See Far Journal

Kilo Award at Minute Man National Park

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

POTA Kilo Award at Minute Man National Park

In late November, I earned my Kilo Award at Minute Man National Park (US-0745). To earn a POTA Kilo Award, an activator must make 1,000 or more contacts at a single POTA location.

Minute Man Park is about a 15-minute drive from my home. It was the site of my first ever POTA activation my first CW only POTA activation and more.

Minute Man’s Moods and Seasons

I have activated Minute Man 45 times, experiencing its many seasons and moods.

Earning my Kilo has allowed me to become familiar with visitors, locations, and happenings at Minute Man Park.

My home park

Through these activations, I have come to know the park’s Rangers, visitors, locations, and wildlife. Minute Man has truly become a second home for my radio adventures.

Building the Cricket 40 CW QRP Transceiver

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Building the Cricket 40 CW QRP Transceiver

Last night (October, 2025) I finished building the Cricket 40 CW QRP Transceiver, a radio kit offered by the “Four State QRP Group.” I began building this kit back in May 2025. It sat on my shelf half-built for many months, and I finally completed it.

I’m fairly new to kit building but not a complete novice. The Cricket was a great next step on my kit-building journey.

Building the kit

Here’s the kit as it comes out of the package. One nice aspect of the Cricket is that you don’t need to wind any toroids. The toroids are built right into the PCB board.

The concentric circles on the Cricket’s PCB board are the toroid inductor coils.

I didn’t want to make any mistakes by mounting the wrong resistor in the wrong place. Taping the resistors directly to their listing in the instructions allowed me to triple-check before soldering them onto the board.

I checked resistor values with my multimeter. To do this, I set the multimeter to resistance (Ω) mode, placed the probes on each end of the resistor, and read the value on the display. This process was especially useful when the color bands were hard to read or could be confused.

Here’s my workbench.

I pushed the components through the board, bent the leads, and soldered on the underside.

Later, I bought a circuit board clamping kit. I like this better because I could flip the board back and forth while building. It was also more stable than the alligator “extra hands” device.

Here’s the radio fully assembled on my workbench.

Operating the Cricket 40 QRP Transceiver

I brought the Cricket down into my shack and attached my 40 meter EFHW antenna, straight key, and speaker. The Cricket transceiver is a crystal radio. It comes with two crystals for the frequencies 7040 and 7122 kHz. The PCB board has a socket that allows you to switch crystals.

To my great joy, as soon as I plugged it in and turned the Cricket on, I was receiving Morse Code. I transmitted, and you can see my Reverse Beacon Network results below.

My signal was picked up by a beacon as far as 460 miles away. Pretty good for about 0.7 watts.

A beacon 460 miles away received my 700 milliwatt signal!

QSOs with my Cricket

The next day, I reached out to some friends from my local radio club, PART of Westford, MA, and completed two QSOs with KC1UML and AA1N, each about 13 miles away.

I found that the Cricket’s side tone was super loud compared to its receive levels. For me the Cricket was more about the build than operations.

Going forward

I really enjoyed building the Cricket 40. It was super cool to build a radio and complete some QSOs with it.

I’ve ordered a QMX+ Transceiver and plan to build that kit next.

JOTA and Support Your Parks Weekend (2025)

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Jamboree on the Air and Support Your Parks Weekend

The third weekend of October is always a busy one for amateur radio. We had Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) 2025 as well as “Support your Parks Weekend” for Parks on the Air (POTA).

Jamboree on the Air

Jamboree-on-the-Air, or JOTA, is the largest Scouting event in the world. It is held annually the third full weekend in October. JOTA uses amateur radio to link Scouts and hams around the world, around the nation, and in your own community. This jamboree requires no travel, other than to a nearby amateur radio operator’s ham shack. Many times you can find the hams will come to you by setting up a station at your Scout camporee, at the park down the block, or perhaps at a ham shack already set up at your council’s camp. ¹

Our troop, Troop 119 in Lexington, MA, had our October campout at Camp Resolute in Bolton, MA.

JOTA wasn’t the only activity - the Scouts were busy working on requirements such as knife and axe safety, working on Environmental Science Merit Badge by going on a nature hike and cooking their meals.

This is my third JOTA event with the troop and I will usually set up my station and during downtime in their schedule I’ll bring interested Scouts over to get on the radio.

