{"id":44066,"date":"2020-06-30T09:06:11","date_gmt":"2020-06-30T13:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=44066"},"modified":"2020-06-30T18:21:22","modified_gmt":"2020-06-30T22:21:22","slug":"a-field-day-weekend-of-rain-shine-battery-power-power-pile-ups-and-radio-improvisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/06\/a-field-day-weekend-of-rain-shine-battery-power-power-pile-ups-and-radio-improvisation\/","title":{"rendered":"A Field Day weekend of rain, shine, battery power, pile-ups, and radio improvisation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you’ve been reading the SWLing Post <\/i>for long, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of portable radio gear. Whether it’s a portable receiver<\/a>, an SDR<\/a>, or a ham radio<\/a>, I believe radios are made to be taken outside\u2013\u2013rain or shine; hence I love programs like Parks On The Air (POTA ) and Summits On The Air (SOTA), and I’ve always loved ARRL Field Day.<\/p>\n

Of course, this ARRL Field Day was a bit different than years past due to Covid-19\u2013\u2013there were more individuals on the air with their own Field Day stations, while there were relatively few clubs on the air. Typically, the opposite is true.<\/p>\n

This year I\u2019d planned to operate from the field at various POTA locations in western NC; some contenders were the Blue Ridge Parkway, Pisgah National Forest, and Mount Mitchell State Park. In the past few years, my buddy Vlado (N3CZ) and I\u2013\u2013with spouses in tow\u2013\u2013hit the field together, but this year he was out of town, and I planned to go solo.<\/p>\n

I plotted a few hours of Field Day time at Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The night before, I had my antennas and the Elecraft KX2, KXPA100, Heil Pro Headset, and 15 aH LiFePo battery (all packed in my go-packs, of course), in the car and ready to go.<\/p>\n

Saturday morning. <\/b>\u00a0I woke expecting fairly nice weather: partly cloudy with a chance of showers. Turned out, it was chilly, gusty, with total cloud cover and fairly constant rain. I\u2019ll admit, it dampened my enthusiasm for Craggy, because while it’s a gorgeous site, it\u2019s well above 5000′ ASL, thus the winds up there can be seriously gusty and the weather can turn on a dime.<\/p>\n

So, I decided to put up my feet in the shack\u00a0 and operate class 1E, meaning on emergency\/battery power.<\/p>\n

I started calling CQ at the start of Field Day and, to my surprise, worked a constant pile-up for nearly an hour. Within that fairly short space of time I found I\u2019d already collected about 90 or more stations on 40 meters.<\/p>\n

After that, I hunted and pounced for maybe an hour, then took a break; later that night, I operated intensively again for 30 minutes or so.\u00a0 Had I been at a Field Day site, I would have been a much more dedicated operator, but frankly, I’m not even sure I plan to send in my logs. Still, it was fun.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

My set up on a damp picnic table at the Craggy Gardens Picnic area.<\/p><\/div>\n

Sunday morning. <\/b>\u00a0The weather was much more pleasant from the get-go, with sun and wind, though thunder showers were in the forecast. Around 11:00 or so, my wife suggested we pack up and head to Craggy Gardens for a little radio fun followed by some lunch and hiking.<\/p>\n

We reached the site–it was beautiful, but ominous. Thick fog and Saharan dust (no kidding<\/a>) covered the site and surrounding mountains.\u00a0 Still, I set up the station and my new Wolf River Coils TIA<\/a> portable vertical.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

My daughter and I deployed the TIA vertical in a matter of 5 minutes.<\/p><\/div>\n

I think I logged two stations before the misty clouds rolled up all around me; then (remember that change-on-a-dime weather?) a sudden\u2013\u2013and torrential<\/em>\u2013\u2013downpour came from nowhere. My wife snagged all she could carry and ran for the car, and I quickly covered my gear with my raincoat and packed everything in my packs as soon as possible. I had to make two trips to the car to pack everything, and needless to say, with my raincoat in the service of my equipment, I was drenched to the skin. I literally looked like I had jumped into a lake with my clothes on.\u00a0 Fortunately my gear\u2013\u2013at least, the important gear\u2013\u2013was only a bit damp, but internally fine. Herein lies one of the great things about being a pack geek: quality packs tend to be water-resistant, if not fully waterproof.<\/p>\n

