Portable Station Specs (unless otherwise noted):
Yaesu FT-857D - Diamond K400-3/8C Trunk lip mount with ground connected pig tail for a single wire short radial/counterpoise - 17' telescopic whip.

Or other combinations of radio/antenna:
Xiegu G90, Xiegu x6100
Customized WRC Silver Bullet 1000 TIA KIT
CHA EMCOMM III
49:1 EFHW wire setup
9:1 Random wire setup

SHORT random wire (vertical bottom-fed zepp?) to hang from spider beam w/ roll over mast mount for 40m hrough 10m. Must be less than 12m - guess 36' is the answer, according to this: https://www.balundesigns.com/content/Wire%20Lengths%20for%204%20and%209-1%20ununs.pdf

Now to build the 9:1 :D

Various things I feel like bragging about, as related to POTA. ;}

(hover to see details)

Worked All States: Complete! Closed it out with a SIXer for the last state I needed, WY! Thanks a lot AB2SG for the contact on 20m.

I had so much DSP on him that he sounded like he was in an echo chamber or something - didn't sound like radio I'm used to at all! At any rate, I was definitely glad to work these six parks!!

Call: AB2SG Freq: 14340
Ref: K-6194 Loc: US-WY
Name: False Parting of the Ways BLM Interpretive Site
Spotter: N3XLS
Mode: SSB
Source: Web
Comments: SSB Wyoming 6-pack! K-6194 K-6161 K-4578 K-4576 K-4573 K-4566
Time: 2022-12-19 22:44:21.429602

k8mrd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgxZO2vyN08&t=770s
N3PEM 20m (about 8 miles apart): https://www.youtube.com/live/oLHPbxqoZXI?si=fW5yQkDEnyLCqPuC&t=6209
VA7BIX (BC) on 15m (5/9!): https://www.youtube.com/live/18BHFu-gPig?t=5952s
VA7BIX (BC) on 20m: https://www.youtube.com/live/18BHFu-gPig?t=7867s
PotaPower 40m to FL: https://www.youtube.com/live/b8pq6sgzDBw?t=1268s

Write up and QSO map for all POTA activations.

Date: 2024-12-06
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/US-1583
Number of Contacts: 59

Quick one - Setup for an hour and worked 20m and 17m. Really high noise, probably S5, but managed to get pretty long skips as the sun went down, CA, OR, etc. and 8P6PE hunted from Barbados - I usually hunt him, so I appreciated the returned favor! :)

Date: 2024-11-22
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/US-9899
Number of Contacts: 77

Had a good time, though conditions were sort of bad. It was rainy and cold and 20m was noisy, highest noise floor I've seen at this location. Started off hunting 20m and it sounded like everyone had the same idea - I'm picturing everyone inside due to the rain and I'm one of the few mobile actually out in it trying to get through! haha. Pretty much played around - 20/17/15 and one 10m contact. Had two nice chats on 17m with folks from roughly the same area back to back. Was talking to one guy and then another followed right behind and said he lived right across the water from where the last guy was calling from! :D Both just south east and south west from Mobile, AL. You know my thing with maps and looking up areas - Seems nice down there!

Currently the park leader here!! (by only five QSOs but still)

Managed a few quite far 20m SSB contacts - K7NNT AZ P2P, WM2V AZ, N6WL CA

Worked KB9VBR at a new park US-12029

Did some FT8 on 20m and 17m. It had been a while since I did that.

Closed with at least twenty six Park to Park QSOs, not counting the few on FT8.

Date: 2024-11-08
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/US-9899
Number of Contacts: 131

Started off on 15 again, hunting four parks and then spotting myself to pull in 24 contacts, including two p2p hunters. Before switching to 20m, I managed to pick up three parks on 17m (without even bother to adjust the whip) to include KB9VBR who I dialed into right as he was saying QRT - He pulled me in anyway. Thanks, Michael! I hunted around 20m for a bit, pulling in another 15 or so parks before spotting myself on 14.286 and running almost ninety contacts in fifty minutes. El Salvador hunted during this time.

Thanks, DX hunters! YV5HNJ YS1MS CU3NH

Date: 2024-11-01
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/US-9899
Number of Contacts: 111

Great time! Spent nearly three hours here today. Started by spotting myself on 15 and the band crashed for me after only a handful of contacts. Mid QSO, 57 to 00 and then nothing. Hunted around twenty parks and then tried 15 again before the final spot on 20m.

Spotted myself on 20m and picked up sixty six hunters in under forty minutes. During this pop, I was reminded multiple times how impatient people can be. Like, people were bailing out left and right. Maybe they've never been on the receiving end of a pile up and don't understand that even though I ask them to spread out, the first five seconds or so is almost always completely unintelligible. I was taking three or four at a time and people were still too impatient to stick around or not figuring out to wait a few seconds before calling. Who knows, maybe they're in it just to try and bust the pile up and get upset if they're just blending in. :)

Special thanks to KO4EBY for taking the time to do some local work, including 6m! We first connected on 15m, when he hunted me with “You're 59 from about two miles away!” :) so I bugged him about working simplex 2m 10m and 6m, which all worked with varying degrees of success. 2m was crystal clear. For the record, I'm almost always tuned to 146.52 on the HT when I activate and I usually make a few calls for kicks though no one ever replies. I invited him to come to Ft Hunt some Friday afternoon to do POTA. Hope he takes me up on that.

Getting closer to that Kilo - only 111 away, the exact number of contacts I made at the park today. Neat!

Some other highlights:

20m - KN6KI called from CA, WW7CR called from WA and I called KJ7FUB in Utah! 15m and up is no problem, but it's historically been sort of rare for me to go cross country on 20m, for some reason, so it's always exciting.

I managed to hunt CT2IFE in Portugal on 20m Serras d'Aire e Candeeiros Natura 2000 with a 59 from him on the last over. Also, on that topic, thanks to the DX hunters: YY5RAO EC1R SN5V !!

Date: 2024-10-25
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/US-9899
Number of Contacts: 85

I ran the 17' whip from the trunk lip mount and worked mostly 20m, but did also pickup a fair amount of 17 and 15. I got lazy and didn't even adjust it for the first few 17m hunts, but did before I spotted myself! ;) Also spoted myself on 15m and picked up BC, WA, OR and ID, with 55 reports. Only had one DX hunter this time - Thanks IN3NJB for hunting me on 20m! Hopefully I'll activate this park (or some park in the area) every Friday, as weather permits, as part of a new routine of mine that involves driving to this part of Virginia every Friday night. Good times!

Date: 2024-10-18
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/US-9899
Number of Contacts: 49

All 20m with the 17' whip on the lip mount. Hunted around for about half an hour, starting with KU8V, who was at the national mall (about four miles north) with a 58 both ways.. Must be a good LOS. He's pretty much straight up the river and we would both be slightly elevated, compared to the lower river shore! He's the current park leader at this park, so that was fun. I spotted myself on 14.273Mhz, after, for twenty eight hunters. Had to get out of there right before 7pm, only allowing myself about an hour in total, as it was nearly pitch black in the woods! Thank you, ZF1PB for the DX hunt from Cayman Islands. Thanks to everyone else too!

Date: 2024-09-22
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/US-1307
Number of Contacts: 53

First time here. Decided to make a quick stop on the way home from US-7791. Paid $10 to enter (yuk) and drove around to the boat launch to back right up to the water and activate from the car. Was in a bit of a rush to get home, so didn't get to check out more of the park. I wish I had more time, to feel like I got a bit more for my money, but ah well. :)

Date: 2024-09-21 and 2024-09-22
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/US-7791
Number of Contacts: 123

Camping trip with my daughter and her friends, which I spent the majority of my time doing. Did, however, find little bits of time here and there to turn on the radio. This was the first time trying “the spike” from WRC - Here is Gary's video on it. Is it worth $50? Maybe I could have made my own, but I do like the damn thing and it seems like it will last forever. Next time I'll try a 24“ extension on the spike, before I put the coil on, but even with the coil pretty much straight on the ground, it worked great!

Highlights:

8P5KM 20m SSB into BB-0013
K7GYB in Washington on 15m SSB was cool - That's a pretty long hop!
“new day 9/22” (second screen cap) all 40m and 30m FT8 - mostly 40m.
FT8 DX: J88IH F4IOE F4FLQ OM0RX CO7HNS UT5ECZ DK7ZT CT3MD DL5AN US2YW ON8BB UA6YW UR3HC F4GBT SP2GCJ F5NNN EB5AL

Date: 2024-09-02
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/US-1596
Number of Contacts: 41

Another quick one, since I was with my kid. Spent about 50 minutes on the radio, while she laid in a hammock and read a book. All 20m SSB.

