40M – W7MTB: Amateur Radio Notes

Activation Report: W7O/CE-213 – Awbrey Butte,OR | February 2023

Awbrey Butte Summit
Green: AX, Magenta: Trail, Blue: Fence line

After a little encouragement from Tim, N7KOM, I decide to try Awbrey Butte, which is arguably the easiest SOTA in the Bend Area. The AZ is only 3.1 miles from my QTH and is accessible from 2 Bend City Parks, Sylvan and Summit. The is notoriously noisy with RFI from the commercial installations in the AZ and higher bands (6M, 2M, 70cm) will likely require a band pass filter to be successful.

From Sylvan Park, it’s about 0.25 miles to the spot where I setup. Having never been up there in the 25 years I have lived in Bend, I decided to take my mast as a precautionary measure. I certainly could have thrown a line in a tree, there are many small ponderosas. There are also plenty of lava rock piles available to hold up a mast. I made quick work of the walk up once I had my bearings and setup behind a lava rock ledge to hide myself from the trail that circumnavigates the summit.

Ponderosa for wire hangin’

Using a pile of lava rock to stabilize the mast, which I stuck down a crack in the pile, I hoisted my K6ARK EFHW in the 40M, inverted V configuration into the air. I brought the Icom IC-705 since its internal battery would be plenty of power for the short activation I had planned to do and the short hike didn’t necessitate the lightest setup. I originally planned to work 10-40 but realized I left my gloves on the table in my haste to get out while the relatively warm air was still available. After a quick tune up of the antenna on 7.061MHz I hit the key memory and started calling CQ whilst posting a spot via SOTA Goat app. Tim also “spottted” me on the SOTA-NA #general slack channel and the replies came crashing in all at once. First time I have experienced a pile up on my first CQ call!

Big towers

Operating Position behind the Lava

Over the next 20 minutes I worked 10 stations along the west coast, MT and UT. My fingers started stiffening and my keying was degrading so I made a final CQ before calling QRT. This was exactly what I had wanted to accomplish, a solid CW practice session on a real activation.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere is Signs

Now that I have done this summit I am kicking myself for not getting up there sooner. Its a pretty spot and I saw no one at all up there while activating. I’ve heard others say that RFI can be a problem at times, even on the lower bands, but I was getting solid 57/59 signal reports from almost everyone on the west coast. The worst report I got was from the UT contact, there was definitely some QSB happening and I had to ask for the callsign with numerous repeats.

One thing of note that I would be remiss not to share, while the trail is obviously heavily used, there are a couple of disarming No Trespassing signs. They seem to be targeted at vagrants who might be camping on the summit, however I didn’t see any evidence of such. Others have reported that the neighbors are just trying to keep the teenage partying to a minimum. It is not clear exactly where the property boundaries are or who owns what but it something worth calling out.

Awbrey Butte is a very easy walk up and would be a great ride along activation for someone you are might be trying to get interested in SOTA. The drawback is the RFI on higher bands.

Activation Report: W7O/CE-188 – Lava Butte, OR | January 2023

Lava Butte Summit

For the February Polar Bear / FYOB combined event, Tim N7KOM, and I wanted to get out and do another joint activation. Since we both had limited time a quick approach summit would give us the best opportunity to make the most of the day so we choose to return to Lava Butte. We activate Lava Butte together back in April of 2022 on our first meeting and outing. He documented the adventure in this youtube video.

Tim picked me up and we drove the short 10 minutes from my house to the base of the butte, pulling off US 97 just at the base of the access road, saving us about 1/4 mile of walking on pavement. We made quick work of the 1.2M paved walk to the top. Upon arrival at the summit we decided that I would take up a working position on the deck of the fire lookout, while Tim setup his station at the base of the lookout. He would setup his K6ARK EFHW in an inverted L configuration, whilst I setup my same antenna in Inverted V, but first we did a quick 2M call on 146.58 and each had our required 4 contacts in less than 10 minutes.