As you can see, although most of my radio operations are using CW (Morse Code) I operate single side-band with the Scouts.

This Scout has his Technicians Amateur Radio License and has HF privileges for 10 meters. So he was able to operate my station using his own call sign.

Our Troop has policies for sharing photos of the Scouts so I covered the Scout’s faces

Here are the we contacts made during Troop 119’s JOTA event.

Support your Parks Weekend

Parks on the Air’s Support Your Parks weekends happen four times a year, one weekend each season. Since it was a beatiful Fall weekend and radio propogation was good I decided to head to US-8400, Beaver Brook State Reserve on Sunday after returning home from camping.

Here’s the certificate earned by activating that weekend.

Propogation was good - I operated on 20, 15 and 10 meters. My favorite POTA antenna’s height² can be adjusted to be resonant on any band between 10 and 20 meters. A resonant antenna with a low takeoff angle seems to really help, especially on the higher bands.

This paragraph taken from Scouting America’s website at https://www.scouting.org/international/jota-joti/jota/ ↩
You can learn more about my 17 foot whip antenna here: Homebrew Quarter Wave Antenna ↩

My KH1 and Some Speaker Wire

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

My KH1 and Some Speaker Wire

On Saturday, October 4th, 2025, I activated Alewife Brook State Reserve (US-8399) using my KH1 transceiver and a speaker wire antenna.

I got the idea from Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL. He used the same setup in his article, Elecraft KH1 + Speaker Wire = Pileup Madness on Bakers Mountain!.

I cut a 28.5-foot length of speaker wire, just like Thomas did. I connected it to my KH1 with a BNC binding post adapter.

The weather was perfect.

The map below shows I made plenty of contacts.

For some reason, my KH1 couldn’t tune this antenna for 20 meters. All my contacts were on 40 and 15 meters.

I plan to remeasure the antenna and try again. Maybe the wire is too short or too long. In Thomas’s video, his KH1 tuned a 28.5-foot wire on 20 meters with no problem.

I plan to remeasure the antenna and try again. Maybe the wire is too short or too long. In Thomas’s video, his KH1 tuned a 28.5-foot wire

POTA with Friends (2025)

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

POTA with Friends (2025 Edition)

This past Sunday (September 28, 2025) I was able to get out with friends and enjoy a Parks on the Air activation at Delaney Wildlife Management Area (US-11589) with local amateur radio friends. Delaney abutts several towns in the area - we set up near the boat landing at Delaney Pond. As you can see we had a beautiful Fall day activation. Radio conditions were excellent.

POTA with Michelle (KC1UML), Adam (AA1N) and Mike (AB1HV) was a lot of fun

20 meters in the shade

When I arrived, Michelle was setting up her IC-7300. We were chatting beforehand about how sunny the field can get so I brought my pop-up tent to provide some shade. Here’s Michelle’s at her field station (sorry about the shadows but that was the point).

Michelle’s station was built using:

20 meter dipole with a Palomar balun
IC-7300
Vibroplex Champion key

Michelle is an instructor for the Long Island CW Club. Here she is sending on her Vibroplex. She made over 70 contacts that day.

Later, I got on her station to activate the park myself. Here is my contact map for the day. Notable contacts for me were Alaska and Ukraine!

Here’s the Ukraine contact I made. Michelle set up a great station. Her 20 meter dipole antenna was working very well that day.

5 watts and a Rybakov contact Japan

Later, when Adam showed up, we decided to set up another station using my Rybakov antenna. The plan was to use my Xeigu G90, but I cleaned out my field kit the night before and left my power cable at home! Luckily I had my KH1 with me and that has a tuner appropriate for the Rybakov, a non-resonant antenna.

We set up a vertical antenna (with a vertical polarity) to reduce interference with and Michelle’s nearby horizontal dipole antenna.

Adam took this photo of me operating the station shortly after connecting my KH1.

I made a few contacts then Adam took over the station to activate the park himself. Adam’s 10th contact was with Japan!

A QSO between Massachusetts and Japan with a 5 watt transceiver is insane!

Mike showed up and connected his FT-891 to the Rybakov for some SSB operation.

POTA is better with friends

I’m lucky to belong to a radio club (PART of Westford, MA) with frequent POTA operators. We have an active group chat where announce our local POTA activations for club members to join in or make contacts with activators.

