Category Archives: /P

POTA in the Sun

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With another gorgeous sunny day it was an opportunity to get out the shack and on the air, but before heading out, I had a nice walk/exercise to Hengistbury Head, whilst I had no radio with me today, I did notice these small microwave dishes at the end of my walk on the cafe. I wonder what they are ?

small dish side of cafe
larger dish on top
front side

Maybe they are some kind of digital voice repeater, they look very ‘directed’ so not the kind of antenna I’d expect something like the ‘land train’ to use, maybe its to the other cafe near mudeford sandback ? Still Sweety and I had a great walk !

cheap little sheds
Sweety enjoying the beach

Once back home I quickly assembled my radio and headed off to the New Forest, I did a quick check of the 17m band before heading out and everything look good on the bands, despite the reports of poor conditions.

Once setup, I was able to get onto FT8 on 17m in the park and my reports on PSK Reporter was really good ! I’m quite amazed how well this little whip and radials works.

17m FT8 & 10W of power

I had to do some band and mode changing to get the 10 contacts to activate the park, but sure enough today it was in less than an hour, which was great, maybe coming in the afternoon when more Europeans are awake/about for radio helped as well.

After about 90 minutes on digital modes I noticed my IC-705 has got really hot, as in hot to touch and the temp meter on the front was getting high as well ! I gave the radio about 15 minutes of break and the temp got back down to below the red zone. I think the combination of hot weather (was about 28c air temp at this point, the breeze kept me somewhat cool) and the radio being in the bag restricted its ventilation.

It got hot in the afternoon !

I found that taking the radio out the bag and letting the breeze pass over it considerabley reduced the temperature. As I already had enough contacts I’d though I give 2M FM a try on the RH770 Whip antenna.

To my amazement, i was able to make a contact with 2E1KJB on the Isle of White in Cowes ! Given I was in the New Forest so this was well over the horizion on a whip antenna, i was really pleased to make the QSO and add a FM contact to my list – I notice the temperature of the radio had once again increased, so I thought it was a good way to finish off and pack up.

IC 705 back home and cooled down, working great

I felt it prudent to check the IC-705 once back home as it had time to cool down on the short journey back and borrowing the 6btv antenna from the WSPR station was able to confirm that all was good with the transmit, so no damage done to the finals due to the hot weather.

new forest traffic
not a full log, but enough

I was really happy to get out with the radio 2 days in a row and make enough contacts to add to my new forest activations – having now reached 10 activations in the New Forest, i’m half way there on completing the award, and with still plenty of time for radio between now and getting back into alot more studying, I’m confident I will get the 20 activations in no time at all !

Bongo and magloop

With the issue of heat and the radio being in the Icom back-pack I may revert to the magloop again and try to work out a way I can use it portable, as I tend to either bungee it to a table or use my ‘bike stand’ mast which under the rear wheel of the bongo as shown above.

Still I’m sure I’ll find a way, i do enjoy getting out of the house and out of the Bongo when the weather is this nice ! Until the next time and thanks for all those who responded to my CQ’s ! 2E0FWE 🙂

POTA QRP in poor radio conditions

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HF Band conditions have not been at their greatest this week (10/8/24) with intemittent SSTV pics on 20m and visibly varying conditions on other bands, courtesy of the WSPR transmitter I run here. Not to be defeated, I still headed out to The New Forest see if any contacts could be made…

Band conditions are not good on the HF bandscurrently

I setup in the same place as last week, with the same antenna. I did unfurl the counterpoises 2 times just to get a better placement and spread and even without the tuner, was getting good SWR of 1.5:1 on the Toybox antenna on 17m. Setup was really easy and no tangled radials.

I started with FT8 on 17M, it was taking some time to get out, but PSK Reporter and self-spotting on the POTA app meant I could see myself via the reverse beacon network as well, so it was just a question of being patient to make a contact.

17M FT8 – despite the poor conditions, my signal was getting out nicely on 10W

Sure enough with 10 minutes, I had my first contacts and QSO’s into Europe. It was certianly taking longer than last week, but nethertheless the QSO’s where coming in. I continued on 17M and it was really evident of just how fluctuating the band conditions where, one minute I was hearing/getting into Australia and New Zeeland, the next the whole band seemingly ‘collapsed’ with only the very strongest of signals getting thru. I had made 6 contacts and I wasnt in a big rush, so peristed with FT8 on 17m. I was pleased to be getting into Denmark and a good report back from OZ9FF was good to get in the logs. Having got my 10 QSO’s in the log after about 90 minutes, I tried different modes and bands.On FT4 on 17m I was pleased to get another POTA user, IK2QEB, who had hunted me from the POTA app.

