PIXIE on the Air (POTA)

Activation Reports Pre-Planning
1

Hello,
Tomorrow 29/03/2016 i’ll be on F/AM-313 at 2300m asl.
On 40 meters i will try for the first time my new PIXIE Xtal 7.030.
As it is a “first time” (heard some stations today in my kitchen while finishing soldering).
i am not sure about the QRG i will transmit on and if i can receive properly.
I guess you will need some patience.
Keep finger crossed. 73 and cu on 40M qrp tomorrow (0.300w)
Gerald F6HBI

2

I’m guessing your Pixie gives 300mW not 0.300mW?

3

Gerald,

Good luck - you will really need it with 0.3mW. Perhaps you meant 0.3W ?

73 Rich N4EX

4

Yes you right… may be more if i use 12v.

5

Dr OM Gerald,
Ur Pixie works fb! Report at 11:32 was realy 229 near Amsterdam.
Mni tnx fer fb qso.
73 de geert pa7zee

6

Bonjour Gerald,
nice to work you with PIXIE.
RST for you were 539 in Dolomite Mountains.
Merci pour le super SOTA QSO,

au revoir,
John
+

7

Bon jour Gerald,
merci beaucoup pour le contact sur 7.030.
The signals here were really 559 in northern Spain. No drift, steady and good audio modulation from your Pixie, congrats!

VY 72 de Ignacio.

8

Hi Gerald

While I was in CT/MN-035 I tried to listen to you on the frequency announced at sotawatch but no luck. :frowning:

I hope the activation went ok!

73 de Pedro

9

Hello All and thanks for your words.

Today it was a “first” for me (first time with this Chinese rx/tx! 3€ in the mail box.
As you can see on the photo, i was so excited to make a qso that i did not take the time to put it in a box.

I used a Lipo 3S 11.1v, the Xtal is 7.030, tha antenna is my usual inverted V, the header from sony and the keyer the Palm + code cube.
It could have been fine, but:

  • i didn’t know on witch frequency i was (for the spot)
  • the Pixie was DEAF. i could not ear anything except (the big signal i suppose) and very weak in the header.
    -i guess the band was not realy in good shape.
    With the Pixie i had 7 QSO (only) from 10:46 to 11:05 with I/OE7PHI ON4FI OK2PDT DF5WA DL1FU S58MU DL6WT
    THEN i swap the Pixie for the FT817 with the full power 5 watts, i just wanted to give a chance to every one to get
    this 8 pointer summit in the log.
    The wx was not fine; Wind and Cold, i was freezing and my keying a bit hard.
    DSC00384.JPG4147×2336 2.39 MB

    F/AM-313 Cime de Piagu | Flickr
1 Like
10

Gerald,
Glad you made some contacts.
There were quite a few callers you obviously couldn’t hear (including me :slight_smile: )
Luckily it was easy to find your QRG on RBN.

You were just about readable here, in and out of the noise.
I made a longer recording when condx were better but overwrote it by mistake :confused:
Here’s what I have remaining, working DL6WT.

My Pixie is ready too. I’ll give it a go next time it’s warm and sunny!

11

Thanks Peter (G4ISJ) for your nice report.
Ok for the RNB, it is a good help, i can see that my sigs were quite weak, but chasers are good
to get out of the noise /P… thanks. It is fine i can hear your recording, it is a great help.
For now, i am going to understand why i could’nt ear lots of sigs, i guess something is wrong.
Another prob is the HF from the antenna just above the Pixie was going into the BF amplifier!
i MUST find a metalic box and put it inside… Next time it will be OK for sure.
Thanks again Peter.
Photo are here: F/AM-313 Cime de Piagu | Flickr
Cu next, Gerald F6HBI