Date: 2024-08-26
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/US-1583
Number of Contacts: 65

There was a community day of some kind happening here, police everywhere, like fifteen police cars. I wasn't particularly interested in checking it out, only snagging some contacts! I spent around 45 minutes on 20m - Just went straight in, spotted myself on 20m SSB. Everyone jumped me, then I left. Special thanks to DX hunters: IU1HJF TI2CMM EA5W F4ILH

Date: 2024-08-25
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/US-9899
Number of Contacts: 81

All 20m SSB with the short hamstick. AK hunted and I managed at least one CA. The line going south was not legit. It was from an event 1×1 for the KS QSO party. :)

Date: 2024-08-24
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/US-9899
Number of Contacts: 53

Another crappy deploy of the short antenna with the 49:1, a sloper but the antenna was nice and tight. Definitely directional, pointing south west. Very short time, compared to the previous days at this park. I was only here for around three hours.

19 data 34 phone.

Date: 2024-08-22
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/US-9899
Number of Contacts: 80

Same as the previous day, did a bunch of FT8 on 20m from the car with the hamstick, then deployed the short antenna with the matchbox. This time, however, it wasn't a bad setup - I ran it from the eves of a pavilion structure I was sitting under, over to the 6m mast leaning against a tree, making it completely horizontal. It wasn't very high, but it seemed to work better than the prior day. Better signal reports and a few California ft8 contacts on 20m. Also, Cuba, Costa Rica, and DR and the one off screen is S52D (Slovenia) on 20m FT8.

51 FT8/FT4 contacts and the rest SSB voice.

Date: 2024-08-21
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/US-9899
Number of Contacts: 87

Did some FT8 from the car with the new hamstick and then setup a REALLY short wire antenna with a 49:1 - don't remember the exact length, but got 1.5:1 on SSB portion of 20m and less than 2:1 on 15/12/10. Really crappy deployment, one end is on a 6m mast resting against a tree and it slopes down to the picnic table I was sitting at. Got relatively poor signal reports, except into FL, and a few others, a few AL I believe worked well. Nothing much of note with this one.

36 FT8 and the rest SSB voice.

Date: 2024-08-21
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/US-9937
Number of Contacts: 11

Grabbed almost all my gear and headed off to Fort Hunt Park for the day. Realizing I forgot my antenna, I decided to visit the HRO in Woodbridge, VA, which was only an additional twenty five minutes or so from there. Of course, they didn't have any 17' telescopic whip antennas available… Picked up a 20m ham stick and figured I would work out a wire antenna if I wanted to work some other bands (I did bring a couple match boxes and wire also). On the way back, I saw this newish park and decided to stop by. It was more like a parking lot for a horse stable, with some paddocks for riding horses. At least, that was the portion of the property my GPS took me too. I'm not sure how much land is here, or if there is “wilderness” or what, but I did a quick activation in the parking lot with the new ham stick. It's the short kind and it wasn't nearly as good as the good (resonant) whip, but it worked! All contacts SSB voice.

Date: 2024-07-03
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/US-1566
Number of Contacts: 14

QRP activation from “Bob's Hill.” It's been a while since I've gone actual QRP. From 1750' and a few miles into the wilderness, I heard so much on 20m. A lot of SA and EU, all over the US, mid-west and west coast, crystal clear. Wasn't able to reach any of them, only putting out around five watts from the X6100 with a random wire antenna (around 30' with a 9:1 transformer) that was barely off the ground, not even six meters high, and sloping down to the rock where I was sitting.

I did manage to hunt two parks on 20m - NG9B and WJ0L, in WI and MN respectively. Got low reports from both, but MN almost didn't happen and I couldn't give him my park number before he gave up on me. :D WI worked normally.

I spotted myself on 40m and picked up a quick twelve contacts, getting 57 and 59 reports from close by. The way the antenna was oriented made for an almost perfect NVIS, I think.

My daughter was ready to leave, so I wrapped up and we head back down. I was really impressed that she could hang - generally steep climb, the entire way, quick elevation gain of maybe 1500 over 1.5 miles, somethin like that, I ran the GPS, so I'll look into the data for more specific measurements and then replace this text with that info!

Date: 2024-03-07
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/US-3669
Number of Contacts: 13

Quick one, just to get an activation in FL. We drove down from Maryland to Orlando, for spring break, stopping in Jacksonville to see friends on the way. Had plans to also do one or more activations in Orlando, but didn't get around to it.

Quiet place. Pulled right off the road and activated the parking area that was only wide enough for a couple cars. Had planned on Fort Caroline National Memorial US-0775 but it is always closed on Monday and Tuesday, which I didn't find out until I pulled up to the place. Made a twenty minute drive to Yellow Bluff Fort State Park instead. Shame, I was interested in seeing the other site along the water.

Date: 2024-03-07
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-1583
Number of Contacts: 73

Spotted myself on 15 and had some nice DX and local CO, MN, CA. Hunted around on 15m also for four P2P, to include N3PEM at Greenbelt Park which is only around 8 miles (as the crow flies) - I had no idea a contact like this was possible on 15m - it sounded like VHF LOS. Later worked him again on 20m and it was a harder read - 55, compared to 59+.

Spotted myself on 20m and ran a decent pileup for thirty minutes.

Thanks, DX hunters (EA1GIB, F5VMN, IU3GKJ, OE1DXU) and Alaska Hunter (KL1OQ) on 15m!

Date: 2024-03-07
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 50

Started off spotting myself on 15m and had a fair amount of hunters within ten minutes or so. Thanks for the DX hunters: EA2EVM, SP8DJY, G6BFP, LY2NZ, PE1SJA

Also spotted myself on 20m and had a quick thirty minute run. All US and Canada - notice they changed the Canadia Parks from VE-xxxx to CA-xxxx - I read that they're changing the K- parks in us to US- also.

Date: 2024-02-29
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 80

Pretty standard activation of my main park - Another from Fort DeRussy on K-9901 Civil War Defenses of Washington. All 20m SSB contacts, with just a few 15m thrown in. That line going out of the shot is Spain. I spotted myself on 20m this time.

Date: 2024-02-29
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0808
Number of Contacts: 48

First activation of this park, though I've been within a few hundred yards of it several times activating Glen Echo. Good times and good reports on 15m from across the ocean.

Date: 2024-02-27
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-7975
Number of Contacts: 27

First time back here in several years. Had much better luck, which is likely due to both greater experience and general improvement of HF, since my last activation here.

Hunted a bit and then only spotted myself on 15m and had nice DX. Using the trunk lip mount and a telescopic whip running 65w, was able to get decent reports from: Austria, Sweden, North Macedonia, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, etc.

Date: 2024-02-27
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-9901
Number of Contacts: 20

Just discovered this park designation for a place I've worked several times (even before this was officially a park) within Rock Creek Park. I went back and uploaded a few of those activations, going back to 2022. Had a good time this morning! This was a quick stop on a planned chain of parks that ended up not working out, down due to construction on the George Washington Memorial Parkway. The European contacts are 15m - received good reports from nearly all, at least 55, which isn't bad for my trunk lip mount whip antenna running 65w of power.

Strange this “trail” which really isn't a trail, it's more a collection of old fort locations, is only listed as VA location on the park page (though the description mentions it can be logged in DC and MD) - I reached out to Pota Support on this.

Date: 2024-01-05
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 100

Started off with worry, experiencing the same thing as the prior day. Couldn't hear ANY of the ten parks on the spot page for 20m. Jumped on FT8 and grabbed thirteen contacts and then back to SSB, where I only managed to hunt two parks. Switched to 15m and immediately had great luck. Dialed around and found S51DX (Slovenia) calling CQ. To my surprise, he heard my first reply and gave me a 5/6! Taking note of this, I proceeded to make contact wit a good number of DX stations:

F4IDN
G0BLB
PE1ISP (p2p Netherlands)
OE1DXU
SP1NQH
LY7J
DL3GMA - Mobile to Mobile contact from the Black Forest in Germany! WOW!

I then spotted myself on the pota app and managed to pick up sixteen hunters! Let's try 17m, I say - Well, I managed to pick up exactly seventeen contacts there. :D By this time, 20m seemed to be improved, ever so slightly, and I was able to pick up the remaining contacts on 20m SSB. The map looks pretty nice, if I do say so myself, especially after the terrible luck the prior day. I'm worried that something has changed at this park for that band.. black magic!

