A hallmark of my channel is I put antennas to the test under real conditions. I set them up in a wild location and put them on the air. You get the chance to see how they operate in the field and get a feeling of their performance beyond the simple numbers of SWR and resonance.
In that vein I rove a couple of parks and put two antennas on the air: the Radioddity HF-010 and KJ6ER (POTA) PERformer. That’s the topic of this week’s video: Two Antennas Tested in Real Conditions – HF-010 vs PERformer! Watch now: https://youtu.be/Ygu0jv6Pb5E
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Wisconsin QSO Party
Last weekend (March 15, 20216) was the Wisconsin QSO. For the past few years, Dave, KZ9V, and I have gone mobile for the contest and activated a few POTA entities while putting underserved counties on the air. We were making plans for this year when Dave realized that the WARAC, the club that organizes the event, changed the date from the first weekend in March to the second weekend in March. This unexpected change put a wrench in our works as Dave had travel plans for that weekend and was unavailable.
That’s OK, I’ll switch to plan B.
I looked at the map and found a route that hit three underserved counties: Oneida, Lincoln, and Langlade and had POTA entities in spots where travel between the spots averaged 20 minutes or so. I could set up in a park, operate for an hour or so, hit the road while on the air with a hamstick antenna, making contacts along the way, until I got to the next stop to set up and operate for a time. Christine would be the driver and it was going to be a fun day for the 7 hour event.
Until Mother Nature entered the chat.
As we approached the date, a large late season winter storm developed. Forecasts started out at 12-14 inches for our area and quickly rose to 28-32 inches by the time the event reached our area. North Central Wisconsin, including my home of Wausau and the area to the north I was planning to rove for the contest received 25+ inches of snow. Over the 3 day period over the weekend, we got a solid 32 inches of snow! (Friday we received 7 inches of snow prior to the storm)
Last week we had bare ground and a 60 degree day and now I can’t see over the snow bank and into the road.
Stuck at home and shoveling out two feet of snow, I was relegated to working the QSO party from my shack. That’s not a totally bad thing, my trusty FTdx3000 hasn’t been on the air much lately, so it was good to get the cobwebs blown out of it and my antenna system.
The good news is that the rig preformed flawlessly. Super sensitive receive, tight filtering and a brick wall roof that keeps adjacent signals at bay really helped in the crowded bands. The bad news is that I have broadband noise at home. Some from inside the house and others outside. I was able to quell most of the inside noise to make the 40 meter band useable, but 20 meters through me an S9 floor that was terrible to work through. Consequently I spend most of my time on the 40 meter band, and as the day wore on, the noise actually subsided.
Despite band conditions, local noise, and a half buried antenna, I managed to operate for about 3 hours of the seven hour contest. The other time, I was outside shoveling snow. With all those limitations, I still managed 208 contacts, 69 multipliers, and 14,352 points. Not my best, but respectable for the amount of time I committed to the event.
I think a big part of amateur radio, and ham radio contesting for that matter, is overcoming obstacles. Many tout ham radio for its emergency communications ability, I think one of the best ways to practice is to work a contest. Bonus points for when you do the contest in an actual snow emergency.
Here’s looking towards a warmer, and less snowy QSO party next year.
Finishing up
Ham radio might be a little limited in the next few weeks. With all the snow on the ground I won’t be able to get into my favorite POTA spots for a while, and I have an election to run. Instead of making contacts, I will be knocking on doors to retain my seat on the Wausau City Council. Election day is April 7. If you live in Wisconsin, make a plan and get out and vote.
I hope to get you in the log soon
Michael
KB9VBR
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