Sunday Afternoon Fun!

Finally….FUNCOMM!

Last week’s installment found my hobby taking a backseat to “must dos”. This weekend finally produced a bit of FUNCOMM for N4FTD!

Friday’s activities had my back against the wall, scrambling to write my Saturday ROTA-Radio post. That led right into Saturday’s “butt in the chair” time, working once again on some legal stuff for our newly hired attorney. I finished my “must do” stuff just in time for our granddaughter’s arrival late in the afternoon. We had a wonderful visit with her and got caught up with her middle school happenings. After a quiet evening watching a movie with my wife Sue, we said goodnight and called it a day. Productive, with a bit of relaxation thrown in.

Sunday morning was devoted to my weekly ham radio reading. After lunch I decided it’s time, and started looking for the bits and bobs I would need to finally repair my mobile golf cart antenna. I’ve been dreaming about operating CW from the golf cart for weeks. It was time for action.

I dug out the IC-705 in my new Windcamp case and made sure everything was inside. It wasn’t. When was the last time I put this thing through its paces? It must have been quite a while ago because it took almost an hour just to find my 12 volt Anderson Powerpole-to-barrel connector needed to power my tiny antenna tuner. Finally, with everything stuffed in a Ziplock bag and the Windcamp bag sitting on the floor of my EZ-GO, I headed for Lake Arrowhead—our little man-made pond in the middle of the mobile home village. When I got there, a slight breeze was blowing and it was only 88 degrees in the shade of my golf cart roof. Not bad when you’re anxious to get on the air after a long time away.

Building the POTA Performer

I took 3 Shark hamsticks with me, a roll of 18AWG wire with a banana plug on one end, a couple of heavy-duty alligator clips, purchased to make a multi-link radial set for a POTA Performer vertical, plus all the wires and accessories I might need to make my IC-705 put out a signal. I grabbed the Putikeed mini straight key just before leaving the shed-shack, and off I went.

Mind you, this was a last minute decision. I decided to just give it a try and see if I could build a modified KJ6ER POTA Performer using an upright roof support as my vertical mounting system. A simple CB Mount has been bolted to the support for over a year, but I had to change the 3/8 x 24 connector because something had gotten stuck in the threads. Fortunately, I had a spare so I could replace it on the spot. Screw in the “quick disconnect” and I was ready to mount the 20 meter radiator. So far, so good. I’m so glad I bought a handful of hamsticks.

Using my Leatherman, I bent the crimp-on portion that normally holds down a wire and carefully formed it so my banana plug would just fit snugly between the bent tabs. It worked like a charm. Next, I used a tape measure to find where the 16.5′ mark was on my roll of wire. (I still haven’t found the 500′ roll I bought just for this purpose—Note to self: Create a dedicated Go-Bag for the IC-705 + POTA Performer rolling Portable | Mobile Station!)

I spooled the rest and wrapped a velcro wrap around the excess. One of the heavy duty alligator clips clamped the wire spool to the orange utility stake I brought to support the far end of my radial about 3 feet above the ground. The antenna base was at around 52 inches, so the radial sloped slightly downward. I pointed the far end of the radial—the orange stake end—north toward West Virginia from my Southwest Florida QTH.

Unlike the “real” POTA Performer, which uses two radials spread 90 degrees apart, I used only one raised radial tuned for 20 meters. Greg’s (KJ6ER) testing showed a pretty good front-to-back ratio using the Performer setup, so I was excited to see if my single-radial hack would even work.

It did!

On the Air!

I tuned around and heard KU8T calling CQ POTA. I had tuned up earlier on a quiet frequency, saw that my 10 watts was putting out a signal and the antenna without my little tuner was showing about a 1.2:1 SWR. So, when KU8T finished calling CQ I tossed out my callsign once: N4FTD.

Boom! He came right back to me with a 559 signal report. Not bad for 10w and a hamstick, sitting on my golf cart while looking out at Lake Arrowhead.

What’s really cool about this—and it may just be a coincidence—is that my single radial was pointing pretty much exactly in the same direction as KU8T’s signal path is pointing!

Notice the roll of 18AWG wire at the far end of the radial

Banana Plug & Alligator Clip Radial Connection

I made a total of 3 Hunter contacts from two locations during my hour-long POTA Hunting session today. It got hot in the sun parked at the lake, so I motored to the front of our neighborhood and found some shade under a tree. There, I made my third POTA contact and a fourth with AI6I/M who was operating mobile, most likely from the “2002 Toyota Hamry” mentioned in AI6I’s QRZ write-up.

Four contacts in an hour doesn’t sound like many logbook entries, but it made me super happy. I was making this up as I went along. My hour of operating included setting up a new antenna for the first time, finding and routing all the radio accessories, measuring a radial, and moving the golf cart to a cooler location in the shade before breaking down the station and heading to the house.

The Power Experiment Keeps Rolling

When I got home my golf cart’s SOC (state of charge) meter showed 66%, down from 70% when I started. That included boosting the 705’s QRP (5W) power using its internal battery to a whopping 10W with a boost from the golf cart’s 12V DC-DC converter. The meter didn’t even register that extra power drawn from the golf cart’s LifePO4 battery pack. So I’m still actively tracking my power usage on both the golf cart and my iPhone + Nano100 battery pack for Jason’s (KM4ACK) 30-Day Challenge.

Postscript & Wrap-Up

The hour I spent hunting down my doohickeys before heading out taught me an important lesson: I need a dedicated grab-and-go kit. I need to assemble a self-contained bag for portable excursions so it’s ready the moment a small opening appears in my crazy-busy schedule. If the weather is cooperative and Sue is happily engaged at home, a quick 30-to-60-minute ride on the golf cart might be all the radio time I get all day. I can’t afford to waste half of it digging around for cables.

This Sunday afternoon excursion was just what the doctor ordered after a fragmented week and an all-too-short weekend. I feel like a human being again instead of a workhorse on a treadmill. Next time the CW mobile/portable QRP bug bites, I’ll be on the air in minutes instead of an hour.

Here’s hoping I can make this a regular habit. 30 to 60 minutes a day of FUNCOMM would be a real treat!

73,

Paul, N4FTD