N2EC Amateur Radio

Ed's Adventures in Amateur Radio

Category: POTA

  • POTA Activation #7 – Savannas Preserve State Park (FL) (4/4/2022)

    POTA Activation #7 – Savannas Preserve State Park (FL) (4/4/2022)

    The week of April 4 coincides with my daughter’s Spring Break. As is our custom, we made the long drive down to the Treasure Coast of Florida to visit my father-in-law in Stuart, FL. In my POTA hunting, the overwhelming majority of my contacts from a particular state reference have been from Florida. So, knowing I would be in the area for a week, I decided to bring my POTA setup with me to try to get an activation in while on our vacation. Monday morning (the 4th) looked like a great time as my daughter was enjoying the pool at our VRBO and my wife was enjoying some downtime reading a book. So I found a park that was just 5 minutes away, Savannas Preserve State Park, K-3635.

    I set the GPS on my phone and was there in a flash — but there was a problem — the gate was closed. Time for plan B. I decided to take the road that goes around the perimeter of the park, but surprisingly, there were not many other entrances to it. While taking the grand tour, it was clear this park was an ecological haven … now I had to figure out how to get in. After calling my wife for some help while I was driving, she found another entrance near the midpoint of the park and guided me there. Success!

    There was a kiosk requesting a $3 fee on the honor system, so I got out of the car, filled the envelope with $3, and then put the hang tag on my rear view. Immediately in view of the entrance there was a visitor’s center that appeared to be closed along with a nicely shaded picnic pavilion. I was the only person there. So I decided to set up camp in a shady spot under the pavilion overlooking the park.

    Savannas Preserve State Park is a 10 mile strip of land just off the coast of the Indian River. It consists of freshwater prairies and savannas behind a bank of dunes. After circumnavigating the park in my attempts to find an open entrance, I quickly realized just how big this park is. Even right off the road, it quickly feels like you are in another world, apart from the suburban sprawl mere meters away.

    I decided to use my Buddipole Buddistick Pro so that I would not have to get into the brush to get my end-fed half-wave up in a tree. I was able to get it up in a couple minutes and tuned to 20m in another minute or so. It took a few minutes to find a good clear spot on the band, and I set up camp on 14.235 MHz, spotted myself on the POTA site and started getting some QSOs in the log. Propagation wasn’t the best, but I was able to get 14 contacts from TN, MO, MS, NY, IN, RI, NJ, and the Dominican Republic (one was a twofer Park to Park) in about 30 minutes on the air.

    After an initial burst of contacts, things died down a bit, so I tried some hunting. Unfortunately, while I could hear stations as far away as Nevada, they could not hear me. The perils of running 10 Watts. I decided to go to my old standby of 40m, but it was as dead as can be. I did hear one pair of older gentlemen ragchewing on the band (presumably local), but my calls of CQ went unanswered despite self-spotting, and having made my activation, I decided to call it a day and to join my family for lunch.

    All-in-all it was a fun and quick activation. The spot I setup at is hard to beat with a shaded picnic table with a gorgeous view. I practically had the place to myself, save a handful of hikers passing through. I would love to spend some more time hiking through the park when I have more free time.

    Gear used in this activation

    • Icom IC-705
    • Buddipole Buddistick Pro Antenna
    • LDG Z100 Plus
    • RigExpert Stick Pro Antenna Analyzer
    • Icom LC-192
    • Bioenno 12V 6Ah LiFePO4 Battery
    • Sony Headphones
    • Samsung Galaxy S6 Lite Tablet
    • Logitech K380 Bluetooth Keyboard
    • Rite in the Rain Notebook
    • Zebra DelGuard Mechanical Pencil
  • POTA Activation #6 – Prince William Forest Park (VA) (3/19/2022)

    When Gersohn, KO4IUK, and I met up at the George Washington Memorial Parkway to operate alongside each other for my 5th activation, we had a lot of fun. At the time, Gersohn was new to POTA, so he was just operating outside as he likes to do. However, when he saw the pile-ups I was working, even though I was running a tenth the power he was, he got a taste of the magic of POTA and was intrigued.