Date: 2024-01-04
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 20

Rough conditions this morning. I felt like I couldn't hear anything, though the noise floor wasn't really that high. Nearly every park I tried to hunt was barely audible, though in states I very frequently work from this exact location. Anyway, first dose of terrible conditions in a WHILE. Only managed nine phone contacts and worked FT8 for the remaining 11. I'll try again another time!

Date: 2023-11-07
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-9899
Number of Contacts: 187

60 Park to Park QSOs!

Another great day at Fort Hunt. Almost entirely 20m (also got around ten 15m contacts) due to a problem piece of coax preventing me from using the WRC. Good thing I installed that lip mount on the trunk of my car - I dropped a short counterpoise and got around 1.2:1 across the whole band, simply screwing on the whip and pulling it out almost all of the way. Very low noise floor. I had squelch down to S0 and was able to pick up several stations that weren't even S1 - Including a DX park hunting me - CU3HY from CU-0134 and CU-0141

Also achieved a Warthog Rover award for the day, since I was technically at three other spots while activating Dyke Marsh (see below).

Date: 2023-11-07
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-9961
Number of Contacts: 12

This was just a quick one on the way to Ft. Hunt. Turns out it's four parks for the price of one! :D

K-9961 Dyke Marsh Wildlife Reserve (US-VA)
K-9898 Mount Vernon National Historic Trail (US-VA)
K-4564 Potomac Heritage Trail National Scenic Trail (US-VA)
K-0670 George Washington Memorial Parkway (US-VA)

I picked a spot in the parking lot that was about twenty feet from the GW Parkway and much less distance from the trail. I pulled up the whip, hunted eleven parks on 20m SSB (one being a twofer) and then pushed on. Total time, around twenty minutes. Some of the contacts aren't showing on the map for whatever reason.

Date: 2023-10-20
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-9899
Number of Contacts: 156

Total P2P for the day = 47!

Great day at my childhood park, that was recently added to the parks on the air program. I set off to be the first to activate, when I discovered the night before that it was untouched. Well, I probably should have driven straight over there and grabbed a few ft8 contacts, as the first activator apparently did! Before leaving for the park, at around 7am, I was disappointed to discover that it had already been activated. Was pretty bummed out about that, but decided to go anyway.

I'm always nostalgic at that park and in general driving around that neighborhood. It seems a lot smaller somehow and wow it really was twenty five years ago that I lived there! Stopped by the 7-11 (that actually operated close to those hours) by the park, to get a coffee, and remembered a few of the countless times I had visited it through my childhood and teenage years, it being just about a ten minute walk from my parents house.

Started off hunting a few parks on 20m and switched to 40m. First park I worked on 40m was NC4XL (Dom) and after the QSO, he asked if I wanted his frequency! “Sure thing,” I said, so after making a few more contacts, he introduced me and formally transitioned the frequency! What a nice damn thing to do!!! :D Welp, around twelve minutes later, I had an additional fifty seven contacts on 40m! Decided to take a break and do some more hunting and then spotted myself on 20m which resulted in fifty seven more contacts.

On first arriving, conditions were super quiet, noise was not even S3. Around noon or so, the buzz on 20m started and stretched across the whole band. Heard static crashes all over 40m, hinting at the storm on the way, which still caught me off guard… lol

Some highlights:
DX station SP9RXP (Poland) called. Alaska checked in: NL7V
Received a call from a battleship: N4WIS
Spent a few minutes talking to someone's grandchildren: Fun, KO4RVE!

Date: 2023-09-28
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-1583
Number of Contacts: 111

All SSB this time, which is so much more fun than FT8! The good old FT857D and WRC base with the MFJ whip (no coil) with it's ground clipped onto the "magic carpet" was performing like a champ (lots of 59+ reports and many a pile up was busted) also, since the noise on 20m was minimum, I was able to pick up a bunch of low signals that I would have never heard at home or at Rock Creek Park. I was able to give out a few 53 reports!

Started off by picking up my ten contacts, hunting on 20m, in around twenty minutes. Jumped up to 10m and picked up a few, to include a call from Venezuela, 57 both ways! Thanks, YV1SW!

Slid down to 15m and made ten contacts, mostly U.S. with a few far ones (AZ, NM) but also three DX calls - Two from Spain and one from Italy: EA1HXY, EA1BUL, I4RHP - also, finally worked KC5HWB park to park.. Hard to believe I just now got him in my logbook.

Next, the 20m fire storm of seventy five QSOs within an hour and a half or so. Well, of course I expected that and sort of worked my way up to it. I managed to take a few breaks in the middle of those, thanks to convenient (but still annoying) QRM causing me to QSY. I would hunt for a bit before respotting myself and jumping back into it.

Lastly, switched to 40m (which I hadn't planned on doing at all) since 20m slowed down and I wanted one hundred or more QSOs in total for the day. Right as I finished setting up the antenna, I saw The Canadians were spotted (VE3XNS, VE3THR, VE3JLN) at VE-5652, YAY! Worked them and then KE8PZN popped up, so, of course, I worked him too. Spotted myself after and made another thirty or so contacts. Over all, conditions weren't nearly as good on 40m.

That's it! Fun three hours.

Date: 2023-09-27
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 30

All FT8. Four contacts, US and Puerto Rico, on 10m. Single US contact on 12m. Seven on 15m, with three of those being DX (two Germany and one Netherlands). Then eighteen on 20m, US and Canada. Went in around lunch time and all higher frequency bands were VERY crowded.

I used the G90, with the MFJ whip attached to my trunk mount, and spent around two hours at it. Lost several on 20m, due to impatience on their part(?) - Call CQ POTA and get four or five people reply in one go, but never seem to get that last person from the list! I'm just shouting R+00 into the ether. :) I go down the full list, in order, but it seems like if they stop auto-spamming the call, they're not going to reply when I call them back. Maybe they don't know how to use the other box (on the right hand side) or maybe they don't have the two or three minutes to wait, I don't know, but it really seems like they just disappear! The other thing I would like to complain about, while I'm at it (harhar) is when someone is calling and calling and I'm replying but they keep calling… I get that this means they don't hear me, but.. my suspicion is that they're not answering my CQ, they're just shouting at me, because they see me on the spot page. One guy called me fifteen times in a row.. that's a little much, yeah? Especially because I have to click out, each go around, to avoid that loop of answering him again and again and again… I replied four times, I feel like that's a good place to stop.

I think I'm done with K-0656 for a while. I was under the impression that I would get an award for working ten different bands at that park (N1CC) but now I realize it's ten bands at ten different parks! WOW! That pretty much means you MUST go into VHF.. YIKES! If I had radio friends around, that would be easy. Hey, come on this activation with me and bring your HT.. I even have two 1.25m HTs we can use! :D I feel like the only shot I have of working 2m or UHF, around here, is calling on a repeater and soliciting someone to call me on simplex. :( I mean, there's always 6m, I guess, maybe I'll build a 6m antenna someday.. Talk of the Town (The Pretenders). Since I've been licensed, I haven't seen 6m viable. I've made a total of ONE 6m contact. It was on FT8, with someone around 50 miles away, that was either totally automatic or extremely coincidental.

Anyway: Up next, Matthew Henson (K-1583) in Aspen Hill. That's the closest to my new QTH!

Date: 2023-06-11
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 11

Pretty much a follow up from the previous activation, but only late shift (next UTC) - following day, past 8pm.

Mostly 80m and one 160m! A few 40m contacts in there too for Park 2 Park points, though I hadn't planned on doing 40m at all. Exact setup from the previous day, just got the itch and wanted to see how quickly I could setup as close to identical.

Date: 2023-06-08 and 2023-06-09 (new UTC day, same activation)
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 99

Tried using N3FJP for POTA instead of HAMRS. For some reason, half of the contacts were missing grid square, so the map is pretty sparse. Not that it would look VERY different, since the whole activation was 40m and 80m.

I realized, some time ago, that I can't do 40m off of my trunk mount. No matter how many radials I put down, there's RF all over my signal, according to everyone I talk to on the air. I haven't tried the magic carpet yet, maybe that will help. I get a good SWR match, less than 1.5:1, but once I put that coil on the lip mount, it's disaster, according to my callers. I'm too lazy to get the coax I ran out from under the seats and stuff so I can't put a balun at the antenna. I could put it in the car, but by then I'm apparently “underwater” already! :D This just means I need to bust out the WRC or a wire, with that 1:1 balun, and keep the coax out of the car. Fine.

