out for a last bit. She looked for critters and peed until I called her in and we got into the rig.
It was another good day and a good day for me to get outdoors. The Girl loved it, too.
I learned a few more things.
I need practice with the throwing kit. I suspect there is something of an art to using a throw weight and line to hit a particular target.
I need some kind of shelter for cool-weather activations. I looked at a fishing hut last year, but did not buy one. A small fishing hut that folds up would make a good operating shelter. I could deploy a heater (I have one) and place a mat for The Girl.
My principal reservation about a hut is the lack of windows. I like being outside because (in part) I like the sun and the light. I do not want my activation shelter to cut those things off.
I need the means to heat water and make coffee, tea, soup, or a hot meal. I have used the Trangia burner in another stove I have in my inventory. But it is not as handy as I want. Hence, I am working on an upgraded kit and some of the results are posted on this weblog.
The iPhone works for spotting myself and for logging, But I think a Rite-in-the-Rain notebook and pencil should be in my field kit. I am thinking again of reducing my dependence on technology, although it is good to be able to spot myself for SOTA/POTA activations.
HAMRS is well suited to logging POTA activations. It has features that display other activators and make it easy to log their information for park-to-park chasing.
I am not sure I ever documented my post-processing of POTA logs. Most of my activations are multiple parks, at least two. I have a couple of favorite places that are three or four park activations. That means the post-processing of my log requires some editing so that chasers get credit of more than one park. I also get credit for activating multiple parks.
The new field cooking kit is coming along. I will have the ability to make a hot drink or food in the field. This is a critical safety issue as hypothermia is real and it does not have to be very cold for it to strike. Hot food and drink are part of combating environmental dangers effectively.
I am really enjoying Morse Code. I still operate phone part of the time. But the ability to deploy a small radio kit and make contacts thousands of miles away with a few watts means everything is smaller, lighter, and simpler than a more powerful radio kit.
That is all I can think of. It was a good couple of days in the field. Life is good.
Before I left the park, I walked around Buckland Station for a few captures. This one is of the north-facing side of Buckland Station. Shot with the Fujifilm X100V at f/8 with Reggie’s Portra film simulation.
It’s not the best image, but it conveys the feel of looking out over the trail breakover on the way down from the Oreana Peak staging area. Sometimes these views give me the willies!
After another long week, I spent some time Friday afternoon looking for a summit to activate. Both Mt. Siegel (W7N/TR-003) and Oreana Peak (W7M/TR-004) were on my list from a previous search. Because of their proximity, they looked to be doable in a single trip.
So, the stage was set for a twin activation on Saturday morning, 13 August 2022.
I loaded up a few things to take with us, mostly water, a snack, and checked that I had radio equipment. I roused The Girl into the rig, locked the front door of the house, and we headed out. We made a quick stop at McD’s for a bite, a coffee, and a water and then headed south on US395. I stopped in Minden to refuel the rig and buy a sandwich.
We continued through Gardnerville and then took Pine Nut Road east for a few miles. I missed the turn and found myself at the transfer station, but that was not a big deal as it was only a quarter of a mile. We continued on an increasingly rough road to the Public Lands access. That road went on another mile or so and became Lone Pine Canyon Road.
That is, if it can be called a road. It is really just a two-track trail that varies from packed soil and sand to some rounded cobble to boulder size rocks. The pace declined to under ten miles per hour.
Yet, the trail was not particularly difficult. It was just rough. We continued to climb up the valley, in and out of the drainage, picking our way through the rocks when necessary and driving over them as needed.
We entered a burned out area, the Manzanita standing skeletal with burned bark and bare white limbs stretched to the sky in a dying supplication for mercy that did not come. The grasses were already returning, but the shrubs will be a long time before they grow again.
This part of the drive out was just a slog. I stopped a couple of times to let The Girl out to sniff and pee. I will say I took advantage of the stops a time or two myself. I guess the coffee was working.
As we turned south along Buckeye Creek, there were places that the trail crossed old flood outwashes. These could be trip-enders with very angular (and sharp) outcrops of rocks. They could tear a sidewall easily. I took care crossing through these areas and worked to keep my head clear of the usual woolgathering I do when driving boring roads.
The trail up to Mt. Siegel is obvious in this image. That trail was not bad, but care was required to protect the tires.
I hit the intersection of the trail to Oreana Peak and paused. I could see the trail up to Oreana Peak and it looked easier than the one up to Mt. Siegel. Given how far out I was, I wanted to do both peaks on this trip.
The trail up to Mr. Siegel was not too bad. The 4Runner crawled up just fine. But I was very careful to watch for rocks. It would be easy to tear a sidewall on this trail. There were just enough loose rocks that the rig slipped a bit now and again. A torn sidewall would have been a very bad afternoon.
