QRO portable

Most of my QSOs I have made while out portable. At home I only have a simple antenna: a wire running from the attic window into the garden. Quite early on I found that to work interesting DX stations I had to have a better setup. At around the same time I discovered the WWFF and COTA/WCA programs. A portable journey had begun.

Why bother about the setup?
My radio time is rather limited. This is one of the reasons I want to make the most out of the trips I undertake. The other reason is that I like to give chasers all over the world a chance to collect references in the (worldwide) award programs I participate in as activator. 

Antennas
Trying many antennas and setups I moved from simple wire antennas via a home made cobweb to the folding hexbeam. That one still is my favourite DX antenna. I use that one if I have the time and know there is enough room to set it up. For low bands I use verticals, a c-pole (40m), delta loop (40m) and dipoles (center and end fed). 
For ease of deployment I have lately started using a linked dipole in inverted V configuration for 20-80m. I am quite pleased with the performance and the ease of changing bands.

Masts
With antennas you are faced with the next challenge: height. I started out with an extended Spieth mast (14m but very thin top) and Spiderbeam 12m mast. Fine for end fed's (vertical / sloping) or high band dipoles but once you get to 40m and below you want more height. So I moved to 18m and later even 26m Spiderbeam masts. The 18m version is the one I take out by default. I added some features to make it easy to deploy on your own in the field.

Power - applied and transmitted 
Last but not least there is the question of power. I moved to LiPo and LiFePO4 batteries for my radio's years ago. The capacity / weight ratio is unbeatable. With LiPo's you can run 100w for hours with little added weight.
Moving towards the solar minimum I was looking for a bit more TX power. I started with a cheap RM Italy amp and then moved to the Ameritron ALS500m. It provides a max output of 400w - which is exactly what you are allowed in PA.
I purchased a lead acid battery of 145Ah to power that amp - with the idea that this would allow full day operations (like when I am on expedition with my team YNOMY). However this has two downsides: the battery is *very* heavy and it only supplies 12v or even less under load. At that voltage the amp - designed for 14Vdc - is putting out probably something like 250w.
For a while I looked into voltage booster solutions but I did not manage to build something that was practical and reliable at the same time.

By the end of 2018 LiPo's had become far less expensive than when I started buying them and I had collected a few already (sunk costs). So I decided to see if I could power the amp with LiPo's. The big advantages being that the amp would run at the designed 14v with far less battery weight.

In preparation of the YNOMY GJFF expedition I built three extra batteries from individual LiPo cells I bought in China. During the expedition we have run the amp for two days on LiPo's and the radios on LiFePO4's, using the 145Ah lead acid battery as recharging unit. This worked brilliantly.

HobbyKing 16Ah LiPo, DIY 20Ah LiPo and DIY 20Ah LiFePO4

The capacity required to run the amp for a given period of time depends on a number of variables, like the mode used and how much you transmit during that time. A couple of portable activities have learnt me that I need one LiPo battery (16/20Ah) per 90 minutes of SSB activity. 
In GJ we had four 16/20Ah LiPo's and when we drained one, we recharged it from the Lead acid battery (using a balanced charger). In the end we never drained all batteries as we had a recharged battery ready when we drained the next.

Note that with the Ameritron amp you can choose two approaches. The standard power leads consist of 4 wires (2+ and 2-). This means you can attach two LiPo's and run them in parallel. This is a way to extend your operation without needing to switch batteries in between. I chose a different approach. I left the original (longer) leads and added a short extra power lead (fused). The wires are just long enough to rest the battery on top of the amp.