Anyway, I strung up the CHA EMCOM III and stayed in the park WAY past dark/close to get a total of 99 contacts, including a bunch for late shift, next UTC day. Look at a previous map if you want a more full visual of what the propagation was like.. nearly identical to the WRC Silver Bullet, which sort of surprised me but also didn't… haha

Date: 2023-04-20 - 2023-04-21
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 150


All 20m SSB; quite a few nice skips! Finally finished Kilo for Rock Creek Park.

Date: 2023-01-16
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 64

Started off great, for the first forty nine contacts, on twenty meters, in less than two hours - I hunted and took my time setting up, casually hunted fifteen parks, while also entertaining the kiddo, before spotting myself. Shortly after that, I rolled out to take her home (only ten minutes away) and then came back, hopeful for a good run on forty meters.

Well, from the first response, I knew I had “an audio problem.” Well, gee, no complaints on twenty, what the hell? :) After some back and forth with others, once I spotted myself, it was determined that I had some RF bouncing around in the radio. The description ranged from “you sound off frequency” to simply “bad audio distortion.”

Special thanks to VE3THR (good 'ol Tom, who I've hunted nearly 100 times) who suggested a solution - coaxial wrap / rf choke pre-radio. This made a lot of sense, as this was the first trip trying the trunk mounted whip (K-400 with a sort of “center” fed / coil whip, using the WRC mini and ONE extension and the 17' MFJ whip)

Lesson here is, with only the supplied 16'(?) coax, direct to the radio, I need something else. Normally, I'm running at least 25' of coax and have a 1:1 unun at the antenna base. Next time, I'll try that same device, prior to entering the radio. If that doesn't help, I'll also have a coaxial choke handy to put inline! I must admit, I don't understand the difference between the coax loop choke and a coax toroid choke. I'll send a mail to Tom about it, in case he knows. Anyway, it SUCKS that forty was cut short for me tonight, but we'll try to do better next time! :D

Date: 2022-10-09
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-1592
Number of Contacts: 31

This started off in “hard mode,” as I didn't have an internet connection and wasn't really prepared, at all, to activate the park. It was an afterthought, as I considered “hitting a quick one on the way home.”

I first stopped at Palmer State Park, but quickly realized that activating it would involve a hike, for me, which I didn't have time for. :(

By the time I got to this activation, I wasn't even sure if I had the park number right. I assumed so, based on what was left in my phone's history, but couldn't be sure. Welp, you know I found my first POTA activator, just scanning around, past all the PA QSO PARTY folks, and said “I may have a P2P for you, but there's a catch…” KE8ADV (also named Anthony) was activating Grayson Highlands State Park, from the top of a mountain, apparently, 3000' or more, “from the side of the road at an overlook,” sounding like we were talking on FRS or something, a little quiet, but just crystal clear. I asked him to look up and confirm the park number for me, explaining the situation, and we gave it a good shot! Another person hunting him came in to confirm my park (wish I noted his call too) and the deal was almost done.

At least I had verified my location. Now, to get spotted. That turned out to be WAY easier than I anticipated. After hunting a few more parks I could find, including W5N and K3G (which I'm almost certain was KB3WAV, based on the voice I heard on the other end), I started calling CQ. Only two minutes later, in strolls KD2WLN, super helpful, all 59+ with the nice spotting action. Came back a moment or two later, responding to my CQ, to confirm spotting me and wishing me well, hoping the contacts started rolling in soon! I managed to work 19 contacts from that, and hold the frequency for around twenty minutes, before the PA folks started creeping over top of me and squishing me out (:D) at which point I switched to FT8 for another few before rolling out.

Nice park, from the small part of it I saw. No time for trail hikes that day. I setup at the picnic area, right about here: 39.64287577467188, -76.41468021833997 next to the “creek.” I wonder if people get in the creek when it's hot. Anyway, big field, LOTS of places to picnic, LOTS of grills and tables - at least two dozen, maybe more.

I'm sure I was in a valley, probably blocking the direct west (by the looks of my map) but I think I could probably get a LOT of contacts here, spending more time, which wouldn't be hard to do.

Date: 2022-10-08
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-1601
Number of Contacts: 113

Another QSO Party activation weekend - this time PA, which is normally one of my best customers, aka, I can always work PA pretty well. For sure, the good communication path had an adverse impact on me this time around, as I heard those folks everywhere. If not directly, always in the background, you know that SSB squawk that sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher. They were everywhere! :D

Anyway, this activation made me feel really good about my ft-857d and my setup in general. I ran the WRC and there was no noise to be heard. Everyone was coming in crystal clear, even lower s-unit stations were super clear. This was honestly the first time I've ever experienced that. I've become so used to a high noise floor that even S5 seemed nice. Well, I had a LOW noise floor, for both of these days, and it was an absolutely superb experience. Curious about how I sounded, though, since I noticed DSP seemed to activate when I keyed. I don't remember setting that up, but hopefully I didn't sound like a lot of these bozo's I've been hearing lately, all overblown and distorted, somehow getting - “yeah, 59, great signal” naw man, god I hope I don't sound like that. Anyway, need to look into what digital processing mysteriously appeared on my TX - hahaha. I'll check with an SDR or something.

First map shot was all SSB, which I quit, right before lateshift. 40/20, as per usual, with one 10m - VA6WMA, that one you see way up in Alberta, probably obvious. I only worked a few parks SSB after the roll over and then mostly FT8. I'll explain more later. Second map shot included some FT8; the one pointer heading off to EU was SP2EWQ (actual FT8 contact) and the second was KE8PZN (not sure why he shows up that way sometimes, in the HAMRS app map, but he was in KY/US at that time!) I normally don't try to work DX on FT8 when doing pota. Sometimes, when people are persistent enough, they sneak in there! ;)

Anyway, “the neighbors.” Very nice folks. The way the camps were setup, we shared a yard. Our tables were relatively close. I didn't want to disturb them too much (though I'm sure they wouldn't have minded, again, nice folks) so I sort of quieted down a bit a night. I know all too well how damn noisy the lateshift pileups can get and I didn't want to ruin their time with that. They were out all lovey-dovey and chatty with each other by the fire and what not. Seemed sweet. The wife offered me some food and brought me some tiny kindling (worried about the city boy, first comment was “oh, you've come from DC (looking at my plates) trying to escape the rat race?” - Well, damn right! The rats around my way look more like possums! Anyway, they probably didn't know that I've been camping most of my life, since age seven or eight, and could take care of myself in the woods from not much later than that! :D I live in the city now, but lived off a gravel road, by a lake, in my most formative years. Picture pre-teens, with guns on their shoulders, walking down the road, without people freaking out! :D Hunter safety education was MADITORY for 8th grade boys, in my home town. Anyway, I digress.

Wonderful time. The kiddo was supposed to come, but backed out at the last minute over concerns about the facilities (specifically the toilets) which was a bit disappointing. I had a site directly behind the play ground, which was BUSY with kids most of the daylight hours. At one point, a whole team of 10-15 of them came marching down the road chanting “PLAY GROUND, PLAY GROUND, (where are we going?) PLAY GROUND, PLAY GROUND.” I shared some video with her and she regret not coming (as she should, which is why I shared the videos). I don't feel bad about guilt tripping her at all.

Date: 2022-07-17
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-1606
Number of Contacts: 15

This is a funny little park. Looked like another house in the middle of a semi-rural neighborhood. The park was about the size of a decent sized residential yard, at about less than an acre, maybe two yards in this neighborhood put together. Right next to a multi-family unit of some kind (shown as “Jones Lawn and Land Management” on the map below.. CLOSE to the neighbors. That's the part of the park I could see/access, anyway. Apparently, according to dnr.maryland.gov it's actually 26 acres. However, I did not see any trails. There is no apparent way to access any other part of the park land.

Here's a shot from google maps: Hopefully this helps express what I'm trying to explain.

Didn't have great luck here. It was right around lunch time. I didn't find too many people jumping on my spot, immediately got five (NY, MI, PA, OH) within the first minute and then nothing for five minutes straight. I didn't get the usual relaxing park vibe - I could see the people in each car, staring at my vertical, as they slowly drove by :) I switched to digital, grabbed another ten contacts and rolled out. Shame I didn't have more time. I would have loved to bring this relatively rare park to some other folks.

Date: 2022-07-16
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-1582
Number of Contacts: 106

Date: 2022-06-26
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-1323
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-5522
Number of Contacts: 186

• 109 FT8 / 77 SSB Contacts
• The park is within the borders of Prince Edward-Gallion State Forest K-5522

Great time with the kiddo. We rented a cabin and it was very nice! We hiked to the lake for a swim, which was four miles, round trip. I was impressed with her! Minimal complaining and only in the end for the last mile or so! Caught fireflies at night, there were so many. Well, I did. She was scared to touch them and when it got later and they moved into the woods, she was very disappointed in the missed opportunity and there were real tears. :D

Being field day, I figured a pota activation would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Well, it was a lot tougher than I thought! The bands being so full, everyone on top of each other, I had a rough time with my old IC706. The Wolf River Coils vertical also presented a problem. I couldn't really get it to work on any band! Must have been something in the area, maybe power sources or something, but it was incredibly noisy and I also couldn't get out well. Did manage to make some 80m contacts, but got terrible reports, even from NY, which is usually easy.

