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0 viewsIt has been a busy POTA week. On Monday Aug. 10 2026 Danny AG4DW and Allen KN4FKS met at the Estelle Mine Road site on Pigeon Mountain US-3742 for a ' Late Shift ' activation. The POTA day begins at 00:00 UTC so it's after 8 pm here.
Danny had two activations, He had 24 contacts before 8pm and 55 afterwards. He had 26 SSB contacts on 20 meters then 53 FT8 contacts on 30 meters. He had 8 Park to Parks and 11 DX contacts to Bahamas, Brazil, Germany (2) Puerto Rico (3) Canada (3) and Lebanon.
Allen had 117 SSB contacts after 8 pm. 58 on 20 meters and 59 on 40 meters, with 3 P2P and DX to Canada (3) and Alaska.
On Wednesday Aug. 12 Ed KM6UTC activated the Trail of Tears US-3791 from the Tavern site. He made 72 FT8 contacts with DX to Lithuania, Alaska, St. Vincent, Brazil, Cuba, Italy, The Netherlands, and Canada.
On Thursday we activated the Chickamauga National Battlefield US-0716 from the picnic area site on Brotherton rd.
Dave KQ4GLQ arrived early and got to meet the resident picnic area crazy guy. who was having breakfast there and taking a bath behind the nearby monument. After setting up his vertical Dave made 92 contacts 82 FT8 contacts on 20 meters with * DX contacts to Canada (5) France and Asiatic Russia (that's Siberia) Then he also made 21 SSB contacts on 20 meters with 19 P2P contacts and 4 DX to Canada.
Danny AG4DW set up his elevated radial vertical and made 44 contacts, 3 SSB each on 80 10 and 6 meters. He then made 35 FT8 contacts on 40 meters and 6 on 15 meters with 6 P2P contacts. Allen KN4FKS set up his 17 ft vertical with the faraday cloth radials and made 17 SSB contacts with 6 P2P and 1 DX to Puerto Rico. He had 2 contacts on 10 meters, 2 on 6 meters, and 2 on 80 meters. In just over an hour of calling CQ POTA on 17 meters made 11 contacts. Having a voice keyer built into the ICOM 7300 made it possible to take a nap between contacts while the keyer continued making the CQ calls. (see attached photo)
For an 'eyeball' QSO Steve KN4GZZ stopped by and visited for a while. The heat of the day resulted in the 'FUN meter' begging to bottom out. So everyone packed up and called it a day early.
Ed KM6UTC dropped by the Cravens House site on the Chickamauga Battlefield US-0716 for a quick activation also on Thursday. He had 48 FT8 contacts on 30,20, 17, and 15 meters. He gave 6 meters a go but it was dead. He had DX to Canada, Italy, and the Dominican Republic.
The weather was hot and the bands were warm but all had a fun POTA week.
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4 viewsIt has been a busy POTA week. On Monday Aug. 10 2026 Danny AG4DW and Allen KN4FKS met at the Estelle Mine Road site on Pigeon Mountain US-3742 for a ' Late Shift ' activation. The POTA day begins at 00:00 UTC so it's after 8 pm here.
Danny had two activations, He had 24 contacts before 8pm and 55 afterwards. He had 26 SSB contacts on 20 meters then 53 FT8 contacts on 30 meters. He had 8 Park to Parks and 11 DX contacts to Bahamas, Brazil, Germany (2) Puerto Rico (3) Canada (3) and Lebanon.
Allen had 117 SSB contacts after 8 pm. 58 on 20 meters and 59 on 40 meters, with 3 P2P and DX to Canada (3) and Alaska.
On Wednesday Aug. 12 Ed KM6UTC activated the Trail of Tears US-3791 from the Tavern site. He made 72 FT8 contacts with DX to Lithuania, Alaska, St. Vincent, Brazil, Cuba, Italy, The Netherlands, and Canada.
On Thursday we activated the Chickamauga National Battlefield US-0716 from the picnic area site on Brotherton rd.
Dave KQ4GLQ arrived early and got to meet the resident picnic area crazy guy. who was having breakfast there and taking a bath behind the nearby monument. After setting up his vertical Dave made 92 contacts 82 FT8 contacts on 20 meters with * DX contacts to Canada (5) France and Asiatic Russia (that's Siberia) Then he also made 21 SSB contacts on 20 meters with 19 P2P contacts and 4 DX to Canada.