Oreana Peak is on the far right. I think that is Smith Valley in the background.There is a small staging area at the top of the Mt. Siegel trail. I found a place to park the 4Runner off the trail and paused for a look around. This gave The Girl an opportunity to sniff around as well as a chance for me to catch my bearings.
I might have been able to drive the 4Runner up a bit farther. I decided to hike it.The Girl and I headed up the two-track toward the summit. I had my pack that contained my station plus water for both of us. The sun was quite hot even if the air temperature was moderate. That, combined with the altitude (about 9,200ft) had me puffing a bit as i worked my way up the slope.
I looked around a bit and noticed the 4Runner down at the staging area. That called for a pause for an image. So I made it.
Yep, that is the 4Runner down at the staging area.We walked around the rock-pile summit and I found a place where I could set up the station. I used the Elecraft KX2 and an end-fed random wire antenna to a very light six-meter carbon fiber mast. I had the station setup in a few minutes. I then gave both of us some water.
My cell service was a little iffy, but I did get a spot out for my location. I started calling and made a number of contacts right away, including a few summit-to-summit contacts. It was not difficult to get my quota.
But, I noticed that running my iPhone with the screen bright and the lock time set to five minutes was a problem. The sun shining down on us was overheating more than The Girl and I — it was overheating my iPhone. Given I log my contacts on my phone this could be a problem.
As happened during my activation of Chickadee Ridge, my phone was turning down the screen brightness to reduce heat. Given I had my quota, I decided to call it and get ready to do the other peak.
Here’s the Elecraft KX2, the factory key, a microphone (yes, I did operate phone), and the water bottle. The yellow wire is the antenna.
I gave The Girl some more water and we headed back down the two-track. It was not a long hike, but care was required as the trail was fairly steep and rocky. A fall would not be a good thing.
While working my way down the trail, I paused to capture an image of Orean Peak. The trail to Mt. Siegel is in the foreground. The trail to Oreana Peak is in the midground with the peak in the background. It is quite breathtaking.
The Mt. Siegel trail is in the foreground. Oreana Peak and its trail is in the midground and background.
At the Mt. Siegel staging area, I looked out over Carson Valley and saw that someone had put up a cross. I did not check to see if it marked a grave.I put The Girl and my gear into the rig and climbed in myself. I knew the trip back down the Mt. Siegel trail would require care to protect the tires.
I was not disappointed. The rig skittered and slid a bit on the way down, even in low-low. I had to work the brakes a bit and be careful to avoid a slide-out and tire damage. So I took my time and was very careful.
I made it down with no problem. I made the right to the Oreana Peak trail along Buckeye Creek (not much of a creek at this location) and headed back up.
When we got up to the Oreana Peak staging area, it was clear this was another bare summit with no shade. There was not enough rock outcrop to make shade. And the sun was just miserable. And, I was getting tired from the required focus, the altitude, and the heat.
So I put up the antenna, setup the radio, and made my contacts. The Girl was so hot she was crowding me trying to get into my shade. That wreaked a bit of havoc on my sending. I do not need help with that, particularly with the Elecraft key!
I kept the iPhone in my shade and that helped keep it from overheating again. I now carry a notebook and a pen in a cargo pocket. I can always log contacts on paper.
Yes, she was hot. No, I did not take a picture of the deployed station. I was hot too.
While we were sitting there, resting a bit (and she trying to crowd into my shade still), I heard something that sounded like a pickup scrabbling up the trail to the staging area.
“That’s strange,” I thought, “I did not see a vehicle approaching up the trail.”
Then the wind hit us. It was a strong gust and I was glad that the mast was put away. It might have been damaged. The wind was strong enough to rattle the rocks on the slopes of Oreana Peak.
As I headed down the trail from Oreana Peak to the staging area, I made this image of the rig and Mt. Siegel. Carson Valley is in the distant background.I reloaded the pack we started back down to the staging area and the rig. Four-legs ran ahead, undaunted. The old man, however, picked his way carefully down the trail. Nothing good would come from a fall at this point in the trip. The view of the rig on the staging area with Mt. Siegel in the background struck me. I made the capture.
It was not long and we were back at the rig. I got out more water for The Girl. I dumped the pack into the rig. I drank water myself. I was gassed… not completely, but I was damned tired.
So I put us back into the rig and we started the long trail back home. It was about two hours from US395 to where we were. It would be about two hours back. And I needed to be focused for the drive.
On the way down from Oreana Peak, this is the trail (after the steep part). Mt. Siegel and its trail are in the background.