I bounced to 20m – this was really easy with the Toybox antenna, just changing the ground-wire onto the coil and re-tune the antenna with the ATU, and I was on a 1.3:1 SWR. I managed one contact and with a total of 14 contacts, started to play around the bands and see what else the toybox antenna could do.

I adjusted the ground wire to 10M, no adjustment in the antenna itself was required, and was pleased to see so many signals getting in. Looking at PSK report my signals where getting out albeit with a predominate ‘skip’ to the East, but it was cool to try out a different band in poor conditions, despite not managing a QSO today.

10m FT8 provided signal reports getting into Easten Europe and very far into Russia !

At this point I thought why not give the 2m/70cm whip antenna a try before packing up, just for the fun of it. Whilst I didnt make any QSO’s, it was great that my signal was at least getting out on this little whip antenna !

All in all, despite the bad conditions, i had fun experimenting with the different configurations of the toybox antenna and even tryign out the 2m/70cm whip antenna. I had a nice relaxing time and felt great for getting out with my radio and enjoying the lovely new forest.

I’ve still got a 11 more activations to complete before my repeat award, but am confident with my current setup that figure will steadily decline and hopefully I’ll make more POTA contacts along the way, no matter what the conditions !

POTA – A digital mode bonaza at the New Forest (GB-0112)

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Having had some recent setbacks with not making any (i.e. ZERO) contacts and then NINE and not activating the park (I had a double, so counted 10 contacts, but it was only 9…), I was determined to get out and actually add to my activations of the New Forest. Prior today I’m two away from the award for visiting the park and activating it multiple times (20 needed).

APRS Spotting via 2M (144.800)

Having tested at the QTH with a quick test then a QRT I could see that I could use APSPOT to self-spot to POTA. Some areas of the new forest have limited phone signal, where as today I could reach the internet on my phone, it was great to see RF->Web via APRS DigiPeaters – Many thanks to the people still keeping APRS alive ! I am truly thankful for the digipeaters !

APRS Beacon received en-route and back from POTA activation – thanks to the many APRS Digipeaters!

Beaconing and sending a message for POTA is different, on my Kenwood it is very similar to how shown in the excellent video from Ben Soper, obviously the Frequency changes to the UK APRS of 144.800, i also kept all the text in the message *lower case*

excellent demo of how to self-spot POTA via APRS fom Ben Soper

Ironically, whilst I could spot, I wasn’t able to make any telephony contacts on 17m. Maybe I was asking too much of my QRP setup and compromise antenna. I have made phone contacts on it before, but HF conditions vary and maybe that was the reason why. Propergation on 17M was very come-and-go today, but ranging all over Europe on 10W, I wasnt complaining

17M – FT8

I spent the first set of data communictions on FT8, and there was very much a steady stream of contacts coming in. The whip antenna, tuner and radials where doing a great job, as least as good as my mag loop, but I’d say it was far more portable and easier to setup.

17M – FT4

Looking at the waterfall on the IC705 I could see some activity on the FT4 section of the band, switching to FT4 SDR-Mobile is very easy, just a quick click, the tuner put the SWR down to <1.5:1 and I was off. It was a very steady flow of QSO’s !

Wild horses
Enjoying the grass
and not the radials

It was lovely to meet people out walking their dogs, with a great conversation with a TV Repairman about the old days of broadcast transmission and interference from France. Its great to show people where I have reached with my radio, they are amazed with how far it has gone, also I really liked their little badger-dog who was playing fetch with a ball 🙂 The amount of horses in the new forest is lovely, there is a real mix of animals, this time of the year we see horses and cows roaming around the roads – much care is needed as the youngsters are just starting to get used to the roads, but its amazing to see the parents have such protective instincts for their young. In the Autumn I look forward to seeing the little red pigs which are usually seen around Burley 🙂

Setup today
comfortable and easy
The lovely bongo

It was one of those days that I really appreciated living near this beautiful location and also having my Mazda Bongo, it has more lives than a cat, but I seem to keep it on the road each year, days like today it makes it all worth it being able to drive out with my equipment, set it. up easily then get back home without issue. Having the 2M/70cm Kenwood transceiver with APRS in the Bongo is great for tracking and now with the ability to self-spot, its really useful!