[update 2020: I built a 5 cell in serial LiFePO4 battery for the amp]

Beware of low voltage
It is important to keep an eye on the voltage level of your batteries if you intend to use them more than once. You can buy battery alarms that monitor each cell in the battery. They will give off an alarm you cannot miss (think of fire alarms in your house) once a cell reaches a set minimum. I recommend you always have an alarm attached while using a LiPo / LiFePO4 battery.
For LiPo's in general 3.2v is used as a safe lower limit per cell. I think it is conservative and in this particular case too conservative as the current drain is high. This means that the cells will show a voltage dip from which they will bounce back a bit once you disconnect the battery. I therefore use 3v as the cell minimum for the LiPo's.
The LiFePO4 cells can go a lot lower. I set the alarm for 2.5v per cell - still quite conservative.

This setup is effective. Apart from direct experience (hardly scientific) I do once in a while get a chance to compare my results with other stations out in the field on the same day. As PAFF and COTA-PA coordinator I receive a lot of /P activity reports and logs. 99% of the time I was not out myself but the times I was, there was bound to be someone else out as well. In those cases the difference shows both in QSO rates as well as in distance covered.
This setup is also bulky. Last time I had to walk quite a distance in the sun with the radio, the 18m mast, the amp, batteries, antennas, chair, food and drink, and it was killing. Transport-wise there are still a few improvements I can and plan to make.

Lots of heavy stuff!

Playing with 6m Es - compact beam versus vertical

Some time ago I built a compact beam for 6/4/2m aimed at /P operations. It is a design by DK7ZB featuring 3 elements on 2m, 2 elements on 4m and 2 elements on 6m. I tested it when I finished building it and SWR was good on all bands.

I followed the design of DK7ZB (link) with a few changes to make this a /P antenna:

• I use wing nuts on the 4m elements and the 6m reflector to be able to remove them easily for transport
• I split the 6m driven dipole in a short center piece connected to the boom and removable parts on both ends of the dipole
• I added spacers for the dipoles to keep them at the right distance from each other (refer to picture below)

Spacer for the dipole elements

Apart from a short appearance in LX (2 QSOs), I had not used the beam on the air. For 6m I use an end fed half wave vertically - both when I am /P as well as at home.
It is amazing how effective a vertical wire is in Es conditions. I have worked stations all over Europe with that antenna using 100w. I was curious how the beam would perform in comparison.

We are in the Es season at the moment and there was a 6m contest on last weekend. So I decided to go out /P and test the beam properly against the end fed wire. I used one of my Spiderbeam poles with the end fed wire in the top (feedpoint about 12m high) and the beam a bit lower at about 8m high.


I used an antenna switch to be able to quickly switch between the two antennas. You need quick switching as the signals themselves vary constantly under Es conditions. The difference was significant most of the time. Of course the heading of the beam is a factor that influences the difference. With the beam heading the right way, the signal strength on rx differed multiple s-points. On the low end this meant there were stations I could only copy on the beam. I recorded a view video's while switching between the antennas. One of them is on YouTube:

With PG8M - who lives just under 30km from where I was /P - I tested the characteristics of the beam via ground wave. We found a difference of 2 s-points front to back and 5 s-points front to side.

All in all this shows me that this beam is definitely an interesting antenna to use in the field for 6m. It is light, easy to set up and relatively easy to transport. As the 6m reflector is rather long for easy transportation I am thinking of splitting the reflector in two or three parts.

While I was testing this setup I logged 25 stations, collecting 10 new grid squares on the go.

Projects - 18m pole set-up improvements

I use a variety of antennas and poles/masts when /P. The 12m HD Spiderbeam is the most compact one I have and is easy to set up in the field without any supporting structures. The bigger ones I normally attach to the car one way or another or to any suitable construction I can find around the place I am going to be active from. My favourite and most versatile antenna pole is the Spiderbeam 18 HD fiberglass pole. I use it almost every /P activity. Preparing for a tour through LX I decided to implement some improvements that make the pole even more portable.

Guying the 18m Spiderbeam pole
I have twice set up the 18m HD Spiderbeam pole on my own using an ingenious structure with all the 6 guy lines extending while I pushed out the segments. That took quite a bit of time so I looked for another option. When I set up the pole using the car or a supporting structure I find that I do not use any of the supplied guy lines - so it should be possible to find a much simpler configuration to set up this pole in the field.