But.<\/i> If I’m being completely honest, I\u2019ll admit I was a bit miffed that I got so little radio time before the heavens opened. We knew there would be a risk of bad weather and, frankly, other than the hassle of packing and unpacking, we actually acknowledge the entertainment value of a little WX from time to time. After all, this is the hazard of operating under a wide open sky.<\/p>\n

My wife, sensing my disappointment, suggested we go to another site to play a little radio, but at that point I just wasn’t feeling it. What I felt instead was the damp…wringing wet-level damp…and my spirits were dampened. too. I suggested we make our way back.<\/p>\n

En route, I saw a sign for the Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace<\/a>\u2013\u2013a historic site that I knew was a POTA entity. I\u2019d completely forgotten about this site, and decided to make a detour so I could scope out the site for a future activation. By now I\u2019d warmed up a bit, and a bit of lunch helped revive my flagging spirits.<\/p>\n

Turns out the site’s visitor\u2019s center is closed on Sunday, but the gates are open so the public can enjoy the grounds. We drove up to their covered picnic area, although the cover was now peace of mind only, as the sun was again making an appearance. The setting was…well, ideal. And here I was. How could I not <\/i>go ahead and activate this POTA site?<\/p>\n

Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace (K-6856)<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It was windy but warm, and while my wife spread out the packs, lunch cooler, and jackets to dry, I, too, found I was no longer dripping. By the time I set up the Wolf River Coils TIA vertical and my KX2\/KXPA100, the togs were fairly dry, and indeed I was quite comfortable again. I hopped back on the air and worked a number of stations in short order, easily logging the ten needed to confirm the park activation.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Wolf River TIA is outstanding in its field (sorry!)<\/p><\/div>\n

Later, I discovered that the site was an \u201cAll-Time New One\u201d (ATNO) in the POTA system. A bittersweet discovery, in a way, because Field Day is not the best time for POTA hunters to log a new site. Still, I wasn\u2019t even calling CQ with POTA in mind; I just worked Field Day stations and had a great time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Just as I finished, there was yet another downpour, but as the picnic area where I\u2019d set up was covered, I no longer feared my gear getting soaked. This time, it was a sudden loud clap of thunder that gave me my cue to pack up quickly!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Still, all in all, I was very pleased with my weekend Field Day chase, and it was worth dodging rain storms for it. Sure, I would have loved to play radio at Craggy Gardens for a couple hours, but it was a pleasant surprise to fit in an ATNO activation before the end of the day. I\u2019d have never guessed the Vance site was an ATNO, since it\u2019s so<\/em> accommodating and accessible. Indeed, I\u2019ve discovered that, at this stage in POTA, most of the sites that haven\u2019t been activated are either newly-incorporated into POTA or are very inaccessible. If you missed me there on Field Day, no worries: I plan to head out there again in the very near future.<\/p>\n

Oh, and I did learn one more thing over the weekend: the Wolf River Coils TIA vertical antenna is incredibly easy and speedy to deploy. I\u2019m very pleased with this recent acquisition!<\/p>\n

Parkway and parks? I\u2019ll be back soon. My radio\u2019s already packed.<\/p>\n

Did you participate in Field Day or put your receivers to the test by trying to log exchanges between stations?\u00a0 Please comment!<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

