Author: Ed N2EC

I have been having a lot of fun this Summer exploring new parks while doing POTA activations that I otherwise may have never visited. I get a kick out of reaching new milestones on my POTA profile, getting new states, more parks, and more contacts. Discovering new and unexpected natural beauty is also its own reward. When I activated the Lumber River State Park in North Carolina on a whim while driving home from a visit to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I took a look at my list of states activated and was thinking about ways to add more to the list.

On the week of 7/25 my daughter didn’t have any Summer camps scheduled, so I decided to take the week off with her to go on camping trips and visit some amusement parks. The big question was “where to go”? We’ve always loved camping in Shenandoah National Park, but since I already activated it 3 times this year I went to the POTA web site and looked at other parks nearby. Just West of the VA/WV line I noticed a park that wasn’t too far from home, but was in a state I had never activated before: West Virginia. The park was Lost River State Park and after a quick look at the park’s web site I discovered that there were platform canvas tents available for rental and beautiful surroundings to be had. After consulting with my daughter I booked a tent and started to plan for our trip.

The plan was to get there Sunday afternoon, get situated, and spend two nights at the park. We left home during a heat wave where the heat index was in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. When we arrived at Lost River State Park, the temperatures were absolutely delightful. I don’t think it ever went above the low 80’s and in the evenings the temperatures must have been in the 60s. The accommodations were quite nice for camping, with a bed and a sturdy and waterproofed canvas tent. This would be important for this trip as it would rain for much of our time at the park. Also at the campsite was a fire pit, a picnic table, and a standing table where you could cook with a cook stove.

After getting situated we went up to the main park offices and saw the big pool, which was to close in just 15 minutes. We asked what time it opened on Monday, but were disappointed to hear that it was closed. No pool for us at this park while we were there. After getting a bag of ice from the camp store to help our electric cooler make it for the two days we would be off the grid, it became clear that there were not many people in the park on this day. We practically had the place to ourselves. There were some clouds threatening, and they made good on their threats with rain and thunderstorms scattered throughout our stay. Thankfully our tent was up for the task and my daughter had packed lots of books and games for us to enjoy in the tent. Many a game of Uno and Sushi Go was played, so even though the hikes we had planned had to be skipped, we still had a great time together.

Once the new Zulu day had started, I decided to set-up my station in the tent to try activating the park. This would prove to be quite challenging, for several reasons. Due muddy conditions and tall vegetation, I elected to use the Buddistick Pro for my antenna. Our tent was large enough for me to setup everything else inside, which was very convenient. Our campsite was right in the middle of a valley between two very tall and steep hillsides. I was concerned about how my signal would get out with the topography. One of the biggest challenges was that I was fully reliant on the integration with the Reverse Beacon Network for spotting. I had scheduled my activation well in advance of my trip, but I didn’t know what the cell service situation would be. Turns out, it was non-existent. Our phone (Verizon network) stopped working about a half hour before we made it to the park and we would not get a signal until we got back to Virginia after our stay. I hoped that the RBN integration would work, and my plan was to focus on CW, which would hopefully keep me near the top of the spots as I called CQ.

I decided to give 40m a try, given the time of day, and started calling CQ. After several minutes I got a response from a station near Atlanta and I thought to myself “Great, I’ve been spotted”. That was not the case — I should have asked the station to spot me. I continued calling CQ for nearly an hour and never got another call. Later I would look at the history on the RBN and would see that I had, in fact, been spotted on the RBN. So the integration with the POTA site must have been down (as sometimes happens). I was faced with the very real possibility that I might not be able to have a successful activation in West Virginia, after all. As darkness fell upon us, I decided to call it a night and see what the following day would bring.

The next day we made a great big breakfast with pancakes, eggs, bacon, and hot chocolate for my daughter and coffee for me. It was a delicious feast. We attended to camp chores and did a little exploring around our campsite. The weather wasn’t super cooperative, so we got in a lot of games and reading. While she read her books, I decided to give CW a go once again.

Once again, nothing. Not a single call. I had the one call the previous night, and knew it was down to Georgia … so I must be getting out a little, right? Call after call went unanswered and I was beginning to think I was in an RF black hole. I switched over to 20m. With CW still fruitless, I decided to make the digital hail Mary pass and see if I could save the activation with FT8 before my laptop’s batteries were depleted. I just needed to make 9 more contacts before the end of the Zulu day.

It was a slow start, but I eventually got a response from Wisconsin, then Virginia, Illinois, Georgia, Arkansas (Park to Park), Washington (state), Indiana, Michigan, and Ontario, Canada. 10 FT8 contacts in 46 minutes, a bit of a slog, but an activation saved nonetheless with 11 total contacts. I decided to leave well enough alone and skip doing a second activation in the park on the next Zulu day as I wasn’t sure I would have enough power to complete another digital activation with my laptop and rig batteries. Instead my we focused on playing more games and enjoying our camp by the creek. Mission accomplished.

Lost River State Park was beautiful and surprisingly remote for how close it is to the Washington, DC area. I would like to go back and explore the trails it has to offer when it is less rainy. Even with the soggy conditions, the cool temperatures and quiet solitude were delightful. We had a lot of fun. If I were to attempt activating the park again, I would either set up the station near the ranger station (which has free wifi), get one of the cabins (which have wifi), or make very sure the RBN functionality is working.

The following morning we packed everything up and headed east for our second park, another new one to us in Virginia.