Danny AG4DW set up his elevated radial vertical and made 44 contacts, 3 SSB each on 80 10 and 6 meters. He then made 35 FT8 contacts on 40 meters and 6 on 15 meters with 6 P2P contacts. Allen KN4FKS set up his 17 ft vertical with the faraday cloth radials and made 17 SSB contacts with 6 P2P and 1 DX to Puerto Rico. He had 2 contacts on 10 meters, 2 on 6 meters, and 2 on 80 meters. In just over an hour of calling CQ POTA on 17 meters made 11 contacts. Having a voice keyer built into the ICOM 7300 made it possible to take a nap between contacts while the keyer continued making the CQ calls. (see attached photo)
For an 'eyeball' QSO Steve KN4GZZ stopped by and visited for a while. The heat of the day resulted in the 'FUN meter' begging to bottom out. So everyone packed up and called it a day early.
Ed KM6UTC dropped by the Cravens House site on the Chickamauga Battlefield US-0716 for a quick activation also on Thursday. He had 48 FT8 contacts on 30,20, 17, and 15 meters. He gave 6 meters a go but it was dead. He had DX to Canada, Italy, and the Dominican Republic.
The weather was hot and the bands were warm but all had a fun POTA week.
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2 viewsIt has been a busy POTA week. On Monday Aug. 10 2026 Danny AG4DW and Allen KN4FKS met at the Estelle Mine Road site on Pigeon Mountain US-3742 for a ' Late Shift ' activation. The POTA day begins at 00:00 UTC so it's after 8 pm here.
Danny had two activations, He had 24 contacts before 8pm and 55 afterwards. He had 26 SSB contacts on 20 meters then 53 FT8 contacts on 30 meters. He had 8 Park to Parks and 11 DX contacts to Bahamas, Brazil, Germany (2) Puerto Rico (3) Canada (3) and Lebanon.
Allen had 117 SSB contacts after 8 pm. 58 on 20 meters and 59 on 40 meters, with 3 P2P and DX to Canada (3) and Alaska.
On Wednesday Aug. 12 Ed KM6UTC activated the Trail of Tears US-3791 from the Tavern site. He made 72 FT8 contacts with DX to Lithuania, Alaska, St. Vincent, Brazil, Cuba, Italy, The Netherlands, and Canada.
On Thursday we activated the Chickamauga National Battlefield US-0716 from the picnic area site on Brotherton rd.
Dave KQ4GLQ arrived early and got to meet the resident picnic area crazy guy. who was having breakfast there and taking a bath behind the nearby monument. After setting up his vertical Dave made 92 contacts 82 FT8 contacts on 20 meters with * DX contacts to Canada (5) France and Asiatic Russia (that's Siberia) Then he also made 21 SSB contacts on 20 meters with 19 P2P contacts and 4 DX to Canada.
Danny AG4DW set up his elevated radial vertical and made 44 contacts, 3 SSB each on 80 10 and 6 meters. He then made 35 FT8 contacts on 40 meters and 6 on 15 meters with 6 P2P contacts. Allen KN4FKS set up his 17 ft vertical with the faraday cloth radials and made 17 SSB contacts with 6 P2P and 1 DX to Puerto Rico. He had 2 contacts on 10 meters, 2 on 6 meters, and 2 on 80 meters. In just over an hour of calling CQ POTA on 17 meters made 11 contacts. Having a voice keyer built into the ICOM 7300 made it possible to take a nap between contacts while the keyer continued making the CQ calls. (see attached photo)
For an 'eyeball' QSO Steve KN4GZZ stopped by and visited for a while. The heat of the day resulted in the 'FUN meter' begging to bottom out. So everyone packed up and called it a day early.
Ed KM6UTC dropped by the Cravens House site on the Chickamauga Battlefield US-0716 for a quick activation also on Thursday. He had 48 FT8 contacts on 30,20, 17, and 15 meters. He gave 6 meters a go but it was dead. He had DX to Canada, Italy, and the Dominican Republic.
The weather was hot and the bands were warm but all had a fun POTA week.
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0 viewsIt has been a busy POTA week. On Monday Aug. 10 2026 Danny AG4DW and Allen KN4FKS met at the Estelle Mine Road site on Pigeon Mountain US-3742 for a ' Late Shift ' activation. The POTA day begins at 00:00 UTC so it's after 8 pm here.