Kenwood with APRS+GPS
so many views like this in the New Forest

Having made a personal best of 32 Data mode contacts, I tried telephony on 17 and 20 meters, but to no avail, but I was far from disappointed, I really felt like I had an excellent time out today doing PoTA, and I cant thank the people that pull out my signal from the noise to make and complete a QSO! See if you spot your call sign in the credits 🙂

POTA GB-0112 New Forest

Really looking forward to the next time I can get out and get on the air 🙂

73, 2E0FWE

GB-0853 Craigmillar Castle Country ParkGB-0853

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Why in Edinburgh
QCTiP

I traveled to Edinburgh for Quantum Computing Theory in Practice (QCTiP) and with a chance to use my locator of 2M brought my IC705 and Alexloop along. I had originally planned to go out with my radio on Friday evening or Saturday morning, but not being able to stand another Ryanair flight, opted to go on Tuesday evening and get the train back Saturday.

train back to Bournemouth from Edinburgh

I used the handy google maps app to find my way to Craigmillar Castle park, it was a short ride and easy to do from my hotel near Edinburgh university in the old town.

Route to the park via #2 bus

It was a bit of trek from the bus stop to the park, but after being in all day, quite pleasant to get some exercise.

entrance sign
stunning views

The views from the park where really nice and the paths not too bad, with all the bad weather of late there was only a few patches of mud puddles, otherwise was easy to follow the trail/google maps to the adventure park which I had seen having a nice table to setup on.

all 3 bungees
but on the air

Getting the Alexloop setup required all three bungees, the wind was not strong but enough that the usual bungee around the table wasn’t enough. I used a vertical bungee to secure the mast and sure enough was soon on the air. I encountered some high SWR and found this was due to the power lead and the feed line being in close proximity, so I worked thru all that and re-routed it, then sure enough was on the air with first 5W and then 10.

The QSO’s came in sporadically, one minute there would be a FT8 pile up, then minutes of nothing, I figured that other stations must be on the same frequency so bounced around the available bandwidth on the FT8 20M range, sure enough was soon edging towards the 10 contacts I needed.

sundown
chilly computer, colder operator

At this point i realized I had come quite unprepared for the Scottish weather and whilst I was treated to a beautiful sunset the wind was beginning to really make me cold, thankfully FT8 requires minimal user input. I put my backpack on to keep the wind off me buried my hands deep within my hoodie. A chocopie gave me enough of a sugar rush to keep me going…

at last – 11 contacts!
wind having a good time with notebook

With some failed QSO’s (KF9UG) and some completed (VE1JW) I also had a run of 2 almost as I was shutting down (9A4ZM) – i had enough to activate the park. I was able to pack away and head back to the bus stop !

Urban and Countryside
lovely bus stop

I was really impressed on just how one moment I could be in this seemingly wide countryside of Scotland, and next back in the city of Edinburgh. The walk back to the bus stop was made with much haste and was so glad to be back in a wind-protected shelter. The bus arrived on time and I was so glad to be back in the warm ! The short ride back to the hotel was followed by a very nice bowl of shin-ramyen !

Shin ramyan to the rescue !!

I took my ADIF log and uploaded to the POTA website – I had already setup my 2ME0FWE call sign on the PoTA site before leaving for Edinburgh, so it was easy to upload to the regional locator under my main ‘2E0FWE’ owner call sign.

VE1JW – thanks fo the amazing long distance contact !

I was really please to see a splattering of PoTA Hunters, getting VE1JW in the log from Canada on 10W was excellent. Whilst it was hard work to get the radio, battery and computer to Edinburgh, it was well worth it. Going back on the train removed all the hassle of unload the battery, radio, computer at the airport.

This was by far one of those PoTA’s where I learned alot more other than just the radio. Being prepared for the climate being the key one ! Hopefully one day I’ll be able to get back to Scotland and use 2M0FWE again, the scenery of this beautiful country makes it all the more worth it.

A cold 2M0FWE

POTA – FT8, FT4, SSTV, SSB – UPDATE – 18/3/24 –

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After a very busy week, I had Sunday and getting out with my radio to look forward to. Thankfully the weather was being kind to me, whilst not warm, it wasnt raining as we had plenty of that over night !