Activation QSO Map: Blue Pins = FT8, Green Pins = CW / Green Lines = 40m, Blue Lines = 20m

Gear used in this activation

• Icom IC-705
• Buddipole Buddistick Pro Antenna
• LDG Z100 Plus
• RigExpert Stick Pro Antenna Analyzer
• CW Morse Pocket Double Paddle Morse Code Key with Magnets
• CW Morse Steel Base for Pocket Paddles
• Icom LC-192
• Bioenno 12V 6Ah LiFePO₄ Battery
• Sony Headphones
• Dell XPS 13 Laptop
• Rite in the Rain Notebook
• Zebra DelGuard Mechanical Pencil
• Jackery Explorer 500
• Hcalory 50L Portable Fridge/Freezer

Driving down to Leesylvania State Park and being turned away due to the park being closed for being at capacity was frustrating. I was really looking forward to activating the park and scouting out locations for multiple park activations. The next day it became clear that I could have some time to give it another try, so I left before Noon, picked up a sub from Subway for a lunch in the park, put it in my new electric cooler, and decided to give it another try. If it hit another roadblock I would continue South to reactivate Prince William Forest Park. It was a reasonably hot and humid day, but in the shade it was pleasant enough. I brought a small ocean of seltzer to provide refreshment in my cooler, so I planned on spending a good chunk of time of the park, if I could get in.

As I got to the entrance of the park the sign that had flashed at me the previous day was dark, and I was able to continue to the entrance station, show my state parks pass, and enter. I was in! I asked the ranger for a map and scrutinized the road system in the park and the parking lots. It was becoming clear that the 4-fer I had hoped for would require a significant hike-in. Also, the areas by the water and the trail didn’t have a lot of area to set up my station, so I decided to go for the 3-fer instead. I knew about the main parking area by the boat launch, but just before that I saw a turn-off to a car-top canoe launch and group campground. First I went by the group campground, but it wasn’t clear if it would be okay to operate there, and anyway, it wasn’t close enough to the water to get the other two parks. So I went to the canoe launch and parked at the last parking spot and got out to explore.

Immediately I saw an empty campground across from the canoe launch. I would later discover that the campsites were for campers who arrived by canoe. The reason they were empty was because in order to camp there, you have to canoe in from somewhere else. You can’t do an out and back from the state park. There aren’t a lot of options on that front. Later, I would talk to a ranger and he said he had only seen them occupied once. There is a part of me that would like to give it a go sometime — I just would need to figure out a place to start from.

Between the canoe launch and the campground was a picnic table that had a nice bit of shade and some good trees for getting an antenna in the air. I quickly got all my gear out and set up my station. The bands seemed to be in better shape than the day before and I was hearing a lot of stations. I decided I wanted to see how many bands I could get on the air as an impromptu challenge. At 1700Z I was off, starting out on 20m CW. At first it was a bit of a slow-burn, but in time the rate picked up. Contacts came in from Michigan, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Texas. After a bit of a lull, I decided to go onto the second band of the day: 40m. The contacts started rolling in from Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Indiana. After another lull it was off to 30m to make contacts with Tennessee, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Utah, Missouri, and Illinois. After another lull, I switched to the 17m band and made contact with Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, and Texas.

Next it was up to the 15m band where I had contacts with Kansas, Texas, Mississippi, California (!), and Arizona — amazing. That California contact was in the Los Angeles area, so truly a coast-to-coast affair. I gave 12m a try, but had no luck. Then I went to 10m, and my CW calls went unanswered. Curious if the band was just dead I tuned to the FT8 frequency and heard signals, so I decided to hook up the laptop and give it a go. I heard a few stations from South America, and after several attempts I was able to make a contact with a station in Venezuela! Another band in the log. I tried FT8 on 12, but still no luck, so I was thinking what other bands could I do?

Looking on the spots, I saw a station on CW on 60m. Even though my end-fed half wave is 40-10, I decided to see if my tuner could tune up on one of the 60m channels. Sure enough, it could. I could not hear that station calling CQ, but I hopped to another channel on 60 and started calling CQ myself. Pretty quickly I got a contact with a station in Ohio. Another band in the logs. Quickly I started to hear multiple other stations calling me, but I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. A truck had pulled up by my operating location and a park ranger was walking out, waving at me. I had to leave those stations hanging (sorry if you were one of them) and talk to the ranger.

He introduced himself and said he remembered me from the day before. When we had been turned away I had mentioned our intent to operate a special event, and the park manager who he had been with mentioned that if we had a special use permit, we would have been let in, even if the park was closed. The ranger asked me if I had acquired the special use permit, and what the process was like. I told him that I had interpreted what the park manager had said was optional and a way to ensure access, not a requirement for being there. I explained what I was doing and showed him the setup. He seemed genuinely interested and he told me that as far as he was concerned what I was doing was fine and that I was likely the “least problematic person in the park today”. We talked about the park, and I found out that the park regularly closes on weekends due to capacity issues, it wasn’t a one-off. In fact, I was lucky to get in when I did as it is often full by the time I entered.

Evidently, there was a person who was there when the gates opened in the morning (officially at 6, but in practice at 5) who had arrived at midnight and slept in his car to be the first one in the park. He said he was going to report back to the park manager what we had discussed, but that he didn’t see there being any problems. I told him I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing and was happy to change what I was doing if there were any issues. He never came back, so everything must have been all good. The ranger was a really nice guy and it was interesting learning more about the park and what it has to offer.

I decided to re-spot on 60m and see what else I could work and made contact with Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina. Having done a full run of the bands, I decided to switch over to SSB on 40m to see what I could do and made contact with Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Indiana, North Carolina, New Jersey, Tennessee, South Carolina, Ohio, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maryland, Michigan, Connecticut, Ontario (Canada), and Georgia. Quite the run. Since the band was working so well, I decided to give CW another go on 40m and worked Connecticut, South Carolina, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, and Florida.