Danny had two activations, He had 24 contacts before 8pm and 55 afterwards. He had 26 SSB contacts on 20 meters then 53 FT8 contacts on 30 meters. He had 8 Park to Parks and 11 DX contacts to Bahamas, Brazil, Germany (2) Puerto Rico (3) Canada (3) and Lebanon.
Allen had 117 SSB contacts after 8 pm. 58 on 20 meters and 59 on 40 meters, with 3 P2P and DX to Canada (3) and Alaska.
On Wednesday Aug. 12 Ed KM6UTC activated the Trail of Tears US-3791 from the Tavern site. He made 72 FT8 contacts with DX to Lithuania, Alaska, St. Vincent, Brazil, Cuba, Italy, The Netherlands, and Canada.
On Thursday we activated the Chickamauga National Battlefield US-0716 from the picnic area site on Brotherton rd.
Dave KQ4GLQ arrived early and got to meet the resident picnic area crazy guy. who was having breakfast there and taking a bath behind the nearby monument. After setting up his vertical Dave made 92 contacts 82 FT8 contacts on 20 meters with * DX contacts to Canada (5) France and Asiatic Russia (that's Siberia) Then he also made 21 SSB contacts on 20 meters with 19 P2P contacts and 4 DX to Canada.
Danny AG4DW set up his elevated radial vertical and made 44 contacts, 3 SSB each on 80 10 and 6 meters. He then made 35 FT8 contacts on 40 meters and 6 on 15 meters with 6 P2P contacts. Allen KN4FKS set up his 17 ft vertical with the faraday cloth radials and made 17 SSB contacts with 6 P2P and 1 DX to Puerto Rico. He had 2 contacts on 10 meters, 2 on 6 meters, and 2 on 80 meters. In just over an hour of calling CQ POTA on 17 meters made 11 contacts. Having a voice keyer built into the ICOM 7300 made it possible to take a nap between contacts while the keyer continued making the CQ calls. (see attached photo)
For an 'eyeball' QSO Steve KN4GZZ stopped by and visited for a while. The heat of the day resulted in the 'FUN meter' begging to bottom out. So everyone packed up and called it a day early.
Ed KM6UTC dropped by the Cravens House site on the Chickamauga Battlefield US-0716 for a quick activation also on Thursday. He had 48 FT8 contacts on 30,20, 17, and 15 meters. He gave 6 meters a go but it was dead. He had DX to Canada, Italy, and the Dominican Republic.
The weather was hot and the bands were warm but all had a fun POTA week.
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1 viewsIt has been a busy POTA week. On Monday Aug. 10 2026 Danny AG4DW and Allen KN4FKS met at the Estelle Mine Road site on Pigeon Mountain US-3742 for a ' Late Shift ' activation. The POTA day begins at 00:00 UTC so it's after 8 pm here.
Danny had two activations, He had 24 contacts before 8pm and 55 afterwards. He had 26 SSB contacts on 20 meters then 53 FT8 contacts on 30 meters. He had 8 Park to Parks and 11 DX contacts to Bahamas, Brazil, Germany (2) Puerto Rico (3) Canada (3) and Lebanon.
Allen had 117 SSB contacts after 8 pm. 58 on 20 meters and 59 on 40 meters, with 3 P2P and DX to Canada (3) and Alaska.
On Wednesday Aug. 12 Ed KM6UTC activated the Trail of Tears US-3791 from the Tavern site. He made 72 FT8 contacts with DX to Lithuania, Alaska, St. Vincent, Brazil, Cuba, Italy, The Netherlands, and Canada.
On Thursday we activated the Chickamauga National Battlefield US-0716 from the picnic area site on Brotherton rd.
Dave KQ4GLQ arrived early and got to meet the resident picnic area crazy guy. who was having breakfast there and taking a bath behind the nearby monument. After setting up his vertical Dave made 92 contacts 82 FT8 contacts on 20 meters with * DX contacts to Canada (5) France and Asiatic Russia (that's Siberia) Then he also made 21 SSB contacts on 20 meters with 19 P2P contacts and 4 DX to Canada.