But we made it. As were were exiting Lone Pine Canyon, my buddy Greg called. “Are you home yet?”
“Nope. I’m still working my way down the trail. I’m about 15 or 20 minutes from the highway.”
“I thought you’d be home by now!”
“No… it is a long way out there and the trail is pretty rough. But I’ll be home soon. Thanks so much for calling and checking on me.”
We chatted a bit. Then he headed off for supper. I continued the drive.
Before long the trail turned into a road. Then the road got better. I no longer had to be as focused on navigating rocks and other obstacles. The Girl was settled into her seat, after having a couple of bouts with FOMO that there might be critters out there.
As I drove into Gardnerville, I started to think about supper… and the day. It was a learning experience for me. It was a long day. It was completely worth taking the time to do the second peak because of the long drive out there. I was hungry and tired.
On the way home I decided to stop at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, Francisco’s. Some hot chow and una Margarita Grande sounded so good. Well, maybe dos Margaritas…
As I continue to activate SOTA peaks, I continue to learn things about operating and the support equipment I need to make this more fun. This outing was satisfying, but not fun.
The issue of the iPhone overheating is a problem. It is my primary logging tool for portable operations. I need a way to keep it shaded so it does not overheat. Or, I need to change the way I log contacts such that the iPhone is no longer part of the system.
The radio also gets hot. To date, it has not gotten hot enough to shut down. But, it might. That would be a show-stopper. I need to mind the radio temperature. Some shade would keep it a lot cooler.
Sitting on a rock is not fun for this skinny-assed old man. I have a foldable chair. It has to go into the pack so I have a place to sit.
A (very) small table would make summit operating a lot more comfortable. The portable table I have is to heavy to pack. That is a problem with a solution.
The factory key for the Elecraft radios (the KX2 and KX3) does not work well for me. That might be a topic for another weblog entry. Nonetheless, it is a decent backup (for now), but should not be my primary key.
The AME key works reasonably well for a field key. Holding it in my hand is not the best answer. The leg strap is better, but not perfect.
I am afraid to be strapped to the radio. Sera can be impulsive and I might need to move quickly before she can get into trouble. I am not sure how to solve this problem.
Although I really like running the antenna directly from the radio, this has its own issues. If the wind rises suddenly, the pressure on the mast creates a risk of dragging the radio off its perch. A hard landing might damage a (very) expensive radio. I need to think about this problem and develop a solution.
Francisco’s is not a bad way to end a SOTA (or POTA) day!
This is a favorite place in the summer. The Girl and I sit on the patio. She is very good.
Everything that is needed to operate on four of the high frequency amateur radio bands is in or next to this box. There is a radio, the Sagebrush antenna, a battery, headphones, and a couple of Morse Code keys.
During the latter part of last year and well into January of this year, I was working very hard and burning a lot of energy. After completing a report and giving a deposition, I was quite tired and near burning out. That did not stop the pressure, though, as there are several active projects still needing attention and deliverables are coming due. There was little time for my radios and I had to cancel my planned trip to Quartzite, Arizona.
I am making progress on the work. This week I was relieved of one of the deliverables due the end of this month. I made significant progress on the other two deliverables. The pressure lightened substantially.
However, over the last few weeks I decided that I had no choice but to take time off for some self care. I will not be productive if I burn out. I am close enough that I feel the pressure to chuck everything and go into hibernation mode.
As a result, I spent more time in the outdoors the last three weekends. The Girl and I are getting our miles in every day. I am taking a few minutes every day to meditate and pray. Although this week was an exception, I am getting a couple of strength training sessions in each week.
After our daily walks, if the weather is nice (and it has been), I setup one of my portable radios. The last couple of weeks, I had the Elecraft K1 out a couple of times. I am learning to use that radio. It is not a difficult radio to use, but there are a few things to learn about its operation.
I learned that it is a very good radio. The receiver is excellent and the operating controls are well thought out and work well. It is a fun unit to operate.
An even smaller radio is my Elecraft KX1. My unit operates on four bands — 20m, 30m, 40m, and 80m. It has an internal matching unit. It will run on a set of internal batteries or an external power source. It has an excellent receiver with both RF and AF gain controls and an adjustable filter.
Some days I setup a telescopic fiberglass mast and run a wire from near the top to the radio. The wire antenna connects directly to the radio. A counterpoise is thrown on the ground to provide the required wire to match the radiator.
You’ll have to look really hard, but there is an antenna in the sagebrush. Can you see it?
Friday I decided to deploy the Sagebrush Antenna. This unique antenna comprises the wire radiator from my KX1 kit (shown above) thrown across the top of whatever sagebrush is nearby. This deployment had the distal end in a sagebrush about six feet off the ground. The near end was about five feet above the ground, with the last bit sloped down to the radio, which sat on my knee. I threw the other part of the antenna (the counterpoise) on the ground in front of me.
