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This year’s North Carolina QSO Party was very fun. I operated from my QTH for the duration of the contest, breaking for a 30 minute lunch and for the occasional stretch break. The propagation was better than last year, going by the numbers, Again this year, I used my Icom IC-7300 running 100W to an MFJ-986 tuner connected to ladder line and a center-fed Zepp dipole antenna. All performed well. Two days prior to contest, during good weather, I took down the dipole for inspection. I checked continuity between the feed point and each element and replaced aging zipties that were growing brittle. Maybe next year I’ll swage the ends and do away with zipties altogether. ...

WARNING: ELECTRICITY IS DANGEROUS. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK. DC power is one of the first problems to solve when operating portable. Your portable operation might take place near established infrastructure where AC power is plentiful. Remote locations will require the use of a battery. Some radios have internal batteries, but if you’re running 100W, an external battery is a likely necessity. AC power? Some public spaces have AC outlets available in shelters or bathrooms that can be used. These are a relative luxury since they grant you unlimited operating time at your maximum power level (or at least up to 100W). If possible, research AC power availability ahead of time. If a picnic shelter has ceiling fans, you might get lucky (looking at you Clemmons Educational State Forest). Some parks have photos that might provide hints. ...

This past weekend I participated in the IARU HF World Championship contest. I chuckle at the phrase “world championship” because I’m a casual contester, a Sunday driver. I took this opportunity to practice my CW operating, as I have in other contests recently. My goal this year was to make 250 QSOs to qualify for the fancy certificate. This goal would require me to be a run station: sit on a frequency, call “CQ”, and copy other stations callsigns and exchanges (sent via Morse code) as efficiently as possible. I also thought 250 QSOs would be a good goal considering that I didn’t expect to be at the radio for the entire 24 hour contest period. ...

The RARS Portable Operating Group met on May 28, 2022 at Blue Jay Point County Park in northern Wake county to activate the Mountains to Sea Trail (K-8313), as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA) program. Attendees included over a dozen hams, some experienced and some new, who came to enjoy the mild May weather and HF propagation. Several hams generously brought their portable stations to share with participants. Icom was well-represented with an IC-718, IC-7300 and two 706’s present. Yaesu was also represented with the FT-857, FT-757, and FT-817 rigs. Vertical antennas were the most popular with a variety of Chameleon, Wolf River Coils, and TN07 antennas deployed. Deployment of an end fed half wave antenna was attempted, but ultimately unsuccessful when after several attempts with an arborist throw line, a zip tie failed resulting in a pile of wire on the ground. ...

I managed to sneak in a Parks on the Air (POTA) activation during a recent Cub Scout camping trip at Falls Lake, K-3841. As part of setting up camp, I threw up a SOTABeams Midi Bandspringer in a tree behind the tent, snaking both aerial and ground wire back in via the rear tent door for later use. After a long day of activities and eating, we settled down in the tent around 9:30pm and the youngest was out by 10pm. Sensing that opportunity was near, I waited a few minutes to ensure he was out-out, then starting wiring together the station. This was the first trip out for my new BioEnno 15Ah battery. After spending a few minutes tuning using my EMTech ZM-2, I checked my work with an analyzer and found that I had a 1.22 SWR on 7.070. Good enough. ...