Friday, August 23, 2024, was full of actions, however I used to be trying ahead to the night to wind down and chill out.
That morning and afternoon, my spouse and I ran quite a few errands round city. I performed chauffeur to my daughters, taking them to their volunteer jobs and Shakespeare courses.
The day wrapped up round 5:00 PM after I returned to the QTH, dropped off one set of automobile keys, and grabbed the opposite!
I had pre-packed the Subaru for a visit to the Lake Norman State Park campground!
I could have talked about in earlier posts—and I do know I actually have on the Ham Radio Workbench podcast—that I bought a rooftop tent system final 12 months for my Subaru.
I had hoped that my maiden voyage in it could be the 2023 W4G SOTA campout in North Georgia, however the precise tent platform didn’t ship till a few months after the campout.
2024 has been a loopy 12 months—and the summer season, particularly, has been scorching and humid—so I haven’t gone tenting even as soon as up to now. That is very a lot not the norm, however there you go.
This summer season, I’d been ready for a little bit aid from the warmth to no less than slot in an in a single day journey and provides the rooftop tent an excellent shake-out earlier than the autumn and winter tenting journeys I’ve deliberate. In mid-August, that aid arrived as a entrance moved into the realm, bringing cooler temperatures and decrease humidity.
I deliberate to spend Saturday with my father in Hickory, NC, so I made a decision {that a} journey to Lake Norman State Park Campground for Friday evening was so as! I made a reservation a few days previous to safe a pleasant, stage web site.
I arrived on web site and checked in round 18:45 native time (22:45 UTC).
A part of me thought-about making POTA a precedence to slot in an activation throughout the August 23 UTC day, however the main objective of this tenting journey was to see how lengthy it could take to deploy my C6 tent.
I didn’t need to do that at midnight and, frankly, I used to be trying ahead to creating a night meal earlier than hitting the airwaves.
Since elementary college, I’ve all the time beloved tenting and through the years have owned a wide range of tents—most of which had been on the reasonably priced finish of the size.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve moved away from sleeping on the bottom. Previously few years, I’ve used both a full-size cot in our household tent or a backpackable cot for my two-person tent. I discover I sleep a lot better when off the bottom.
I all the time thought a rooftop tent would make impromptu tenting journeys a lot simpler, however such tents are sometimes insanely costly. Plus, some weigh over 100 or 200 lbs, which is why a few of my mates who’ve them by no means take away them from their automobiles—it’s simply an excessive amount of of a trouble.
I found the Rev Tent by C6 Outside a pair years in the past. Though nonetheless dear (by my requirements), it was no less than half the value of different high quality rooftop tent choices.
Final 12 months, my spouse and daughters inspired me to order one as a birthday reward from them. I purchased the tent portion of the setup throughout a sale and received it for about 20% off. The platform (that attaches to my Subaru’s roof bars) wasn’t in inventory as a result of C6 was redesigning it and it wasn’t out there but.
In November, they began transport the brand new platforms and supplied these of us who had already bought the tent a wonderful low cost for being affected person.
Whereas the Rev tent requires extra time to arrange in comparison with clamshell rooftop tents, it provides a stage of flexibility they don’t. The tent portion of the system weighs solely 20 lbs and is designed to be utterly self-supporting. You should utilize it on the roof rack, put it within the mattress of a truck, or set it up on the bottom like a traditional tent.
The Rev tent has thick however light-weight foam padding within the ground, performing as a everlasting mattress. It’s tremendous comfy—no want for extra padding.
Deploying the Rev tent at Lake Norman concerned detaching it and eradicating it from the roof rack, unzipping and establishing the tent on the bottom, opening the tent platform, then inserting the tent again on prime and attaching it on the 4 corners.
I timed myself, and the entire course of on my first try took quarter-hour from begin to end. The half that takes probably the most time is solely attaching and detaching the tent through the 4 bolts. I’m assured I can minimize this time almost in half with a little bit of apply.
I plan to do a full evaluation of the Rev tent in a future video, as there aren’t many opinions on the market. This tent isn’t for everybody, however I prefer it. I’ll need a number of extra tenting journeys underneath my belt earlier than contemplating making a evaluation, although!
After dinner, I began a hearth and arrange my MM0OPX 40-meter end-fed half-wave.
I then grabbed my KX2 and, utilizing my Tufteln/N0RNM kneeboard, sat comfortably as I ready to hit the air.
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I’ll admit, it was extremely comfy sitting again and enjoying POTA by the campfire.
I engaged the KX2’s inner ATU, then used it to discover a match on 80 meters. I imagine it achieved a 1:1 SWR.
I began calling CQ, and the contacts started rolling in at a relaxed tempo.
Inside 14 minutes, I logged a complete of 12 hunters—not dangerous!
Subsequent, I put my ATU in bypass mode and moved as much as 40 meters.
I began calling CQ POTA, and, by golly, madness ensued!
I assume my timing was good as a result of I labored one of many deepest pileups I’ve skilled in months. I’ve been so used to poor band situations that pileups appeared like a factor of the previous, however not that night! It was loopy.
Briefly, I labored a complete of 43 stations in 47 minutes. I may have simply maintained a tempo of 1 station per minute, however there have been a number of calls the place I spent additional time digging out of the noise, which I all the time discover rewarding.
All in all, it was a superb activation and actually received my coronary heart pumping!
Right here’s what this five-watt activation seemed like when plotted out on a QSO Map:
Right here’s my real-time, real-life video of your complete activation. As with all of my movies, I don’t edit out any components of the on-air activation time. As well as, I’ve monetization turned off on YouTube, though that doesn’t cease them from inserting advertisements earlier than and after my movies.
Be aware that Patreon supporters can watch and even obtain this video 100% ad-free by way of Vimeo on my Patreon web page:
Click on right here to view on YouTube.
After the adrenaline rush of this activation, I packed up my radio however left the antenna absolutely deployed for a morning activation. You’ll examine it in my subsequent area report.
I packed up all my kitchen objects—a behavior I’ve developed due to bears, however within the case of Lake Norman, it was extra about raccoons!
I then received prepared for mattress and made myself comfy within the tent. After studying for a bit, I loved an excellent evening’s sleep.
A peaceable ending to a busy day. I may use extra of this!
Thanks for becoming a member of me throughout this campfire activation!
I hope you loved the sphere report and my activation video as a lot as I loved creating them!
After all, I’d additionally prefer to ship a particular because of these of you who’ve been supporting the location and channel by way of Patreon, and the Espresso Fund. Whereas not a requirement, as my content material will all the time be free, I actually recognize the assist.
As I discussed earlier than, the Patreon platform linked to Vimeo makes it attainable for me to share movies that aren’t solely 100% ad-free but in addition downloadable for offline viewing. The Vimeo account additionally serves as a 3rd backup for my video recordsdata.
Thanks for spending a part of your day with me! Have a superb, radio-active, week forward!
Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)