Next I gave a try to 20m, and got a contact with Texas. Then I gave 30m a go and contacted Illinois. Finally, I went back to 40m CW and had one last run contacting Kentucky, Wisconsin, Virginia, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, New York, Ohio, West Virginia, and finally North Carolina. I would have kept going … but a storm was moving in and the previously still air became a stormy blast of air that quickly dropped in temperature as dark clouds moved toward me. With those huge wind gusts I worked to disconnect my radio and get the electronics protected and then got the antenna down as fast as I could and drove over the car so I could quickly load everything. I lucked out — there were a few rain drops visible on the car windshield, but while in the park the soaking rains never came. I got everything loaded, made sure to leave the area cleaner than I found it, and then drove off from my beautiful operating site. I did a loop of the park to explore a bit before heading home. I definitely want to come back and hike some of the trails, and I would love to operate from the same location again. It was wonderful

This was by far my most successful activation to date. In total I made 108 contacts on 7 bands (60m, 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 10m) in 3 countries and 2 continents with 69 on CW, 38 on SSB, and 1 on FT8. Since it was a 3-fer those count for 324 contacts, 207 CW, and 3 FT8. I also made quite a few Park to Park contacts on this outing, including one with a 2-fer that counted for 6 contacts in one QSO. In all, I was on the air for 5 hours and 23 minutes and had a whole lot of fun.

Activation QSO Map: Red Pins = SSB, Green Pins = CW, Blue Pins = FT8 / Black Lines = 60m, Green Lines = 40m, Orange Lines = 30m, Blue Lines = 20m, Purple Lines = 17m, Cyan Lines = 15m, Yellow Lines = 10m

Gear used in this activation

• Icom IC-705
• MFJ 1984 MP End-Fed Half Wave Antenna
• LDG Z100 Plus
• CW Morse Pocket Double Paddle Morse Code Key with Magnets
• CW Morse Steel Base for Pocket Paddles
• RigExpert Stick Pro Antenna Analyzer
• Icom LC-192
• Bioenno 12V 6Ah LiFePO₄ Battery
• Sony Headphones
• Dell XPS 13 Laptop
• Rite in the Rain Notebook
• Zebra DelGuard Mechanical Pencil
• Jackery Explorer 500
• Hcalory 50L Portable Fridge/Freezer

The weekend of July 16-17, 2022 was the Summer Support Your Parks Weekend for Parks on the Air as well as the annual Plaque Event. What that means is that there are extra awards to be awarded, and a a result, a lot more parks (and hunters) on the air than usual. Support Your Parks Weekends happen quarterly, but the Plaque Event happens only during the Summer Support Your Parks Weekend and gives you a chance to get a plaque in various different categories. I was not aiming for any plaques with my QRP setup, however, I definitely wanted to get on the air in some parks during the special event.

I was nearing the next award level with individual parks activated, so I wanted to see if I could activate a new (to me) park over the weekend. I had not activated Leesylvania State Park yet, and looking at maps it appeared that not only would it be a new park, but depending on where in the park I set up my station it could be a 3-fer or a 4-fer, so all those contacts would be multiplied by 3 or 4. This was exciting, and I reached out to my buddy Gersohn, KO4IUK, to see if he was interested in joining me. He was, so I found some time for us to meet up after the birthday party of my daughter’s friend. I picked up Gersohn, we drove down to the park, and came upon a road block. The park was closed due to being at capacity. I did not see that one coming.

The Rolling Stones had a song about this … you can’t always get what you want … We had to think quickly for a plan B. We were just a few miles from where I had activated the previous Sunday, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I wouldn’t get a new park on the map, but we could still have a lot of fun, so we headed to the NWR and almost had the place entirely to ourselves.

We ended up setting up under the shelter that I operated next to the previous week and since there was only one good tree to use, I elected to use the Buddistick Pro for my antenna while Gersohn used his end-fed half wave over the tree and tied off to my car. We situated our antennas as far away from each other as we could, and for the first time we didn’t interfere with each other’s reception, even though he was running a full 100W.

In addition to using our radios, I was also trying out a new bit of gear that added a bit of luxury to our operation. I had picked up a 50 L electric cooler from Hcalory that runs off 12V power for a deep discount online. My intent was to run it through its paces and see how long it would run with my Jackery Explorer 500 (which has about 500 Wh of battery). I had it loaded with some ice cold seltzers and Gersohn put in his water to keep it cold. Having cold drinks on a hot day was quite the luxury. After 10 hours on the Jackery it still had 75% of its power remaining. I’m looking forward to using it more in the field for activations, for car camping trips, and for long car trips as well. So far it has been working very well.

But we weren’t there just to drink cold drinks in the shade. We were there to make some contacts. I set my Buddistick Pro up on 20m and Gersohn started on 40. I started on CW and gave myself a self-spot and I was off. Contacts came in from Minnesota, Florida, New York, Ohio, Missouri, Michigan, Arkansas, Texas, Kansas, Alabama, Illinois, and Oklahoma. I decided to give SSB a try and made contacts with Oklahoma, Ohio, and Ontario (Canada). After things dried up on SSB I went back to CW for a couple contacts with Florida and Illinois before the winds picked up and the skies darkened and distant lightning threatened our activation.

We decided to break down the station after about 2:39 on the air to get ahead of the weather. All told I made 28 contacts (23 CW, 2 FM, and 3 SSB). Once we got everything packed away, we decided to take advantage of being in the park together and made two Park to Park contacts from the same park on 2m and 70cm.

We celebrated another fun activation together with dinner at the Bar J Chili Parlor in nearby Occoquan and another joint activation was in the books. Activating with Gersohn is always fun and it was great that we weren’t interfering with eachother’s stations. I’m not sure if it was the antennas chosen or the distance between them (or both), but it was a great time.