I decided to try and set it up with only the lower segment guyed. That would allow me to simply set up the pole while it is still collapsed and then push out the segments without worrying about any other guying arrangement.

Borrowing from the idea behind the clamps Spiderbeam supplies for keeping the segments extended, I bought a hose clamp and applied rubber lint that I crimped in place. I cut some of the rubber away so I could add three rings. So now I have a permanent feature on my Spiderbeam pole: fixed guy rings. 

Securing the base
You also need the bottom part to stay put. Before I would use a large peg with some soft (insulation) material around it. I would just position the pole over this peg. However I have found this is not a very solid construction - e.g. it does not allow you to keep the pole standing while it is still collapsed. With the set up I just came up with, I need the collapsed pole to stay upright while I attach the lower guy lines. So I replaced the peg with this:

The center hole fits around the pole while the other holes can hold pegs that secure this little box in its place. Trying it in the field it turned out to work well - the Spiderbeam pole kept upright while I attached the lower guys.

With these two changes I can set up the pole in no time without needing any supporting structure, like so:

I used this a couple of hours with the pole extended 18m holding an efhw wire. Granted, it was not very windy that day. I will have to see if this is strong enough in higher winds.

Practical segment clamps
One last adjustment I made to the configuration is a replacement of the clamps that hold the segments in place when extended. The default clamps provided by Spiderbeam require a spanner or wrench to open and close. That is inconvenient and so I really did not use them often. I either extended the segments to the point that they stuck (with the risk that the antenna would collapse during a QSO) or I would use duct tape (that is quick to apply but not so easy to take off). 

So I bought clamps that have butterfly tightening tabs. I added rubber strip on the inside that I crimped on the clamps to protect the pole (like with the original clamps). I tried them and they work well.

First PA44FF activity from Deelerwoud (PAFF-0055)

This morning I went out to activate PAFF-0055 Deelerwoud using my temporary callsign PA44FF.

Weather was okay with some drizzle but almost no wind. I arrived at the nature reserve rather early (for me anyway) at 8am UTC. To my surprise there were already quite a few people out in the reserve.

Spiderbeam 18m pole with EFHW for 40m

I started on 40m using a half wave end fed almost completely vertical (20m long on an 18m pole). I brought my Ameritron mobile amp as I was expecting bad conditions - forecast had been rather poor.
It turned out there was an Italian contest going on that completely filled 40m with s9 signals. Luckily I found a spot at the end of the band around 7.198.000 I stayed there for about 40 minutes logging almost 60 chasers, until I could not bear the QRM anymore. 

Running the FT857 with a Heil headset and an Ameritron mobile amp (approx 300w)

Higher bands seemed rather dead so I focused on 20m next. It was really lively on 20m but DX was sparse. The next 2 hours I did not have time to enjoy my sandwiches and just enough to sip my coffee once a while. I logged over 200 calls in under 2 hours on 20m.
DX included 4Z, R9, OD5 and to my surprise JA.

Before packing up I decided to give 40m one more try. It was even worse than earlier in the morning. The FT857's filtering is rather basic but with one big wall of sound all over the band I think there was not much to gain anyway. I gave up trying and went down to 80m. The antenna is not very effective on this band but I did log 4 chasers.

Weather improved during the activity

I went back to 40m, hopped over the band trying to find some gaps at the lower and upper end. Including the short diversion to 80m I lost about 45 minutes. When I found some usable spots in the end I logged another 30 chasers in the last half hour.

In total I was busy for about 4h. Subtracting time for antenna changes and finding spots on 40m I was really QRV for 3h. In that light the 296 calls from 39 DXCC I logged is quite a lot. If it weren't for the contest on 40m, I am sure I would have logged a lot more chasers on that band. The band actually seemed quite good (hence the strong contest signals).