Danny AG4DW set up his elevated radial vertical and made 44 contacts, 3 SSB each on 80 10 and 6 meters. He then made 35 FT8 contacts on 40 meters and 6 on 15 meters with 6 P2P contacts. Allen KN4FKS set up his 17 ft vertical with the faraday cloth radials and made 17 SSB contacts with 6 P2P and 1 DX to Puerto Rico. He had 2 contacts on 10 meters, 2 on 6 meters, and 2 on 80 meters. In just over an hour of calling CQ POTA on 17 meters made 11 contacts. Having a voice keyer built into the ICOM 7300 made it possible to take a nap between contacts while the keyer continued making the CQ calls. (see attached photo)
For an 'eyeball' QSO Steve KN4GZZ stopped by and visited for a while. The heat of the day resulted in the 'FUN meter' begging to bottom out. So everyone packed up and called it a day early.
Ed KM6UTC dropped by the Cravens House site on the Chickamauga Battlefield US-0716 for a quick activation also on Thursday. He had 48 FT8 contacts on 30,20, 17, and 15 meters. He gave 6 meters a go but it was dead. He had DX to Canada, Italy, and the Dominican Republic.
The weather was hot and the bands were warm but all had a fun POTA week.
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0 viewsIt has been a busy POTA week. On Monday Aug. 10 2026 Danny AG4DW and Allen KN4FKS met at the Estelle Mine Road site on Pigeon Mountain US-3742 for a ' Late Shift ' activation. The POTA day begins at 00:00 UTC so it's after 8 pm here.
Danny had two activations, He had 24 contacts before 8pm and 55 afterwards. He had 26 SSB contacts on 20 meters then 53 FT8 contacts on 30 meters. He had 8 Park to Parks and 11 DX contacts to Bahamas, Brazil, Germany (2) Puerto Rico (3) Canada (3) and Lebanon.
Allen had 117 SSB contacts after 8 pm. 58 on 20 meters and 59 on 40 meters, with 3 P2P and DX to Canada (3) and Alaska.
On Wednesday Aug. 12 Ed KM6UTC activated the Trail of Tears US-3791 from the Tavern site. He made 72 FT8 contacts with DX to Lithuania, Alaska, St. Vincent, Brazil, Cuba, Italy, The Netherlands, and Canada.
On Thursday we activated the Chickamauga National Battlefield US-0716 from the picnic area site on Brotherton rd.
Dave KQ4GLQ arrived early and got to meet the resident picnic area crazy guy. who was having breakfast there and taking a bath behind the nearby monument. After setting up his vertical Dave made 92 contacts 82 FT8 contacts on 20 meters with * DX contacts to Canada (5) France and Asiatic Russia (that's Siberia) Then he also made 21 SSB contacts on 20 meters with 19 P2P contacts and 4 DX to Canada.
Danny AG4DW set up his elevated radial vertical and made 44 contacts, 3 SSB each on 80 10 and 6 meters. He then made 35 FT8 contacts on 40 meters and 6 on 15 meters with 6 P2P contacts. Allen KN4FKS set up his 17 ft vertical with the faraday cloth radials and made 17 SSB contacts with 6 P2P and 1 DX to Puerto Rico. He had 2 contacts on 10 meters, 2 on 6 meters, and 2 on 80 meters. In just over an hour of calling CQ POTA on 17 meters made 11 contacts. Having a voice keyer built into the ICOM 7300 made it possible to take a nap between contacts while the keyer continued making the CQ calls. (see attached photo)
For an 'eyeball' QSO Steve KN4GZZ stopped by and visited for a while. The heat of the day resulted in the 'FUN meter' begging to bottom out. So everyone packed up and called it a day early.
Ed KM6UTC dropped by the Cravens House site on the Chickamauga Battlefield US-0716 for a quick activation also on Thursday. He had 48 FT8 contacts on 30,20, 17, and 15 meters. He gave 6 meters a go but it was dead. He had DX to Canada, Italy, and the Dominican Republic.
The weather was hot and the bands were warm but all had a fun POTA week.
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47 viewsEven though our esteemed leader, Allen (KN4FKS), and I both had to go out of town this week, there was still a LOT of POTA activity despite there being no organized group effort!