Activation QSO Map: Red Pins = SSB, Green Pins = CW / Blue Lines = 20m, Yellow Lines = 2m/70cm

Gear used in this activation

• Icom IC-705
• Buddipole Buddistick Pro Antenna
• LDG Z100 Plus
• RigExpert Stick Pro Antenna Analyzer
• CW Morse Pocket Double Paddle Morse Code Key with Magnets
• CW Morse Steel Base for Pocket Paddles
• Icom LC-192
• Bioenno 12V 6Ah LiFePO₄ Battery
• Sony Headphones
• Dell XPS 13 Laptop
• Rite in the Rain Notebook
• Zebra DelGuard Mechanical Pencil
• Jackery Explorer 500
• Hcalory 50L Portable Fridge/Freezer

The day after I returned from my vacation in South Carolina we were having a particularly pleasant day in Northern Virginia (especially when compared to the humid swelter of South Carolina). I saw myself nearing 20 distinct parks activated on the POTA web site and was in the mood to spend some quality time outside. The family was enjoying a rest day after the travel of the previous day, so I decided to explore a new-to-me park less than a half hour from where I live.

The Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge sits across Belmont Bay from the first park I ever activated, Mason Neck State Park. The NWR is tucked on the Northeast corner of Woodbridge, Virginia and is a densely vegetated 642 acre refuge for wildlife near the confluence of the Potomac and Occoquan rivers. There are 4 miles of trails through wetland areas and along the banks of the Occoquan. Within 100 feet of the river the activation would be a two-fer with the Captain James Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, so I decided to hike on the trail before the activation to scout for a potential operating position near the water. Unfortunately, there weren’t many good places to operate since the vegetation was fairly dense along the trail and I didn’t want to be blocking part of the trail to activate.

I did find one potential location at a point jutting out into the river, but I would have had to bring in my table and equipment nearly a mile and it was getting hotter, so I decided to loop back to my starting point and set-up near a pavilion (but not in it, as it was already being enjoyed by other visitors). One park was just fine for me.

I assembled my table in front of a bench behind a tree so that I would not be in anyone’s way and used my arborist throw line to get my end fed half wave up and over the top of the tree. I was actually able to tie off the end of the line to my antenna to my car, which was quite convenient. Using that trick the line was out of the way of other visitors and I was able to get a nice slope on the antenna.

I decided to start the fun on 20m CW. I have been finding in my last few activations that the RBN spotting for POTA has been a bit (pardon the pun) spotty. So after it became clear it wasn’t picking me up I spotted manually and I was off. My first contact was with Wisconsin, then Texas, New York, Alabama, Tennessee, Colorado, Florida, and Kentucky. Then I gave 20m SSB a go and made a contact with Kentucky and then the contacts dried up. So I switched over to 40m SSB and made a contact with Connecticut and then had a bit of silence again. I moved down to the CW portion of the band and made contact with Maine, Ohio, North Carolina, New Jersey, and Ohio.

After another lull in contacts, I made a move to the 30m band and had contacts with Illinois, North Carolina, Ontario (Canada), and Missouri. Hopping to yet another band I gave 17m a try, but got no replies, so I went to 15m and made a contact with a station in Arkansas. I gave 12m and 10m a go, but didn’t get any takers, so I went back to 20m to hunt some Park to Park contacts and call CQ as well. Calling CQ I made contact with Oklahoma and Wisconsin. With Park to Park contacts I contacted parks in Nova Scotia (Canada) and a pair of activators in Wisconsin. Next I went for a CW Park to Park contact with a station in Ohio.

Next I decided to give calling CQ on SSB another go on 20 and my first contact was a Park to Park in Delaware (although as of this writing, he hasn’t posted his logs yet). That contact was followed with contacts in Ohio, New Jersey, Virginia, and North Carolina.

With my cache of cold drinks nearly depleted and 36 contacts in the log (24 CW and 12 SSB) I decided to call it an activation and head back home. I am glad that I decided to visit the Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, it is a hidden gem right in my back yard. Once you’re inside the refuge, it is easy to forget you’re adjacent to considerable suburban sprawl and get lost in this green oasis for wildlife. The activation was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed being able to linger for a while and explore different bands.

The picture above shows the pavilion by the parking lot that could be used for future activations. My operating position was behind the tree that is next to it.

Activation QSO Map: Red Pins = SSB, Green Pins = CW / Green Lines = 40m, Orange Lines = 30m, Blue Lines = 20m, Cyan Lines = 15m

Gear used in this activation

• Icom IC-705
• MFJ 1984 MP End-Fed Half Wave Antenna
• LDG Z100 Plus
• CW Morse Pocket Double Paddle Morse Code Key with Magnets
• CW Morse Steel Base for Pocket Paddles
• RigExpert Stick Pro Antenna Analyzer
• Icom LC-192
• Bioenno 12V 6Ah LiFePO₄ Battery
• Sony Headphones
• Dell XPS 13 Laptop
• Rite in the Rain Notebook
• Zebra DelGuard Mechanical Pencil

I have to be honest — POTA can be addictive. The operating part is a lot of fun, of course. The deployment of the equipment can be a fun challenge, where you have to make snap decisions about where to operate, which antenna to use, and where to deploy it. The logistics of planning and researching an activation can be a blast, especially when you can find places that exist in multiple parks at once. And actually visiting all these beautiful places is incredibly rewarding in itself. But even apart from the actual activation, the POTA web site turns the whole thing into a game where you’re competing against yourself, gaining awards, and deciding what challenges you’d like to pursue. So, while in South Carolina, I was looking at the number of states I had activated parks and saw that I had already activated in 5 of them (Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia [not technically a state, but I’m counting it since POTA does], Florida, and South Carolina). I had already been planning on ways to venture out into other states, and it occurred to me … I was about to drive back home through the state of North Carolina. I had not activated that state yet.