Plenty of overnight rain at the QTH

I headed out to Boulderwood with the magloop and 705 and was on the air very quickly. Setup is quick and easy with the magloop and I actually learned a good wait to tune the antenna and get the SWR down quicker.

place hand UNDER feedline when tuning = better and quicker matching

I did run into issues starting out with WSJTX and FT8, the time on my computer was just ever so slightly out, but enough for a time sensitive decode of FT8 not to work correctly. I tried updating the time using the windows time server, to no avail ! I had to manually set the NTP server to rolex.ripe.net, sync the time and I was back in action !

control panel time
set NTP sever to ripe’s

I had 10 QSO’s in digital modes done in under 40 minutes, shifting between FT8 and FT4 on 20m, with POTA hunters chasing me thanks to the POTA app and RBN.

pskreport – 10W, FT8, 20M
PSK Report – 10W, FT4, 20m

Having completed enough contacts to activate the park, I was straight into Telephony and SSB. I went onto 17m, not that was any contests on, but I found it a good band for QRP operation, and sure enough I made two contacts, with EA1EC being a POTA Hunter, proving how using PoTA makes getting contacts that bit easier – when running QRP it all helps !

I jumped onto 20M, which was quite calm for a Sunday, and was able to tune around the band, making a contact with IK0VSY, with a good signal report. 20 meters really was the place to be today, so jumped onto SSTV and the pictures started rolling in from other SSTV users.

I waited my time and started to transmit and I made my first SSTV PoTA contact for 2024 ! I was really chuffed and excited, so big thanks to IK2QIN for the excellent QSO.

SSTV QSO received and uploaded to MAX SSTV by other SSTV receivers (Thanks MAX SSTV website!)

I then span the dial on 20m once more, and made 3 more SSB contacts, it was really great to make the contacts, with IU3EDQ being Portable !, but thanks again to EA2DT and EA4TL for hunting me and making the contact with excellent signal reports, with a 59 from me and a 5-5 for my reception report.

The IC-705 really done me a great service today, and being able to use the the voice repeat mode in conjunction with the ‘massive’ battery power of the ‘ultra max’ battery ensured I wasnt going to run out of power for the radio.

repeat mode and <1.3 SWR
on 20m and good results
repeat mode saved my voice

Sadly some massive QRM came in on frequency, but I was able to shift up and continue making contacts, that is the advantage of 20m over 17m, that it has more space in the band, so shifting isnt a problem. I quickly posted my frequency change on the POTA app and was able to continue making contacts !

QRM on frequency, maybe a new mode I’m not aware of !
the sun did try to come out

As the time approached for me to head to the supermarket to get my essential shopping, i packed up in no time, leaving the bunch and the park as I found it. Bolderwood is such a lovely place to come, its relaxing and gets me ready for the busy week ahead. I had a fantastic time getting out on the radio today.

Big thanks to all the people that made a contact with me today, it really is much appreciated and I really enjoy the amazing hobby that is amateur radio !

thanks for all the contacts !!!

*update 18/3/24*

Would like to say BIG thanks to Alessandro who contacted me with his QSL card, little did I know at the time that IU3EDK/P was up a mountain ! I received a lovely QSL card via email and a link to the activation – how amazing that it was a park-to-mountain activation all on 10W of power !!

Thank you Alessandro ! Please check out the activation from Alessandro here

QSL Card from IE3EDK up a mountain in Italy !

G-0112 4th Feb 2024 + Webtechnology site updates !

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had spring come early ? The sun was out today!

Some lovely sun kept the chills off today with flowers blooming and when it reach mid afternoon looked like turning into a great afternoon evening, I thought it would be great to make an impromptu visit to Bolderwood to try a PoTA activation.

compare to Janurary temptures, I was basking in the winter sunshin at a 12 celsisus !

I had everything packed away, i did one quick check for the power beiing packed, which it was, but had no idea on the battery level of the laptop, I knew I had used it recently so it shouldnt be too low. I headed off and it was great to to Bolderwood which whilst still pleasently busy, didnt feel over crowded. I’m sure this will change even by the end of the month !