    One of the things that makes POTA a bit magical is that you become the DX. What I mean by that is that with the very active community of hunters, you’ve got a lot of people who want to work activators in the parks. POTA actively encourages self-spotting (announcing on their site that you’re activating on a certain mode and frequency) so even if you’re operating a fairly modest station, people will know where you’re at and will work hard to find you. If you can’t spot yourself, hunters will frequently do it for you if they find you, so once you have one contact, more are likely to follow. The developers at the POTA site have even connected up with the Reverse Beacon Network to support automatic spotting if you’re working CW or FT8. Yet another reason why I’m working on improving my Morse code skills.

    We had two goals for this activation. First and foremost was to get Gersohn started in POTA and get his first activation in the books. Second, I was out to try a new bit of gear. The Icom IC-705 has a built in (removable) battery pack that allows operation at 5W, however, if you supply it with a 12V external supply, it can transmit at up to 10W. Since I’m working primarily SSB (until I get better at CW) I can use all the power I can get, so I have been using my Jackery Explorer 500 battery pack. For this purpose, it certainly works, but it is akin to killing a gnat with a sledgehammer — my longest activations have not even gotten the battery percentage remaining below 97%. I could run the radio on that system for days — and if I connect the solar power system I have for it, I could operate indefinitely. There is one downside to all this, of course: It is quite large and heavy. Thus far most of the places I’ve been activating have been near parking areas and a short hike, so this has not been a problem. In the future though, I’d like to activate more remote locations. To that end, I picked up a Bioenno LiFePO4 12V 6Ah battery pack that is so compact it can fit inside the backpack I use to store my radio, antenna, antenna tuner, tablet, keyboard, and logs. So, with a fully charged battery (and a backup plan in the trunk) I set my goal to make my activation from just the backpack itself. Just as I would do for a remote location.

    I picked up Gersohn from his QTH in Alexandria and we made our way down to Prince William Forest Park. The park is a hidden gem in the Washington, DC area near Quantico. It is easily accessible off Interstate 95, but it never seems to be very busy. I’ve been going to this park since I was a kid going on hikes there with my mom. The park used to be a part of the adjacent Quantico Marine Base and has miles and miles of trails through the forest and along Quantico creek. There is a verdant forest throughout the park with a wide variety of trees, rolling hills, sparkling streams, and even a few cascades to enjoy. There is a loop road that goes around the park and has stops at parking areas providing access to trailheads. Hikes go from short loops to more extensive routes that can give a decent workout. This park is a favorite for me and my daughter — we often come here for a hike and to make some camp meals outside in all four seasons.

    During my last trip hiking with my daughter (just a few weeks ago in February) I did some scouting for some good spots to setup. The most promising one was at parking lot E which has a few picnic tables amongst the trees in a clearing near, but not on top of, a trailhead near a high point in the park. When Gersohn and I drove up, we were disappointed to see that there was no parking to be had at Lot E, so we had to fall back to the other site. On the opposite side of the ring road was Lot H which has a smaller lot, but being on the far side, it is less popular. There is a single picnic table nestled between the trees on a knoll just a feet off the lot and we were able to park and get setup at the table. Once again, we decided to operate in parallel, taking turns on different bands. Since I was doing my “one backpack challenge” I decided to use the MFJ 1984 MP end-fed half wave, so I got out my arborist throwline kit and after a few attempts got a good high line into a tree a few feet away from the picnic table. I easily pulled up the antenna and tied it off using the slick line to a log and connected up my radio setup. Gersohn used his Alpha Antenna Vertical in a clearing in the trees and we were off and running.

    I started on good old 40m at 7.280. This weekend happened to coincide with the Virginia QSO party. We had a hard time finding a good spot to operate. Thankfully after some scanning around and looking at the waterfall display on the 705 I found a slot at 7.280 MHz and was able to self-spot and we were off to the races. I had a bunch of contacts come in rapid succession including a couple Park to Park contacts. Then there was a QSO party contester that presumably could not hear me that started operating over my calls. It took me a while to find a new slot, but I went to 7.225 and was back up and rolling again, making a bunch of contacts and a few Park to Parks (including a twofer — one person that was in two parks simultaneously). Eventually, I had another station start operating over me, so I took a break to stretch my legs and see how Gersohn was doing. He had made a few contacts and moved down to 40 to see if he could get some of the contacts down there. I moved up to 20 briefly, but it was packed, so I decided to do a bit of hunting and made my first contact on 12m at 24.944 with the K7G special event station Park to Park in Wisconsin and then followed them when they went to 17m at 18.150 for another Park to Park. Then I shut down my station and pulled out my tablet to check the spots to help Gersohn do some hunting to rack up a few Park to Parks. Finally we did a 2m Park to Park contact between the two of us for fun and called it an activation.