A quick look through the POTA park map and I realized there were some options not too far off my route going home. Closest to the route was a fishing lake just off I-95, but as I researched it, it didn’t really appear to be suited for it. It was undergoing some construction and didn’t really have any picnic facilities for me and my family to use during the activation. I had my folding table and chair with me, but didn’t have enough for the three of us. Looking further I noticed the Lumber River State Park just South of Lumberton, NC. It wasn’t too far from where we usually rejoined Interstate 95 and looked to be a pleasant little park that was free to visit and had picnic facilities. After consulting with the family, a plan was hatched. We would leave for the Lumber River State Park, make a quick activation, and then continue on home.

The park itself has two main access areas along the Lumber River which facilitate taking journeys down the river aboard a kayak or canoe. We decided to drive to the Princess Ann access area and were greeted by a sylvan setting that immediately took you past an office by the entrance, past a pavilion, and down to the river itself. There was a boat launch, some seating alongside the river, and a few primitive campsites that were available by the riverside.

I decided to setup under the large pavilion which was surrounded by trees suitable for the deployment of my end fed half wave antenna. The park was mostly empty, with the exception of a few park employees who were driving around. It was nice to be able to set-up in the shade of the pavilion and I was able to get the antenna in the air and the station on the air in short order. I started on 20m and my daughter assisted in calling CQ. Initially we got two contacts in quick succession with Pennsylvania and Mississippi and then things slowed down quite a bit. In the end we got two more SSB contacts with Indiana and Michigan. It was lunch time, stomachs were grumbling, and we still had many hours of driving ahead of us, so I broke out my trusty morse code paddle and moved down to the CW portion of the band and started calling CQ.

Once I got my spot into the network I started getting replies from New York, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, Idaho, Illinois, West Virginia, a trio of Texans, and finally a station in Nebraska. I was impressed that my signal got as far as Idaho. It definitely was the distance winner on this day, reaching nearly across the entire country. My activation had been made and then some with 15 contacts (4 SSB, 11 CW) in just 39 minutes. Since we had a long way to go, I quickly packed up the station and took a stop by the banks of the Lumber River to see some of the beauty the park had to offer.

It would have been a nice spot for a hike if we had more time. Even on our abbreviated schedule it was nice to take in the views from the banks of the Lumber River. With a quick activation another state was in the books, bringing my grand total to 6. If all goes well, another one should be added later this month. We were able to grab a quick lunch in Lumberton and then made our way back home, arriving home before dark. It was nice to be able to break up the long drive with an activation to stretch my legs and have some fun amidst the monotony of the road. It was definitely worth the stop.

Activation QSO Map: Red Pins = SSB, Green Pins = CW / Blue Lines = 20m

Gear used in this activation

• Icom IC-705
• MFJ 1984 MP End-Fed Half Wave Antenna
• LDG Z100 Plus
• CW Morse Pocket Double Paddle Morse Code Key with Magnets
• CW Morse Steel Base for Pocket Paddles
• RigExpert Stick Pro Antenna Analyzer
• Icom LC-192
• Bioenno 12V 6Ah LiFePO₄ Battery
• Sony Headphones
• Dell XPS 13 Laptop
• Rite in the Rain Notebook
• Zebra DelGuard Mechanical Pencil

Just one day after my successful activation of Huntington Beach State Park we took a trip just up the road to Myrtle Beach State Park for some time at the beach and fun on the air. As soon as you pull off of US-17 Business at the park entrance you’re taken through a dense forested drive that winds around until you emerge in a parking lot just behind the dunes that protect the beach. It was a bit busier than it was over at Huntington Beach State Park, so we went South along the drive that parallels the beach until we found a parking spot near the beach access. Conveniently, a sizable covered pavilion was near where we had parked our car, so we had a great spot to eat the picnic lunch we had brought with us. It was also a great spot to be able to activate the park in the shade. A short walk from the pavilion was a bathroom facility with changing rooms.

The area around the pavilion was fenced off, so getting a line up into the trees was not going to be an easy proposition. Thankfully, I brought my Buddistick Pro with me, so I was able to set it up just outside the pavilion with the vertical and radials out of the way of passers-by. I was able to get everything up and running pretty quickly on 20m and my daughter helped me call CQ for a few contacts.

The first contact on SSB was from Florida, followed by Indiana, Arkansas, and Kentucky. After some initial success things slowed on SSB, so my family headed to the beach for some time in the sun and sand and I shifted down to the CW portion of the band to see what I could do with my paddle.

Conditions may not have been fantastic this day, but I made up for it with persistence. I made contacts via CW with North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Tennessee, Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas (a Park to Park contact), Iowa, two more Texas contacts, Illinois, West Virginia, and a Park to Park with Colorado. Finally, I looked at the spots and decided to hunt for whatever Park to Park stations I could find and ended up getting one on SSB in Ohio.

With 16 CW contacts, 5 SSB, and 3 Park to Parks for a total of 21, I decided to call it an activation and join the family on the beach. Not the highest QSO count, but still a lot of fun. After breaking down the station and changing into my swim trunks, I went into the water with my daughter. Although the surf was a bit rough, we had a lot of fun cooling off in the cool waters of the Atlantic.

One thing of note: this park, like Huntington Beach to the South can be closed if the parking lots fill up (we experienced that on a weekend day going to Huntington), so if you’re going to activate on a weekend, you may want to get in early. That said, with the shelter and facilities, this is a fun place for an activation and a swim.