Setup in no time
blue skys
a great place to do radio and relax

I was on the air in no time, with the Alexloop attached to the bench with a bungie and hooked into the IC705, it was easy to tune into 30m to start with for FT8. I chose 30m as I had alot of contacts at home and its not a band I used /P for POTA before, I made 4 contacts within 10 minutes, so wasnt disappointed. I then moved to FT4 on 20M – it was *busy* even finding a gap in FT4 was getting tricky, but I was glad to find a gap and get out. The laptop was down to 40% power by now, so I stuck it in energy efficent mode, which kept the battery going without issue and no adverse effect on the radio/USB connection.

using the laptop energy efficeint mode to extend the life the laptop

I was pleased with a series of rapid FT4 QSOs on 20m, i later learned these where all PoTA Hunters – whilst I’m amazed by them all in the distance, ranging from Austria and Spain in Europe, it was the DX contact with KC1MMC that blew me away – 3217 miles on 10W of power on a mag loop, I was really happy to say the least.

Sun went down and 20M opened up more

As the sun went down the volume of QSO’s on 20M just kept rolling in, from 17:17 to 17:25 I was having a QSO on FT8 every 2 minutes ! I had to call it a day as it was getting dark and wanted to get my equipment put away safely, but I think I enjoy coming out at dusk – maybe a small lamp or pen-light will be worth bringing next time.

14 contacts, 5 POTA hunters made happy !

This was a really enjoyable PoTA outing with minimal planning, I was really impressed how well the antenna done and the PSK Reporter picture shows, it can really reach the entire planet !

Digital modes doing really on 10W of power

I have seen videos of great QRP Contacts and am wondering how well I would do, I really think I should give it a try the next time I am out as the setup really impresses me and think it should be good to make some telephony contacts.

Making contact with KC1MMC on 20m FT8

Webtechnologies website update – WSPR Bands added !

I’ve been making monthly updates to my webtechnologies site, which last month I got back up and running so the code would scrape the data from the ‘updated’ WSPR old-db. I’ve now added sections that allow filtering by band. This is all transmitted via the 6BTV which is doing an excellent job of getting out on all 6 bands it is setup for.

Webtechnologies site – now with spots per band functionality.

I’m aiming to keep building more features for the website each month, just small incremental changes, but I’m sure will keep adding making for a feature-rich site. There is so much that can be done with WSPR data, I really enjoy using this mode and its great ot use my programming skills for amateur radio also. Check it out at the webtechnologies site.

G-0112 – Bolderwood New Forest, Alex Loop to the rescue

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With another bright but cold day, it was a good time to get out and get on the air. This time I was packing my trust Alexloop Ham pack antenna along with the IC705, determined to make an activation on my 3rd attempt from Bolderwood.

WX – I caught the ‘warmer’ part of the day at round 9 to 7 celsius

I was no sooner out the car and onto one of the many available benches and quickly setup. The alex loop was out the bag and with a bungee hook strapped pretty tightly to the bench. I tuned for 20m and got a great SWR of between 1.3 and 1.4 but no more than 1.5 and 10W of power. The FT8 contacts came rolling in, and with a busy 20m FT8 was then onto FT4, for even quicker overs.

Alexloop Setup
Manual Logging

It was great to get a mobile phone signal as I tethered my laptop to the phone wifi and could upload my contacts directly to QRZ via the excellent grid tracker application, I still kept a manual log so it would be easy to confirm the order and QSO’s I had today. The Reverse Beacon Network and POTA app was doing me a great service, as quite a few of my contact were POTA hunters. Getting 10 contacts in under an hour was great given just how cold it was, it was nice to see 5 of the contacts are POTA hunters.

I gave SSTV a go, but the signal where coming in thick and fast, I started to see a response to my transmission, but another station came in over the top. I try to use Robot72 and BW12 to keep my over time on 14.2300 short, but most people dont QSY on SSTV, and even then we tend to get other people talking over the SSTV CoA on 20m as well..

Still, having uploaded my ADIF file from WSJTX to POTA I was soon awarded my 2024 activation. Just in the nick of time ! A good start to POTA in 2024 !

POTA 2024 Award – a good start to the year

I am really excited about getting out and do more POTA – its a great start to the year !

73, Alan 2E0FWE

POTA from G-0112, cold but worth the effor

First POTA of 2024 – G-0112 New Forest (again)

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So with new choke packed away and bringing the battery pack, i headed out to Bolderwood in the New Forest, arriving at around 10:15, it was still pretty quiet and I had pick of parking spaces and benches.

bolderwood on New Years Day 2024

I then setup the IC705 with the Toybox antenna and radials, which I found getting the radials out much easier this time. I was able to get the SWR down on 17m to a 1.6~1.7.