    All told I ended up with 39 QSOs for the activation from VA, PA, NY, OH, CT, NC, SC, LA, WY, and Ontario, Canada and 11 Park to Park contacts. I had a lot of fun on a beautiful day playing radio with Gersohn. Can’t wait to do it again.

    Gear used in this activation

    • Icom IC-705
    • MFJ 1984 MP Antenna
    • LDG Z100 Plus
    • RigExpert Stick Pro Antenna Analyzer
    • Icom LC-192
    • Bioenno 12V 6Ah LiFePO4 Battery
    • Forester Arborist Throw Line Kit
    • Weaver Leather Arborist Throw Line Storage Bag
    • Sony Headphones
    • Samsung Galaxy S6 Lite Tablet
    • Logitech K380 Bluetooth Keyboard
    • Rite in the Rain Notebook
    • Zebra DelGuard Mechanical Pencil
  • POTA Activation #5 – George Washington Memorial Parkway (VA) (3/6/2022)

    I have recently become a member of the Mount Vernon Amateur Radio Club (MVARC) which has many members who live close to my QTH. It has been fun getting to know other hams in the area, attending club meetings and events, and taking part in the different nets they hold every week. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Gersohn, KO4IUK both on the air and in-person. We talked about many things, including POTA and operating outside and he suggested we get together sometime and setup our stations at Belle Haven Park on the George Washington Memorial Parkway. It sounded like a great idea to me. When he suggested getting together on Sunday 3/6/2022 I was on-board.

    Right before our meet-up I went to the 59th annual Needlework Show at Woodlawn Plantation along with my family and some friends. Our friend Deb, who co-leads my daughter’s Girl Scout troop with my wife, is an active participant in the group that runs the show, Nelly’s Needlers. She gave us an amazing tour of the beautiful works on exhibition as well as the main house of the plantation. It was a great start to the day. After grabbing a quick lunch on the plantation grounds, I hopped into the car and called Gersohn on the repeater to let him know I was on my way. Another member of the club, Nick, KO4SRO asked what we were up to, and decided to join us down at the park as well. Felix, W4WMD, also chimed in and asked what frequencies we’d be operating on and said he would look out for us in the spots — and he did as I got to work him later in the afternoon.

    The three of us made it down to Belle Haven Park on the George Washington Memorial Parkway at almost exactly the same time and made our way to a picnic table down by the banks of the Potomac River. The park is a very popular spot on a pleasant day and there were many groups running their grills and enjoying a picnic together. From its vantage point you can see across to Maryland and the District of Columbia and also to Jones Point Lighthouse which served as the point where DC, MD, and VA met. Additionallly, the Woodrow Wilson Bridge can be seen making the connection between MD and VA on Interstate 95.

    Gersohn and I set up our equipment and did a bit of show and tell to each other. Gersohn had a great portable setup capable of running at high power in a Pelican case that made everything pack up in a flash. His Yaesu radio was paired with an Alpha Antenna vertical that was a sight to behold with a gleaming aluminum tripod and very high quality components that look like they could withstand a hurricane without a care. It was very impressive.

    I decided to use my Buddistick Pro, so I wouldn’t have to worry about dangling wires getting walked-into by the many people at the park that day. Surprisingly, we only had one group ask us what we were doing — I believe they asked Gersohn if we were scientists. Using my RigExpert Stick Pro Antenna Analyzer I was able to quickly get the Buddistick Pro to resonance on 40m and I hopped on 7.240 MHz and began calling CQ after spotting myself on the POTA network and the pile-up came fast and furious. Nick plugged into my headphone splitter and helped me with logging and we were getting contacts one after the other. It was hard keeping things up-to-date on the electronic log, so I stuck to paper until things slowed down enough to get caught-up. Nick didn’t have a lot of experience on HF as a Technician and I think he enjoyed the excitement of the pile-up with me. When things slowed down a bit, he and I even made a park to park contact on 2m, so he could log his first activation attempt in the park as well on 2m.