Activation QSO Map: Red Pins = SSB, Green Pins = CW / Blue Lines = 20m

Gear used in this activation

• Icom IC-705
• Buddipole Buddistick Pro Antenna
• LDG Z100 Plus
• RigExpert Stick Pro Antenna Analyzer
• CW Morse Pocket Double Paddle Morse Code Key with Magnets
• CW Morse Steel Base for Pocket Paddles
• Icom LC-192
• Bioenno 12V 6Ah LiFePO₄ Battery
• Sony Headphones
• Dell XPS 13 Laptop
• Rite in the Rain Notebook
• Zebra DelGuard Mechanical Pencil

The first week of July I went down to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with the family to visit my mother. I brought my portable radio setup and planned on getting a few activations in while on the trip. The first park we decided to visit was Huntington Beach State Park, just South of Myrtle Beach near Murrell’s Inlet. The park was derived from 2,500 acres of property owned by Anna Hyatt Huntington and Archer Huntington. The park also has their castle, Atalaya.

Anna Hyatt Huntington was a sculptor of renown who was afflicted by tuberculosis. Atalaya was built as a warm weather retreat for her by the sea during the depression in the hopes of ameliorating her condition. The castle is large and sprawls around a central courtyard. The North side of the castle has the support structures housing the staff and the kitchen, while the South side has the rooms that were occupied by the Huntington family. They intentionally built it without guest rooms, as they did not want to entertain guests while at Atalaya. The ocean is a short walk away from the castle and the waves can be heard gently rolling in from inside the house which is currently open to the outside air without windows. The park itself is across US-17 from Brookgreen Gardens which was also owned by the Huntington family and is definitely worth a visit (we went later in the week).

One thing of note: on weekends this park can fill its parking lot to capacity and be closed to additional visitors. This happened to us over the weekend, so we had to come back during the week. If you’re looking to activate over the weekend, you may want to get there early.

In addition to Atalaya Castle, the park has a beautiful beach on the Atlantic with white sand that was mostly empty the day we visited.

After touring Atalaya I found a nice shady spot under some trees beside the castle and set up my station. Since I had trees available, I decided to use my MFJ 1984 MP End-Fed Half Wave antenna and used my arborist throwline kit to get it up in a tree. I started the activation on 20m SSB and after a slow start made contact with Texas, Maine, Florida, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, New York, and Minnesota. Things slowed down and I decided to drop down to the CW portion of the band and made contact with Maryland, Puerto Rico, Ohio, New Jersey, Tennessee, Alabama, Kansas, Texas, Arizona, and Ontario, Canada. After another slow down I decided to take advantage of the frequency agility of the antenna and move over to 30m making contacts with Maryland, Alabama, and Ohio. After another dry spell I moved over to 17m and made contacts with Alabama and Florida. After another period of calling CQ into the void, I went over to 40m and made contact with Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Virginia.

After she had done some exploring around the park, I was rejoined by my daughter who wanted to join me on the mic and call CQ for a bit. Together we worked 40m SSB and made contact with North Carolina, Maryland, Kentucky, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Virginia.

She did a great job on the mic and the hunters were extra friendly when they heard her voice. She had a lot of fun and so did I. One of the things I love about Parks on the Air is the kind and collegial manner in which activators and hunters interact. Hearing a young girl on the air, everyone was so kind and did everything they could to make it a great experience. The POTA hunters are a great group of operators. All told we made 43 contacts with 27 on CW and 16 on SSB including 2 Park to Park QSOs. A very successful activation on 10W.

After breaking down the station we walked on the beach for a bit and Caitlin enjoyed running through the waves on the beautiful white sand beach.

Activation QSO Map: Red Pins = SSB, Green Pins = CW / Green Lines = 40m, Orange Lines = 30m, Blue Lines = 20m, Purple Lines = 17m, Cyan Lines = 15m

Gear used in this activation

• Icom IC-705
• MFJ 1984 MP End-Fed Half Wave Antenna
• LDG Z100 Plus
• CW Morse Pocket Double Paddle Morse Code Key with Magnets
• CW Morse Steel Base for Pocket Paddles
• RigExpert Stick Pro Antenna Analyzer
• Icom LC-192
• Bioenno 12V 6Ah LiFePO₄ Battery
• Sony Headphones
• Dell XPS 13 Laptop
• Rite in the Rain Notebook
• Zebra DelGuard Mechanical Pencil

After the four-fer earlier in the week, I was energized and eager to get back out in the field and see what I could do. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long this time. In fact, technically, it was the next Zulu day. My daughter has a sleep-away camp scheduled for later in the Summer in the Shenandoah valley and they were having an open house so that parents and campers could see what is in store. We decided to make the nearly 3 hour trek down to the campground and then backtrack for a three day, two night stay at Skyland Resort inside Shenandoah National Park. The open house was fantastic — I wish I was able to go to this camp! My daughter was excited too. We ended up spending most of the day there exploring all the different campsites and facilities. We got to shoot a slingshot, see the archery grounds, and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. When we headed back to our car we saw that it was getting close to the end of the Zulu day. We made our way to Shenandoah National Park’s Swift Run Gap entrance and headed North on the Skyline drive in search of a place to get in a quick activation.

Just up the drive from the entrance station was South River Picnic Grounds. When I got out of the car I noticed it was surprisingly chilly, so I put on a jacket and got started setting up. I got my gear onto a picnic table by a grand old tree and tossed my line up to a high branch to pull up my MFJ 1984 MP End Fed Half Half Wave antenna. I was up and running pretty quickly and decided to start with CW on 20m, but heard nothing but crickets. I then called CQ on 40m and started getting answers. My cell phone was not working, so I was completely reliant on the Reverse Beacon Network to hear me and to report me on the spots. I got replies from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan. Then nothing for several minutes. I had 7 contacts and I had less than an hour to make 3 more to have a valid activation, so I decided to fall back on FT8 to save the day and in short order I had 5 more contacts from Georgia, Arkansas, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania. 12 contacts in 49 minutes — longer than I had hoped, but it worked. With the first activation validated, I quickly broke down the station and we made our way to dinner at Big Meadows Lodge as everyone in our crew was quite hungry.