Judging from the 2h continuous stream of chasers on 20m, it seems that the special call does attract some extra attention. The fact that it was Sunday morning might have contributed as well (I am not that often active /P during weekends).

Anders SA2CLU inquired about my set-up today. So I will just add two more pictures. The first one is just to show how effective something small can be. These are the two antennas I used: end fed half wave antennes for 40m (home brew) and 20m (commercial). 

End Fed Half Wave antennas for 40m and 20m

They are only small if you forget about the Spiderbeam pole I am using of course. The 18m pole does attract a lot of attention from passersby.

The 40m antenna is just a bit too long for the 18m pole. So I slope the last bit of the wire away from the pole. It ends up where ever I can attach the transformer. This time just 30cm or so off the ground. In the first picture on this page you can just make out the transformer box in the bushes behind the car. Below a zoomed in picture of this simple set-up.

Some nostalgia - a new old microphone

Tidying up at my parents' place an old carton box turned up. In it was an old microphone, bought by my grandfather who was a professional pianist (picture below). He had the tendency of buying good quality "toys", so I was expecting this to be too good to just throw away. 

The tiny label on the microphone told me it was an MD421HN and the papers in the box told me it was made by Sennheiser. Time for a bit of research.

The microphone with german product leaflet

In the box there was an original product information leaflet and a separate leaflet showing accessories (both in German). There was also this intriguing little piece of paper showing - I reckon - the frequency response of this particular microphone.

Serial number, frequency response and production date: May 12, 1965

Googling the thing I found out this microphone is still in production albeit in version 2. I saw they are not the cheapest microphones around and considered a classic.

So.. what does one do with a 50 years old good quality microphone.. 
I am not much of a singer.. but maybe I can use it on my radio?

Googling a bit further I found that indeed people use this microphone on their radio set and with good results. Someone remarked it was a large improvement over the Heil headsets.

I have been using the Heil Elite Pro headset with HC-6 element for a long time now and I am more than pleased. There was absolutely no reason whatsoever to change this setup.. except for the appearance of the MD421.

I contacted a few HAMs that had mentioned using the MD421 here and there to figure out how they hooked this microphone up. With the information I got I decided to try and hook it up directly to my ICOM 756 Pro3, using the Heil plug.

Yesterday I was able to complete a cable and perform the first few tests. It seems to work. Comparing the audio via the monitor I have found that the microphone needs more drive than the Heil but it seems that with the volume on the set at 100% there is enough audio. 
There was no time to do on the air tests but I did log two WWFF activators - so people seem to be able to hear me.

The microphone has two settings ("music" and "speech") and the set has various settings as well, so I will need to experiment some more and then compare the results to the Heil mic.

Whatever the outcome, it is great to put my grandfather's microphone to use again.

My grandfather behind his piano

Preparing low band verticals for CQWW

Conditions on HF have been better than they are the last few months. I find this a good reason to spend more time on the lower bands. 

Another good reason is that I completed my 100 DXCC on the fourth band just last week or so. It was on 17m. I am not counting on reaching that number on 12m any time soon - as I have failed to use that band when conditions were more favourable. So the next candidates are 40m and 80m. I could also go for 30m of course but phone remains my favourite mode.

With the limited space I have at home I will need to go out /P to work new DXCC on those bands. At home I use a shortened end fed wire for 40m (just 12m long) and that will not really bring me any further than I have reached so far. 80m is even more challenging. I have not worked out an effective solution for that band yet. The other obstacle is that the areas I need to work are generally workable late at night or very early in the morning. Using phone at these hours in a room that is not sound proof will get me into trouble with the rest of the family.

All of this made me decide to focus on the low bands during CQWW this month. A couple of times before I have used this contest to hunt DX by reserving a considerable (to my standards) amount of time during the contest weekend going out /P with the best antennas I have. In the past I have used a 4 element mono band yagi for 10m that created an unforgettable experience where I just worked atno's like there was no tomorrow and I have used my hexbeam with success as well.