Ed (KM6UTC) solved a but of a POTA activation problem/mystery this week that made a gigantic difference in the number of contacts! And it had nothing to do with his equipment! I mention this not to embarrass Ed but, rather, to point out how easy it is for us humans to make the wrong assumptions and maybe there is someone else wanting to do POTA that has made the same assumption. Up until this week Ed says that he thought the only calls you could log for a POTA activation were calls to another activator or a hunter answering his CQ POTA call! In fact, almost any valid QSO counts and can be logged (no repeaters can be used, however). You can answer someone else’s CQ and have a rag chew. It counts as a valid POTA contact. Make a contact with a DXExpediton? It counts!
Armed with the new knowledge, Ed activated US-0716, Chickamuaga and Chattanooga National Battlefield, from the Cravens House location on the North side of Lookout Mountain, on Thursday. hw wound up with 85 contacts for the day with a number of DX. The DX included the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Romania, Spain, France, Canada (eh), Puerto Rico, Italy, Azores, & Hungary.
Ed noted that the views from Cravens House were wonderful due to the excellent weather. He also commented on what appears to once have been a beautiful Mansion and adjacent Coach House at the Cravens House location and noted that the Nation Park Service seems to have allowed these structures to deteriorate, probably past the point of no return!
Ed asked if anyone had any information about this and someone sent a link to a 13-year old link to the Chattanoogan.com that sums it up quite well! A copy of the link is attached if you want to find out more!
https://www.chattanoogan.com/2013/3/25/247432/John-Shearer-History-Of-The-Hardy-Home.aspx
Before heading out of town Allen (KN4FKS) got away Tuesday afternoon for a few hours to Estelle Mine Road on Pigeon Mtn.WMA (US-3742). He set up his 25 ft vertical with the faraday cloth radials and mainly chased parks for P2P contacts. He had 22 SSB contacts with 20 P2P and 2 special event stations. Also one P2P to Puerto Rico. On 20 meters he had 16 contacts and 6 more on 40 meters.
AND… a bug congratulations to Dan Strickland (K2DTS) for achieving a Kilo (1000 activator contacts) from US-0716 on Wednesday. Dan has been working on this goal for a while and he can finally put that notch in his belt!
As for me, Danny (AG4DW), I had to travel to Florida for the weekend but did manage to activate two new-to-me parks in Florida on the trip down. Payne’s Prairie Preserve State Park (US-3647) and Price’s Scrub State Park (US-10463). These two parks are about 4 miles apart and are totally different! Payne’s Prairie has luscious tropical foliage and Spanish Moss everywhere and a large lake and picnic pavilions. Price’s Scrub is a relatively new park and is pretty primitive and expected to remain that way. One picnic table, one porta-potty and one trash can! I managed 25 SSB contacts on 20 meters at both parks!
And, in a first for me, we saw a park ranger pull in at Price’s Scrub in an unmarked truck and headed towards a small trailhead. He saw us watching him and backed up to us, identified himself, and told us he was there on official business! He was afraid we were going to call the cops and report HIM! You hear reports of rangers investigating POTA activators but usually not the other way around! We had a good laugh and he was very familiar with Parks on the Air. He said if the apocalypse ever happens, he is getting in touch with us POTA guys!
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58 viewsEven though our esteemed leader, Allen (KN4FKS), and I both had to go out of town this week, there was still a LOT of POTA activity despite there being no organized group effort!
Ed (KM6UTC) solved a but of a POTA activation problem/mystery this week that made a gigantic difference in the number of contacts! And it had nothing to do with his equipment! I mention this not to embarrass Ed but, rather, to point out how easy it is for us humans to make the wrong assumptions and maybe there is someone else wanting to do POTA that has made the same assumption. Up until this week Ed says that he thought the only calls you could log for a POTA activation were calls to another activator or a hunter answering his CQ POTA call! In fact, almost any valid QSO counts and can be logged (no repeaters can be used, however). You can answer someone else’s CQ and have a rag chew. It counts as a valid POTA contact. Make a contact with a DXExpediton? It counts!
Armed with the new knowledge, Ed activated US-0716, Chickamuaga and Chattanooga National Battlefield, from the Cravens House location on the North side of Lookout Mountain, on Thursday. hw wound up with 85 contacts for the day with a number of DX. The DX included the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Romania, Spain, France, Canada (eh), Puerto Rico, Italy, Azores, & Hungary.
Ed noted that the views from Cravens House were wonderful due to the excellent weather. He also commented on what appears to once have been a beautiful Mansion and adjacent Coach House at the Cravens House location and noted that the Nation Park Service seems to have allowed these structures to deteriorate, probably past the point of no return!