SWR less today
radial spread
much easier than yesterday

With the antenna setup I then connected the 705 without the MAT Tuner to start with, having the large battery with me was really good as it support the LC IC705 bag nicely keeping the antenna and bag vertical. I then went about attachign the choke-wound usb cable to the laptop.

Uh oh.. this doesnt look good

As soon as the USB cable was attached, the QRM returned ! I could hear the FT8 stations coming into WSJTX without problem, but again when hitting transmit, the audio disconnected. Whilst the QRM was much reduced, there was no doubt it USB cable and laptop was still effecting the radio. I went ahead and the MAT autotuner, to see if that improve the situation, i.e. would it act as any kind of choke between the radio and antenna.

MAT Tuner working great
could I try a choke here
Will I ever make a contact ?

The introduction of the MAT Tuner had no effect on the QRM, although I could see that with the longer coax between the tuner and antenna, I could potentially try putting chokes on here also. I disconnected the radio and just tried calling CQ on 17m QRP frequency, but to no avail. I could pull in signals and I tried jumping on the back on other QSO’s but think I wasnt getting out at all with the little whip antenna.

So I think whilst I have other options, I will explore those as well, I have always done well with the magloop, and its a great antenna, but the one I really want to try is the UK Antenna 40M EFHW, but currently my SOTA Beams mast is damaged from its first and only outing. I explored the website and was able to order the 3 replacement broken parts, which only cost £17.28 with 1st class postage.

The 40M EFHW UK Antenna – the next one to try when the replacement mast parts arrive…

I will continue experimenting with chokes and the Toybox antenna at the QTH before going back out with it again, I think with enough power, it would work well as a portable antenna, with QRP/10W,its giong to be hard work to get on the air with it…

Until the next time, 73s !

2E0FWE

POTA Prep

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Its been quite some time since I’ve been out and done a Parks On the Air (POTA) activation, but with the year coming to an end and a bank holiday for a day off, it as good a time as any to get outside and get on the air !

The IC705, when used, has mostly be used in the shack. I tend to use it on the 6BTV antenna and keep the 7300 on the End-fed Half-Wave (EFHW) for SSTV and other digimodes.

At the moment my Mazda Bongo is awaiting a garage visit due to a poorly alternator (its 27 years old…) so I will be in the Hyundai i10 (to be my son’s car once he passes his test), hence I will be working /P !

Hyundai i10, compact and cheap to run!

I will be taking the IC705 in its LC192 bag, some may say that this is a branding gimmick, but this bag suits the 705 so well, its brilliant! I’m going to the extreme on portable option of using the Comet Toybox antenna. This antenna tends to get pretty slated, but when I’ve taken the time to set it up myself, found it works really well, even with QRP operation.

Toybox antenna

I’ve previously made a video of me using this from the QTH, showing how I tune and make a contact with it, but this will be my first time using it for a POTA activation.

IC705 and Toybox antenna in use

I’m getting all the parts together again, making sure that batterys and the mat705 ATU are good for operation.

MAT tuner charging via USB
gigantic battery charging up
WX for around IO90

I’ll probably be heading for the New Forest, as there is plenty of places to park up and get the radio out, i’ll be logging old school pen and paper and using the upload feature once completed.

Hopefully the weather is kind to me and I get out, I have work to do on the eggbeaters still, and thats going well, but will put that in another post, for now, determined to get out with the radio and make some contacts!

A review of the Alexloop hampack

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Its been quite some time since I’ve had the Alexloop Hampack, and with my QRP, /M and /P work becoming more ‘regular’ (at least one per month) – thought it time to share my views of this antenna system.

Alexloop hampack

Its hard to imaging, but its been just shy (April 2021) that I have had this antenna in my collection. This has given me plenty of opportunity to use it out in the field and for experimentation at home.

I bought this antenna to pair with the Icom IC705, which is undoubtedly an excellent transceiver in its own right – with excellent selectivity and filtering, its a question of putting the right antenna onto it.

The Alexloop Hampack – the good

Lets start what is good about the Alexloop Hampack. All these observations are based on my own usage, so whilst not scientific, they are at least practical and proven.

  • Its easy to setup

The Alexloop HamPack is very easy to setup. I can arrive at my operating destination and be on the air in minutes. There is no setting up a mast and throwing a wire, there is no tuning a vertical and getting the SWR 1:1 – i can get this antenna out the bag, onto a stand and tuned into the frequency I want to use very quickly. The LED showing the output might look a gimmick, but I can assure you I use this as a visual reference and then checking the radio’s SWR every time I setup or need to retune the antenna.