    After a breather for some socializing and talking about our equipment, I decided to tune up to 17m to see if I could get any contacts, but it was pretty dead for me, so I went back to 40m, this time to 7.245 MHz and then proceeded to have a whole other run of contacts with another mini pile-up. Two pile-ups in one activation was a lot of fun. While Gersohn didn’t do a POTA activation this time, his higher powered setup made an impressive array of contacts, including one on 17m down to Barbados. We had a lot of fun.

    In the end I made contact with stations in NJ, PA, NY, NC, MA, OH, MI, NJ, VA, Ontario, Nova Scotia, KY, WV, SC, CT, and MD for a total of 49 contacts with 10 Park to Park contacts. It was great meeting up with friends and playing radio. Looking forward to doing it again.

    Gear used in this activation

    • Icom IC-705
    • Buddipole Buddistick Pro
    • LDG Z100 Plus
    • RigExpert Stick Pro Antenna Analyzer
    • Icom LC-192
    • Jackery Explorer 500
    • Sony Headphones
    • Samsung Galaxy S6 Lite Tablet
    • Logitech K380 Bluetooth Keyboard
    • Rite in the Rain Notebook
    • Zebra DelGuard Mechanical Pencil
  • POTA Activation #4 – Fort Washington Park (MD) (3/5/2022)

    POTA Activation #4 – Fort Washington Park (MD) (3/5/2022)

    The POTA website is a lot of fun. You can slice and dice your hunting and activations with all kinds of statistics, they have tons of fun awards to pursue, and they make it really fun to explore and daydream about parks to activate. After seeing a second state pop-up on my activations list when I activated DC, I figured it was time to get a third one on the board, too.

    Even though I have lived in the area for almost my entire life, it was only in December of 2021 that I visited Fort Washington Park. Part of the National Park Service, the park has the remnants of a series of fortifications along the Potomac in the town of the same name in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The first visit was to meet up with some friends so that our kids could run around and have fun together while we caught-up. While I was there I was taken aback by the beautifully elevated views of the water. I had only seen the fort from the Virginia side in the past, but being on top of them highlighted the immense scale of the place. There are a lot of buildings strewn across a large campus from different eras.

    On my return trip, this time with radio in tow, I explored a picnic area that was a bit off the beaten path from the main attraction. There were many picnic tables, locked restroom facilities, and a playground. I mostly had the place to myself, with the exception of a couple families with kids playing on the playground, the occasional dog walker, and a kid with a gas powered scooter that made me very glad I had headphones with reasonable sound isolation.

    I decided to use the Buddistick Pro again to continue getting to know it better and to see what it could do. After spending the previous day on 20 m, I decided to give 40 m a try on this day. I set up camp on 7.223 MHz, spotted myself, and almost immediately was working a bit of a POTA pile-up. I was getting great signal reports across the board, and was loving the wonderfully low noise floor I was seeing on 40 while at the park. Operating outside is pure pleasure.

    In short order I got QSOs from PA, NC, VA, MA, MD, CT, NY, VT, NH, NJ, and Ontario, Canada. I also made two Park to Park contacts as well. All told I made 34 contacts in 56 minutes and had a blast doing it.

    Gear used in this activation

    • Icom IC-705
    • Buddipole Buddistick Pro
    • LDG Z100 Plus
    • RigExpert Stick Pro Antenna Analyzer
    • Icom LC-192
    • Jackery Explorer 500
    • Sony Headphones
    • Samsung Galaxy S6 Lite Tablet
    • Logitech K380 Bluetooth Keyboard
    • Rite in the Rain Notebook
    • Zebra DelGuard Mechanical Pencil
  • POTA Activation #3 – Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove (DC) (3/4/2022)

    POTA Activation #3 – Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove (DC) (3/4/2022)

    On March 4th my daughter had a day off from school for a teacher workday. Whenever she has the day off, I try to take the day off too and do something fun with her. We like being outside and going on hikes, so I thought I could show her how this POTA thing works, maybe get her on the air a little (under my call sign), and then go for a hike together along the banks of the Potomac River.