N7KOM Working 2M FM

We decided that I would start on 10M and he on 40M working around each other in case of interference. 10 and 15 meters were both ripe with contacts as soon as I spotted myself. I wanted to do the entire activation CW but being a bit rusty, I turned my WPM down to 13. Having only worked 10M voice and never worked 15M in the field, I was surprised by who I was hearing. NC, AL, ME, TN, MS and one VK5 station… that’s Australia!!! Needless to say it was a busy 45 minutes on the higher bands. I attempted to work 17M but with Tim on 20, there was enough interference that I decided to jump down to 40M and work the locals. I worked an S2S with WU7H, WW7D and got N7LFO plus a couple of Canadian stations.

W7MTB Working 15M Pileup

Tim brought a small cup of Sake along to take the bite out of the cold. While it was 43 F, there was a brisk breeze out of the SE, and it was hitting me directly on the side as I had to change my position when I extended my wire to 40M. I could tell I was getting brain fried after an hour of operating and decided it was time to call QRT, drink the sake and begin tearing down.

ICOM IC-705 and Sake, the Japanese know what’s Up

Tim was in the middle of a huge pileup so I took shelter behind the lookout to let him work through the herd. He wanted to work S2S with WU7H and WW7D on 30m but had to wait for their pileups to cool down first. Once he got them both in the log he packed his Elecraft KX2, K6ARK paddles and EFHW up and we trotted down the hill for an after action beer and burger at The Brown Owl in what is now called the Box Factory plaza in the Old Mill of Bend.

Tim, N7KOM, working 20M Pileup

Later, after a nap and some down time with our doggos, I tallied my day: 4 2M FM, 5, 10M CW, 7 15M CW and 7 40M CW, for a total of 23 contacts; not too bad for a guy who spent the past six weeks studying for the Extra exam, not practicing copying CW.

Alternate Winter Parking

Lava Butte is an easy walk up in just about any season. It can be accessed via US 97 S, about 4 miles south of Bend, OR. There is a parking lot that is usually open all winter but unmaintained. Optionally, there is a pull out on the side of the highway I’ve circled on the map avoe.

Activation Report: W7O/CE-188 – Lava Butte

We haven’t been terribly active on the air of late. Only one activation since August, so we (KK7HJL and I) decided to take a couple hours on Thanksgiving Eve to hike up Lava Butte to activate. While the park is “closed” they do leave the gate to the parking lot open to allow folks to walk up the road to the top for some epic view of the Central Oregon mountains.

November has been pretty cold, and we had a couple of good snowstorms early in the month, leaving the road a mix of compacted snow and ice in areas that don’t see much sun. On this particular day, the outside air temp was hovering around 50 degrees so the top layer of the white snow was fairly easy to walk on, and any areas of the road exposed to the sun were dry or nearly so. The walk from the parking lot took about 60 minutes and we had the place to ourselves when we reached the top, though we didn’t expect to see many people, there was only 1 car in the lot when we arrived.

Since I had already activated Lava Butte back in April, I was mostly along for morale support for Randi and to test my rusty CW skills. I recently received the Penntek 35 radio I built back from the kit manufacturer after experiencing an audio chip failure. John WA3RNC, very graciously asked me to send the radio to him to troubleshot and fix it at no cost. I had taken it out a couple of other times but didn’t make any contacts so I was anxious to see if I could do better from a summit.

I had intended to try 40,20 and 17 meters so I started on by setting up my K6ARK End Fed Half Wave on 40. I called QRL and heard a very faint, slightly off-frequency response, but was unable to make it out on the summit. Later, K7ATN emailed to let me know that he had heard my QRL and responded with ‘SOTA?’. I had to listen to the recording several times, but I was able to make that out eventually. Regardless, I began calling CQ and worked 7 or 8 stations. I struggled with WB6POT but he patiently kept with me, turns out B and 6 are difficult for me to distinguish.

Meanwhile, Randi – KK7HJL, began calling CQ on 2M. She did the entire activation on her own, didn’t ask for any prompts and made 6 contacts around Central Oregon. She said she was in search of that RF High she learned about after our recent activation on Catalina Island in late October.

