Editor be aware – Please take pleasure in this visitor publish from Jeff Bourgeois VE7EFF.
Typically the weather simply aren’t in my favor. I knew activating Echo Lake Provincial Park CA-3459 could be a propagation problem. This POTA Park has by no means been totally activated earlier than. Final yr one operator tried it and was solely in a position to log 4 contacts. Immediately, I not solely had mountains to cope with, however apparently vital photo voltaic storms in motion as effectively.
What initially made this activation so difficult is that Echo Lake is situated on a valley ground and that it’s surrounded by mountains on nearly all sides. I picked this explicit spot to function as a result of it’s the solely location within the park that has a small window of opening to the South or South-South-East. I hoped I may hit sufficient stations within the USA to make a profitable activation of 10 contacts.
Echo Lakes is a couple of 2-hour drive NE from my dwelling in Kelowna, BC, and about 45 minutes ESE of Lumby, BC. The final half-hour or so is on gravel roads. Now that we’ve got arrived, my spouse Alexis, VE7LXE, helps with unloading the gear,
This picture reveals my slim window of alternative for southerly HF propagation. Mountains on the left, mountains on the best, and mountains behind me.
As you’ll be able to see beneath, the japanese path is usually blocked by a mountain and SE is the path the place I usually have the most effective success of traversing the USA. I usually can’t depend on NVIS propagation; there simply aren’t sufficient Canadian POTA chasers inside NVIS vary for me to make a profitable activation.
Immediately, I’m utilizing my lately acquired Chameleon CHA Porta-Mount to assist the 34’ (actually solely ~ 32’) carbon fiber telescopic mast.
As soon as once more, I’m additionally testing my homebrew coaxial sleeve dipole, now lower for the 17m band. I constructed it with RG-8X coax and terminated with a Truthful Ceremony #31, 2.5” core because the RF block choke. My KX3 antenna tuner will handle any SWR points on all bands that I function on.
As a result of I’m utilizing a carbon fiber telescopic mast, I’ve beforehand famous that the mast has “vital” detuning impact on the antenna. Thus, I function it as a slanted coaxial sleeve dipole. This strikes the antenna away from a lot of the mast affect. The slant must also assist with elevating the propagation angle to hopefully clear the mountain tops (however not sufficient to make it NVIS).
The climate report was alleged to be largely sunny. Nonetheless, it turned out to be simply the alternative and was cloudy, threatening to rain, and considerably chilly. It’s colder outdoors than I take care of and the truth that it’s threatening to rain, I determine to function from inside my 2016 Subaru Forester. I solely function from inside my automotive when it isn’t viable to function outdoors. Moreover, I don’t need to threat getting moist right this moment.
Now that my KX3 is fired-up and related to the Bioenno 4.5 Ah battery and the antenna, I’m all set to see if anybody can hear me. I ought to point out that I’m working at 10W right this moment so I assume that disqualifies me as a QRP operator. 😊
Right here is the play-by-play report:
I began calling CQ on 20m at 16:55 UTC (09:55 PDT). My first contact got here quarter-hour later with KN7D in Utah. It took one other quarter-hour to snag my subsequent contact with WM2V in Arizona.
There’s not a lot occurring for me on 20m, so I change as much as 17m. At 17:40 UTC I log N5RLH in NM. That’s it for 17m. Shifting as much as 15m, I snag a contact in NC with N4EX at 17:52. That was my solely 15m contact of the day.
I went on to attempt 12m, 10m, and even 30m. Completely nothing over the subsequent hour of calling CQ on these 3-bands. Again right down to 20m. One contact with KE4KE in Minnesota. It took an hour and quarter-hour extra to land only one extra contact on 17m with KB6FPW/P in California at 21:00.
I’m positively not breaking any pace information right this moment. A tortoise may in all probability log extra contacts than this.
One other hour passes till I land a contact with K0SX in Colorado on 20m. All of the sudden, 20m picks-up steam and I land 4 extra contacts on 20m – two in California and two in Colorado between 22:00 and 22:47. I’m nearly on the finish of the POTA UTC day for this park, however I’m decided to attempt to choose up extra contacts earlier than 00:00 UTC.
Final crack at 17m band. At 23:13 I land KJ7BS in Arizona. As my remaining contact of the UTC day, I snag KD7DUG in California at 23:15. I preserve calling CQ for the subsequent 45 minutes with no extra outcomes. It’s now 00:00 UTC and the POTA day is over.
However one thing drives me on to maintain calling CQ. I preserve considering propagation will get higher.
At 00:05 I log my final contact of the day on 20m – a P2P QSO with AF0E in Colorado. I notice that this contact should go into the subsequent day’s POTA log, however a contact is a contact. On the finish of the day, I logged 13 legitimate POTA contacts, plus 1 into the subsequent UTC day.
Tip: Click on on the map for a bigger picture view.
The Contacts Map above does appear to verify that my slim hall of propagation was primarily due-south or SSE – squeezing via the mountains opening. Some magic of propagation handed me North Carolina and Minnesota.
That is by far the toughest I’ve ever needed to work to get adequate contacts to activate a brand new park. I used to be decided to get this park activated, although. It took 7 hours of calling CQ to log 13 contacts. That’s a document 1.8 contacts/hour!
I don’t assume the antenna is the true perpetrator for right this moment’s weak outcomes, particularly contemplating that 6-days earlier I logged 68 contacts together with 8 DX stations in Europe through Inonoaklin Provincial Park CA-3626 utilizing this similar antenna configuration. I wont get any awards for logging essentially the most contacts per hour – however maybe I qualify for an award for the least variety of contacts per hour! They may name it the Snail Award. 😊
Between being surrounded by mountains and muffled by photo voltaic storms, it was a difficult day. Time to pack-up and make the 2-hour drive again dwelling earlier than it will get darkish.
Tools listing:
Elecraft KX3 with inner antenna tuner
Elecraft KXPD2 paddle
Bioenno 4Ah battery
Gigaparts 32ft carbon fiber telescopic mast
Residence brew ½ λ 17m experimental coaxial sleeve vertical dipole made with RG-8X and Truthful Ceremony #31 2.5” core.
73 de Jeff, VE7EFF