    On my last POTA outing I heard a station operating from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove in Washington, DC and although I was unable to be heard by him, he inspired me to try an activation from there. The park is located on Columbia Island just across the Boundary Channel from the Pentagon. Due to the way that the border was defined between Maryland and Virginia, any island in the Potomac is part of Maryland (and thus to DC in the area that was given for the creation of the District of Columbia). If you drive down the George Washington Memorial Parkway, you may not realize you entered DC — most people think of the District as being on the other side of the Potomac River, across the 14th Street Bridge. However, from the moment you get onto the Humpback Bridge just North of the 14th Street Bridge, you are, in fact, in the District of Columbia,

    I am very familiar with this park. As a frequent bike commuter into DC, I would often take the footbridge from the grounds of the Pentagon over to the park if I was doing something in Crystal City, or even if I was looking for a bit of a detour to take in a bit of peace and tranquility. LBJ enjoyed the spot as a quick getaway from the city for quiet reflection and the views of the city certainly do not disappoint. There is a monument to LBJ in the grove along with some verdant grounds and a few picnic tables. Adjacent to the grove is Columbia Island Marina where many boats are docked and small restaurant is located.

    I saw a picnic table in the sun a respectful distance North of the monument by a copse of trees and I started setting up my gear. You may remember from an earlier post that I had a bit of trouble with my Buddistick Pro antenna before, likely due to a capacitive coupling with the hiking pole I used to suspend the radial the antenna uses. Thankfully, the Internet was there to give some more information, and I discovered that many Buddistick Pro users had found that an electric fence post did a good job of holding up the radial. Buddipole says the radial should be about 4 feet off the ground … conveniently, the post is 4 feet tall. The electric fence post, being for an electric fence, was also gloriously non-conductive. The only metal bit is on the base, where a metal spike gives you an easy way to get it to stay put in the ground. Additionally, being a fence post, it was designed to hold things up, so there are convenient attachment points along the length of the post perfect for attaching the radial. Although the Home Depot by me didn’t have one in stock, they were able to get it shipped to store for free for the low price of $3.48. A bargain. And best of all, as soon as I used it, the antenna tuned up just as you’d expect by following the manual. Success!

    I got the Buddistick Pro with the intent of using it in places where tossing a line in a tree was impossible, impractical, or forbidden. This was to be the first practical test of it. Because I was there with my daughter, my intention was for it to be a relatively short activation. I was hoping to make at least 10 QSOs and give the new antenna a good test. So, after putting K-0784 into the logs and hooking up our headphones I started calling CQ on 20m at 14.282. In short order I made a couple contacts before moving down to 14.258 due to some QRM. I got a Park to Park with NG9B out in Wisconsin, and then I got the biggest surprise of the day. Just above the noise floor, I heard a station that was trying to make a contact. It took a lot of commitment on both sides, but I was eventually able to pull his information out of the hash and make the QSO with EA1GIB in Vilagarcía de Arousa, Spain! My mind was blown — with 10 W, the Buddistick Pro, and some determination we were able to work clear across the Atlantic ocean. Incredible! Manuel gave me a signal report of 55, which also amazed me. He was down around a 22 for me, but I was so excited when we were able to make the QSO. The Buddistick Pro definitely showed what it could do.

    After that I was able to make another Park to Park with a ham radio YouTube celebrity, KB9VBR, all the way over in Wisconsin, and with two parks to boot. I finished out the activation by doing a little hunting, and then I decided to call it a day so that my daughter and I could get some lunch at the marina and soak in the scenery by the Potomac river. All told I made 16 contacts in MO, WI, GA, IL, ME, FL, and SPAIN! I could tell good things were in store for this new antenna.