Enter EFHW for the WIN! This thing was the complete opposite and I was busting pile ups on the first try, receiving “beautiful signal!” Very successful first trip using the KM4ACK Kit.

Something about the way this thing was setup, unlike any other time I've used an EFHW. Sort of a wide inverted V / inverted L - just worked with the terrain (trees and back porch/deck where I setup). The peak of the antenna was very high and the ends were relatively high also. Feed point tied to the deck, about 10' off the ground. Apex 40-50'and end point 25-30' feed point to apex was majority of length - Something like this drawing:

I really should have measured more accurately, because this was the absolute best I've ever seen an EFHW perform. I normally just get the tail as high as I can and slope it down, sometimes bringing the tail over the top a little, with the feed point four or five feet off the ground - I guess height it might!

Most of these contacts were also logged with my 1B submission. Guess I'll have to wait until the results are posted to update with my points.. I lost the submission form I thought I saved.

UPDATE: 150th place in 1B - KC3NLT 62 2 1 336 VA

Date: 2022-06-20
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 77

Date: 2022-06-11
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 85

Pretty standard activation in the usual location at Rock Creek Park. Hunted for around an hour and a half on 20m and 40m and then spotted myself on 7213kHz. I got slammed for exactly a half an hour, before marking the spot QRT and hunting on 20m right as the sun was starting to set - It had quieted down quite a bit for some reason and I was able to work a new park in Spain, EA-1980 - Río Huerva y Las Planas Natura 2000, thanks to EA2EZ - P2P! Also worked two UK Parks: G-0104 - Lower Derwent Valley National Nature Reserve ( Thanks, G5LSI ) and G-0056 - Isle of Wight - Solent Maritime Conservation Reserve ( Thanks, M0OVG )! Lastly, always happy to work clear across the country: Thanks, N6LY from out of Mendocino Headlands State Park

Closing the activation with a total of thirty three P2P QSOs is a new personal record.

One thing of note, on the lessons learned / trouble side of things: A particular set of radials kept getting unplugged, thanks to the kid trampling around - need to figure something out for that. One one hand, it's good that they detach, so nobody trips or so the antenna doesn't get pulled around, but on the other hand… it clearly has an impact on the tuning. :) Hard to say if some of the weak sig reports I received were due to that or not. Probably! Maybe?

Date: 2022-04-17
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-1566
Number of Contacts: 113

Did an overnight with the kiddo in the Mannor Area of Cunningham Falls State Park. Worked mostly 40m, but did a little 20m as well. Wasn't getting great signal reports. I'm pretty sure I was sitting in a valley of some kind. Aside form that little bit if difficulty, it went pretty well. I'll get my first Late Shift Activation and will hopefully get Support Your Parks Activator/Hunter. Pretty standard map - the one that goes off the screen is to India! Only thing is, it's a VE3 call, so I'm pretty sure something got messed up somewhere.. :)

Date: 2022-04-09
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 85

Another Rock Creek Park activation. Looking at the map, it seems like standard propagation for this location. Tried a new sport, at first, since my usual spot was overrun by a kids birthday party. Man, the going was tough there. Lots of noise. I didn't call CQ there, only hunted and grabbed seventeen “park 2 park” in around an hour and a half. A lot of folks stopped to talk, as this was a more public spot where people were hanging around for an extended period of time - “are you in the CIA?” that was probably my favorite. I packed up and moved back to my usual spot where 40m was normal and clear again. Called CQ in a small slice I was able to find, high on 40m, and got spotted. Pulled 61 QSOs in around forty five minutes, before slowing down. Also picked up another nine parks 2 park QSOs after moving. Over all, pretty good. Almost forgot, it was another “QSO PARTY weekend” - Georgia this time. I guess this isn't as unlucky as I'm thinking.. there will always be a QSO party, since there are a lot of states and only a bit more than that in the whole year, so, yeah, embarrassed to just figure that out! :)

Date: 2022-02-27
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0784
Number of Contacts: 77

Total of three parks at this physical location. The other two:
K-4564 (Potomac Heritage Trail National Scenic Trail) https://pota.app/#/park/K-4564
K-0670 (George Washington Memorial Parkway) https://pota.app/#/park/K-0670
UPDATE 5/10/22: Added K-4581 (Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail) https://pota.app/#/park/K-4581 as the Potomac Heritage Trail is part of the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail at this point.

I setup directly beside the parkway, off of the Mt. Vernon Trail, part of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, and within the boundaries of the main park.

Keeping with tradition (my bad luck) the North Carolina QSO Party was happening and they were all over the bands. The number of times I've inadvertently picked a QSO Party day to activate is pretty high. Anyway, I still managed a relatively smooth 77 QSOs with 20 Park to Park contacts.

Some highlights:

First park to call me after being spotted was a DX park G-0448 - West Wycombe Park, Village and Hill Country Park, a relatively new one in England. Thanks, G0MTK - who is the only activator, so far, rocking 425 QSOs at the time!

First Louisiana park - Hunted KI5NTC at K-2372 - Palmetto Island State Park - Thanks for being there at the right time!

Hunted KP4RK in lovely K-7555 - Parque Acuatico Infantil State Park

This activation set me over 10 total parks activated. Bronze Activator award achieved.

To all the friends I heard the tail end of (mostly right as I let off tx) that obviously had a “yes, the frequency is in use,” (+40) message - you're the best and I would definitely do the same for you!

A lesson learned: Don't try to put multiple parks in the “My Park” portion of HAMRS - it messed up my map (put me in the center of the country) and probably my logs as well. I was thinking CSV would be fine, but probably not. I ended up creating separate logs for the three parks, manually in Notepad++ with some find/replace magic.

Also: Circling back on my last post - doggo is fine. His nose healed up almost perfectly. The only remnants of the scuffle are inside the nose and he's just as pretty as ever, which the ladies are happy about. He had a white scar on his whole nose, for almost a month, but it's looking normal again now and he had “emotionally recovered,” by the following day.

Date: 2022-01-02
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 28

Happy New Year! Another at Rock Creek Park. Weather was great. Everything was damp from the night before and it was overcast, but, temp was around 65! I really hoped to get more today - I'm not only shooting for Kilo, but trying to defend my spot as top activator! Spoke with my nemesis today (WA7PBE) on the air, both on 40m and an arranged 2m qso - turns out he was at the park again today. Tried to get 70cm with him as well, but (and this is good) I couldn't figure out how to remove the (-) offset on my HT, so I was transmitting well below my desired frequency.. back to the manual I guess. Also, the IC706 didn't want to TX or RX on 70cm at all! I pulled out the portable j-pole to test and nada. No idea what that's about. Guess I have some work there too.

Made my first 15m contact with KC8LKB out of Texas and also made Utah with N7RBL. Going to make a point to try a random band each activation.

Fun time was cut short by an emergency at home - the little dog had his nose chomped on by a neighbor's dog and the family was hysterical! I washed it out with a saline solution and put some watered down iodine on it. He'll go to the vet tomorrow. :{

Date: 2021-12-31
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 107

Another 100 for Rock Creek Park, with 24 P2P! Nice propagation today - Washington state, more 59 reports getting into Florida, two Alaska contacts: NL7V (again) and KL7QT and two Puerto Rico contacts: NP3T and KP4M !
Also, finally worked K8MRD park to park and I'm really happy about that one! :D

Date: 2021-12-28
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 103

Put another 100 on the board for my local park, to include 26 P2P QSOs! Another appearance by NL7V of Alaska, got a 55 this time though. Difference between 20w G90 and 100w ic-706, maybe - Either way, he was definitely doing most of the work - I asked if he wouldn't mind confirming on QRZ and sent a request.