On the low bands I used inverted V dipoles before. They work, and have provided me with new band DXCC but they have a (mainly) high angle radiation pattern. It would be nice to try something with a better DX profile. So that is why I went out today to test two verticals I prepared at home: a quarter wave with 4 elevated radials for 80m and an end fed half wave for 40m (this time full size instead of the shortened version I used before). 
To be able to switch them easily - without taking down the mast - I use the same radiator for most of the length. The 80m antenna is a bit longer so I have an extension wire I can add / remove that connects to an SO259 socket with the four radials. When I use the antenna on 40m I disconnect the last bit with the radials and add my end fed transformer.

18m pole holding a stretch of wire

Today was also a test to see if I could set up my 18m mast by myself in the field. Normally I use a support like my car or any sign post or fixed pole I can find. The contest location I use is just open field. After some trying I found a procedure that worked well.

I used my VNA and my radio to see if the antennas worked and they indeed seemed OK. There was no enough time to do serious testing on the air and the bands were in terrible shape (s8-9 qrn/qrm). The plots and TX tests showed me that the 80m antenna is easily usable from 3.6 to well over 3.8mc. It dips in the phone contest region of the band. The bandwidth of the 40m end fed was much wider than the trapped version I used before. I can use it across the whole band.
I also found that the radials of the 80m vertical really need to be off the ground some 10-15 centimeters. If they are too close to the ground the performance really deteriorates with SWR rising above 1:5 easily (1:1.4 when the radials are well off the ground).

It seems I am ready for some action this weekend. Now let's hope the earth magnetic field calms down in time. 

Power sources for portable operation

When you start to go out on portable activities, you are confronted with the question what power source you should use. In this post I will share the choices I made working barefoot. 

The reason to share this info now is that I am in the middle of constructing something for my new mobile amplifier.. but more on that in a future post.

Introducing the challenge
The challenge depends on your operating conditions. Suppose that you are not going to work QRP and you will not be in or near your car. This is the situation I faced when I started activating special locations like nature reserves and castles.

Working with a 100W set, the power source you are looking for needs to supply you with approx 16A @13v, for as long as possible but with minimum weight. The good news is that there are a lot of other crazy hobbyists out there that face the same challenge. You will find them when you search for "RC" - remote controlled cars, planes, helicopters and more recently drones.

Working barefoot: LiPo and LiFePO4
These people have turned to LiPo (Lithium Polymer) and LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) batteries for their power.  LiPo and LiFePO4 have the best power to weight ratio of the power sources I compared. 

Although both are Lithium based, there are some differences between the two:

• LiPo batteries consist of a set of 3.6V cells (between 3V - discharged and 4.2V - fully charged).
• LiFePOo4 batteries consist of a set of 3,2V cells (between 2,8V - discharged and 3,6V - fully charged). 
• LiFePO4 batteries have a higher number of recharge cycles (approx. twice the number of LiPo recharge cycles)
• LiFePO4 batteries are intended for high power applications. They exhibit a more constant discharge voltage and are considered to offer better safety than other Lithium-based batteries.
• LiPo batteries are relatively cheaper and lighter (relatively = at the same capacity)

With this list in mind I initially chose to go for LiFePO4 batteries. The biggest I could find were 9.7Ah, capable of delivering 10C (meaning that the peak current is 10x the capacity). With a weight of around 1kg, they fit my requirements well.

After 3 years of working with these batteries I have found that the capacity has deteriorated to the point that it starts to annoy me. I can barely run an activity of 2h on two batteries.
When adding a new battery to my collection, I chose a LiPo this time. The main reason to choose this battery over a new LiFePO4 is that I found them in larger capacity (16Ah).