6/18/2022 Activation QSO Map: Green Pins = CW, Blue Pins = Digital / Green Lines = 40m

After dinner we checked-in to our accommodations further up the drive at Skyland Lodge. It was already dark, and we quickly unloaded our car and got situated in our room. Although we could only see the lights in the valley below that night, our room had a commanding view. After everyone else was ready to retire for the evening, I set up my station on the balcony our room had. I didn’t want to mess with shooting my wires up into the trees at night, so I decided to use the pole I use for my Buddistick Pro to keep the antenna off the ground, albeit not very far. I doubled up on jackets as the temperatures were going down into the lower 40s and got out my paddle and started calling CQ. At 2:32Z I got my first call and the calls kept coming. Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire answered my calls on 40, 30, and 20m. In all I got 20 contacts in 1:09 of operating during the late shift. I had a few times where my sending was not the best due to cold fingers, but I had a lot of fun. With more than double the amount of contacts needed for a complete activation in the books and the midnight hour fast approaching, I decided to call it a night.

6/19/2022 Activation QSO Map A (0:00-4:00Z): Green Pins = CW, Green Lines = 40m, Orange Lines = 30m, Blue Lines = 20m

The following morning we got up and had breakfast up at the lodge and enjoyed the beautiful blue skies and a bit of a chill in the air. We got back to the room for a little after breakfast break and I made a handful of contacts doing a little hunting on 40 and 20 CW and SSB along with some calling CQ. After getting 5 more contacts we decided it was time to go for a hike and opted for a quick trip up to Stony Man Summit as a family. The hike from the trailhead was 1.71 miles according to my Strava app with 297 feet of elevation gain. The view from the summit at 4,011 feet was spectacular. We were surprised to find that the puddles in some of the rocks at that elevation had what appeared to be tadpoles in them. Life definitely finds a way, even on the summit of a mountain. We savored the views for a bit before heading back down to the trailhead.

After our hike we made our way back to the hotel and I also got my antenna higher up into a tree using my throw line kit. I decided to give 20m a go on CW and made 8 contacts in quick succession, then I decided to head over to 40m where I got another 11 quick contacts. After a 50 minute operating break I decided it was time to give SSB a try, so I got onto 40m, found a clear frequency, and had an absolute blast. Very quickly I got into a rhythm and was having fun with the ensuing pileup. When the dust cleared I had 38 contacts in 49 minutes on SSB. With 50 minutes left in the Zulu day we decided to get some dinner up at Skyland Lodge. For the non-late shift part of the activation I was able to work stations in Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Ontario (Canada), Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Delaware, New Jersey, and Virginia.

6/19/2022 Activation QSO Map B (4:00-23:59Z): Green Pins = CW, Red Pins = SSB, Green Lines = 40m, Blue Lines = 20m

After dinner we made it back down to our hotel for the evening and I got back on the air at 1:19Z on 40m SSB. Almost immediately I got a bunch of hunters responding to my CQ. I got 28 SSB contacts in 27 minutes before deciding to make the switch over to CW. On CW I hunted a Park to Park and then set up shop calling CQ. I ended up making 24 more contacts while calling CQ in 39 minutes and then I called it an activation to get some sleep. In all my second late shift of the trip had 53 contacts (28 SSB and 25 CW) with Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Ontario (Canada), Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Michigan, Minnesota, Kansas, and Illinois. Not bad for 1:17 on the air!

6/20/2022 Activation QSO Map: Green Pins = CW, Red Pins = SSB / Green Lines = 40m

I had an absolutely wonderful time up in Shenandoah National Park with my family and was very pleased with all three activations and two late shifts during my time on the mountain. In total I was able to make 147 contacts over 3 Zulu days in the park — 75 CW, 67 SSB, and 5 FT8. Operating from the hotel balcony inside the park was a wonderful treat, and the South River Picnic Grounds had their charms, too. The QSO map for the entire trip is down below.

Entire Trip QSO Map (6/18/2022-6/20/2022): Red Pins = SSB, Green Pins = CW, Blue Pins = FT8 / Green Lines = 40m, Orange Lines = 30m, Blue Lines = 20m

Gear used in this activation

• Icom IC-705
• MFJ 1984 MP End-Fed Half Wave Antenna
• LDG Z100 Plus
• CW Morse Pocket Double Paddle Morse Code Key with Magnets
• CW Morse Steel Base for Pocket Paddles
• RigExpert Stick Pro Antenna Analyzer
• Icom LC-192
• Bioenno 12V 6Ah LiFePO₄ Battery
• Sony Headphones
• Dell XPS 13 Laptop
• Camp Chef Mesa Folding Aluminum Table
• Rite in the Rain Notebook
• Zebra DelGuard Mechanical Pencil
• Fellow Carter Move Mug (12 oz … for coffee)

Life has been busy of late and it had been a few weeks since I was able to get out into the field and activate a park. My schedule on the weekends has been completely filled, so when my buddy Gersohn mentioned doing an activation together, I had to get creative. Ever since my Fairy Stone State Park activation, I wanted to get in another Late Shift. I also have been spending some time learning about the park boundaries in my area and exploring the possibilities when it comes to multiple activations. I’ve gotten more familiar with the National Park Service web site and the mapping features therein. Through that exploration I’ve come to realize that there are a lot of overlapping and adjacent parks in the DC metropolitan area. Some of these overlaps are difficult to access, but I found a few places that have 4 parks in one location that don’t involve climbing through forests of poison ivy.