Not much different than my last activation here, as far as range/propagation. The kid was happy with the hammock I got her for Christmas and it looks like it will hold up well.. and I'm happy because I managed to get it set up in literally three minutes. :)

Date: 2021-12-02
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 87

Another great activation of Rock Creek Park. Same setup as last time, WRC and IC-706. Good propagation today, as you can see by the map. Crystal clear contacts on 20m and a lot on 40m as well, 20 was noticeably nice though. I managed 87 QSOs in about an hour and forty five minutes. Thanks hunters! The only low signal report I got (below 5:5) was from Sacramento at 3:3! Still, I totally amazed to reach clear across the country with my modest portable setup. Not much else to note, except that two separate people told me I helped them reach “Hunt All States,” that I was the final contact! So glad to be able to help people reach that goal! My remaining states are: AK, AL, AZ, CO, DE, HI, LA, ME, MN, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY. HAHA! May have to go digital to get some of those!

Speaking of digital, I've finally figured out how to get FT8 (and other modes in WSJTX) working! Had my first digital contact 11/30 with W5XO out of TX: 211130_190800 14.074 Rx FT8 2 1.1 1232 KC3NLT W5XO RR73
Not bad, considering I was setup in the back yard, under a birds next of power lines and very low to the ground. Voice is not possible with that setup, with the noise floor at S7! Anyway, until next time!

Date: 2021-11-14
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 68

Another good one from Rock Creek Park. Almost the same amount of contacts and about the same propagation, which makes sense as I was in the exact same location with the same antenna setup (WRC-SB1000). Only difference was that I brought out the IC-706 this time. Running at 100w didn't seem to make that much difference, compared to 20w, with the exception that I got slightly better signal reports. I did notice that I didn't feel the need to really push/project my voice as much, like use my “outside voice” - I felt like I was talking more normally and casually. I also got less “kc3?t” and the like. So, the conclusion is that the bit I've heard about the difference between 20w and 100w only being an s unit appears to be true.

Picked up a new state in my quest for all (NE with KE0MME at Schramm Park State Recreation Area)

Another lesson learned - Low 50s is cold enough for the hands and feet to get cold if you're not prepared. I wasn't prepared with gloves or thick socks. Core was perfectly fine, but once the hands and feet got cold, the shivers started, which was not pleasant. I would have loved to stay for another 20 contacts or so, but the cold got to me (it was definitely the wind) - I'll be better prepared next time, probably to the point of over kill. :)

Massive 40m pile up, probably the thickest I've experienced. Got a few really local contacts. Not sure if that's NVIS or ground wave. I'll ask reddit! reddit, how did this happen? :D

Date: 2021-11-08
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 70

Great day. Was only able to spend 2.5 hours. If I didn't have to pick up the kiddo from school, I probably would have stayed till dark, as everything was working pretty well. I was getting across the country on 20m, a couple more CA and another WA and an ID, got hunted by W4WMT out of AZ (wish I could find a PARK in AZ) Also received good reports from FL again. Managed to rack up 21 Park to Park QSOs!

Picked up a park in KS (new state - Thanks K0DAG for your activation) Marais des Cygnes Massacre State Historic Site - I'm slowly filling in the remaining states, for the all states award, only need 16 more! Plan to go out again tomorrow, this time to a new park, though not sure which yet.

When this log posts, I may be the park leader, in both Activations (6) and Activator QSOs (245) :)

Date: 2021-10-30
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-1583
Number of Contacts: 20

New park for me. This was a quick one. First off, 20m was jam-packed - “hey little Saturday night.” Hunted two before spotting myself on 7.269 and then hunted two more of which one was a dupe. :| Anyway, in/out with 20 QSOs. This setup on 40m feels pretty standard by now and I mostly see what I expect - see the map. Only anomaly is the the AZ contact going out of the screenshot - KJ7HXE made sure to mention that he was coming from CT. I did get multiple MA, more than usual, and managed FL and a VE. I'm happy with that. I'll be back here for sure.

Date: 2021-10-27
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0667
Number of Contacts: 55

New park for me. Directly across the Potomac River from the neighborhood I grew up in and the parent fort of the park I always went to, Fort Hunt, which was also the name of my neighborhood. Interesting history. I'll spare you that info here, because it's easy to look up, but they ALMOST began construction on a bridge linking the two areas, before WWII began and completely derailed it - forever, apparently! As a teen, I remember looking at Fort Washington, from the other side of the river, and noting how close but far away it was. It's only probably 2000' across the river, but driving up to and across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and then back down would take at least half an hour, with no traffic, and on the other side it's Indian Head Highway, a general mess of a road.

Anyway, on to the good bits! WOW, is how I'll start off describing this activation. Beautiful terrain, nice walk down to the water, where I found a perfect spot to setup the WRC (and EFHW next time, as there is a perfect tree) next to a picnic table right on the water and totally in the shade, at least from 2pm - sunset, nice windy day, warm enough, but not hot.

Hunted around for almost two hours, since I had plenty of time, swapping between 20m and 40m. Blown away to successfully hunt N6INS for my first CA contact at Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area 3/3 both ways. “The band must be open,” I thought, but this was only the beginning. ;) Then WA7WS for my first ID contact at Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area

Well, I spotted myself on 14.340 and started CQ - Callers from ID, ND, TX, NM, WA, OK, WI. I picked up a lot of new states that I thought I would need a more powerful radio to reach. Just blown away about the opening and how I was making out. FL said I was “5/9, like sitting in the driveway.” First Texas contact with KD5EDL - First Washington contact with KO6MB - First New Mexico contact with KG5LTL.

Perhaps the best surprise was hearing AL7KC and KL7W call from ALASKA! Roger, I'm from MD with 20w! Signal reports received 53/33 respectively. Thanks for pointing your beam or yagi at me, guys! Thanks for Alaska!

What an awesome day!

Date: 2021-10-24
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 41

Set up an inverted V with the EFHW transformer using a 6m fiberglass pole for the peak. Just clipped a plastic carabiner on the top of the mast, and sort of leaned in against the branch of a tree, ran the wire through, then put tension on it from the ends - one stake/rope/insulator for the loose end (where I made adjustments) and the other was weighted by the transformer itself sitting on the picnic table (one of the benefits of using 26g wire I suppose ;). The loose end wasn't even a full meter off the ground. Antenna tuning was pretty quick, I had to fold over around a foot and a half of wire to get a good swr.. much more than when sloping the same setup. Managed to get < 1.5:1 across all of 40m and a sweet 1.1:1 dip in the higher portion of 20m, the rest of the band being under 1.3:1. Needless to say, I didn't use the tuner at all.

I started off switching back and forth between 20m and 40m several times hunting. Horrible interference on both bands, constantly and across the whole band. It was either something terribly wrong with my setup or a massive disruptive force somewhere close to me. I had the attenuator on the whole time, so I was only really able to hear very strong stations. Probably missed a lot of calls due to that. I wonder if It would have been as noisy if the antenna and both ends were up higher. Anyway, I have never experienced that level of interference at this location using either a sloper with the same transformer or using the WRC Silver Bullet. Will experiment with that setup but HIGHER next time! Hey, I've been thinking about how to use the *SpiderBeam 12m Mast* I purchased while a bit “excited” one night, thinking about running something in my postage stamp back yard (40m Single Folded Vertical) to be exact- somehow thinking I could work around the many power lines running only around 20' overhead.. Like I said, a little off the chain that night, but still glad to have that piece of kit!

Anyway, back to the point: I Hunted eight or nine parks, before spotting myself, and pulled the last 30+ in around 15 minutes. Massive pile up. Some people may have given up or quit. It was constant for that fifteen minutes. “QRZ..” (jumble of phonetic letters and numbers, pick some small part and ask them to come back) hopefully, you know how that goes.

Highlight was successfully hunting VE7FYQ at Maquabeak Park Protected Area in BC, Vancouver! 20m obviously. Hard copy for me, probably because of the previously mentioned issues, but he seemed to pick me up just fine.

Looking at the map, the BC contact makes my first AK contact (K5DGR Palmetto Flats Wildlife Management Area ) and my FL contact twofer (N4PLR Florida Trail National Scenic Trail and Seminole Ranch State Conservation Area) look like no big deal. I know better though. That's pretty decent for 20w and considering my conditions. Those were both on 20m as well.

Wrapped up soon after that to take the kiddo on a play date we had scheduled.

Date: 2021-10-11
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-1596
Number of Contacts: 11

Terrible QRM and generally bad conditions. I mean, I sort of expected as much with the weather - totally overcast, seeming to be on the verge of a storm ALL DAY LONG. It had to be storming somewhere close by. Anyway, setup the same way as I last did at this park, minus the little folding table, which I'll bring next time, as it made things a lot easier. I was just sitting on a bench with all my gear, laptop on lap, leaning over to the side to tune the radio. Managed to tune the WRC to 17m, with a 1.2/1 trying to hunt someone I found in the app - big fades, 5/5 and then not at all. Should have noted frequency and call/park, but didn't.

