Up a tree - part 2

After dusting off my EZ-hang slinghsot I replaced the old and in the meantime shortened fishing line with new fluorescent line (0.25mm). I started out with 120m but that was a little too much for the reel so I cut it back to 100m.

I was wondering what the effect of the different sinker weights would be in practice - which one would travel higher and how would they behave once up in a tree.

Slingshot with 1.75oz sinker

Slingshot with original sinker

First I did some simple shots across a field. It turned out both weights ended up at around the same distance: 50m (170ft) with a maximum of 54m for the 1.75 oz weight and 58m for the original 1oz weight. I would say comparable.

Lots of nice branches

Then I selected a few nice trees to compare the two sinkers further. Again the difference in height reached was not really significant. Both ended up around 25m (80ft) with the 1oz weight reaching the highest branch at 28m (90ft). This corresponds to the highest mast I have (26m) so more than acceptable.


Two differences were significant to me:
1. the original (yellow) sinker was easier to find (higher visibility thanks to the paint)
2. the heavier sinker came down smoothly every time while the original one had to be helped down more than once (tugging the line)

So I think it is a matter of painting the heavier sinkers and I am good to go.

Another thing I will optimise are the rubber bands of the slingshot. They can be stretched quite lightly even up to my maximum reach. As it turns out (as with everything you dive into) there is a whole unknown territory to explore when it comes to designing good slingshots. Another thing to put on the to-do-list. On top of that list is figuring out why my 40m c-pole antenna kills current chokes. More on that later...

The "chosen one" in action

Up a tree

Being confined to home during the whole week - working remote through video links - I was looking for an outdoor activity. I decided to do some testing on my various options of launching wire antennas in a tree. Being able to deploy an antenna at a decent height without a mast increases the options for effective activities /P. 
In my little test this Sunday I used two different weights and my slingshot (by EZ Hang).

When I started looking for ways to get a wire up a tree I tried various objects and lines. I found out quickly that it is important that the wire is smooth - so fishing line or decoration line (used in shop windows for example) is the way to go.

Decoration and fishing line

As to the object to throw you need something that is easy to handle, smooth / round (so it glides through the branches) and a convenient throwing weight. Regarding the weight you are looking for a sweet spot: heavier and it will get difficult to throw high, lighter and the object will not return your line back to earth but just keep on dangling somewhere high up in the tree. In that situation you are left with tugging the line hoping the object continues its descent but in my experience you might just as well cause the object to swing around the nearest branch - leaving it behind for eternity. 

I started out with a ball as throwing object. Trying different types I settled on a field hockey ball. The reason being that it fits my hand perfectly and the weight is around the sweet spot (150gr) - not too heavy but generally enough to bring the line back down. Just drill a hole through the middle and away you go.
The ball is kind of large though so not so practical to carry around. Later on I started using fishing sinkers, settling on the heaviest one I could find (90gr). 

Throwing weights: hockey ball and fishing sinker

I tried both and measured the height I could get a line up. Of course it is slightly unscientific as I used only one tree in this experiment - so not all heights were achievable only specific branch heights. It turns out I can throw the fishing weight just a bit higher than the ball. A few tries brought it up to 12 meters / 40 feet. A decent height for a wire antenna on the higher bands.

EZ Hang slingshot

Then I turned to my slingshot. I have been struggling with it in the past, getting the line stuck in the reel or not having the ball come down from the tree (losing a lot of line).
After a few tries I did manage to shoot the provided metal ball a nice way up and through the tree reaching a height of 25m. I think I can shoot it higher than that if I give it a bit more practice. That is a good height even for wire antennas on the lower bands.

The EZ hang standard weight - a 25gr canon ball

The main weakness to me is that the weight of the standard ball is too low to be sure it comes down from a tree with a lot of branches (let alone leaves). So the next thing I will do is test this out with a few different weights. I also have to replace the line as it has become too short after losing parts of it in the past (stuck in trees).

Will share more experiences in the future.

Crazy things that happen when you are a portable ham

Beware it has become a long post..

When I am out working portable I look for places where I am not in anyone's face. That is easier with a wire up a tree and more challenging when using my portable hexbeam. It usually means I am in a desolate place. Either in a nature reserve (as WWFF activator) or some other park or abandoned space to test antennas or work specific DX.

Being out there as ham radio operator for some ten years now I have had a couple of memorable encounters. I thought it would be nice to share some.

Meeting police

More than once I have met police while being out working portable. Not surprisingly the officers generally want to know what I am doing. Most of the time they are curious but move on when they find out I am rather harmless. Once in a while the officer is old enough to remember the time a lot of people had (CB) radio's so chats a bit longer. Like any other passerby the comments on the hexbeam are usually along the lines of "hanging out the laundry?".