Ed asked if anyone had any information about this and someone sent a link to a 13-year old link to the Chattanoogan.com that sums it up quite well! A copy of the link is attached if you want to find out more!
https://www.chattanoogan.com/2013/3/25/247432/John-Shearer-History-Of-The-Hardy-Home.aspx
Before heading out of town Allen (KN4FKS) got away Tuesday afternoon for a few hours to Estelle Mine Road on Pigeon Mtn.WMA (US-3742). He set up his 25 ft vertical with the faraday cloth radials and mainly chased parks for P2P contacts. He had 22 SSB contacts with 20 P2P and 2 special event stations. Also one P2P to Puerto Rico. On 20 meters he had 16 contacts and 6 more on 40 meters.
AND… a bug congratulations to Dan Strickland (K2DTS) for achieving a Kilo (1000 activator contacts) from US-0716 on Wednesday. Dan has been working on this goal for a while and he can finally put that notch in his belt!
As for me, Danny (AG4DW), I had to travel to Florida for the weekend but did manage to activate two new-to-me parks in Florida on the trip down. Payne’s Prairie Preserve State Park (US-3647) and Price’s Scrub State Park (US-10463). These two parks are about 4 miles apart and are totally different! Payne’s Prairie has luscious tropical foliage and Spanish Moss everywhere and a large lake and picnic pavilions. Price’s Scrub is a relatively new park and is pretty primitive and expected to remain that way. One picnic table, one porta-potty and one trash can! I managed 25 SSB contacts on 20 meters at both parks!
And, in a first for me, we saw a park ranger pull in at Price’s Scrub in an unmarked truck and headed towards a small trailhead. He saw us watching him and backed up to us, identified himself, and told us he was there on official business! He was afraid we were going to call the cops and report HIM! You hear reports of rangers investigating POTA activators but usually not the other way around! We had a good laugh and he was very familiar with Parks on the Air. He said if the apocalypse ever happens, he is getting in touch with us POTA guys!
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38 viewsEven though our esteemed leader, Allen (KN4FKS), and I both had to go out of town this week, there was still a LOT of POTA activity despite there being no organized group effort!
Ed (KM6UTC) solved a but of a POTA activation problem/mystery this week that made a gigantic difference in the number of contacts! And it had nothing to do with his equipment! I mention this not to embarrass Ed but, rather, to point out how easy it is for us humans to make the wrong assumptions and maybe there is someone else wanting to do POTA that has made the same assumption. Up until this week Ed says that he thought the only calls you could log for a POTA activation were calls to another activator or a hunter answering his CQ POTA call! In fact, almost any valid QSO counts and can be logged (no repeaters can be used, however). You can answer someone else’s CQ and have a rag chew. It counts as a valid POTA contact. Make a contact with a DXExpediton? It counts!
Armed with the new knowledge, Ed activated US-0716, Chickamuaga and Chattanooga National Battlefield, from the Cravens House location on the North side of Lookout Mountain, on Thursday. hw wound up with 85 contacts for the day with a number of DX. The DX included the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Romania, Spain, France, Canada (eh), Puerto Rico, Italy, Azores, & Hungary.
Ed noted that the views from Cravens House were wonderful due to the excellent weather. He also commented on what appears to once have been a beautiful Mansion and adjacent Coach House at the Cravens House location and noted that the Nation Park Service seems to have allowed these structures to deteriorate, probably past the point of no return!
Ed asked if anyone had any information about this and someone sent a link to a 13-year old link to the Chattanoogan.com that sums it up quite well! A copy of the link is attached if you want to find out more!
https://www.chattanoogan.com/2013/3/25/247432/John-Shearer-History-Of-The-Hardy-Home.aspx
Before heading out of town Allen (KN4FKS) got away Tuesday afternoon for a few hours to Estelle Mine Road on Pigeon Mtn.WMA (US-3742). He set up his 25 ft vertical with the faraday cloth radials and mainly chased parks for P2P contacts. He had 22 SSB contacts with 20 P2P and 2 special event stations. Also one P2P to Puerto Rico. On 20 meters he had 16 contacts and 6 more on 40 meters.
AND… a bug congratulations to Dan Strickland (K2DTS) for achieving a Kilo (1000 activator contacts) from US-0716 on Wednesday. Dan has been working on this goal for a while and he can finally put that notch in his belt!