LiPo and LiFePO4 sizing
When you are going to select your battery you need to understand one more thing: a code with #S#P. This tells you the amount of cells the battery has in series and in parallel. The amount of cells in parallel is not that interesting, as it is the given design for the capacity you are buying (and that number is clearly defined in mAh). The amount of cells in series is more interesting as it tells you what voltage range the battery will operate in. There is of course not one voltage for a battery. It varies along its discharge curve. The good news is that the discharge curve is rather flat.

Discharge curve for a LiFePO4 battery (@ different currents)

Discharge curve for a LiPo battery (@ different currents)

Your radio is most probably happy to take 12-14V. With a LiFePo4 you should therefore go for a 4S version. The voltage of this battery varies between 14,4V (full) and 11,2V (discharged) - most of the time around 12,8V.

If you decide to go for a LiPo battery, then you can either go for 3S (voltage between 9-12,6V) or 4S (voltage between 12-16,8V). Looking at the discharge curve, you will find that with a 3S battery you will quickly drop to a voltage where your radio might not operate anymore or with less output. I used this with my FT-817 and it is a workable solution. At a higher current draw with my FT-857 I found that the battery was unusable too soon. I therefore decided to go for a 4S version. 

LiPo voltage conversion
If you have chosen a LiFePO4, you are ready to go out and activate whatever place you want to. If you went for the LiPo S4 you have one more challenge to go: your set probably won't like the 16.8V of your fully charged battery. So how do you bring this voltage to an acceptable range?

I chose a buck (step down) converter to do the job. You can find them on ebay rather cheaply (imo) as complete modules with adjustable output voltage. I only added a few capacitors and now have a steady 13V LiPo battery with 16Ah capacity.

DC-DC voltage step down conversion

LiPo and LiFePO4 connectors
One other thing to look at are the connectors of the battery. They come in different shapes. Most commonly used are the XT60 and the bullet connectors. The latter are used on higher capacity batteries.
I decided to standardise on one type of connectors - in my case the bullet connectors (as you can see from the buck convertor). So I have made conversion cables to go from different types of connectors (XT60, banana plugs, car cigarette lighter) to bullet connectors.

That is about it regarding power sources for portable operation. In a future post I will zoom in on working with an amplifier while working portable.

Lots of power supplied

A power hungry mobile amplifier
For my portable operations I sometimes use an RM transistor amplifier. It is a very simple amp and probably not the cleanest one around - although I have had no complaints as long as don't use compression on the lower bands. Recently I bought a dummy load and was able to measure the output. It delivers 300-400 watts from 10m-160m depending on the band (less on the higher bands).

I power the amplifier with a separate car battery - the wiring in my car does not support the high currents and I do not want to run the risk of draining the battery I need to get moving again.
This works well even when I now and then want to use the amplifier at home (I usually refrain from using more than 100 watts as my neighbors have complained of RFI in the past).

However with our PACC contest coming up I was looking for a power source that could last longer than the car battery does. We used the amplifier last year during the first hours of the contest and we think it could help us score better this year if we have it available for 24 hours.

A proper power supplier
I have not measured the peak current yet but I would expect it to be around 50A. I could of course buy a decent switching power supply of say 60A to have a bit of head room. However they don´t come cheap.

ATX PSU in use for LiPo charger

In the past I converted an ATX power supply of 400W from a desktop PC to a bench power supply (3.3V, 5V, 12V). It delivers 15A max @12V which is nice for recharching my LiPo and LifePo batteries. Thinking along these lines I stumbled on server power supplies being used as 12V power sources. The best information how to use these I found in the realm of remotely controlled helicopters and cars. That is quite another hobby but one I met before when I was looking for the best portable batteries in power/weight. They seem to have similar challenges as ham radio operators.

The DELL server PSU capable of delivering a whopping 175A

One power supply that attracted my attention was from a DELL server that could deliver 175A @12V. That is what I call head room :)
I found it for sale as a refurbished part in the Netherlands for a good price so I ordered it earlier this week and it arrived just before the year ended. 

