4 November 2022
K-1015 Pere Marquette State Park
Back On The Air!
So happy to be back on the air. I spent the last six months in Saudi Arabia on what is hopefully my last of six deployments with the Air Force. I brought my radio with me but could never get permission to actually operate. I spent most of my time listening to CW on YouTube, Morse Runner, and RufzXP.
I was a little worried about getting back on the air after not sending a single dit or dah in over six months. I made a few simple POTA contacts at home to warm up then dove head first into a CWT. It was defiantly strange suddenly having sending be my weak area after receiving being my biggest challenge since learning CW.
After a few easy days of easy contacts I felt confident to get back out to a park for an activation. I chose Pere Marquette State Park which I’ve been to before. It’s a surprisingly large state park with plenty of space to stay away from crowds. It’s also on a large bluff with a great view over where the Illinois and Mississippi river join.
![](https://www.catlan.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/k-1015_4Nov_5.jpeg)
New Antenna
While deployed I had plenty of time to mail order stuff that I probably didn’t need. One thing I wanted to try out was a simple 17′ telescopic antenna whip. I ended up with the Chameleon Antenna CHA SS17. There are a few out there, but I chose the Chameleon for a few reasons. One being that I wanted to support a company that supports the hobby, I’ve also had very mixed experiences with MFJ, I didn’t want to buy a Chinese knock off, and Chameleon offers a military discount. After discount shipping and taxes the whip cost $81.51 delivered to my door.
![](https://www.catlan.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/k-1015_4Nov_9.jpeg)
Since this is a standard 3/8″x24 antenna you can use a variety of mounts. This could integrate with some of my existing antenna systems like my Buddistick Pro. This time though I wanted to try something a bit simpler. I bought a cheap CB antenna mount ($12.99) and an aluminum stake ($12.99) to keep it light and cheap. The nuts that came on the mount were 1/4″-20 and I swapped them out for wing nuts to make it easy to remove in the field without tools. I put together four 16-1/2′ radials with alligator clips on the ends. The clips connect easily onto the mount and come off easily without damage if someone trips over them.
![](https://www.catlan.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/k-1015_4Nov_3.jpeg)
![](https://www.catlan.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/k-1015_4Nov_7.jpeg)
The aluminum stake was easy enough to sink into the ground, and with only about four inches in it was sturdy enough to support the 17′ antenna fully extended.
![](https://www.catlan.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/k-1015_4Nov_8.jpeg)
Being an expandable whip it was easy to adjust to find the right length for 20m-10m. I found that coiling the ends of the radials allowed for the best match on frequencies higher than 14Mhz. With minimal effort I got a 1.19 SWR on 20M so I started my activation there.
![](https://www.catlan.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/k-1015_4Nov_10.jpeg)
Just FYSA, the fully extended 17′ antenna was resonant at 13.455 with an SWR of 1.13.
CQ POTA DE KK9U
I had posted my activation on the POTA site so it didn’t take long before I was spotted by RBN and and the POTA spot page. My plan was to do 10 contacts per band then switch. I started on 20M and in short order had a mini pile-up. After that initial wave died down I had 20 in the books so I switched to 10M to give it a try. Despite solid hits on RBN and the POTA spotting page, I ended up with no contacts on 10M. I then switched to 15M and 17M where I was able to put a few more down on paper.
![](https://www.catlan.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/k-1015_4Nov_1.jpg)
QRT
The antenna worked better than I was expecting. Shortening the radials did help find a solid match when going up in frequency. In the future I might put each radial on it’s own winder then roughly mark the wire for each band to make it quicker to switch bands. It’s nice to be able to carry a smaller resonant setup with the sun activity really picking up.
![](https://www.catlan.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/k-1015_4Nov_2.jpeg)
It was also my first time really back on the air after a while and I ended up with more sending errors than I wanted, but nothing crazy and still managed to get the message through. I was also using a brand new key as well so I’m sure there was a bit of a learning curve with that.
![](https://www.catlan.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/k-1015_4Nov_13.jpeg)
Overall it was a great day in the park. Perfect weather, no visitors, fun experimenting, and fun on the air! Can’t ask for more than that.
72 – KK9U