POTA Roves are a great way to spice up your Parks on the Air activations. Instead of going out to just one park and getting on the air, you chain together several parks and hit them in rapid succession. Speed the process up and you’ve got a sprint; quick activations of a dozen or so contacts from multiple parks in one day.
Dave and I have the sprint process down pretty well. With a radio setup hard wired into the truck and a truck bed mounted antenna, setup and teardown are practically instantaneous. In this week’s video: POTA Sprint! Six Parks on the air in Northern Wisconsin, we do just that. Setup and teardown five times to get six different POTA entities on the air. https://youtu.be/zcbmXHI4tIE
ZL1CVD CatTouch7USB: https://catmeters.com/
Shark Antennas S-F20 Mono Band HF 20 Meter Mobile Vertical Antenna: https://amzn.to/4pUJxO8
FireStik SS-194A Pickup Truck Bedrail Stakehole Antenna Mount: https://amzn.to/4xrNdJX
The Emperor of Ice-Cream: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45234/the-emperor-of-ice-cream
Sharing the Microphone
A big challenge when you have two or more operators at a Parks on the Air activation is passing the microphone. I’m sure everyone has heard the long pause after the first person says “stand by for a second operator” until the second person gets the microphone and says their call. There is a faster way.
Fortunately the Yaesu FT-891 uses a modular RJ-45 microphone connection. If you purchase an RJ-45 network splitter, you can connect two microphones into the same port, to make sharing the microphone fast and easy.
These Ethernet Splitters: https://amzn.to/4pY1nzG are a fast and easy way for two operators to get around the radio without passing the microphone. Everyone brings their own mic or headset and plugs into the splitter. Now when you say “stand by the second operator” the pickup is quick without any of those pregnant pauses.
But there is a downside. When you press the PTT button on one microphone, both mics are active. That means you can’t speak when the other person is talking, otherwise it will get picked up and go over the air.
Still, this is a great tool to pack in your kit and I carry a spare hand mic and splitter for those occasions when I host a joint POTA activation with another ham.
Huntsville Hamfest
I’ll be heading down to Huntsville, Alabama this August for the Huntsville hamfest. You’ll find me strolling the show floor on Saturday August 22 and participating in the ARRL National Convention on August 21.
I think the ARRL Convention is the most exciting news of the hamfest as I will be partnering with “Salty” Walt Hudson K4OGO for Salty Walt’s Antenna Workshop. This is a day long event where we lead you through practical antenna designs, operating tips, and how to’s for successful portable operation. It’s going to be a great workshop. Details can be found here: https://www.arrl.org/arrl-expo
I hope to see you in Huntsville.
Finishing Up
This Thursday is our monthly livestream where we chat about ham radio and answer your amateur radio related questions. This month I have Travis, W9HDG, joining me. Travis is a long time friend, educator, and ham radio operator. We talk a lot about getting kids involved with ham radio, he’ll share some of his experience and offer tips on how to make that happen.
We’ll also be giving away a Heil BM-17 Headset on the livestream. Heil Ham Radio has graciously donated a headset and adapter for the channel to give away. So watch the livestream for details on how you can be a part of the giveaway. Thank you Heil Ham Radio for your support of the channel.
The livestream is on Thursday August 6 at at 7:00pm Central Time (0000 UTC August 7). Jump in at the following lin: https://youtube.com/live/uc3g8UZx6m0
I hope to catch you on the air soon
Michael
KB9VBR
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