How is this possible? Well, in addition to the traditional idea we all have of a park with specific boundaries, the NPS also designates several National Historic Trails and National Scenic Trails. Some of these are on land, while others are on the water. Some are on both. The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail is a water-based trail that covers much of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, including much of the Potomac River. Since operating on a trail is generally bad form (you don’t want to block a trail with your gear … and operating on the water can be a challenge) you’re allowed to claim a trail as long as you’re within 100 feet of it. So for the Captain John Smith Chesapeake NHT, if you’re within 100 feet of the Potomac where it goes, you’re able to claim it. The Star Spangled Banner National Scenic Trail has portions that are on roads and others that are on waterways. North of Alexandria City it largely follows the George Washington Memorial Parkway and South of Alexandria it follows the Potomac River for a while. Finally, the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail has many disjoint sections on the map. There are proper trails, as well as trail spurs that are disconnected.

I found a couple locations where all of these parks coincided within the rules of POTA and got excited for the possibilities. The last thing I had to do was look at operating hours, if I wanted to do a late shift. Many of the parks are closed at dusk, which isn’t great for a late shift, even as we approach the longest days of the year. I discovered that the parking lot by the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove in DC was open until 10 PM and was walking distance to the spot on the other side of the humpback bridge where the 3 trails and the George Washington Memorial Parkway overlapped.

We had a plan. After work we could get to the spot around 6-6:30, get our activation for day 1, keep operating past 8:00 for day 2 (the next Zulu day) and get a second activation and a late shift. With 4 parks in two “days”, that’s 8 activations in about 3 hours in the field. Gersohn and I were excited and got our gear together ready to hit the park. Then this happened:

The weather situation was not looking good. That mass of red, orange, and lightning bolts was hurtling toward our operating position right as we were about to depart. We decided to go anyway and make a last minute call when we got to the LBJ Memorial Grove parking lot. If the weather would render our activation unsafe we could go into the marina area and get a bite to eat while we waited out the maelstrom. Thankfully, the weather gods were with us and the bad weather went just South of where we were to operate. No rain, and the lightning was safely to our South. The activation was a go.

Gersohn had a brand new cart to help bring my camp table and some of our bulkier gear. Being at a 4 park nexus meant we had no picnic tables at our disposal. We had to pack it all in and then pack it all out. Once we found a flat spot within 100 feet of the water and 100 feet of the roadway we set up our table and radios and then got our antennas in the air. I used my arborist throw-line and Gersohn use an air cannon he had built specifically for the purpose. Traffic had pushed us closer to the end of the Zulu day than I had hoped, so I got my station up as quickly as I could, plugged in my CW paddles, tuned to 7.050 MHz and started calling CQ POTA.

I didn’t have to wait long. One after another they came, sometimes piling up. I didn’t really get any breaks for about an hour and a half, and even then it was only long enough to take a sip of my water and catch my breath. So much fun. My calls were answered from New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio, New Hampshire, Delaware, Kentucky, Florida, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New York, Illinois, Oklahoma, Ontario (Canada), Kansas, South Carolina, Missouri, Tennessee, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Minnesota, Texas, and Puerto Rico. In all, 68 contacts, a new record for me (although, it was technically split over two activations …). The signal reports I was getting were fantastic, mostly 559-599 with a few fringe reports coming in as well. It never ceases to amaze me what’s possible with 10 Watts and a bit of wire. Although the prior activation saw my first time having enough CW contacts to make a valid activation, it was mixed-mode. This activation was entirely in CW. My goal of having a complete activation with nothing but CW was met and then some. I really felt myself get into a groove with it and it was a lot of fun. Multiplying the 68 contacts over 4 parks gave 272 contacts! I was so busy I never had a break to change bands. While I had to throw in a few question marks here and there, everything went smoothly and I think I can safely say I’m a CW operator now.

The location was not one to disappoint either. It was just North of the Mount Vernon Trail spur to the 14th Street Bridge into Washington, DC. I had biked by it hundreds of times, but had never pulled off into the grass at the spot before. The view from our table was a stunning panorama of DC’s monumental core. Right in the middle was the George Washington Memorial standing 555 feet 5.5 inches tall surrounded by the Jefferson, Lincoln, and FDR Memorials. We could see the Kennedy Center off to the North and the lights of the city shimmering on the Potomac. All the while we could watch the traffic on the 14th Street Bridge. As the day became night we were also treated to a dazzling light show as hundreds of fireflies lit up the small grove of trees ahead of us on this beautiful point into the Potomac. As I got more comfortable in my copy of the code I leaned back to soak it all in and watch the beauty happening right in front of me. Although I had seen this spot hundreds of times on bike commutes, it took an activation for me to truly experience it. Simply stunning.

A little bit after 9 PM, both activations made, I turned off my rig and started to pack up my gear under the light of my headlamp. I’ve been getting into a good rhythm putting up and taking down my gear. The replacement insulator I designed and 3D printed in PETG for my MFJ 1984 MP (the supplied one broke) did a great job and was very easy to deploy. I even embossed my call in it for fun. After getting everything into our bags and loading up Gersohn’s cart, we wheeled everything back to my car and were able to head out right around the closing time of Columbia Island. Another 8 activations in the book from POTA’s perspective, and a whole lot of fun. Since we were in a bit of a hurry to get there, we decided to head over to Bob and Edith’s diner over in Huntington for a late dinner. We had a great meal and even better conversation before calling it a night. The QSO map below shows just how well CW can do on 10 W … pins everywhere! Such a great time.

Gear used in this activation

• Icom IC-705
• MFJ 1984 MP End-Fed Half Wave Antenna
• LDG Z100 Plus
• CW Morse Pocket Double Paddle Morse Code Key with Magnets
• CW Morse Steel Base for Pocket Paddles
• RigExpert Stick Pro Antenna Analyzer
• Icom LC-192
• Zebralight H600Fc Mk IV Headlamp
• Bioenno 12V 6Ah LiFePO₄ Battery
• Sony Headphones
• Dell XPS 13 Laptop
• Camp Chef Mesa Folding Aluminum Table
• Rite in the Rain Notebook
• Zebra DelGuard Mechanical Pencil