Using the information online I am now preparing it to power up. For this you need to connect the right pins so the PSU thinks it is correctly installed in the DELL server. According to the information online it is even possible to increase the voltage supplied using a potentiometer between certain pins. Sounds all very nice to me..

I still need a few parts to complete the job and when done I will add the details to my Projects page.

Back on 2m after 20 years

In 1994 I got my first ham license. It was a novice license that allowed me to operate on 2m FM with low power. My Yaesu FT-227R produced a whooping 10w output. This was quite a change from my pre-ham period where I ended up working DX on 11m SSB with 200w.

To make the most out of this situation I bought a good antenna - a Jaybeam 10 element beam. This I was able to install on a good location as I was at the time living on the top floor of a 4-story apartment building. The building was to be demolished which was good news for me as a student at the time (cheap!) but also for me as a ham. No one was going to care a lot about antennas on the building. Although I did get an official warning note from the janitor a few days after putting the antenna up. It was never followed up however.

With this station I participated in the monthly Dutch region contest. I was able to work stations from all the corners of PA (up to 160km) - which I guess is OK with 10w on FM and no special conditions like Es. It was however nothing like the DX-ing I had gotten used to on 11m. So when I left this apartment in early 1995 I neatly boxed my radio and antenna to never touch them again except when moving house (where they went from the cellar to the garage etc.)

2 week ago PD7YY presented me with a good reason to return to 2m. He was out /P on one of the Dutch islands (EU-038) and brought a 2m antenna. I dug up my antenna to find it in a not too glorious state. The cardboard box was falling apart and quite a number of bolts and nuts were oxidised.
When I had everything unpacked I was left with the following nice collection of parts:

Contents of the cardboard box

So.... hmmm.

There was no manual to be found anywhere. Clearly I did not keep it and there was nothing on the web. Looking at the parts I saw it was not a straightforward yagi as there were some bent parts and funny clamps. 20 years onwards I just was not sure what the beam had looked like.
Google-ing for images I was lucky to find an OZ OM that had a picture of the same beam. Looking at it I was able to re-create it myself:

The completed 10 element Jaybeam

With PD7YY and PG8M I planned a time slot to try and work EU-038. I partly disassembled the beam, took my home made mast and drove to my favourite weekend /P location on a deserted parking.

Re-assembling was a piece of cake (once you know what the beam is supposed to look like).

The beam ready to be lifted

With the beam at about 9m high and 50w output from the Yaesu I was not surprisingly able to hear and work PG8M (25km away). PD7YY (160km away) was able to hear both of us in CW. I could not hear PD7YY however, while PG8M could only hear something weak in the background. So no QSO with EU-038 unfortunately. While listening around I did hear some stations in DL up to 500km away and contacted one at 200km - a new ODX for this band.

Beaming towards EU-038 with the beam @9m

The beam is back in the garage now - partly assembled and ready to be used again. Question is if I will find another reason to bring it out within 20 years...

Hexbeam on short /P activities

If you are wondering: "is bringing a hexbeam to a short portable operation worth my while?", then this post is for you. It has become a bit lengthy.. so bear with me.

Over time I got numerous questions about the hexbeam I am using when working portable. The hex is a 2 element beam on 6 bands and allows me - especially if I bring a little heater with me - to put in decent signals even to very remote locations. A lot of answers about this wonderful antenna can be found in previous posts (start here). Here I want to go into the ROI of bringing the hex when time is limited.

The goal

Last Wednesday I had some time in the morning to go out /P. It is my day off and the kids are in school the whole morning. I have several options to spend this morning:

1. Do anything but play radio (duties around the house, work I haven't finished, etc.)

2. Play radio at home (using a sloping end fed wire)

3. Play radio /P

Pick your antenna

When I decide to play radio /P, I again have a number of options - like do I go out to fish DX or do I go out to activate a castle or a nature park?