Yesterday’s session was fun and worth sharing here. I wrote about POTA with friends last year. I enjoy POTA alone - especially in the morning with coffee - but POTA with friends can be a lot of fun.

Back to Peddocks Island

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Back to Peddocks Island

This past weekend, September 13 and 14, 2025, I camped in Peddocks Island with my son’s Scout Troop, Troop 119, Lexington.

Our Peddocks Island trip is always a lot of fun and a great way to kick off our Scouting year. We begin in Charlestown shipyard and cruise through Boston Harbor south to Hingham Bay.

I brought along radio equipment to enjoy some radio operations with the Scouts. Last year we got a lot of Scouts on the air. (2024 Peddocks Island Trip)

Interference from a nearby broadcast AM station prevented me from using by G90 for SSB with the Scouts

This year was a bit of a bust. When I set up my Rybakov antenna and turned on my G90 radio all I could hear was a local AM radio station. No matter what frequency or band I tuned the G90 to, I would pick up the nearby AM broadcast station.

I may build an AM broadcast band pass filter to fix the issue. I’ve also been thinking that I may purchase a Yaesu FT-891. I could get more power with SSB modes that the Scouts would enjoy.

When I wasn’t working with the Scouts I was able to do a little Morse Code radio operations. Here is a map of the contacts that I made over the weekend.

Sweden (3,644 miles away) was my longest contact. I made this using my 5 watt KH1 transceiver with my Rybakov antenna.

I found some time as the UTC day changed over to do some POTA while looking across the water onto Hull, MA. I put my headlamp into my Pelican case to diffuse the light onto my notebook, Nameless Key and KH1 radio.

Three Parks in Maine

Sun, 31 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Three POTA Parks in Maine

This labor day weekend (2025) I went up to Stockton Springs, Maine where my father lives for a visit. There are a lot of POTA sites nearby. It was pretty easy for me to make quick trips for radio fun between visits.

Here’s a map of the contacts I made doing three POTA activations in Maine. Each of the parks I visited were within a 15 minute drive of my dad’s place.

I used the following gear for each of these activations:

Xeigu G90 HF radio
Home brew quarter wave whip on a ground spike
Modern Morse paddle

Fort Point State Park

Fort Point State Park (US-2389) is a small but scenic spot at the mouth of the Penobscot River, known for its historic lighthouse and sweeping coastal views. It’s a quiet place where you can set up a station right on the beach and watch the tides roll by while making contacts.

It was a cloudy but beautiful morning. Radio contacts were coming at a steady pace. There were sailboats navigating downriver into the bay. A heron was fishing the shallows nearby.

Here’s a map of my QSOs from my Fort Point activation.

Fort Knox State Historic Site

Fort Knox (US-8291) is one of Maine’s best-preserved coastal fortifications, built in the mid-1800s to protect the Penobscot River. Activating here means operating radio within sight of thick granite walls and sweeping views from the nearby Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory.

In my early youth I lived in nearby Orrington, ME. Fort Knox was a wonderful park to explore and I have a lot of fond memories of exploring the fort with a flashlight.

After a brief tour, I set my station up in the picnic area.

A short walk from my radio station provided a nice view down into the gun batteries.

I could also see across the river to Bucksport, ME.

Here’s a view of the fort itself from the picnic area on a hill rising up from my radio operating area.

And here’s a view of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge which crosses the Penobscot River.

Here is a map of the radio contacts I made from this POTA site.

One special contact I made from Fort Knox was with AA1CX. Wes was a friend of my grandfather, Fred Bean, who I inherited my call sign (W1YTQ) from. He was 17 miles away in Bangor, ME. Ground wave allowed us to connect.

Moose Point State Park

Moose Point State Park (US-2396) sits right on Penobscot Bay and offers grassy fields, rocky shoreline, and wide views of the water. It’s a popular picnic and walking spot, and a great place to enjoy the sea breeze while chasing radio contacts.

I set my radio station up in a picnic area just above the beach.

This was my setup for the weekend; I had my G90, Rite in Rain pad, MX-K2 CW Keyer and my Modern Morse key.

I use the external keyer because the G90’s internal keyer skips and stutters for me. Current firmware is the 1.79b. I’ll have to upgrade and see if it works better.

