On Saturday, January 25, 2025, a few of us met at Hungry Mother State Park in Marion, VA to participate in the annual ARRL Winter Field Day Activities. It was a very chilly day and the lake appeared to be frozen over and there was plenty of snow on the ground. Luckily, KI4AMD Mac did a great job building fires and keeping them roaring which helped to keep us warm throughout the day. We also had some visitors join us, KM4ACQ John and his father from the Haysi area were there and operated their Icom 7100 and we all had a great time. It was also a good opportunity to get in a new POTA activation for the park as well. Hopefully next year will be a little bit warmer!

It was a bit of a wintry day yesterday, Saturday 1/4/2025 - but everything was great and we were comfortable and felt safe in the Suburban while driving up the mountain to Grayson Highlands. We started with a quick lunch at the Railroad Cafe in Whitetop, a great place that we almost always visit when going to this particular park - and not too far away. Upon arrival at the park, the roads were snow-covered and icy in spots. The state trucks were clearing the roads a couple of times while we were there. Thank you to those guys and the park staff for keeping things open, clear and safe for us to enjoy. In the wintertime, much of the park is closed down - but it's open year round - and there are still a couple of places to set up for winter radio work. If you go higher, more parking is available - but at the overlook, you will have cell service and decent data speeds. That makes logging and spotting easier, so that's where I usually like to set up. I used the Yaesu FT-891 and the Yaesu ATAS-120A antenna, seen pictured below. I love this setup for mobile. I previously used some self-contained enclosures with radio/tuner/battery in a soft case which is great for field work, but not great for in-vehicle operations. This 891/ATAS setup is the most streamlined so far, for me. It allows you to get your keys and go - you don't pack anything radio-related at all. You just go. That allows the radio operator to establish and maintain dominance as top activator at your favorite park(s). :) After trying many different logging solutions, for in-vehicle POTA, HAMRS is where it's at. Having "unlimited" power for your laptop and with access to wifi/data, being able to see confirmed call signs and with park to park contacts, being able to validate correct parks as heard on-air, is a plus. HAMRS also makes it easy to perform bulk edits to park numbers when activating in multiple parks. At this location, I activated both US-1303 (Grayson Highlands State Park) and US-9935 (Virginia Bird & Wildlife Trail). Radio setups come and go, but so this is what I'm using now - and I'm loving it. With a final tally of 110 contacts, I was able to reclaim my top activator spot in number of activations and number of QSOs. My personal goal is to maintain those rankings for this park as well as Hungry Mother State Park US-1303 in Smyth County, VA. And with this activation, order has now been restored. :) I believe POTA makes us better operators. It makes every day field day. You find out what works and what doesn't. You find out how to make improvements to portability, antenna deployment techniques, battery and run time options vs weight, etc. I encourage more activators at these parks and others so that we can all be incentivized to get out there and keep activating and practicing! Thanks to all the POTA hunters out there for helping to make Parks On The Air such a reliable and consistently fun part of the amateur radio hobby. 73! - KB4TAD

This first photo is a weekend setup at a spot that is basically a construction site. This station is set up on plywood and sawhorses for POTA hunting and other relaxing weekend activities. This is a great practice for field operations, running on battery only, simulating a field deployment. Here, I'm using a 57' 6" wire in a tree on an LDG 9:1 Unun which has worked great and even tunes up great on 80m. Here is a closer look at the 705 field case with internally-mounted Icom AH-705 tuner and 5AH bioenno battery. Attempting to connect to the Winlink node of KN4RBS with an N9TAX roll-up jpole on a new Spiderbeams mast.

I just used the Lido L-MAX mount with my new Icom 5100 radio in my vehicle. Loving it so far!