\n

Do you enjoy the SWLing Post?<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Please consider supporting us via\u00a0Patreon<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or our\u00a0Coffee<\/span>\u00a0Fund<\/span><\/a>! <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Your support makes articles like this one possible. Thank you!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you’ve been reading the SWLing Post for long, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of portable radio gear. Whether it’s a portable receiver, an SDR, or a ham radio, I believe radios are made to be taken outside\u2013\u2013rain or shine; hence I love programs like Parks On The Air (POTA ) and Summits […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[545,3,43],"tags":[8553,389,8358,2034,5083,8624,3060,3906,4102,5084,8625,7970,8626],"class_list":["post-44066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ham-radio","category-news","category-shortwave-radio","tag-2020-arrl-field-day","tag-amateur-radio","tag-covid-19","tag-elecraft","tag-elecraft-kx2","tag-elecraft-kxpa100","tag-field-day","tag-field-radios","tag-ham-radio","tag-kx2","tag-kxpa100","tag-lifepo-batteries","tag-wolf-rivers-tia-antenna"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-bsK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32508,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/06\/the-evolution-of-a-radio-shack-and-parting-ways-with-my-elecraft-k2-100\/","url_meta":{"origin":44066,"position":0},"title":"The evolution of a radio shack…and parting ways with my Elecraft K2\/100","author":"Thomas","date":"June 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"[Update: One of our readers purchased the K2\/100! Thanks!] I freely admit it: a\u00a0lot of radios enter and exit my radio shack\u2013\u2013especially portable receivers and SDRs of all stripes.\u00a0 It's just the nature of doing gear reviews and evaluations. I also keep a fairly robust arsenal of radios here at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Elecraft-K2-100-1024x596.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Elecraft-K2-100-1024x596.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Elecraft-K2-100-1024x596.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29329,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/11\/swling-on-the-coast-with-the-elecraft-kx2-and-pk-loop\/","url_meta":{"origin":44066,"position":1},"title":"SWLing on the coast with the Elecraft KX2 and PK Loop","author":"Thomas","date":"November 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Since I purchased the Elecraft KX2 last year, I find I do almost as much SWLing with it as I do ham radio activity. The KX2 is actually a brilliant shortwave broadcast receiver--check out these audio samples. It's incredibly sensitive, selective and outperforms all of my portables. It's also a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Elecraft-KX2-PK-Loop-RX-Antenna-1-839x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Elecraft-KX2-PK-Loop-RX-Antenna-1-839x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Elecraft-KX2-PK-Loop-RX-Antenna-1-839x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21260,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/npota-activating-the-carl-sandburg-home-ns07-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":44066,"position":2},"title":"NPOTA: Activating the Carl Sandburg Home (NS07) today","author":"Thomas","date":"September 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This afternoon (September 8), I should have a chance to activate the Carl Sandburg Home again for the ARRL National Parks on the Air program. You might recall, I activated the site Sunday as well. I'll plan to use the Elecraft KX2 and EFT TRail-Friendly antenna combo once again. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Elecraft Kx2 ON Clipboard","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Elecraft-Kx2-ON-Clipboard.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Elecraft-Kx2-ON-Clipboard.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Elecraft-Kx2-ON-Clipboard.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Elecraft-Kx2-ON-Clipboard.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42427,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/a-tale-of-two-radios-commradio-ctx-10-vs-elecraft-kx2\/","url_meta":{"origin":44066,"position":3},"title":"A Tale of Two Radios: CommRadio CTX-10 vs. Elecraft KX2","author":"Thomas","date":"March 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The following review first appeared in the February 2020 issue of The Spectrum Monitor\u00a0magazine. A Tale of Two Radios: CommRadio CTX-10 v Elecraft KX2 As my blog readers often point out: Why focus on low-power (QRP) ham radio activities when propagation is so dismal...even for high power stations?\u00a0 A logical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/KX2-CTX10-5-1024x641.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/KX2-CTX10-5-1024x641.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/KX2-CTX10-5-1024x641.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18882,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/the-elecraft-kx2-data-sheet-features-and-specifications\/","url_meta":{"origin":44066,"position":4},"title":"The Elecraft KX2 Data Sheet: Features and Specifications","author":"Thomas","date":"May 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Click here to download the PDF version of the Elecraft KX2 product sheet (2 pages).","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Elecraft-KX2-Data-Sheet","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Elecraft-KX2-Data-Sheet-e1463598979596.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Elecraft-KX2-Data-Sheet-e1463598979596.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Elecraft-KX2-Data-Sheet-e1463598979596.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Elecraft-KX2-Data-Sheet-e1463598979596.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":43915,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/06\/proper-radio-prepping-keep-a-kit-that-is-always-ready-to-hit-the-field\/","url_meta":{"origin":44066,"position":5},"title":"Proper Radio Prepping: Keep a kit that is always ready to hit the field!","author":"Thomas","date":"June 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, my family packed a picnic lunch and took a drive through Madison County, North Carolina. It was an impromptu trip. Weather was forecast to be pretty miserable that afternoon, but we took the risk because we all wanted to get out of the house for a bit. 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