  • Its very selective

Now for some this might be a negative, but so far for me its been a positive. When I’m working /M or /P, I am limited to 10W. What I don’t want is to pick up every other station just slightlyoff frequency, and for sure, the AlexLoop gives me that. I can match my IC705 filters to the AlexLoop and get excellent input.

  • Its designed for and good at portable use

The AlexLoop Hampack bag is very well thought out. It comes with a excellent way of storing the main loop and then the tuner and other parts of the transceiver. I also own ICOM’s LC-192, which is an exemplary piece of portable radio design, however, even thou when I operate /M, I want to reduce the amount of baggage that I take, therefore I stick to using the Alexloop Hampack bag on its own, and regretfully the LC-192 is left at home ! With that, you can be sure if you *dont* have an LC-192 and are considering getting the Alexloop Hampack, the bag will suffice. It is not as good as the LC-192, in terms of access ports, padding and having a full functional HF/VHF/UHF transceiver system on your back, but for HF bands, the Alexloop Hampack bag *will get you on the air*

The bad

  • The price tag

It almost goes without saying, the biggest ‘bad’ of the Alexloop Hampack is the price tag. When I bought mine in April of 2021 it was £505, now an Alexloop Hampack will cost you up of £600. That is allot of money for an antenna and it really needs to justify its cost.

  • Using in the field

As I’ve said above, I found using the antenna in the field for QRP /P and /M incredibly good. However, not everyone is running an IC705, there are many /P or /M operators that have good transceivers that can push out 100W. The Alexloop is not designed for, and should never be used for values above 20W on SSB and 10W on Digital modes. If you have perfectly good transceiver already capable of powers above these, then is the AlexLoop Hampack the right antenna for you – I would say probably not, especially if you already own the transceiver, however, if you are designing a /P or /M solution from scratch, my answer would differ…

  • The Ugly

So is there anything ugly about a so well designed antenna. Well, I for one can say there is. When I received this antenna I found assembling it ‘awkward’ – that is getting the loop over the centre pole. This resulted in a nasty ‘nic’ getting into the loop coax.

I could easily accept this on a ‘cheap’ antenna with no instruction, but of an antenna, that at the time cost me £500+, I really was perturbed why a decent instructional video or document was available on how to set this antenna up. Furthermore, show how the selectivity worked would of been a benefit to a first time ‘loop’ user. Hindsite is 20/20, but when you pay allot you should really get that level of service included, not as an add-on.

Being an IC705 user, I found the Transceiver bag in the Alexoop Hampack to be oversized, compared to the afore mentioned LC-192, its padding/packaging for carrying a transceiver was really not as good as Icom’s own product. To me, this was scrimping on cost, rather than any other reason (i.e. a transceiver would fit in the bag) – and at the price-tag, was a little disappointing.

  • Summary / Recommendations

So its been nearly 2 years since I’ve had this antenna, I have at least 2 other antennas I can use with the IC-705 when working portable or mobile, and have the actual ICOM bag for the IC705, so what are my personal oonionsf the Alex Loop Ham Pack.

I am person that is time-poor, that is for me to go /P or /M requires planning and organisation, its not like I can just grab my radio and go out when I like, I’m busy. With that the Alex Loop Ham Pack always ensures that when I go out, I will get on the air – its easy to setup and I can make contacts as soon as the antenna and transceiver are matched. I don’t need to setup a mast, wire and ATU for an antenna, the Alex Loop Ham Pack does that for me with its simple and effective compact solution.

The biggest issue to me is the price, today (Jan 2023) it would cost me £600+ to get this antenna. That is a serious amount of money and given it is only capable of 20W maximum, is it the best antenna for the price ? I would say not, that a good dipole, end fed or vertical will outperform this antenna, but would it be as compact, easy and portable ? Probably not.

If you today you don’t have a QRP solution, you really cant go wrong with an IC705 and the Alexloop Hampack antenna, but then you are looking at a solution that is going to cost upward of £2000, to which you can get on the air with a QRP rig and antenna for £100-150 using a ubitx and simple dipole/end fed solution.

There is going to be a big difference in performance of the radios and antennas, and cost might be your personal motivation, where as quality/time maybe the secondary consideration.

Eitherway, the most important thing is to find the best solution you can afford, starting with the antennas as part of the solution, not the secondary, and getting outdoors and on the air.