As for me, Danny (AG4DW), I had to travel to Florida for the weekend but did manage to activate two new-to-me parks in Florida on the trip down. Payne’s Prairie Preserve State Park (US-3647) and Price’s Scrub State Park (US-10463). These two parks are about 4 miles apart and are totally different! Payne’s Prairie has luscious tropical foliage and Spanish Moss everywhere and a large lake and picnic pavilions. Price’s Scrub is a relatively new park and is pretty primitive and expected to remain that way. One picnic table, one porta-potty and one trash can! I managed 25 SSB contacts on 20 meters at both parks!
And, in a first for me, we saw a park ranger pull in at Price’s Scrub in an unmarked truck and headed towards a small trailhead. He saw us watching him and backed up to us, identified himself, and told us he was there on official business! He was afraid we were going to call the cops and report HIM! You hear reports of rangers investigating POTA activators but usually not the other way around! We had a good laugh and he was very familiar with Parks on the Air. He said if the apocalypse ever happens, he is getting in touch with us POTA guys!
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33 viewsEven though our esteemed leader, Allen (KN4FKS), and I both had to go out of town this week, there was still a LOT of POTA activity despite there being no organized group effort!
Ed (KM6UTC) solved a but of a POTA activation problem/mystery this week that made a gigantic difference in the number of contacts! And it had nothing to do with his equipment! I mention this not to embarrass Ed but, rather, to point out how easy it is for us humans to make the wrong assumptions and maybe there is someone else wanting to do POTA that has made the same assumption. Up until this week Ed says that he thought the only calls you could log for a POTA activation were calls to another activator or a hunter answering his CQ POTA call! In fact, almost any valid QSO counts and can be logged (no repeaters can be used, however). You can answer someone else’s CQ and have a rag chew. It counts as a valid POTA contact. Make a contact with a DXExpediton? It counts!
Armed with the new knowledge, Ed activated US-0716, Chickamuaga and Chattanooga National Battlefield, from the Cravens House location on the North side of Lookout Mountain, on Thursday. hw wound up with 85 contacts for the day with a number of DX. The DX included the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Romania, Spain, France, Canada (eh), Puerto Rico, Italy, Azores, & Hungary.
Ed noted that the views from Cravens House were wonderful due to the excellent weather. He also commented on what appears to once have been a beautiful Mansion and adjacent Coach House at the Cravens House location and noted that the Nation Park Service seems to have allowed these structures to deteriorate, probably past the point of no return!
Ed asked if anyone had any information about this and someone sent a link to a 13-year old link to the Chattanoogan.com that sums it up quite well! A copy of the link is attached if you want to find out more!
https://www.chattanoogan.com/2013/3/25/247432/John-Shearer-History-Of-The-Hardy-Home.aspx
Before heading out of town Allen (KN4FKS) got away Tuesday afternoon for a few hours to Estelle Mine Road on Pigeon Mtn.WMA (US-3742). He set up his 25 ft vertical with the faraday cloth radials and mainly chased parks for P2P contacts. He had 22 SSB contacts with 20 P2P and 2 special event stations. Also one P2P to Puerto Rico. On 20 meters he had 16 contacts and 6 more on 40 meters.
AND… a bug congratulations to Dan Strickland (K2DTS) for achieving a Kilo (1000 activator contacts) from US-0716 on Wednesday. Dan has been working on this goal for a while and he can finally put that notch in his belt!
As for me, Danny (AG4DW), I had to travel to Florida for the weekend but did manage to activate two new-to-me parks in Florida on the trip down. Payne’s Prairie Preserve State Park (US-3647) and Price’s Scrub State Park (US-10463). These two parks are about 4 miles apart and are totally different! Payne’s Prairie has luscious tropical foliage and Spanish Moss everywhere and a large lake and picnic pavilions. Price’s Scrub is a relatively new park and is pretty primitive and expected to remain that way. One picnic table, one porta-potty and one trash can! I managed 25 SSB contacts on 20 meters at both parks!
And, in a first for me, we saw a park ranger pull in at Price’s Scrub in an unmarked truck and headed towards a small trailhead. He saw us watching him and backed up to us, identified himself, and told us he was there on official business! He was afraid we were going to call the cops and report HIM! You hear reports of rangers investigating POTA activators but usually not the other way around! We had a good laugh and he was very familiar with Parks on the Air. He said if the apocalypse ever happens, he is getting in touch with us POTA guys!
