A SUNDAY GOAT HIKE WITH THE ATS3A

 

 

By Steve Galchutt, NØTU

Special to The ARS Sojourner 

 

I walked past the goat pen thinking my pack goats are looking fat and lazy.

It's time we hit the trail says I!

 

As my battery was charging I surfed the web and reread Steve Yakes AA5TB arcitcle on EFHW

antennas. I decided to try his .05 wavelength counterrpoise and added it to my cobbled together

EFHW-ATU. I'd had pretty good luck with it previously and thought it might improve performance

a littlle? It did based on the number of contacts I made before my battery crashed.

 

20m End Fed Halfwave tuner based on Steve Yakes AA5TB web pages

 

Weatherman had forecast sunshine and temps in the 60s! So I loaded the 'boys' into the truck and

sped off to the trail head. With a few rest stops to catch our breaths we soon arrived at our favorite

overlook on Mt Herman. Launched a wire into the Ponderosa only I forgot to anchor the other end

and watched it sail off into space! Luckily the feed end got stuck about 13' up. Finding nothing

convienent to retrieve the loose end I climbed the tree mumbling to myself about tying up

'loose ends'.

 

 

My packgoat Peanut helps me tune up my 20m EFHW wire a'top Mt Herman in Colorado

 

I was surprised how quiet the band was ...virtually no QRN ...WOW! Between fence chargers and all

the other electrical man-made noise at home it's always a real pleasure to connect the antenna and

hear just the real noise floor! Woohoo! One of the many reasons I love operating portable in

the woods!

 

ATS3A with new label, lithpoly battery, ear bud and micro TENEKE paddle ready to rock!

 

I finally added a label which reminds what button does what. This old goat needs all the help he can

get. I forget which button does what between hikes and the brain fade proof label does the trick!

I made it in PowerPoint printed it several times to get the sizing right. Then had it laminated for $2

at the UPS store. Punched the holes to match the buttons with a hole punch. Then used spray

adhesive to mount it on the tin. ATS3a label.pdf

 

When I was a kid and built my first  crsytal set I was amazed how radio signals could come from

such a small device. And now to have a complete multi-band ham radio station that fits on my lap

much less in my pocket is astonishing! How cool is that??  What's next?

 

 

A 4-band Ham Radio Station with manual logging software that fits on my lap!

 

Enough about my rig. Once I connected to the antenna I heard K4AXF's signal thumping the ear bud

as it lay on the rock!

 

Here's my log:

 

K4AXF Jim/VA rig/K2-4W ant/GP

KB3MEM Dave/PA Rig? ...deep QSB

JA1??? heard him calling CQ thought he signed/QRP?? -wow!

N9OHW Mike KX1-4W wire in tree! asked if I could QSY to 40m ...Fun QSO!

AB3GYW Frank/MD 5W dipole

 

Not bad for bottom of the solar cycle! heh?

 

The only local QRM was goat caused! My goats got restless as I was logging the Qs and started

their usual antictics. They wait till I'm in the middle of a QSO then nibble on my collar while I'm trying

to send. Or chew on my pack while my hand is occupied and unable to throw something at them.

 

My pack goat Rooster looks for trouble in the old goats day pack!

 

All in all it was a super day with hiking, hamming and my goats keeping a smile on my face!

 

See more pics here

 

73 Steve/n0tu

 

www.angelfire.com/planet/goatman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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