Having enjoyed operating portable with my HF radio setup and being a
little disappointed with the number of contacts last time. I decided
to try again over the Easter holiday.
## SOTA Saturday
Saturday, I went back to the same SOTA summit as before. This time
with a lighter load, due to the LiFePO4 battery and being more
critical over what I took along. Last time there were some items I
didn't use and it seemed a bit silly to carry them up to the summit
for a second time.
Unfortunately after operating on 40m for about 1.5hrs, the weather
took a turn for the worse. As it started to rain, initially I covered
the radio and battery with a waterproof coat, thinking it might just
be a passing shower.
I toughed it out for a while. However, on seeing more heavy clouds on
the horizon I decided to pack away and save my gear getting drenched.
By the time I got back down to the car park the rain had stopped. I'd
about had enough anyway and there were no guarantees about the
weather as the rain had not been forecast.
## Sunday high ground
After returning home Saturday afternoon I arranged to meet up with
another local amateur radio operator to go out to another local high
spot. He wanted to activate it as it is located in a valid POTA park.
His plan was to operate on 20m so, as I hadn't managed to attempt any
contacts on 10m the previous day, I decided to just operate on that
band. I was surprised initially when tuning around to find a net
going on with at least two audible VK (Australian) stations.
Unfortunately they were just saying their goodbyes, so regretfully I
didn't jump in to make the contact.
10m is an interesting band, when it's open you can get some more
exotic stations. I was happy to make a contact on the Greek island of
Crete and in Turkey, Istanbul as well as several Russian stations.
## Conclusion
As with most things, there are always improvements to be had. However
for only three attempts operating HF portable, I think it went fairly
well.
Further improvements can be made by reducing the size and weight of
what I'm carrying and the simplicity of the setup. Currently it takes
more time than I'd like to assemble and disassemble the station.
