Tag: X6100
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Back in the field (at last!) – Wildcat Mountain, K-1480
It was 7:44when I pulled into the only partly-shaded space in the upper lot at Wildcat Mountain State Park; I shut off the engine and thought “let’s see if I can be set up and on the air by 8:00!”. By 7:55 the 17′ whip was up on the Buddipole and I was turning on…
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Wrapping up some kit building …
The workbench has been developing a backlog of kits that need to be finished; a QRPguys Multi-Z Tuner, a QRPguys Digital Power/SWR Meter w/Dummy Load, and a K6ARK Mini-Microphone are the principal ones (there are others, but … ). QRPguys Multi-Z Tuner This one got stalled right out of the bag! Step one is assembling…
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A gear bag post
All winter, and well into the spring, I was operating from the car; only rarely was my radio pack used for anything but carrying to and from it. I wasn’t entirely satisfied with either of the existing packs, they exemplified the old saying about “the two standard sizes; too big and too small”. Operating portable…
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Field Day, Day 2
The rain did quit sometime overnight, so I got up a bit before 4:00, made plenty of coffee, and got on the road back to Wildcat Mountain State Park, K-1480. Though I drove slowly and watchfully to avoid deer, I was at the park a few minutes before it opened at 6:00. (Deer are termed…
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Field Day, Day 1
My planning for Field Day was kind of sketchy, and not at all ambitious, so I grabbed my radio pack after lunch and arrived at Wildcat Mountain State Park a bit before 2:00, or already almost an hour into the event. It took me about 20 minutes to set up the X6100 and the 20…
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If it’s mid-June, then Field Day is right around the corner
is the thought that occurred to me this morning. Fourth weekend in June, yup, 24th and 25th, okay; I think I’m going to try for something a bit more organized than last year. But what, exactly? Well … weather permitting, definitely QRP, definitely carried in the pack (see the upcoming post about my current station-in-a-bag),…
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Off to Oak Island!
Up early, final packing (and unpacking!) almost finished. This is just a quick post before I turn this off and pack it up. This Lenovo Chromebook running Linux Mint is the only device that I have no means of charging for the next couple of days, so battery conservation will be crucial (assuming that I…
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I made a knee board
This is a great example of the kind of “just good enough to do the job” work that I do when I am in a big hurry; this whole thing took me one hour to make. First, how big to make it? A couple of minutes with a tape measure and (in this order) my…
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I made an “octopus”
I got a little scare a few weeks ago as I was setting up; the power cord for the 6100 was not in its usual location! I found it only seconds later, attached to the external battery, but it got me thinking about backup for critical parts of the station equipment. This is one of…
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X6100 and EFHW at Wildcat Mountain
The weather today was a lot more pleasant than when I last activated K-1480, but I was using the same equipment. I planned to trim a few inches from the QRPguys EFHW to improve the SWR while I was setting up but it seemed to have the opposite effect … now I am wondering what…
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Devil’s Lake State Park, K-1449 and Ice Age National Scenic Trail, K-4238
After a weekend of chilly and rainy weather there came a day where the forecast promised slightly nicer conditions, and I had scouted out this location a few weeks earlier on a trip to the Menard’s in Baraboo. I got there early and considered operating outdoor portable for the first time this year, but a…
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It was snowing lightly on Wildcat Mountain …
as I worked 24 hunters this morning at Wildcat Mountain State Park, K-1480. It drizzled all night, on & off, it was still drizzling as I loaded the car and drove to the park; as I was unwinding the antenna wire I saw the first few snowflakes. There was a brief period of snow pellets,…