Ham Radio Is More Interesting Once You Start Doing Things
Field Notes is where I document what I learn along the way—portable operating, antennas, gear, projects, activations and the ideas that need a little more room than a video description.
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POTA, SOTA, Tiles and the lessons that come from actually operating away from the shack.
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The 20-Minute End-Fed Half-Wave: A Garage-Built Antenna That Punches Above Its Weight
The first antenna I bought for POTA cost me $75 and worked fine. The second antenna I built in my garage for about $18 in parts and worked better. I'm not saying that to sound clever — it's just how it went, and it's a pretty common story. The end-fed half-wave antenna is one of the most forgiving, portable, and genuinely effective antennas you can put up in a park. And if you build your own, you'll know exactly what's in it, which pays off every time something needs troubleshooting.
Your First POTA Activation: A Lazy-Sunday Starter Kit That Just Works
You've had your license for a few months. Maybe you've done some repeater work, chatted on a local net, maybe made a couple HF contacts from your living room. And then somebody mentions Parks on the Air and suddenly you're down a rabbit hole at midnight reading activation reports and thinking — okay, I need to do this. The problem is nobody hands you a checklist that says exactly what to bring and exactly what to do. So let me be that person. Here's the honest, no-fluff starter kit for your very first POTA activation.
146.52 MHz is the national 2-meter FM simplex calling frequency. But is anybody listening? Maybe the problem isn't the frequency—it's us.