31/12/2018
After having build a QCX 40 m CW QRP transceiver and an EFHW antenna, it was time to test the setup "on the field" for my first SOTA activation.
I choosed a summit close to my home that can be accessed by car, as i wanted to tune my antenna and test my setup. The logical and only
choice was TK/TK-121 "Punta Pozzo di Borgo".
The antenna was quickly tuned with the help of my VNWA and a laptop computer. As it was pre-cut, i only had to adjust the length twice to get a perfect resonance on the 40/20/10m bands. The SWR is a bit high though, but i will check this later on...
I used a 5m fishing pole that is far too flexible and the top of the antenna was only 4m over ground. I have to look for something better or use it differently !
I called several times on 7.030 MHz before getting an answer from DL/9A2QP who was my very first "official" SOTA QSO !
After that, i made a total of 30 QSOs 40m CW. Two of these were S2S with 2 OK stations.
The 3 W coming out of the QCX powered with a 12V/7Ah Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) battery worked like a charm.
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I only had a small sheet of paper and i had to log the last QSOs on the guyropes packaging ... I stopped my activity when the sun went down behind the mountain and temperature dropped... Unfortunately, i forgot my cellphone and camera, so no pictures for this fisrt activity... :-( All in all, a nice first experience ! |