The kiddo was with and played at the playground during the activation portion of the trip. She got really upset with a little boy for swatting at a bug on some of the playground equipment, nearly in tears, she said to me (loud enough for him to hear) “this is why I don't like BABIES, they don't listen and they do stupid things” - glad I taught her to leave insects alone. She brought it up later, sad again, “he was just trying to live his life, minding his own business, and that baby came along trying to kill him for no reason.”

She fished for the first time. She didn't want to use real worms, so the going was tough. We were just casting off the shore as well, and the water was shallow. I did manage to catch this six inch baby bass with the 2” silver minnow we were using, apparently dragging the poor guy through the weeds in the process. lol

Date: 2021-10-12
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0668
Number of Contacts: 30

Pretty bad conditions today. No rain where I was, but overcast all day. Spent around 45 minutes trying to get an 40m EFHW up. Got less than 1.3:1 across all of 20m, with a nice dip in the middle of voice, but poor shape on 40m, dip at 1.5 and 2+ at the top of voice. Decided to put up the coil and mess with the wire next time (left it where it was, to pick up where I left off. Guess it needs to be a bit shorter and then we do that balancing game with 20/40. Need to use thicker wire, so once I get it I can use it for a LONG time. The 26g wire just starts to fall apart after four or five deployments. Didn't get as many parks as I would have liked, but managed a fair number of QSOs.

K-1596 Seneca Creek State Park (US-MD) - 2021-09-24
First contact: 21:47
Last contact: 22:32
51000m
K-0334 Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge (US-MD) - 2021-09-25
First contact: 13:45
Last contact: 13:58
18000m
K-0668 Greenbelt Park (US-MD) - 2021-09-25
First contact: 15:09
Last contact: 16:04
32000m
K-7975 Glen Echo National Heritage Site (US-MD) - 2021-09-25
First contact: 17:36
Last contact: 18:28
10000m
K-0656 Rock Creek Park (US-DC) - 2021-09-25
First contact: 19:20
Last contact: 21:02

Didn't really understand the requisites for the RaDAR award, particularly around “transitions,” but it's clear now - You can have multiple transitions in the same park, with only five contacts between. Setup, grab at least five contacts, tear down, walk a bit over 1/2 a mile (1km) setup, grab at least five contacts, that's a transition! It doesn't have to be transitioning between parks, as I did here. That makes the Lion seem much more attainable - Hiking in Shenandoah comes to mind. I could definitely setup 12 times in 24 hours and getting 5 contacts seems to come pretty quickly, even without a spot!

Right before this, I upgraded the WRC radial system BIG TIME. For the cost of a few bolts (3/8 24 fine, btw, not coarse) and some heat shrink (I think 1/2 inch), along with some adapters I already had (ring terminals, powerpole connectors) we've got the perfect system! Now able to run nine 32' radials, though they're currently twisted up into three. With this setup, when I feel like trying or need a resonant whip below 20m, it should be a real piece of cake and I actually noticed improved swr when they're bunched up together, compared to three solo wires - I read 1.17:1 on 14:242 by folding only one of the twisted pairs in half - could have probably done even better and probably had some directional activity as a result? Anyway, Powerpole connection makes for a much more manageable setup, with the lead being already connected and wrapped to the leg. Screw in the legs, pull out the radials, wound on sotabeams winders (each cluster of three radials) connect the powerpole and off we go!! Got the idea from this youtube video. Will include a pic of my version in a future activation.

Date: 2021-09-25
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 43

Good old Rock Creek Park - feels like home. People always seem excited to grab DC and I'm always excited to help them! I like pulling people out of the noise and I also hunt. Productive day. Another ND! Grabbed that one on 20m, the rest were on 40m.

Date: 2021-09-25
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-7975
Number of Contacts: 14

Awkward setup. I started worrying about time, so I just tailgated this one (though I WISH I had an actual tailgate and not my Civic; I was sitting on the corner of a curb, with the radio on one side and my self on the other) Didn't bother to explore the site. Will definitely come back to do so. Highlight was a contact with EA3HUY (running off the map in the pic) from “outside of Barcelona” which seems legit as hamdb.org put him in the middle of the ocean (the reason I didn't include it in the screenshot) Tough QSO, but was able to exchange info - he was running 400w, not sure if he believed I was only running 20w! :D

Maybe I'll be back to check it out on 10/2 - saw this banner on someones garage right outside the park:

Date: 2021-09-25
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0668
Number of Contacts: 11

Got KB9VBR again from K-4224. Otherwise, seemed like a pretty normal QSO map for this location - this EXACT location, probably down to a few feet. If I wasn't in/out, going for minimum and then moving on, I could have worked this park fairly easily. Conditions seemed good!

Date: 2021-09-25
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0334
Number of Contacts: 12

Beautiful space and very quiet. Will return here without the radio for sure. Driving in, I saw not only one, but three family of deer crossing the road - it's around a mile drive in. I just setup on a bench about a 1/4 mile into the first trail I saw, the first place that made sense. Was only shooting for ten contacts, excited to move on, but propagation seemed good from the spot I picked. Got my first LA contact N5HA. Also got an MA, and a WI.

Date: 2021-09-24
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-1596
Number of Contacts: 17
New park. There is a nice playground with a little zip line that the kiddo loved. She was actually pretty excited about exploring near the lake.. I'll have to remember to save more time for that next time (it was getting dark, so we only had around thirty minutes or so for that) I just assumed she wouldn't want to leave the playground!\

Anyway, a couple of interesting things about this activation -
First, there was this monster signal just blowing up my radio, like, in a way that made me worry about it. It was huge on the waterfall, it looked like FM, just massive. Needless to say, I avoided it, as even with the preamp off, one click up from silent, it was so loud that people would look over from the other side of the playground. I didn't even bother to listen, just avoided it, then it called me!! Turns out, it was another operator in the same park - KO4LLB - I guess my front end was overloaded, because even at 2w reportedly, it was just a ridiculous experience for me :} I forgot about the attenuate option.. that may have worked. Anyway, not sure if that counts as a park2park or how that goes, but I logged it!

Second, I was able to reach what seems to be the AZ/CA border - K6DAC - assuming he was at the QTH on file. Hard to pick up, it was about a 3/4 readability, but not even registering on the s-meter above the noise and phasing in and out a little. If this person was indeed at their registered QTH, this is officially the farthest I've gone to the west and it's an interesting 40m contact.

Third, the not so good. A creeper. The only way to describe this person sort of haunting me the whole time I was there.. Look, I like interacting with people when I activate, straight up. I like when people ask me what I'm doing and I like the opportunity to talk about my hobby! I do it quite a bit. I consider myself a friendly person. I say hi to everyone around me and/or wave or whatever. I do NOT like passive aggressive people, creeping around me, stalking me, etc. which is what I felt like this person was doing. Walking behind me, at just the right time,mid-contact, around three feet behind, so they could stare at my laptop.. standing behind me, that close, for around a minute or more. Then the “accidental” trampling of my ground radials, three times, once actually unplugging them and dragging them around ten/fifteen feet from my antenna - that last time caused me to say hello in a sort of confrontational way, like “Hey, how ya doin'? You doin' alright?” They said nothing… just smiled. WTF? Some people man.. I'm saying, I only started this summer, but I've already talked to probably a hundred people so far, families, individuals, groups, whatever. I'm approachable, I'm friendly, but don't creep on me man, that spooks me and makes me feel defensive. End rant.

Date: 2021-09-12
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0668
Number of Contacts: 27

Much better luck the second time with the WRC, though 40 was noisy as all get out, for the first hour, and some setting on my radio got messed up on 20m. Before that happened, my first QSO of the day was with N0BHR in ND (on 20m) at K-7703, so I figured my setup was working! Looking at the radiation pattern, based on the QSO map from the last time I was here, I'm not sure what to make of it. Could have been band conditions, I guess, or something funky with the wire antenna I ended up tossing immediately after.

Anyway, back to this activation: the next time I switched to 20m, the power meter was only reading around 3w out on tx, though power is set to 20w and was getting 21w peaks on 40m, minutes before. I checked repeatedly for swr, using the radio and analyzer, and turned up no issues really - 1.7/1 shouldn't cost me 17w, right?! Anyway, I'm sure something else is messed up and I'll figure that out.

Speaking of issues I attributed to the band but turned out to be operator error - I figured out why everyone was faint on the 9/10 activation below - I had the attenuation on (iknowbut) hey, I'm learning! :D The radio stores all the changes I make to the band I'm on, and I'm playing around with them quite a bit. Happy to figure out that portion of the radio though. It's a combination of the preamp/attenuation settings.