    Gear used in this activation

    • Icom IC-705
    • Buddipole Buddistick Pro
    • LDG Z100 Plus
    • RigExpert Stick Pro Antenna Analyzer
    • Icom LC-192
    • Jackery Explorer 500
    • Sony Headphones
    • Samsung Galaxy S6 Lite Tablet
    • Logitech K380 Bluetooth Keyboard
    • Rite in the Rain Notebook
    • Zebra DelGuard Mechanical Pencil
  • POTA Activation #2 – George Washington Memorial Parkway (VA) (2/27/2022)

    POTA Activation #2 – George Washington Memorial Parkway (VA) (2/27/2022)

    For my second activation I decided to try something closer to home and went to Riverside Park in the George Washington Memorial Parkway (K-0670VA). I was a bit ambitious in my plans, as I was determined to try using a new antenna that I had not setup before, the Buddipole Buddistick Pro. The antenna is an engineering marvel, but is a bit more challenging to get going. I was able to get it assembled quickly, but was having a hard time getting it to tune to the right SWR where I wanted to operate. After about a half hour, I decided to bring out my MFJ 1984 MP end-fed half wave antenna, and was able to get quickly on the air.

    In hindsight, I now know what the problem was: the Buddistick Pro requires an elevated radial (provided). I was using a hiking pole for this task, but it was aluminum. I think that there was some capacitive coupling going on there that was making a good match all but impossible. I was able to fix it later after acquiring a $3 electric fence post, but more on that another day.

    After getting the EFHW into the trees I was off and running. Below is a picture of part of the Buddistick Pro which would share in the adventures of the next activation. In the background you can see how beautiful the park is. It is nestled between the George Washington Parkway and the Mount Vernon Trail alongside the Potomac River. On the other side of the bench in the distance is the pier at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Everywhere you turn there are heritage trees and gorgeous views. Right at the crest of a small hill sit a few picnic tables under the shade of those trees, and that’s where I set up.

    This activation had another first — I used HAMRS for logging alongside my paper log. This made the submissions much easier, and paired with a bluetooth keyboard I was able to quickly get things into the log. Thankfully, I didn’t forget any equipment this time, and I was able to set up a very comfortable operating position with a gorgeous view. I still default to paper logs (they tend not to crash — although HAMRS has not failed me thus far), but I try to get things in the logs straightaway. If I have internet access on my phone I can even send off my logs to Parks on the Air before I even leave the park.

    Learning from my last activation, I decided to get things started on 40m and set up on 7.290 MHz and gave myself a spot. Right away people found me, and the first call was N4D, a 1×1 special event station for the NC QSO Party. From there the calls kept coming from NC, SC, MD, PA, VA NY, KY, Ontario Canada, MI, and WV. After things slowed down a bit, I decided to go for redemption on 20m and made several more contacts with operators in AL, WI, GA, MI, LA, and FL. I also picked-up 6 Park to Park contacts, for a grand total of 43 contacts in 2:01 on the air. Amazing what 10W and a bit of wire can do.

    I heard a station operating out of DC, but unfortunately, he could not hear me. That missed contact inspired the next activation to come. More on that soon.

    This was a great activation, even if it started out a bit rocky with the antenna issues — and spoiler alert: those get resolved in our next episode.

    Gear used in this activation

    • Icom IC-705
    • MFJ 1984 MP
    • LDG Z100 Plus
    • RigExpert Stick Pro Antenna Analyzer
    • Icom LC-192
    • Jackery Explorer 500
    • Sony Headphones
    • Samsung Galaxy S6 Lite Tablet
    • Logitech K380 Bluetooth Keyboard
    • Rite in the Rain Notebook
    • Zebra DelGuard Mechanical Pencil

  • POTA Activation #1 – Mason Neck State Park (VA) (2/19/2022)

    POTA Activation #1 – Mason Neck State Park (VA) (2/19/2022)

    I have been an amateur radio operator since I was 10 years old, but over the years I had gotten a a bit distant from the hobby.  Not too long ago, I decided to change that and to get the station I had used with my Dad growing up back on the air.  I had to get a bunch of equipment set-up at my house (antennas, cables, grounding, cable feedthrough panels, etc). But once I got back on the air I remembered what had made the hobby so fun while I was growing up.  As I started making contacts I discovered  Parks on the Air.

    Parks on the Air is a radio game that encourages people “activate” state and national parks.  To “activate” a park, you need to set-up an amateur radio station inside a park and make at least 10 contacts.  The more contacts you make, the more you get achievements and awards in the game.  Good clean fun.

