Saturday, September 30, 2023
Friday, September 29, 2023
Improved IC-705 SOTA/POTA station by Bob K0NR
This past year, Joyce/\K0JJW and I did quite a few Summits On The Air (SOTA) and Parks On The Air (POTA) activations, often as part of an RV camping trip. During this time, we made some improvements to our portable gear. For SOTA, we primarily use the VHF/UHF bands but we have been sprinkling in a bit more HF activity. For POTA, we often don’t have a Height Above Average Terrain advantage, so we definitely use the HF bands.
Our main goal was to have a backpack portable station for SOTA and POTA that can cover HF through 70 cm, on the most popular bands/modes including CW, SSB, FM and FT8.
Using The IC-705
The Icom IC-705 is a great transceiver for covering most HF, VHF and UHF bands. With an external battery, the transceiver puts out 10 watts of RF power. (This is a bit less than the 50 watts from our Yaesu FT-90, which is our default choice for 2m and 70 cm SOTA.) We have accumulated a number of Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries from Bioenno. They are all set up with PowerPole connectors and are easily interchanged. See a previous post, My SOTA Battery Journey.
Arguably the biggest weakness of the IC-705 is the lack of an internal antenna tuner for the HF bands. Of course, you can operate without a tuner by making sure your antenna is always 50 ohms. I find that limiting, especially under portable conditions where the antenna configuration might be compromised. Also, some common end-fed antennas that cover multiple bands are not a good match for all bands. There are external automatic antenna tuners available for the IC-705, so initially those looked like a good solution. Then I remembered that I had a small MFJ-902 Travel Tuner that could do the job. The MFJ-902 is a classic T-network with two variable capacitors and one variable inductor. I gave it a try and was impressed with how easy it was to tune using the SWR meter of the IC-705. This thing is simple and it works.
The rear panel of the tuner has two SO-239 connectors, one for the transceiver and one for the antenna. I put a BNC adapter onto the transceiver port and used a short BNC cable to connect to the IC-705.
The Travel Tuner is compact and not very heavy, so it works out well for backpack portable use. It can handle up to 150 watts, which is overkill for the IC-705 but it may come in handy when used with a higher power transceiver. Still, I am on the lookout for an even more compact (probably lower power) manual antenna tuner.
We have collected a variety of HF antennas, focused mostly on 20 meters and higher. These are typically end-fed, including single-band half-wave designs as well as multiband random-length antennas. These are used in the classic SOTA configuration with one end of the wire supported by a lightweight fishing pole and the coax connection on the ground, fed by a 25-foot length of RG-8X coaxial cable.
FT8 Solution
With the popularity of FT8 on the HF bands as well as 6 meters, I figured we should include that mode in our portable kit. My first thought was to use a compact Windows computer running the standard WSJT-X software. Ultimately, I chose the SDR Control app for the Apple iPad (by Marcus/DL8MRE), which supports specific Icom radios. The iPad connects to the IC-705 via its WiFi connection, which simplifies the connection/cabling challenge. The SDR Control app does cost $49.99, so it is not your inexpensive iOS app but I have found it to be worth the price. Because this app is focused only on iOS and certain Icom radios, it is well-tuned to be a no-fuss solution. I am currently using the app only for FT8 but it has other features and modes for me to explore.
The Powerwerx PWRbox is shown in the photo above, which we often use for operating POTA. (This box is a bit heavy for hiking.) The PWRbox holds a 20 Ah battery as described here. Also shown in the photo is a handy little stand for the IC-705, the NEEWER Folding Z Flex Tilt Head. It does a great job of holding and stabilizing the radio at a variety of angles. (Hat tip to Kyle/KD0TRD.) It is also a little heavy for backpack portable, so it usually gets left behind on a hike.
For a protective case for the IC-705, we use the Maxpedition 12-Inch X 5-Inch Bottle Holder. I’ve seen other IC-705 users recommend it and OH8STN mentioned it on his blog. At first glance, the case seems a bit large but this provides enough room inside to stow a small Bioenno battery and other accessories. The side pouch is a good place for storing the microphone and power cord.
Wrap Up
This post shares some new equipment configurations we are using for SOTA and POTA, mostly focused on the IC-705. I really like that radio for portable ops as it is the best solution for operating HF through UHF. The SDR Control software on an iPad has also turned out to be a win for us.
What are you using for your portable station?
Do you have any tips or other operating ideas?
73 Bob K0NR
W2LJ QRP - When you care to send the very least!: What's doing this weekend
My Gromyko Theory - LewRockwell
A BEAUTIFUL (AND HOT) DAY FOR A QRP SOTA ACTIVATION ON BEARWALLOW MOUNTAIN! by THOMAS WITHERSPOON
Tuesday, September 5, 2023, was a gorgeous day. A hot day, but a beautiful one!
I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to fit in a quick SOTA activation and the most accessible summit that day was Bearwallow Mountain.
