WØAAA Ham Radio/Ice Fishing Adventure

Combining 2 great hobbies. Ice fishing and amateur radio on Movil Lake, 7 miles north of Bemidji, Minnesota. The ice was almost 3 feet thick and the depth was 17 feet. The combined effort yielded 3 Perch, 2 Northern Pike and alot of "ham." The equipment used: Icom 746; 2-12 volt fully charged deep cycle Marine batteries and a G5RV antenna up 30 feet in the center, 15 feet on the ends and an Aqua-Vu underwater camera. Over the 10 years I have been doing this, numerous different radios have been used from the fish house including an HTX-10, SG-2020, FT-100, FT-857, IC-746, IC'746PRO, TS-430S. The antennas have ranged from a Yo-Yo dipole, G5RV, Cobra Ultra light dipole and a Transworld TW 2010L Backpacker. The fish house is made by Soderbloom from Cromwell, Minnesota. Over 50 contacts were made in 20 different states and 3 foreign countries (Brazil, Argentina and Japan) Bands Operated: 10 meters, 15 meters, 17 meters, 75 meters using both SSB and CW Total operating time was 5 hours.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• portable ham radio station
• underwater fish camera
• IC- 746
• FT-100
• FT-857
• HTX-10
• TS-430S
• SG-2020
• w0aaa
• 17 meter ssb
• g5rv
• extendo poles
• Cobra
• Ultra
• light
• TW
• Transworld
• 2010L
• Backpacker
• Yo-Yo
• dipole
• Cromwell
• ice fishing house
• ice fishing shack
• augering through ice
• ice fishing
• ham radio adventure
• propane heater
• Soderbloom fish house

[W0AAA]

Thanks for the nice comments. Hope to work you someday from the fish house. d(ºộº)b

[W0AAA]

Interstate Marine/RV 12 volt Premium SRM-27 5967...works great for me. Just need to keep it warm

[N2LRB]

It was a pleasure speaking to you yesterday. Sorry the band conditions did not allow you to hear me well. Great videos. Question. What brand deep cycle battery do you use. I am looking for something which will last a while but still allow me to use at least 20-25 watts of power. Or do you use less?

[W0AAA]

@N2LRB Hi, Sorry condx were not good for us on Jan. 7th. I went out today on the ice for about 5 hours. I normally run 100 watts from the fish house but today I ran 50 watts. I would recommend buying an Interstate battery. Those have worked the best for me. I worked 25 different states and had 58 QSOs. Also worked EA8 in the Canary Islands and a guy in Puerto Rico, plus caught 2 northern pike. Ran the Icom 746 to a Transworld antenna. .

[Penn1969]

That is very cool, what happens when you're in the middle of a QSO and you hook into a fish :-)? Why do you use the camera ? I would have thought that it's a lot more exciting waiting for the rod to start knocking.

[W0AAA]

@Penn1969 Hi, Have had many QSOs interrupted by a fish. It gets abit nuts then. The camera allows me to see somethings I have never seen before...like a northern pike that will be 2 inches from the bait and just stay there suspended for the longest time before it strikes, or an eelpout creeping along the bottom. It adds a dimension to the hobby I could have never even imagined.

[K8PEZ]

I miss going Ice Fishing

[VictoreCelia]

Very cool

[W6CSAhamradio]

I think I need to go take a very hot shower now lol. Very nice video and nice set-up but I'll do my fishin down here on the Gulf when its 90 with 100% humidity and I don't need a propane heater. Look forward to workin you one day.

73 de W6CSA/5

[N2LRB]

Which particular Interstate Battery do you use? I might want to order the same one.

[MisterClaws]

That looks like heaven on earth!

73 de Al, W2GZN

[eastharlemcom]

Thanks for the link to Interstate Battery. Now I have another place from which to purchase batteries. Can you tell me which battery? The model number? They have so many listed and I am not sure you have an automobile battery or gel cel or ? Let me know. Thanks Jose - N2LRB

[N2LRB]

It was a pleasure speaking to you yesterday. Sorry the band conditions did not allow you to hear me well. Great videos. Question. What brand deep cycle battery do you use. I am looking for something which will last a while but still allow me to use at least 20-25 watts of power. Or do you use less?