In my village I had a meeting with police one time when I was driving home after a low band activity in the early hours of Sunday morning. The patrol car stopped me as they probably had nothing else to do and I was the only one driving around at the time. The funny thing is that the first officer was somewhat suspicious of the amount of stuff in my car (radio gear, antennas, wires, Spiderbeam poles and my aluminum mast). She kept asking me questions to figure out what she was dealing with. But then her partner came up to the car and said "he is a radio amateur" (that it explains it all, right?).
The crazy thing of course is... how did he know? Clearly one of the earlier encounters had lead to a note in the police database. I am now formally known as the odd ham radio guy.

There was one police officer in PA that was more than annoyed with my activity. It was during an activity close to the coast. She did not understand what I was doing and kept on repeating the she found the whole thing fishy. However she also concluded (implicitly) that there were no grounds to stop me, so in the end she moved on - but visibly reluctantly.

The most depressing encounter was a meeting with the honorary police in GJ. They were ignorant of ham radio but did not let that fact keep them from acting tough. They drove up to our lovely desolate place where we had just set up the hexbeam (see below) and a low band inverted V. Unfamiliar with what we were doing - as foreigners, at dusk - they were determined to put an end to all of it. However, they had no real arguments that we could no counter (like: "you will be influencing the air traffic communications"). It was late Saturday evening and dispatch was not going to give them any guidance. In the end they settled on the need for an air traffic supervisor to give us permission. Of course that person would only be available the next morning. So we lost one park activity that day. (the air traffic supervisor laughed the whole thing off by the way)

Hexbeam ready to push up in GJ - just before the honorary police turned up

Meeting park management

So far my experiences with park management - that you are likely to meet when you are a WWFF activator - are nothing but positive. In fact most of the time they ignore me. Of course I take care not to damage anything or be in anyone's way.
Once a ranger approached me and asked if I was working for the national broadcasting service. That was a first for me. It turned out he was actually having a meeting that day with a reporter on some nature topic. Seeing me with my antennas, he was convinced I was a broadcast guy.

Meeting fellow hams

When fellow hams catch me with my antennas they will come over to identify themselves and exchange experiences. Most are stay-at-home-hams that find it hard to see the fun in going through all the work to play radio for a few hours. 
In PA I have met a dozen amateurs this way. Of course there are also fellow hams I organise to meet /P. Like Jakob OZ7AEI/P and Finn OZ3FI/P (sk) in OZ, Andrew M0YMA/P in PA and Auguste HB9TZA/P in HB0. On expedition in GJ I had the pleasure of meeting Nigel GJ7LJJ as well as Keith G8IXN who just happened to pass by. Incidentally we ran into Keith twice (small island..). Portable in DL one time DL1EBR came by to say hello.
It is always nice to get faces to the voices you have heard (many times) before.

And then there is the ham who works as a police officer, as I found out when a police van pulled over when I was activating a nature reserve in PA. The police officer started to ask some specific questions about what I was doing - which I found rather curious - only to "come out" and explain that he was a local ham radio operator. Not long afterwards I actually met him on the radio.

Sometimes there is only a link to the hobby: once a lady approached me to ask if I was a radio amateur to add that her late husband had been one.. and she really hated it (I did not have a witty return on that one). 

Twice I managed to sneak up to another ham radio operator working portable in my area. Once it was Swa ON5SWA working from PAFF-0019 (and SOTA) and the other was PD0RWL working from PAFF-0085 (and COTA-PA).

Sneaking up to PD0RWL with my loop - receiving an S9++++ report

Meeting other fellow humans

You meet all sorts of people out in the field. You recognise the different types over time. Some are curious but reluctant to approach you and others want to know all about it even when you are in the middle of a pile-up. 
Most are curious about what the fun is and sometimes I am able to transfer a bit of the magic of making radio contacts when I explain it to them enthusiastically (mostly they look wearily though). 

Once in a while you meet people that make a lasting memory. A few of the highlights:

Alienating
Quite early in my "portable career" I was in a nature park when a group of bird spotters came over. I can't really understand the fun in what they were doing but they were serious about it - their whole outfit including massive binoculars screemed "serious spotter!". I tried to explain what I was doing but saw it did not click with them at all. I tried some other angles and then I mentally zoomed out and saw the absurdity of the setting with two species looking at each other as aliens.
Other alienating meetings are the ones with people that have their own reasons to be at the secluded places I usually end up at. There are the guys looking for guys. Slightly akward. So far I have not been approached (only scanned) so I think the elaborate setup of wires sort of gives away I am there for a different reason.
Another category is the "second love" pair - a man and woman arrive each in their own car. For a while they share one car and then drive off again (to unsuspecting "first loves" I guess).
Sometimes you get the feeling you have ended up in a play or a movie.

