For our 40th anniversary our children, their spouses and their children joined us on a weeklong vacation (November 4-11) to Kauai, HI. (we flew from Seattle) The tiny island is a rainforest paradise with amazing beaches and mountains with spectacular waterfalls.
Although I had never done it before, I decided at the last minute to bring my radio gear in the hopes of working exotic DX from the north Pacific. My KX3, AX3 antenna, Tufteln clamp mount, N6ARA Tiny Paddle, headphones and other miscellaneous bits, plus a 12v Bioenno LiFePo battery all fit into a small backpack with room to spare.
I didn’t know how much time I would have to play radio considering we had four grandchildren to enjoy, but I had great expectations for radio adventures.
Regardless, Old Sol had different ideas . My expectations for fun and exotic DX evaporated shortly after arrival in Kauai as I learned about approaching CMEs and associated geomagnetic storms.
During our week in Kauai there were G3 and G4 class magnetic storms underway. The storm was so intense it produced Auroras seen in the southern hemisphere and also in my home state of Washington. According to the Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology on November 12: “It is quite an intense geomagnetic storm, one of the largest that we’ve seen in recent years.” Space Weather’s site reported that “auroras spread across the Americas as far south as El Salvador. The lights were seen in at least 45 US states.”
As a result, while in Kauai, scanning 20m, 15m & 10m revealed very limited radio activity whether morning, noon or night; although I did hear stations early on November 5th from Australia, Lebanon, Chile, Argentina, Japan and the US. Unfortunately my tiny CW signal was squashed by the geomagnetic storms raging above.
Multiple CME events made making even one QRP QSO unlikely. But the one I did manage to complete was a keeper.
Here's what happened. I flew 2700 miles (4300 km) to Kauai, Hawaii to make a quick 15m CW QSO at 0430z (2030 local time) with KH2/A5OG (Bhutan) who was on Guam, some 3700 miles from Kauai, the westernmost Hawaiian island. I was running 3w from my AX3 mounted on a hotel balcony railing about 30 feet (10m) up. Considering what was happening in the ionosphere I’m still not sure whether the QSO was made via ground wave (if such a signal propagation mechanism is possible over water) or sky wave. A5OG gave me a 559 report. I gave him a 579. I was unable to learn anything about A5OG as he is not listed in QRZ or HamLog.
So, was this single contact effort a disappointment? Absolutely not! If anything, it has whetted my appetite for future QRP adventures far and near.
Key takeaways
- I learned that carrying QRP gear through TSA checkpoints was painless. On the leg from Seattle to Kauai I had my KX3, field kit gear and a 12v Bioenno battery in a small backpack. No questions were asked as it was scanned through. On the return flight I put the same gear into my main travel duffel and it passed through TSA screening, again with no questions.
- Conditions were quite windy during our stay so I was glad to have my Tufteln antenna mount for the AX3, instead of the default tripod legs that come with the AX3.
- Although the KX3 is compact, I think I will bring one of my QRP Labs QMX rigs on subsequent trips instead, which are smaller and lighter than the KX3. The downside is I’d need resonant antennas for the QMX rigs as I prefer not to bring along another piece of gear for tuning. That said, one significant advantage of the KX3 is its ability to automatically tune and then scan bands to dig out hidden signals.
- The N6ARA Tiny Paddle is quite capable but is a bit of a challenge to operate with the KX3 with its left-side paddle port. I’m right-handed so it was tricky using it left-handed. That said, it’s a great match for the QRP Labs QMX+ with its front-facing paddle port.
- I operated at night several times and the hotel deck lacked lighting but my iPhone case has a handy kickstand which allowed me to light a small enough area for note taking on my Rocket book mini.
- Using the World Radio League app I created a logbook for this trip on the fly, which allowed setting my location so QSOs would reflect my actual location as opposed to capturing Qs in my main WRL logbook which is set for my home QTH. (See screenshot above)
Equipment
KX3 xcvr https://elecraft.com/collections/kx-lin ... ransceiver
AX3 antenna https://elecraft.com/collections/ax-lin ... ip-antenna
Bioenno 12v 3Ah LiFePo battery https://www.bioennopower.com/products/1 ... a228&_ss=c
N6ARA TinyPaddle https://n6ara.com/product/tinypaddle/
Tufteln BNC antenna clamp mount https://tufteln.com/products/bnc-antenna-clamp
Headphones : JVC Earclip Sports Earbuds (Amazon)
Field kit case: Nanuk Nano 330 https://nanuk.com/products/nanuk-nano-3 ... 4711247917
Rocket Book Mini notebook https://getrocketbook.com/products/new-rocketbook-mini
Field Pen for Rocket book: Pilot Flexion Clicker 07 https://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-FriXion-B ... k/pd/10391