This was my second outing with my new QRP rig, the Yaesu 818. While I have my QRP bases covered, I talked myself into getting the 818 for taking along on backpacking trips. Yes, my Icom IC-705 would be up to that task, however I find the 818 a little better suited for the task. More on that later....
Proof of Concept Activation
I had the idea for a setup for multi-day backpack trips to setup a QRP kit in a chest pack. The logic of having the radio carried separate from my main pack would be for ease of use. I could quickly setup of a station trail side without having to rummage through my pack. Plus I could leave an established camp for an activation bringing minimum gear with me.
Me being me, I thought I would test this concept out on some of the hiking trails near my home, instead of trying it first on a backpacking trip a 100 or more miles away.
So I went on a nice little day hike on the Brandt Pines Ski Trails, a series of cross country ski trails in the winter and hiking trails the rest of the year, located in the Governor Knowles State Forest, that is along the St. Croix River in northwest Wisconsin.
It Worked
I was very pleased with the initial results. I was able to fit, with room to spare, the transceiver, battery, antenna, coax, and a few miscellaneous items in one of my Original SOE "FUPA" chest / fanny packs. All the gear stayed in place and rode comfortably during the hikes.
I also had with one of my daypacks, the Osprey Daylite Plus, along for the hike. In the pack I had my Panasonic ToughBook for logging, along with some hiking gear, including my "essentials" rollup pouch, snacks, water, etc.
While I normally wouldn't take the ToughBook laptop along on a hike in style activation. The there was plenty of room for it in the Osprey pack. As I used this laptop more and more, I may take it with on some of my hike in POTA activations and SOTA activations.
The Activation
I found a nice place one the trail, along side the rive to setup my station. The bands were active, with a lot of noise. Some of my friends who were out activated noted some struggles during their activations.
I started off trying to get a Park to Park or two, but gave up after a few tries. Not a day to bust a pile up with only 5 or 6 watts. Even with the pile up busting magic words of "Park to Park." So I found an empty space on 20 meters and started calling CQ.
My hopes were raised when after a minute or so of calling CQ I got a contact from prolific POTA hunter Paul NL7V from Alaska. Even though Paul did all the heavy lifting, a contact from Alaska while your running SSB QRP is going to boost anyone's confidence.
However reality set in after that, and it was the typical "QRP grind" of a contact here and a contact there.
After two rounds of calling CQ with a session of hunting other parks in between, I did get the parks activated. Another dose of the manic depressive ride of portable QRP amateur radio. Frustrations of not being heard, with long distance contacts and great signal reports mixed in at just the right times to keep you going.
Discovery of a Big Mistake
One of the highlights of the day, a DX contact from Spain, turned out to be a disappoint later. For those who record there activations like me can appreciate the added frustration of how difficult or failed contacts in the field, when you can't hear the other station well, sound crystal clear and blatantly obvious when you replay the recordings at home.
This happened to me during this activation with a DX station from Spain. In the field I clearly heard EG1R. I thought it was even confirmed by the operator. I was ecstatic. When I reviewed the video I was anything but ecstatic....
How could I not hear the Charlie?
I think the combination of it being late in a long, frustratingly fun session of QRP radio plus the rush of working a Spanish station with 5 watts on SSB clouded my mind. I mind that isn't exactly as sharp as a razor on a good day....
20/20 hindsight, I should have stuck to NATO phonetics.
When the operator said "Charlie" I thought he said "Germany." Knowing by the call he was DX and assuming English wasn't his primary language, I thought I would follow suit and give him a "Germany" back.
That is where I went wrong. Again: 20/20 hindsight, I should have stuck to NATO phonetics.