By the time we finished our walk most of the SOTA activators had retired. Those I listened for could not be heard at my location. I listened for the few POTA stations that were active and heard an operator in Arkansas calling. Once a few strong stations worked him, I put out my callsign. After a couple of attempts, he heard me and sent part of my callsign with a question mark (asking me to fill my call).
About the time I heard him complete my call, he faded into the noise. I continued to listen a bit more, heard his signal come up and fade away again, then decided I would either have to wait or give up. Given I needed to return home for a phone call, I gave up. (I hate to give up!)
As I put away the station, the phone rang. My buddy Dick said “You’re 5-4 or 5-5 here, what are you running????”
“I’m running the KX1 with 3 watts.”
“You’re kidding!!! You’re booming in here. Did you hear him answer?”
“Yes, but then he faded and I could not copy the exchange.”
“Aw man, you had him… what antenna are you running?”
“I’m running the Sagebrush Antenna.”
“What?”
“The Sagebrush Antenna… I threw a wire over the top of the sagebrush.”
“Oh man, a wire on the ground and 3 watts?!?!”
We chatted a bit while I put things away (not a long process and I was almost done when the phone rang), then continued on the way home. I knew I could have worked that Arkansas activator if I had waited for him to come back up out of the noise. But I wanted to make my call before I ended the day.
Perhaps you can see the Sagebrush Antenna now?In the end, whether I made the contact or not does not matter. What matters is that I took some time for myself, to do something for myself that is fun and engaging, and to move away from work for awhile. I spent time with my dog, with my friends, and with my radios. This is helping me to reduce my burn out and keep me healthy and productive. And it is fun to deploy a simple, small, low-power radio, particularly when using an antenna as esoteric as the Sagebrush Antenna. Can you see it?
At the end of my radio ops, Sera and I took a walk around the Pine Nut Mountains knoll where I like to operate. The sky was filled with smoke.
Saturday was both the 2020 Hawaii and Ohio QSO Parties. After our morning walk, The Girl and I rested a bit. After waking, I decided to go out to one of my perches in the Pine Nut Mountains. I wanted to play radio a little and be outdoors.
Lately I have eschewed outdoor activities beyond those necessary. The California fires are impacting our air quality and I really do not want to breathe a lot of smoke. But Friday and Saturday were a little better and I was tired of being indoors. So we headed out mid-afternoon on Saturday for some additional outside time.
I set up my vertical antenna and the Elecraft KX2 with my miniPacker HF linear amplifier behind the radio. That gives me about 35w of output, which should be enough for either phone or code operations if propagation is decent.
I know the antenna well enough that I can set it for the 20m and 40m bands without an antenna analyzer. I used one, of course, but I was close enough just “eyeballing” it.
I got The Girl settled on her mat next to my operating position and started listening to the 20m band. I quickly worked three loud Ohio stations. Then I heard a weaker, but readily heard station activating a park (POTA — Parks on the Air), so called him. We made the exchange although he gave me a signal report of only 22 (that’s weak and difficult to copy), but he got the information correct so I put him in my log.
I heard a few Ohio stations calling in Morse code, but none of them could hear me. But I heard HI3T calling and giving signal reports, but not identifying as one of the QSOP stations. When I checked QRZ (online database) on my iPhone, I learned this was a Dominican Republic station. He was working stations very quickly.
During a lull in the action, I sent my callsign. I was stepped on by a stronger station. I waited a few moments and sent my callsign again, during another lull. He returned my call with a signal report of 5NN (best possible signal and probably not a true sigreport). I responded with TU and 5NN (thank you and my real signal report) and he moved on to the next station.
I puttered around the bands for a little longer. I heard no Hawaii stations calling and could not work any of the others stations I could hear. So I packed up the station and The Girl and I made a walk around the knoll.
She glided from sagebrush to sagebrush, sniffing and hunting for lizards. I looked over the Carson City valley and the Prison Hill complex, thinking about the California fires and the smoke we suffered from. Fire is a natural part of the desert ecosystem. Regular burning reduces the fuel load and results in less serious fires (from an ecological perspective). Over the last century, we interfered with that natural cycle. Now wildfires have access to greater fuel loads and are very serious.
Last weekend I watched the Loyalton Fire sending smoke into the sky. This week and this weekend Carson City suffered a lot of smoke. I will be happy to see it go. But I will also be happy to know that the fires are under control and extinguished because I read the heartache they cause for those affected by them.
That’s my Wolf River Coils vertical antenna in front of a very smoky Mount Scott in the background.