Scary
It happens that you scare people. Like the one time we were testing a lowband setup with the YNOMY team. We were working with high masts (including my 26m Spiderbeam pole) and lots and lots of wire in a small park when a local turned up in his Range Rover. Quite agitated (as in: nervous not aggressive) he asked us what we were doing. It is only afterwards that we understood that he was afraid something permanent would be installed. We missed the opportunity of pretending to be working for a telephone company installing a new tower (the poor man..).  

Then there is the odd encounter that actually is scary. So far I have had only one: I was in France in a nature park quite far from the civilised world. There was a small road through the park and looking at the map I had seen one tiny track just off that road to an open space next to a river (see photo below). I found the track and parked my car on it to find the open spot that clearly was visited more often judging by rubbish laying around and remnants of an open fire. I thought youths must be using that area. 

Remote place in France for a memorable FFF activity

Just when I had set everything up a car stopped behind mine on that narrow track. Out came a scruffy guy that looked completely bewildered. He asked me how I had found this spot - as if it was some sort of hidden place. It seemed he came there more often and was not particularly amused to find me there. He was uneasy, and when he learned I am from PA he started to refer to drugs - which I am not interested in so that line of conversation was rather short. I tried to ignore him and started playing radio. The notebook I was using for logging had (and still has) a broken screen. Not a problem for me as it is still usable but it attracted his attention. He walked to his car and came back with a notebook asking me if I was interested (so picture this: scruffy guy, hidden place, drugs, spare notebooks to share... not the best pal to share a remote spot with).

The next thing he did was even more cinematic: being slightly bored he started to fiddle with his notebook using his pocket knife. Okay.. so here we have the scruffy guy a few meters away with a large enough knife. Interesting.

This is the only time I was aware of and made sure that my hammer was within short reach.

My new friend did leave in the end but it was the least enjoyable radio-activity I have done so far.

Wet but still great activity from Ameland

In the afternoon of Friday Sept 27 I arrived on Ameland Island (part of EU-038) for a weekend with my in-laws, celebrating their 50y honeymoon anniversary. Knowing I would be on an island that also contains PAFF-0073 - the last unactivated PAFF - I was keen to take my radio with me.

We would travel to the island without a car so I prepared my bicycle so it could transport a lot of stuff.

Mountain bike customized into trekking bike with a lot of extra weight

Getting nearer to the weekend two forecasts were worrying - a geomagnetic storm with Kp up to 6 and rain with strong winds were both on the agenda for the weekend.

I chose to take a smaller pole (12m) than I usually deploy and decided I would take my mobile amp and a stack of LiPo's as they would give me just a bit more chance if conditions would be poor even though it meant my bags would be heavy.  

Strong wind on the island

When I was on the island checking the rain radar I knew I would not stay dry however I would plan my activity. So I took my rain clothes and a lot of plastic to cover my gear and went out.

Ominous clouds over the dunes at Ameland

I found a nice place in the dunes overlooking the sea. It started out nicely with some sun. There was an almost immediate pile-up on 20m that seemed to continue forever. 

12m Spiderbeam pole in the dunes fighting the wind

Conditions seemed good enough with some particular strong skips - with the benefit of sea water nearby surely. Quite a few NA stations came by some with signals up to s9 like Tom KG8P from MI and Norman N9MM from TX (a rare KFF p2p for me).

Unfortunately the rain came as expected and two times I had to "sit it out" for half an hour by just covering all the gear and myself (quite a challenge for an impatient guy like me to just sit there for 30 minutes waiting). 

I was out in the dunes for some 3 hours with 2 hours of effective radio time on 20m and 40m. By the time the third rain shower appeared I'd had enough and went back to the cottage to get dry and warm.

Later that evening - I was at the yellow circle

In the 2 hours it was busy enough. Being just before or at the start of a solar storm seems to be a lucky timing after all. I logged 238 QSOs (34 DX) from 38 DXCC, including 13 W states and 3 VE provinces. Odx was 9700km to PY1.

To activate or not to activate

Next weekend I will be on the island of Ameland (EU-038). As a radio amateur there is one central concept that concerns the mind with such a prospect: sea water!

As an IOTA reference Ameland and the neighboring islands have been activated a zillion times but there is a nature reserve on the island that has not been activated before. Another good reason to be radio-active there.

So, no discussion then: pack the radio gear and have radio fun!

Not so fast.. 

1. I will be on the island invited by my in-laws to celebrate their 50th honeymoon anniversary - they will have put together a 24h program for the weekend with a full-time role for me.
2. I will be on the island without my car but need to move around with my gear to be able to activate the nature reserve.

Okay, so I could probably squeeze in a few hours at the start of this social event. Any disappointment about that can be smoothed out during the rest of the weekend.
Regarding transport: I can take a bicycle with me on the island. So I am currently refurbishing my mountain bike so that it can carry all my radio gear (with bike rack and proper transport bags).

That is that sorted then?