    To activate you need to go to a park, but the easier part is to “hunt” which you can do from anywhere.  All that’s involved is making a contact with someone in the park on the air.  They log the contact, and you get credit and awards on the Parks on the Air (POTA) site as soon as the logs they submit get posted.   The POTA web site is quite well done, and has lots of tools to help you make contacts.  The most useful tool is the “Spots” page, which shows you all the people activating parks at any given time, along with their frequency, mode of operation, park information, and other information from the person (or computer) that spotted them.

    Very quickly you can find people in the parks and work them — which is convenient, as many of the people activating the parks may be running QRP (low power), so they might be hard to find on your own.  Since so many people are playing and having a blast with the game, you’ll frequently get a “pile-up” where dozens of people rush to work an activator in the park.  It can be a lot of fun.

    After being a hunter for a while and looking forward to each opportunity I had to work a station that was activating out in the field, I wanted to try my hand at activating a park.  In order to do this, I would need a fair amount of new equipment.  I started researching what I’d want to get and settled on a QRP  (low power) radio that is so small it can be packed up inside a small backpack, along with everything you need to run it.  I selected the Icom IC-705 which is a very well regarded modern transceiver that has an excellent software defined radio.  I decided to pair it with an MFJ 1984 MP end-fed halfwave antenna that would be able to be easily tossed up into a tree with an arborist’s throw line.  To make sure that the radio and the antenna played nicely with each other, I also got a LDG Z100 Plus antenna tuner that runs off low battery power.  I already had a Jackery Explorer 500 to provide battery power (way more than was needed) and headphones to make sure I could hear everything well.   I used the Icom LC-192 backpack to carry all the radio stuff and decided to take it all out to Mason Neck State Park to give everything a try on February 19, 2022.

    Mason Neck State Park is a beautiful gem of a park out on Mason Neck in Northern Virginia by the Potomac river, South of Alexandria and across Belmont Bay from Woodbridge and the mouth of the Occoquan river.  There are a few miles of trails that go through a varied landscape ranging from beaches along the bay, marshland, and  forest.  I’ve hiked there many times, and have even gone out on my canoe to explore around Mason Neck and Belmont Bay.

    February 19, 2022 was a rather windy and chilly day, but I was so excited to put my gear to the test that I bundled up and drove  down and decided to set up camp at a picnic table near the visitor center that overlooked Belmont Bay.  From my perch I saw bald eagles and numerous turkey vultures hovering in the strong winds just a few dozen feet in front of me.   They always say that the first time you do something, you’re bound to forget at least one thing. That adage was proven correct for me as I left my arborist throw-line kit at home.  I only noticed once I had already unpacked my car, and I decided to roll-with the punches and see what I could do with the equipment I had on hand.  Without the line, I could not get the antenna higher into the trees than I could reach.  Fortunately, the trees near where I had setup had low branches and I was able to tie the end of the antenna off to a fence post that ran along the cliff that borders the waterfront.

    After getting everything up and running I made my first contact on 20m on 14.314 MHz — success!  Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like I was being heard well on the band, and I had some stations start doing their own contacts over top of me.  I decided to switch bands and give 40m a try.  After searching for a spot I settled on 7.236 MHz, spotted myself on the POTA web site, and the pile-up began.  Station after station answered my call and made contact with me.  The action was exhilarating — this is what DX stations must feel like when they work their pile-ups.  In about an hour and a half I ended up working 36 stations from 13 states (SC, WI, PA, MD, VA, FL, NJ, MA, NC, GA, IN, OH, and LA).  After a while the contact rate slowed down and the winds picked up to a blustery 50 mph.  Having made 3.6x the number of contacts required for a valid activation, I happily called it a day, packed up my gear, and headed to the warmth of my car.  I had an absolute blast and I knew that this would definitely not be the last time I would activate a park for Parks on the Air.

    Gear used in this activation

    • Icom IC-705
    • MFJ 1984 MP
    • LDG Z100 Plus
    • RigExpert Stick Pro Antenna Analyzer
    • Icom LC-192
    • Jackery Explorer 500
    • Sony Headphones
    • Laptop
    • Rite in the Rain Notebook
    • Zebra DelGuard Mechanical Pencil