Disclaimer: I believe if you don’t like what a group is doing, either get involved or take it for what it is. Said another way, use it as is or move on. After all it is not yours to change and most likely as for a ham radio the group is run by unpaid individuals who truly believe it what they are doing.
As for POTA and me. I am only a hunter, but often thought it would be fun to activate a park. My activity, thoughts and goals (if I truly had goals) for POTA are forever changing as the following list shows:
- My first step was to work 1,000 parks. Once that level was reached the number of parks logged slipped to the background. I hear the same park and often activated by the same operator. It appears pointless to get in a pileup to work the same op/park for the fifteenth time. Unless it is with one of my one and a half to five watt radios
- Working a park in all states was the next logical milestone. As of this post I am missing a park in Hawaii. I was surprised when after working a park in Alaska (at that point one of the two states I needed for Parks WAS) a WAS certificate was issued. An e-mail exchange told me that Washington DC is a wild card so therefore I received the WAS certificate. YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING! How does that make any sense?
- Currently I mostly work parks with low power. That is 1.5 to 5 watts. (Unless I hear a park in Hawaii and then I go QRO – 25 watts).
Final note: I cannot understand why the group went from identifying parks using DXCC Entities to the use of country names. Again, it is none of my business what they do as it is not my organization. It does affect how I view and patriciate in the program. But I am sure that my opinion means nothing to the POTA team.
Once I reached 1,000 parks hunted the activity started to take on new meaning to me. Running a compromise station getting others to hear me can be a challenge. I noticed many of the same parks were being activated by the same station over and over again. I get it, an activation is an activation so go where it is easiest. But why get in a pileup to work the same station in the same park for the twentieth time? So now I view my POTA hunting as follows:
- If I have a park in the POTA site’s log I will not get in a pileup to work it again.
- If the activator appears not to be getting calls, I will call no matter how many times he is in the log. My contact may be needed for the ten (probably not).
- I like using my one to five watt radios to call parks so I will call any park at all with those radios even if I worked it 100 times.
Some other POTA related items.
- At the time of this posting the POTA site’s log shows that I have 1,236 parks hunted.
- I would like to activate a park at some point.
- I watch too many Ham Radio YouTube videos. At times they add to the activity’s appeal, but at times I think they detract from it. (Just my opinion.)
A real QSO!
After 25 marginal contacts with my portable setup the 26th was the charm. A station in Indiana answered my CQ and we had a real chat. Great CW and conversation and by all accounts the other station copied my little five watts just fine. Also, this success provided the necessary push to keep me going with my portable setup and make improvements.
My new Wolf River Coil TIA was put to the test on a trip to Florida. Using my Penntek TR-25 (five watt 40 and 20 meter transceiver) I operated from a small backyard moving around to find a shady spot. Below are assumptions and conclusions from my adventure.
a – Operating with five watts and a compromise antenna without garnering the attention provided by POTA or SOTA knowingly proved to be difficult.
b – The 102′ whip is too short even for 20 meters and proved to be nothing but a dummy load on 40 meters. I knew this going in, but foolishly moved forward anyway.
c – Using the MFJ-259B the antenna was not difficult to tune. I used the supplied three radials.
d – It was assumed that with the 13 Colonies event, POTA and contests (every weekend) many/good contacts were inevitable. Also, a short rag chew would have been nice. Although I had 18 contacts in the log all were poor with repeats and with difficult copy on the other end.
e – This outing brought to light just how well my attic doublet performs at the home QTH. I have had many respectable contacts with the same radio using my attic antenna, but the results were far different in the field. On the bright side, the N3ZN paddle and Bioenio Battery worked very well. I still do not like the keyer in the TR-25. At the home QTH I use a bug key with my QRP radios so the built-in keyer is not an issue. However, a small paddle travels better than the much larger bug key.
In keeping with no mods to the HW-8 a small LM386 audio amp was constructed (kit) and placed in-line from the headphone jack on 
the HW-8 to my old school Heathkit Speaker. The first picture is the amp in the test phase and the second pictures shows the old speaker/LM386 amp in place on top of the HW-8. The amp is powered for now by a nine volt battery. The battery is sitting to the right clipped in waiting for a holder to arrive. 
It has been decided to hold off on any mods to the HW-8. Yes, it is not the smoothest operating radio, but that is part of the draw. It is not my main rig and old school has its place in my Ham Radio activity.
As mentioned below in this blog the earphones I am using are far from comfortable. Also, in low light conditions it is hard to read the dial. To modify or not? I would not do anything that could not be reversed (at least at this point). However, the use of the HW-8 would be greatly enhanced with certain mods such as improved audio and being able to read the dial and know the radio is powered up in all light conditions.
Well, the HW-8 works, but it needs help. I guess that is to be expected for a radio of its vintage. The receiver is hot, but too many of the stations heard are in one spot (hi). I worked stations in the first hour of this past weekend’s WES, but it was difficult. I listened to the radio on 40 meters during the daylight hours on a web SDR receiver and the signal sounded clean.
I am not sure where to go from here. Alignment is in order, but lack of test equipment and aging coil cores have me concerned. I do have the alignment tool I believe from my HW-7 build so so many years ago but am just not sure whether it is worth the risk of the cores breaking. Having the VFO a lot closer to frequency would be nice. Also, I have to get headphones that are a lot more comfortable to wear or take the plunge and modify the radio.
For some reason I just feel bugs are the best keys to use with my QRP radios. It is not for the lack of keyers I could use.
The HW-8 arrived at ~19:15 local time last night. It was well packed and in very good physical condition. The first step was to put Anderson Powerpoles on the power leads. Next was to turn the HW-8 on and see how my WWII headphones worked after being on the shelf unused for over 55 years. They worked like a charm! So far, I only tried the little radio on 40 meters. I listened and had a POTA contact with a park in Texas. All I noted so far is (only on 40 meters):
- The received is hot.
- The dial is a lot more off frequency than the seller said it was.
- The meter pins when tuning for peak output. Note: The pinning is the result of a cold solder joint on R303 in the meter circuit.
- My power meter shows an output of 2 watts.
- Most concerning is a low-level signal just above the tuned frequency being generated in receive. It was detected on the P3 when testing the radio into a dummy load. It was not seen when the HW-8 was transmitting into the antenna. The signal may be too weak to be detected when the K3 is not on the antenna. Further research is required. Note: This signal is not being transmitted over the air. Also, it appears this is normal internal generated RF.
In December 2021 I attempted entry into ham radio nostalgia with the purchase on eBay of an HW-16. Although the HW-16 is not representative of my early days in Ham Radio it was a manageable substitute. Thanks to FedEx it turned out to be only a shipping cost to me and the return of a damaged radio to the seller. Fast forward to March/April 2024 and I am waiting for an HW-8 purchased from an ad on QRZ.com. The funds have been sent to the seller and I am waiting to receive the radio with fingers crossed. Will it be received at all and if so, will it be in good shape and will it be as advertised. Stay tuned.
Note: Back in the day I built an HW-7. I do not remember what happened to that radio.