After having purchased an enclosure for the Icom IC-705 by W2HVH enclosures (www.w2hvh.com), I contacted the owner and asked if he could custom build a case for my Icom 7300. For the past several years, I have been using a Novexcomm 3U enclosure for my 7300 in a rigid Gator box. This solution has worked for me and I have deployed it for field day previously, but I wanted more of an all-in-one solution that was ready to go and field-deployable for field use. OLD NOVEXCOMM UNIT IN FOREGROUND, NEW W2HVH ENCLOSURE IN BACKGROUND I reached out to W2HVH and discussed a custom build project for one assembly in an easy to carry soft-case which securely housed the radio, a speaker, I/O ports on the front bezel including a data port, SO-239, power-poles, USB-C, USB-A, a voltmeter and a grounding lug. W2HVH and I collaborated on a size, design, carrying case, etc. With a bit of trial and error, here is what I received - and it works great. I shipped an LDG Z100A tuner to Florida for its installation in the enclosure. Upon arrival, I installed my Bioenno 15AH battery and my 7300. Here are a few photos of the assembly: Other I/O, such as the key jack as well as included fuse blocks, etc. are accessible by a rear zip hatch: The unit fits very comfortably in the back of my Suburban between the second row seats, making it perfect for in-vehicle operation. Just connect an antenna and you're good to go. No more cables, time-consuming setup, etc. 100w of power, 15AH of battery, tuner controlled from the radio interface and access to charge a laptop or to connect more batteries, solar or a charger for more power: Here is a photo of my IC-705 field kit, also from W2HVH: The 705 unit is much lighter and smaller, and has the AH-705 tuner within the enclosure. It shipped with just the enclosure, the bag and a 4AH Bioenno battery. I added my own IC-705 radio and AH-705 tuner. The craftsmanship, workmanship and communication with the owner, W2HVH is incredible and greatly appreciated. I would highly recommend his products. It's refreshing to be able to get high-quality, assembled custom equipment such as this from an experienced, skilled craftsman. (Made by Ralph Sangataldo in Florida / W2HVH). Thank you Ralph! Travis Dyson / KB4TAD

Here is a shot on the drive into K-1303, Hungry Mother State Park: This is a shot of my favorite activation spot at Hungry Mother Park: There were some slick roads and wintry conditions today at K-1300, Grayson Highlands State Park: Today's QRO Field Rig - the IC-718. It did great as usual!

This was the approach to Grayson Highlands State Park this morning (K-1300). Much of the park was closed down. This location also allows the opportunity to activate K-9935, the Virginia Birding & Wildlife Trail. I was able to get 56 QSOs from my vehicle and luckily out of the cold, with a 20m Shark-brand hamstick on a vehicle mag mount. While I often use my IC-705, I felt like using the IC-718 today and it performed well, as always. By early afternoon, I made it to Hungry Mother State Park (K-1303). I started on 20m again, and I noticed a substantial deterioration in the band. It took me about 2 hours to get 10 QSOs to successfully complete this activation. I actually had to switch my hamstick to a 40m to get the last one. In retrospect, I could have tried an EFHW there which would have allowed me to not only try another antenna and move around from band to band more efficiently. Overall, it was a great day for POTA - it allowed me to be outside without having to be cold, by operating from my vehicle!

I just completed an activation today and am now in the #1 spot for Activations and QSOs for this park! Now on to Grayson Highlands... 😁

This is a new battery box build that I just completed. This box features a very small LED light with a variable resistor to control brightness, a voltmeter, 1 USB-C, 1 USB-A and 2 PowerPole connectors. I used the smallest box I could find to accommodate all of this and a 15AH Bioenno battery. The light should be useful to light up a work area, especially for field day no power setups and/or during power outages, of course.

I recently picked up this Icom IC-718 rig off of eHam for a great deal. It's now configured with an LDG Z-100A Automatic Tuner and a Digirig with CI-V interface. I have tested both JS8Call and Winlink Vara HF with the Digirig and have confirmed that CAT control, Remote PTT and the sound interface are all functional. I can use both JS8Call and Winlink for POTA spotting. It also seemed like every time I would try to go do a POTA activation, I couldn't remember the park numbers so that's why those are now labeled on top of the radio. Mic is mounted on the right with velcro, as is the Digirig. I noticed when I was operating at Grayson Highlands the other day that it would be nice to be able to have a mount on the radio for the mic. Also, I bought some "Wrap-It" velcro / rubberized straps and used one to secure the tuner to the radio. When doing that, I took care to not cover up any ventilation vents on the radio. This is now an all-in one bundle that is meant to be kept this way and can be taken out of a bag and quickly deployed. It will be interesting to see how it performs in the field next. I just thought I would share.