Since my copy skills weren’t great I decided to shut it down and tear down instead of trying 20 or 17M. Again, this was about getting her out more than my needing to collect contacts. Also, the tourists had started to arrive and we didn’t want to be annoying anyone. We managed to tear down and bug out after only a 30 minute activation, which left us plenty of time to grab a beer at the Boneyard Pub back in Bend on our way back to the QTH. We lucked out and found an unoccupied couch to sit and enjoy our delicious malt beverages while watching a replay of the USA vs Canada women’s hockey match from the previous weekend.

Lava Butte National Volcanic Monument is a pretty easy SOTA/POTA site. During the “season” there is a charge to park in the lot but once they close the monument for the winter, it’s free parking. Access is easy from US 97 Southbound about 4 miles south of Bend. The Northbound 97 exit is closed in the winter. The hike up is about 1.5 miles of pavement and there are plenty of places to setup to activate once on top. Eventually there will be a paved path from the south end of Bend up to Lava Butte, making it a very easy bicycle ride or walk from town but until then you either have to drive or take the Deschutes River Trail like Tim – N7KOM and I did back in April. This would be a great first SOTA activation destination as the views are top notch and one can easily get 2M contacts from Bend and LaPine.

Activation Report : Horse Ridge – W7O/CE-176

I wasn’t sure if I was going to get out to activate this weekend due to the rain in the forecast but things cleared up and it began to warm up so I decided to check out the Horse Ridge activation. I’ve ridden mountain bikes in the area quite a bit but mostly on the Northern slope of the area. The activation zone is on the southern most ridge, on the opposite side of the Golden Valley as its knows to the local riders. Looking at Google maps I planned to approach from the east via a double track that looked accessible from road 2015 but as I turned onto the double track I noticed the Private Property signs. I continued up the road until I got to a gate and a lot of shelled out old RV’s and decided it was a good turn around point.

Planned route (red) wasn’t accessible due to private property

I pulled up the SOTA Goat App and found a spot to park off of Ford Rd. that was about a 1/2 mile below the activation zone and decided to use my GPS to guide me to the summit.

The hike up started out pretty loose and soft sand, but become more stable but rocky at the tree line. It took me about 30 mins to get to the top and another 15 to find a spot and setup.

I found an old fence post that made a perfect hitching post for my telescopic pole so I hung the 20 meter wire, assembled my chair and assembled the kit.

The contacts came slowly and I struggled a bit copying callsigns but brought a new tool with me this week, a Sony digital recorder with the idea that if I didn’t copy the calls after a couple of attempts I could review once at home. This turned out to be a great idea and helped me relax a bit.

I made a total of 5 contacts, 4 on 20 and 1 on 40. I tried my hand on 17 but nothing heard.

After about 90 minutes I decided to pack it in and head back down the hill to the truck. The hike down only took about 17 minutes. Watch you step, there is plenty of opportunity to trip on a rock.

Penntek TR-35 4 Band CW Transceiver – First Transceiver Build

WA3RNC Penntek TR-35 4 Band, 5 Watt Transceiver

One of the things that drew me to amateur radio is the kit building aspect. Only weeks into the hobby, and before I had my hands on an HF rig I was ordering parts for an End fed random wire build I found on the AARL site. The first build went well but I haven’t been very impressed with the performance from the QTH. Since it’s a random wire antenna, it requires a tuner in the field, which I don’t have with me normally so it hasn’t seen much use.

I’ve built a couple of other antennas since with the K6ARK EFHW being my favorite but I wanted to up the challenge. I love the Icom IC-705 but its a bit heavy for SOTA Ops so I decided I wanted to build something smaller. I’ve been learning CW so I shopped for a really small, simple CW only kit. I looked at several packages and settled on the QCX Mini from QRPLabs. I ordered the package with the aluminum case and ACG module at a total of $84 before shipping, seemed like a good deal except for the 2 month wait.