Well, recently two other obstacles raised their ugly heads:

1. NOAA expects we will have a geomagnetic storm this weekend with Kp values up to 6.
2. The weather forecast shows rain throughout the weekend.

At Kp=6 there is not much radio fun to expect and being at the sea side in the dunes with wind and rain is not an option either. 

So I will be closely monitoring both forecasts to see how they will play out. I need 2-3 hours of dry spells before the geomagnetic storm starts raging. Fingers crossed.

Stylish inverted V multiband antenna

Spending most of my radio time /P, I have over the years built and used many different antennas. The inverted V dipole was always one of them but mainly for 40 and 80m as I used end fed verticals for the higher bands (due to the length you quickly end up with an inverted V configuration on lower bands).

I started out with four individual dipoles - one for each band 160, 80, 60 and 40. During my activities I mainly use 80 and 40 of the four so I decided to combine them into one dipole for 40m and 80m - using bullet connectors to change bands. The benefit being that you don't have to change antennas - only lower the mast somewhat to reach the connectors.

Bullet connectors to switch bands

Lately I have been using the inverted V for 20m as well - adding that to the multiband version - as I have found it works well within EU and for DX and again it saves me changing antennas. 

Looking at the radiation diagrams on 20m you can see that the inverted V (blue) radiates better on the higher angles compared to a half wave vertical (red). Note that this is a broad side view. From the ends the inverted V loses significantly more versus the vertical (10dB at a 15 degrees take-off angle on 20m) - so for DX the orientation counts.

EFHW vs Inverted V - 14Mhz - 18m pole

Planning for a future trip where I would have to travel relatively light, I decided to tweak the dipole even further adding all HF bands from 6m down to 80m (160m I would hardly use and would make the antenna rather bulky). 

It took two field tests to get it right. I started cannibalizing the existing 20-80m version. After a few hours out in the field I had cut all elements and established that I needed to change the existing 30m and 40m elements. Then time ran out.
In the second run I found a few peculiar mistakes with 15m being quite a bit off (measuring error the first time?). So a few more cuts and tweaks were needed but 2 hours later my antenna was ready.

One thing to keep in mind is that the impedance of an inverted V changes when the angle between the two legs changes - which it always will between deployments. If you increase the angle, the frequency at which the impendance dips goes down. There is a "sweet spot" of element length vs angle that gives you a dip around 50 Ohm. 

One eye catching feature of my antenna is the way I have attached the elements (for when they are not connected). I started out with simple rope to hold the pieces together but as I unroll the antenna in a different way (rolling it off a cylinder) than I roll it up (adding turns by hand), the elements are twisted each time. The copper wire can cope with that but the connecting rope transforms into a small knot after a while.
So I had the idea to enable the various pieces of wire to twist independently and - having two daughters in the house - came up with a design featuring pink and purple beads. 

I am quite sure this makes it a unique dipole as far as dipole go.

I tested it out during a 3 hour activity from nature reserve PAFF-0067 on 17, 20 and 40m. I worked more than 200 chasers with great reports so it seems to work well.

FFFs during my summer holiday

During my summer holiday in France I was radio-active from various FFF locations - six in total. I usually visit four parks in two /P days out but conveniently this year both campsites we stayed on were inside nature reserves.

I have not made that many QSOs from the campsites as (1) it was by times too hot to do anything, (2) I was in a tent where my favorite mode phone gets annoying for the surrounding quickly and (3) my family expects me to socialise with them in stead of other hams.
We stayed a bit longer in the Dordogne region so I was on the air from that campsite a few times.

In total I logged 805 QSOs from 43 DXCC on 20 and 40 meter:

• FFF-0031 Park National La Brenne (campsite) - 85 QSO FT8/CW/SSB
• FFF-1167 Natura 2000 La Brenne - 144 QSO SSB
• FFF-0057 Vallee de l'Anglin - 126 QSO SSB
• FFF-2352 Basin de la Dordogne (campsite) - 194 QSO FT8/CW/SSB
• FFF-2568 Vallée de la Vézère - 121 QSO CW/SSB
• FFF-2570 Vallées des Beunes - 135 QSO CW/SSB

Eight OMs made it to all the locations: EA3EVL, EA7YT, OM1AX, ON4ON, PD7YY, S58AL, SP8LEP, YL2TQ.

DX was hard to find. Dov 4Z4DX made it a couple of times but from the other end only KD1CT made it across once and only barely so. I tried to get Chuck KO4SB in the log but there was no way - not even a CW whisper heard on both ends. Summer season in a solar minimum is not my favorite time as ham (as holiday maker though..). Luckily there was some sporadic E to create a bit of local fun with signals popping up and strong skips to specific areas.

Convenient picknick table in FFF-0057

In the shadow at a lake in FFF-1167 

Bit of walking required to get into the woods at FFF-2568

FFF-2570 was easy to activate once I found this parking area