Bearwallow Mountain (W4C/CM-068)
I was in South Asheville all day, so Bearwallow was only about a 25 minute detour.
Since it was a Tuesday in the latter part of the morning, there were few others parked at the trailhead. Had it been a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday? It can be difficult to find a parking spot. Indeed, the previous day (Labor Day) I’m sure it was packed!
I practically had the place to myself, though.
The hike up was most enjoyable although it was hot and humid, so sweaty I became.
That said–and I think I even say this in the activation video below–I really wished the hike was a bit longer. The Bearwallow trail is maybe a mile long.
I wanted a longer hike, but in truth, didn’t have the time for one anyway.
Bearwallow’s summit is a large pasture. It does offer up some spectacular long-range views.
Bearwallow is also home to a lot of comms towers including a number of local repeaters.
I found a nice, flat rock, set up my chair, and deployed my Chelegance MC-750 vertical.
It was time to hit the air!
Gear:
Note: All Amazon, CW Morse, ABR, Chelegance, eBay, and Radioddity links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.
- Elecraft KX2 with Windcamp X2 Side Rails and Cover
- KXPD2 Paddles
- Elecraft KXBT2 Li-Ion Battery Pack
- Elecraft ES60 Pack (Note that mine is a discontinued LowePro CS60 pack, the ES60 is identical and Elecraft branded)
- Chelegance MC-750
- Homemade RG-316 20′ cable assembly
- Mystery Ranch Scree 32 backpack
- GraphGear 0.9mm 1000 Automatic Drafting Pencil
- Rite In The Rain Top Spiral Notebook
- Camera: original OSMO Action Camera (the OSMO 3 is the current version) with Sensyne Phone Tripod
On The Air
I hopped on the air and started calling CQ SOTA. It didn’t take long for the SOTA spots page to pick me up via the Reverse Beacon Network.
I logged four contacts in short order thus validating this SOTA activation.
In that first four I logged, my friend Dean (K2JB) called me S2S from the summit of Shinall Mountain (W5A/OA-015) near Little Rock, Arkansas. (The last time I activated Bearwallow, in fact, I ran into Dean and his cute pup! Check out that field report here.) The SOTA community is both amazingly international and also amazingly local–I love it.
I logged a few more contacts then heard another S2S calling, this time from JB (KC1MXB) on Tout-de-Joie Rang Rd HP (W1/AM-341) in Maine. Turns out, Jonathan was activating that summit as an ATNO! Brilliant!
There was no shortage of folks on the air that day. All in all, I logged a total of 34 chasers: 27 on 20M and 7 on 17M.
QSO Map
Here’s what this five watt activation looked like when plotted out on a QSO Map:
Activation Video
Here’s my real-time, real-life video of the entire activation. As with all of my videos, I don’t edit out any parts of the on-air activation time. In addition, I have monetization turned off on YouTube, although that doesn’t stop them from inserting ads before and after my videos.
Note that Patreon supporters can watch and even download this video 100% ad-free through Vimeo on my Patreon page.
Note: There is a small chunk of video missing. At the conclusion of the activation, I stood up from my chair and must have tipped the camera on its tripod. The camera landed on a rock. Amazingly, the only damage was a little nick on the bezel of my lens. The shock of falling, though, abruptly stopped the video footage. Back home, I found out that it corruptions that portion of the video:
Click here to view on YouTube.
Much more SOTA planned this year
In a couple of weeks, I’ll be attending the W4 SOTA campout in north Georgia. I’m really looking forward to hitting the trail with friends and adding some summits to my list.
Since we’re now entering the cooler temps of fall, I’ll do even more hiking.
One of the big goals of doing SOTA is to accumulate 1,000 summit points for the “Mountain Goat” award. It’s not an easy goal and it’ll be a while before I’m there.
You see, since I’ve now activated Bearwallow Mountain in 2023, its summit points can only count once towards the 1,000 needed for Mountain Goat per calendar year. In other words, I could activate Bearwallow daily, but its 6 points only count once per year.
With such a busy family life at this point, Mountain Goat status seems like such a lofty goal.
I had to look up how many points I’d accumulated thus far (I took the screenshot above).
Since February 25, 2021 (my first activation) I’ve completed 38 activations for a total of 219 points. At this rate, Mountain Goat would be a 10 year goal! Truth is, once my wife and I are empty nesters, I’ll have more free time to play SOTA so, who knows? Maybe by 2028? Ha ha!
Thank you
Thank you for joining me on this activation!
I hope you enjoyed the field report and my activation video as much as I enjoyed creating them.
Of course, I’d also like to send a special thanks to those of you who have been supporting the site and channel through Patreon and the Coffee Fund. While certainly not a requirement as my content will always be free, I really appreciate the support.
As I mentioned before, the Patreon platform connected to Vimeo make it possible for me to share videos that are not only 100% ad-free, but also downloadable for offline viewing. The Vimeo account also serves as a third backup for my video files.
Thanks for spending part of your day with me!
Have a brilliant weekend!
Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)