We had a great POTA and Cookout event yesterday at Grayson Highlands yesterday (Saturday). While we had chilly weather with some wind, the skies were sunny and bright and it was great to spend some outdoor time over the weekend. We missed having Jerry there, as he was under the weather - but hopefully he can join us next time. POTA: Each of us successfully activated the park with our individual callsigns, with Mac making the most contacts at over 40! Mac used a wire in a tree with a manual tuner, Shane used a Chameleon MPAS vertical and I used 2 mag mount hamsticks. All of them got the job done! It's great trying out new setups during each outing and learning as we go. LUNCH: After our morning activation, some of our family members joined us for a cookout at a camp shelter. We grilled hamburgers, hotdogs and smores - and had a great time! Here are some photos from the day: KI4AMD, MAC, SHOWING US HOW IT'S DONE W/ HIS YAESU 857 KN4RBS, SHANE AND THE CHAMELEON MPAS VERTICAL KB4TAD, A NEW ADDITION - IC-718 QRO FIELD RIG W/ LDG TUNER KI4AMD, KN4RBS AND KB4TAD WARMING UP AFTER SPENDING SOME TIME IN THE COOL MOUNTAIN AIR KI4AMD, KN4RBS AND KB4TAD WITH XYLs AND FAMILY AT OUR COOKOUT

I use an Icom IC-2300 as my Winlink Packet node radio. As one might imagine, the radio can get quite hot when in use sending data and the Icom IC-2300 is no exception. I have the radio powered down to mid-power (25W) and the radio itself has a huge heat sink, but no active cooling. Here is what I did to help my Icom IC-2300 to stay cool. I acquired a 12v fan and an electronic thermostat-controlled switch. Used thermal paste and industrial strength glue to attach the probe of the thermometer to the heat sink of the radio. Connected the cooling fan and soldered/wired it to the thermostat switch. Here is a video of the setup in operation on my Winlink Packet station. The fan kicks on at 41 degrees C and goes off at 39.5 degrees C. This can be adjusted on the device. These parts came from Amazon and the cost was very inexpensive. I thought I would share in case anyone might want some ideas on how to keep their packet station cool. This one functions well and keeps the radio cool. --- Thanks - KB4TAD

I did some testing at The Abbey yesterday for several hours - including operating JS8, Winlink with VARA HF and also did some POTA hunting. I'm going through the process of documenting configurations for my Icom 705 and 7100 to switch between multiple modes so I have the info handy for field use. I'm also working through what I need and what I don't need - as I have a tendency to take way too much stuff when I go anywhere to play radio. One unresolved issue I discovered is that with my 7100, even on lower power settings (i.e. 15W), there appears to be RFI (likely) which is causing the data link to fail between the radio and the computer. I receive an error indicating the sound card couldn't be initialized. So I have been "studying up" on that - and have taken some action on it in an effort to resolve. Thank you to Shane for assistance with tuning/cutting my new xtenna EFHW antenna. I used it almost exclusively during the testing and it has large swaths of "acceptable" resonance on multiple bands. I need to re-test it with an analyzer and put a label on it indicating where it's resonant. Also - during my field testing, I did finally run out of power. I operated for pretty much 7 hours straight - and used my 6ah, 12ah and 30ah batteries - and had them on my 100w Bioenno solar panels for most of the time. I think I do need to get another battery, a 15ah, as the 12ah is a bit underpowered for QRO and the 30ah is just too big for field work, IMO. Anyway, here are a few photos...

I installed this yesterday in a temporary config just to see how it would work. I'm surprised at how well it seems to work and I plan to move it to a more permanent configuration soon. The Unun was only $29.99 from DXE and I used some wire and ring terminals I already had on hand. Apparently the 9:1 is designed for random wire applications and it seems to work well.

Over the past several months, a few of us routinely are on 146.520 FM chatting in an informal roundtable setting. I've added a recurring event to our events calendar for each Friday at 9PM to invite everyone to the conversation! Often, the conversation starts earlier - so you may also want to check early. It really isn't a net - but just an informal, friendly meeting to discuss whatever we want to discuss. I hope to see everyone there - and feel free to invite anyone you want!