The requisite selfie of me (W1YTQ) enjoying the beautiful morning on Penobscot Bay.

Here’s a map of my radio contacts from Moose Point.

No donuts for me

On the way home, I took a brief detour to bring some donuts home to the family.

Holy Donut makes amazing donuts but this Labor Day weekend I didn’t get there in time.

Returning Home

It’s always nice to come back home to Lexington, MA. The next day I met at Minute Man National Historic Park to do some more POTA with my friends AA1N and KC1UML.

Minute Man National Historic Park in Concord and Lexington, Massachusetts preserves the opening battlegrounds of the American Revolution. Activating here means setting up among historic fields and trails where the first shots of 1775 were fired—a perfect mix of radio and history.

Philmont Scout Ranch, 2025

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Philmont Scout Ranch, Summer of 2025

In July of 2025, our crew took on the 12-12 Rugged trek, a 60-mile journey through the mountains and history of Philmont Scout Ranch. Starting at Zastrow Trailhead, we trained with our Ranger before heading deep into the backcountry. Along the way, we experienced a balance of challenging hikes, rich program activities, and unforgettable scenery.

Here are some of the photos we took during our trip.

The mountain ranges we were hiking in have a July monsoon season. So the semi-arid climate was bursting with beauty.

This is Josh and me on top of Mt Phillips, our highest climb of the trek.

This was our itinerary for our trek.

We hiked 61 miles over 12 days at elevations between 7,000 and 11,000 feet.

This post is the only post on this site that isn’t about amateur radio. I brought my Elecraft KH1 but kept it in a locker while on the hike. We had a busy itinerary and I wanted to focus on Philmont activities with the crew and my son.

Abreu

Abreu is a themed camp where staff members portray the Abreu family in 1912 as they lived on this homestead.

Carson Meadows

Some of our best views were from Carson Meadows.

This photo shows the Tooth of Time over Carson Meadows. In nine days we would be watching the sun rise from the top of the Tooth itself.

A bear!

Between Carson Meadows and Fish Camp we we ran into this bear. Josh was in the front of the crew so he got a good photo of it with his disposable camera.

Crooked Creek

Crooked Creak is an themed homestead from 1875 New Mexico

Comanche Peak

On the way to Mt Phillips (see the photo of Josh and me above) we stopped at Clear Creek and shot some black powder rifles.

Then we had our longest hike and highest elevation of the trek. Because Comanche Peak was a dry campsite with no water. I was carring 8 liters of water in my pack (~ 55 lbs).

That evening when we pulled into our site I had just enough energy to pitch my tent and get in bed.

Beaubien

A highlight of our trip was Beaubien ranch where we were able to do some horseback riding.

Crater Lake

Many of the hiking days, the crew stops at themed sites for activities.

These photos are from Crater Lake which recreates the “Continental Tie and Lumber Company” from 1914.

Sunrise at the Tooth of Time

Photos taken at sunrize from the Tooth of Time.

Field Day 2025

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Field Day 2025 with the Penn Wireless Association

This past weekend, June 28th and 29th, was Amateur Radio Field Day. A big weekend for our hobby. On Field Day, radio clubs and operators set up in public spaces to practice emergency operations and share our radio hobby with the public.

That weekend I was traveling to visit my in-laws in Eastern Pennsylvania so was not able to participate in field day with my local club in Massachusetts.

Between family activities I had a few hours and decided to head out to Tyler State Park. I figured I might do a Field Day POTA activation or run into other Field Day operators and say, “Hello.”

Sure enough a local club, the Penn Wireless Association (W3SK), were set up in the park. I signed into their guest book and when they learned I was a visiting licensed operator they invited me to operate with them.

I walked up to the CW station and was immediately welcomed by Steve (W3SD) and Roy (AA3RT). They invited me to operate their W3SK station. Morse code was coming in a little faster than I’m used to. Roy and Steve helped me decode transmissions and coached me on the Field Day exchange. I really appreciate their help.

I spent about an hour chatting with Steve and Roy about life, radio and Morse Code. I’m thankful for their hospitality. It was a nice introduction to Field Day which I’d never done before.

Roy and Steve helped me decode transmissions and coached me on the Field Day exchange. I really appreciate their help.

Here’s a photo of the CW station.