When I decide to go out to fish DX the antenna becomes an important subject. My favourite antenna is the end fed half wave wire antenna put up vertically on a fibreglass mast. It is easy to bring and easy to deploy. It is also amazingly effective, allowing me to work DX around the globe as long a conditions are good and pileups not too large. It is also a very practical antenna in that you don't have to turn it. On the other hand it only works on one band - so switching bands means taking down the pole and changing wires. 

If you look at DX effectiveness however a beam is the best option (hands down). I have two HF beams at my disposal: my 4-el for 10m and my hexbeam. The hexbeam is of course the most versatile of the two, supporting 6 bands.

This effectiveness comes with a price however: the beam requires me to bring more stuff (like a heavy mast) and takes more time to set up.

Investment side of the ROI

Now we arrive at the main question: is it worth my while to bring a hex when I only have a short period of time to be /P?

For me the net radio time on Wednesday morning = 3,5 hours minus (time to pack and unpack the car + time to drive to a place and back + time to set up and break down the station). Packing and unpacking is about 20 mins in total, driving takes about 20 mins (back and forth). So just under 3 hours left.

The choice of antenna does not impact this a lot so far - just a few minutes to get the heavy mast and support stuff (un)loaded.

How much of the 3 hours I can be on the air depends on the time I takes to set up the station and break it down again. How is that with the hex? To give you an impression I timed the breaking down of the station. Below you will find the visual story of breaking up the station, driving home and unpacking everything.

Breaking down the station turns out to take 20 minutes. Setting it up will be about the same - although pushing out the mast probably takes one or two minutes more. So all this takes 40 - 45 minutes off of my radio time. 3,5 hours time leaves me just over 2 hours of radio time.

Okay, but what is the impact of the hex?
It turns out the hex itself now takes me 8 minutes to fold together and stow away (that is after a bit of practise). The mast and support take about the same amount of time to end up in the car. Setting up should be approx. the same amount of time - pushing out the mast is maybe a bit more time - so 35 minutes is the time the hex and mast take setting up and breaking down again (the other 5 - 10 minutes go to setting up and afterwards packing the radio gear, cables, etc).
Compare this to an end fed on a fibreglass pole. I can set that up and break it down again in less than 10 minutes. So, the investment is about 25 minutes of costly time.

Effectiveness: the return on my investment
So I went DX fishing. Good for me. Did I catch anything?
Vlad UA4WHX was on the move again. This time he was working from Easter Island (CE0Y) - a new one for me. Even though there were more people out there trying to get in the log I was able to work him on 17m and 20m (simplex). In the mean time I had a QSO with Garry VK5ZK, who was busy with a lot of EU stations calling him. He put in a good signal over the long path with his 400w and 3 element SteppIR but he also expressed his amazement at my signal while /P. Then I saw A35X on the cluster - another new one for me. After some 8 minutes I was in the log. Before going home I tried another A35 station but the operator was not very effective at crowd control and moved to CW after a couple of minutes.
So.. DX fishing I added 2 new ones to my list (which is already above 200 - so it is getting more and more difficult to catch new ones). Average distance covered was well above 16k km.

Is that worth 25 extra minutes.. ? "hell yeah".

Taking down the hex in pictures

Fully functional DX station (t = 0)	Mast collapsed (t = 4 min)
Hex partly folded (t = 8min)	Hex folded to a small package (t = 12 min)
Everything neatly packed in the car (t = 20 min)	Back home and unpacked (t = 35 min)

PH0NO's aluminium push up mast

On request of a number of people I added a section about my DIY aluminium push up mast under "PH0NO projects". This mast has allowed me to set up my 4 element 10m yagi and my hexbeam. In this way it is a vital component for my DX fishing.

It is quite heavy and not as practical as a fibreglass pole, but it does allow me to put either (or both) of the beams on considerable height - up to 14m in low wind conditions.

Check out the details here if you are interested.