2015 SARL Winter QRP contest

As you all know I am a huge fan of QRP, but after reading the feedback below from Roger ZS6RJ (the guy with the rather loud headset) I could not resist sharing his feedback "Ode to a QRP contest".

Conditions on the higher HF bands were rather poor and working QRP DX from the southern tip of Africa was not easy to say the least.

I did not work a single DX station, I sure hope others fared better.

Ode to a QRP contest:

“Come help with QRP”
“It’ll be a hoot, you’ll see”

I raised the hex beam with great glee
Ignoring the fiberglass stuck in me

Calling ad-nausea for more than an hour
Left me disillusioned and rather sour

So as the QRP leader broke down the camp
I whacked him over the head, with my linear amp.

Roger ZS6RJ and Nick ZS6NCK operating ZS6WR club station

 

 

Unexpected surprises – Cambodia on JT65

I saw John AE5X blogging about working Cambodia and his concern about whether the person was legit.

As luck would have it yesterday I was playing with JT65 on 20m and I saw XU7AEU calling CQ. I was quite surprised to see such a rare entity using such a slow mode. However believing in the motto “work first worry later” I called in reply, the first 2 calls where in vain, I was swamped by the stronger European stations. I reverted to “Plan-B” I called slightly higher up in the band and that worked, the rest is history.

I looked up Alex XU7AEU on QRZ.com

I think I am extremely lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

Quote from QRZ.com:  XU7AEU

I will be in the Kingdom of Cambodia once again between the 19th and 28th of August 2014 operating from my usual QTH (our office roof in downtown Phnom Penh). After the lightning strike in July i'm still using the Yaesu FT-817 into a 20m dipole. I have brought more dipole wire so i'll be stringing up some other bands as soon as I can.

By shear chance I caught him on day 1 of his stay. It also shows the value of using JT65 with QRP and less than optimum antennas.

And if that is not enough, he used LoTW 

Activating (almost) ZS/GP-001

I have just returned home after my first attempt at being a SOTA activator (goat)

Yesterday, I spent quite a long time carefully packing my kit in preparation for the trip. We awoke before sunrise and SWAMBO and I hit the road early, we arrived at our destination with some time to spare. In fact on the way I stopped to survey yet another summit: GP-002 on the way.

I immediately erected the telescopic fibre glass mask and hauled up the 20/40m linked inverted vee dipole. With that all done, we quickly took a few photographs for prosperity and then sat down and started connecting the Elecraft K2 to all the paraphernalia: Paddle, microphone, feed line and battery….. It was then I discovered a huge problem. The battery cable was not in the bag, I had inadvertently left it at home.

I had no choice, but to pack up and return home.

Even though no QSOs were made it still was a most pleasant experience. I recon I will do this again sometime.

Click on images for higher resolution.

Perdekop ZS/GP-001 view SE

ZS/GP-001 Perdekop

Ultralight portable station - batteries

A while back I blogged about methods of reducing the weight of my ultralight portable station:

http://zs6a.blogspot.com/2014/05/ultralight-radio.html

I believe I have found the ultimate battery for my ultralight portable station. 

There is nothing new about the product below, but I have not had the opportunity to get first-hand experience with these newish devices.

Normally I would use a 7 AH SLAB - Sealed Lead Acid Battery (typical alarm type battery).

The abovementioned SLAB's had served me very well through the years, but there is only one small problem, they weigh 2350 g each. This weight is fairly substantial and would become an issue on long hikes.

I discovered on e-Bay that there are many Lithium-Ion batteries available with different mAH ratings and IMHO they are pretty reasonably priced.

The 6800 mAH LiON battery (same capacity as the SLAB) weighs is at 162 g. This is only 7% of the weight of the 7000 mAH SLAB and it is a fairly compact unit.

Assuming the “blurb” regarding the LiON batteries can be believed then I think this is the way to go. As some insurance I decided to get a 9800 mAH battery complete with charger.

I cannot wait to field test these units……

9800 mAH LiON battery pack

SOTA statistics

Looking at the SOTA web site the following information can clearly be derived:

·         CW is still the most popular mode by a good margin. 46% of QSOs were made in CW, followed by SSB 32% and FM 22%.

·         The most popular bands are 40m followed by 2m thereafter the 30m band. This is understandable, but also a pity since it virtually excludes South Africans from participating on an international level.

Click on image below for a better view.

SOTA statistics

Ultralight radio

Keeping the weight low…. 

The above statement is easier said than done. I have been aware of size (bulk) and weight for a while now, but never approached the subject too seriously in the past.

Having a light, yet efficient trail friendly radio setup has become my new challenge.

It is quite amazing how quickly the bulk and weight adds up.

HB1-a CW QRP transceiver, paddle, battery, notebook and antenna system.

If I assume a weight of 400 grams for the antenna system. EFHWA + QRP AMU.

If I use a 3 AH SLAB then I am looking at a total weight of: 2,340 grams

If I use 8 AA batteries of about the same capacity then the weight = 1,280 grams

It seems the setup above is fairly compact, but I am not happy with the almost 2.5 kg weight. That equates to 2.5 Litres of water…. IMHO That is way too heavy.

I really should finish the Small Wonder Labs SWL-40 QRP transceiver and possibly have that powered by one of those fancy new LiPO batteries.

HB-1a powered by 3 AH SLAB