Hunted a few park stations, which was pretty tough work.

Worked a portable station based in Ontario - VE3ZSZ - we were both amazed with this connection, he reportedly was on a mountain top QRP.

Tried to work a massive European station, for around 15 minutes, before giving up. I started trying when he was around 230 and gave up around 290! He was really rocking it and had a steady pile up for at least 15 minutes and probably a lot longer after I gave up.

I then self spotted and racked up around 20 additional contacts in the last half hour. I was repeatedly spotted (thanks everyone!) which helped keep the momentum going.

Sadly, the kiddo was ready to go home at this point, but had a great time playing on her own around the swings and playground, until a spider scared her and she couldn't go back alone. Thankfully, that happened about an hour and a half in and iPad to the rescue for the remaining 45 minutes. It was also starting to get dark - though I would have probably stayed another hour myself.

Date: 2021-09-10
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 35

Another Rock Creek Park activation. Great two hours. My usual spot was taken, so, I drove a little farther into the park, making a slight sacrifice on elevation, but with a little more room to setup and a little less foot traffic. Hunted KB9VBR as my second QSO! Definitely on my wish list, as I'm a fan of his youtube channel. 20m wasn't working well for me, though I was definitely resonant according to my antenna analyzer, everyone seemed faint and in the noise. I messed with the filter a little and preamp settings but couldn't get any really clear sounding stations. I don't think I went for one contact on 20m. 40m on the other hand was just booming. I even managed a decent QSO with KP4YB in Puerto Rico! I got my first spot relatively quickly and got a pile up, respot, repeat, respot, pile up, and it would have just kept going.. I decided to wrap up after I talked to an older fellow riding a bike past who stopped to ask me what I was doing. Turns out he is a former operator (should have noted the callsigns he shared with me) who now works for NPR - Joe Palca. I of course tried to convince him to come back, using POTA as an example of the fun we're having. Wish we could have spent more time chatting!

Date: 2021-09-03
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-2737
Number of Contacts: 11

A few QSOs are missing from the map, where HAMRS couldn't find their state for some reason, but here it is.

Here's a quick collage of the setup - this was probably the best part of this activation - I found a nice shady spot, under this tree / in the bushes, to get the whole station in. Antenna, radials, etc. Super low key. No one would have even noticed me without the chatter! :D

Anyway, the xyl and kiddo were bugging me the whole time, even though I sacrificed a selfish trip I had planned to the Wright Brothers National Memorial, just up the street from the hotel, for this compromise where they could also “swim,” I was called off early, to stand around in the knee deep water for about an hour, talking to other parents. This was on the sound side of the strip, where one could walk 100 yards or more out and not experience any deeper water, though slightly bigger fish! Closer to the shore, they were the size of tiny minnows that would nip at the dead skin on the heel of my feet. Around 100 yards out, I noticed quite a few fish over 12“ long! I was not able to tell what kind of fish they were. Wasn't sure if I was even in salt water or fresh!

With regards to the activation, I hunted the whole time and all contacts were with folks at parks. That brings me to a good point - I'm only seeing seven (out of eleven) contacts showing up as P2P. Either they haven't submitted their logs or they haven't been processed, I guess. The other.. one guy was calling 'stroke 1' so I logged him as /1 but he submitted without the /1.. come on. Anyway, at this rate, I'm 5 p2p away from the park2park award and 1 new park away from gold hunter. Good times!

Date: 2021-08-29
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 19

Notes: Rock Creek Park again - I have a feeling I'll get a repeat offender award for this one. Lot's of back and forth between 20m and 40m hunting. There was a LOT of noise and crashing on 40m, then 20m was clogged up with “Kansas QSO Party” traffic, moving all over the band, running max power. I learned a lot about tuning the radio today, specifically manipulating the bandwidth to make the neighboring signals interfere slightly less (and that balancing act) and learned that my preamp works great until a strong signal comes in and then it's unbearably loud and is a real jolt! lol I experienced this a number of times trying to work a barely audible P2P when someone close by and/or with a lot of power replied to their CQ and my radio blared out louder than I thought it could ever get!! Snagged N2NWK at the mall for a twofer, with no problems reaching him this time (5/7 if I recall) - unlike my previous activation.

This was the first run for the Wolf River Coils Silver Bullet 1000 antenna and it turned out great. Not as much of a PITA to tune up, once I got the hang of it, and I got the hang of it after switching from 20 to 40 three or four times. Count the clicks and sort of remember where to spin the thing around to. I used the analyzer each time. Had pretty much the same range as the EFHW I had been using. Assuming I'm only really only limited by watts.

Almost connected with Idaho - he repeated the first part of my call before the connection faded. I tried several more times but could tell I had stopped getting above the noise floor - he was in and out too. I came back to try a few more times after with no good result. Not bad for only 20w! Pretty psyched about reaching Colorado (K0FYR) - that's the farthest west I've been so far! Also got into Canada (VE3PYJ).

This is the second time I picked up Spain on 20m from this location (crystal clear) but was running out of battery and was a bit too tired to fight through the pile up.

I think I'll start including these images of the QSO map with these posts. Not sure if I will be able to do this retroactively.

Date: 2021-08-15
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0668
Number of Contacts: 10

Notes: Tough time, this one. Brought the kiddo again and she had her fun on the playground, directly next to my picnic table setup, both setups, two different playgrounds. First, the park is in repair, so we had to park across the highway at a TGIF and 'hike' in - only around a 1/4 mile of road and trail - to a sort of strange scene. The park isn't very busy, as people can't drive into it, and it's slightly overgrown. It had a freshly abandoned feel!
We walked into a relatively large (empty) parking lot with a playground on either side, around three hundred yards or so apart. I got the station setup quickly, at the first chance, only to find very little action on 40m - I did hear some folks talking about poor conditions. I tried repeatedly to reach N2NWK on the National Mall who was sounding pretty faint, with no luck. I managed to eek out a couple contacts hunting, before deciding to reposition my antenna. I stayed in the same general area, just strung up the opposite direction (east/west) from another tree, to be met with the same issues. Faint signals, tough contacts. Decided to move to the other side of that parking lot (much to the delight of my child, who had a totally different playground now) and tried a couple of antenna positions there, with basically the same result. Shamefully spotted myself, just to make the last few contacts for a successful activation, and they were tough. Did manage to get a couple on 20m. Discovered some troubling swr on 40, it got sort of outrageous, though nothing noticeably changed and 20m was somehow unaffected - maybe the coax jumper? I noticed it was sort of awkwardly bent coming out of my radio at one point.. anyway, I got to ten contacts and called it a day. On taking down the antenna, I noticed some exposed copper and a lot of kinks in it, so I ended up tossing it with the trash from the day, after only getting it put up ten times or so - I blame myself, as I didn't wind it up properly. I just wrapped it around large sticks after each use :( I did order a nice sotabeams wire winder for my next EFHW antenna though. :)
Also just ordered the Silver Bullet 1000 (TIA kit with the mega tripod) from Wolf River Coils that I'm super excited to try out and take on vacation the week after next!!

Date: 2021-07-31
Park Link (pota.app): https://pota.app/#/park/K-0656
Number of Contacts: 29

Notes: Great first time! I had watched enough of these on youtube to sort of have an idea of what to expect, but was still very excited to have a small pile up after being spotted - nice rush! Brought the kiddo along and she hung in there with me for quite a while! From her cheerleading, while I tried (and failed/failed/failed) to get my paracord over a branch, to her repeating my callsign (and other things I was saying throughout) to shooting a little video of me with her ipad, after I thought she had become bored with it all. :D\\Spent around forty five minutes getting the antenna up and tuned - had to shorten two or three times.

All contacts were on 40m voice. Since it was just working, I didn't even bother to try another band.

NY, CT, NH (north/east) SC and GA (south/west) OH, IN, KY (west) - I was surprised by the radiation pattern and range with only 20w!

Also notable: Park ranger cam along, around half way through the adventure, asking me to take whatever that was out of the tree (guess he saw my neon yellow paracord hanging there)! I explained what I was doing - “I'm working with a group of amateur radio operators from around the country, for fun and also as a disaster communications exercise” (or something to that effect) and that it was only paracord and a very small wire (26g) that wouldn't hurt the tree. He asked if I had a permit.. maybe he was new.. he looked pretty young.. I told him I have a license to operate from the Federal Communications Commission! :D Anyway, he took my cell phone number and said he would check with his boss and let me know if there was a problem. I didn't hear back from him and continued to operate for another hour and a half, maybe his boss knows what ham radio is!