Not long after I ordered the first radio I saw a video from Thomas, K4SWL, on the Penntek TR-35. I had looked at the radio previously but thought it a lot of money for a CW only radio that didn’t have any memory. One thing I love about my IC-705 is that is has 10 recorded memories for both voice and CW, which is almost a requirement for calling CQ lest one get a hand cramp in the field. Everything else about the radio looked fantastic, 4-Band, 5 Watt transceiver in a nice plastic case to reduce weight. There are a lot of features packed into this little radio and you can even have it assembled by pro’s at the factory if building isn’t your thing. WA3RNC continually adds to the software and the latest update includes two memory channels that Thomas demonstrated during and activation and I was sold. I ordered a kit before finishing the video and it arrived in less that a week.

The kits is really, really well put together. The instructions are very clear and verbose. The parts are packed in sealed strips, with each step’s parts in a separate little “bubble”, so as long as you only open the current steps parts and complete that step prior to opening the next, you will never loose parts. I found this very, very helpful as this was the most complex kit I have assembled to date.

The instructions are broken into four discrete parts:

READ ME FIRST
TR-35 Upper Board Assembly Instructions
TR-35 Lower Board Assembly Instructions
TR-35 Preliminary Checks, Tests and Final Assembly

Also included are a schematic and Operating Guide.

This being a rather expensive kit, $279 USD, I didn’t want to screw anything up soI read through the entire assembly instructions and highlighted things that seemed important or would be easily missed. This is something I learned after a couple failed builds due to missing a detail because I misread or was in a hurry… doh!

The entire build took me ~ 5 hours, though that was spread out across a couple of weeks as I had a trip and lots of work to do during that time. Usually when I build a kit I want to sit down and complete it start to finish so I don’t loose anything but as I mentioned previously, the way this is packaged made it easy to complete a step when I had 10-15 minutes of free time over the course of the build. Since the toroids are pre-wound, it is mostly a soldering build. Having a good quality, heat controlled iron, good solder (Kester 60/40 lead) and flux (not a requirement) and side clippers are a must. The only other tool I used was my multimeter during initial testing.

Once completed, I let it set for a few days so as not to rush the testing. I re-read the Preliminary Checks guide and made a checklist of each of the tests so I didn’t miss anything. Testing took me an hour or so, other than having to wait for new fuses for my Multimeter’s ampere testing circuit so I could do the Final RF amplifier bias adjustment. Everything checked out, so I decided to power it on and make the final adjustments before testing it on the air. With those final steps completed and the final assembly of the case, knobs, buttons, switch covers done, I hooked it up to the 20 M dipole I have on the roof and listened. I was astonished that it worked and I managed to not screw anything up.

I’ve now had it out in the field a couple of times and used it in the backyard several times and am very impressed. My only gripe right now is that the output volume of the keyer and the overall output are linked, so when listening to faint signals I have to remember to turn the volume down before I key lest I blow out my eardrums. This may be something I can adjust but I haven’t investigated yet. I have made a couple of contacts on 20M and intend to do several SOTA activations in my neighborhood in the near future as well as build the QCX Mini and do a comparison.

K6ARK End Fed Half Wave (EFHW) build and test

I watched a video on the Ham Radio Crash Course about this very tiny and relatively easy-to-build antenna a few months ago and bought one right away from Amazon. It only took about 30 minutes start to finish, the hardest part being attaching the surface mount capacitor as the video describes. I have since use it pretty much exclusively when activating the in the field. I even had a SOTA SSB QSO with Adam, K6ARK, himself during a SOTA activation at Smith Rock State Park!

I am using 18 gauge wire cut for 20M. I used my NanoVNA to tune and marked 10-20M on the wire with various colors of shrink wrap to differentiate the bands. I have a second length of wire that I added banana clips to connect so I can get up to 40M if I want to. If I want to use a new band I unroll from the Buddipole wire holder to the marking and check the SWR function on the IC-705 in the field and so far have had pretty good success. I’ve done several POTA and SOTA activations using SSB with the antenna. I love how simple and portable this setup is.

This is a great DIY antenna project, it simple to build and easy to use and I’d suggest it for anyone interested in field QRP activating.

K6ARK End Fed Half Wave QRP antenna with wire on Buddipole winder