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79 viewsEven though our esteemed leader, Allen (KN4FKS), and I both had to go out of town this week, there was still a LOT of POTA activity despite there being no organized group effort!
Ed (KM6UTC) solved a but of a POTA activation problem/mystery this week that made a gigantic difference in the number of contacts! And it had nothing to do with his equipment! I mention this not to embarrass Ed but, rather, to point out how easy it is for us humans to make the wrong assumptions and maybe there is someone else wanting to do POTA that has made the same assumption. Up until this week Ed says that he thought the only calls you could log for a POTA activation were calls to another activator or a hunter answering his CQ POTA call! In fact, almost any valid QSO counts and can be logged (no repeaters can be used, however). You can answer someone else’s CQ and have a rag chew. It counts as a valid POTA contact. Make a contact with a DXExpediton? It counts!
Armed with the new knowledge, Ed activated US-0716, Chickamuaga and Chattanooga National Battlefield, from the Cravens House location on the North side of Lookout Mountain, on Thursday. hw wound up with 85 contacts for the day with a number of DX. The DX included the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Romania, Spain, France, Canada (eh), Puerto Rico, Italy, Azores, & Hungary.
Ed noted that the views from Cravens House were wonderful due to the excellent weather. He also commented on what appears to once have been a beautiful Mansion and adjacent Coach House at the Cravens House location and noted that the Nation Park Service seems to have allowed these structures to deteriorate, probably past the point of no return!
Ed asked if anyone had any information about this and someone sent a link to a 13-year old link to the Chattanoogan.com that sums it up quite well! A copy of the link is attached if you want to find out more!
https://www.chattanoogan.com/2013/3/25/247432/John-Shearer-History-Of-The-Hardy-Home.aspx
Before heading out of town Allen (KN4FKS) got away Tuesday afternoon for a few hours to Estelle Mine Road on Pigeon Mtn.WMA (US-3742). He set up his 25 ft vertical with the faraday cloth radials and mainly chased parks for P2P contacts. He had 22 SSB contacts with 20 P2P and 2 special event stations. Also one P2P to Puerto Rico. On 20 meters he had 16 contacts and 6 more on 40 meters.
AND… a bug congratulations to Dan Strickland (K2DTS) for achieving a Kilo (1000 activator contacts) from US-0716 on Wednesday. Dan has been working on this goal for a while and he can finally put that notch in his belt!
As for me, Danny (AG4DW), I had to travel to Florida for the weekend but did manage to activate two new-to-me parks in Florida on the trip down. Payne’s Prairie Preserve State Park (US-3647) and Price’s Scrub State Park (US-10463). These two parks are about 4 miles apart and are totally different! Payne’s Prairie has luscious tropical foliage and Spanish Moss everywhere and a large lake and picnic pavilions. Price’s Scrub is a relatively new park and is pretty primitive and expected to remain that way. One picnic table, one porta-potty and one trash can! I managed 25 SSB contacts on 20 meters at both parks!
And, in a first for me, we saw a park ranger pull in at Price’s Scrub in an unmarked truck and headed towards a small trailhead. He saw us watching him and backed up to us, identified himself, and told us he was there on official business! He was afraid we were going to call the cops and report HIM! You hear reports of rangers investigating POTA activators but usually not the other way around! We had a good laugh and he was very familiar with Parks on the Air. He said if the apocalypse ever happens, he is getting in touch with us POTA guys!
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52 viewsEven though our esteemed leader, Allen (KN4FKS), and I both had to go out of town this week, there was still a LOT of POTA activity despite there being no organized group effort!
Ed (KM6UTC) solved a but of a POTA activation problem/mystery this week that made a gigantic difference in the number of contacts! And it had nothing to do with his equipment! I mention this not to embarrass Ed but, rather, to point out how easy it is for us humans to make the wrong assumptions and maybe there is someone else wanting to do POTA that has made the same assumption. Up until this week Ed says that he thought the only calls you could log for a POTA activation were calls to another activator or a hunter answering his CQ POTA call! In fact, almost any valid QSO counts and can be logged (no repeaters can be used, however). You can answer someone else’s CQ and have a rag chew. It counts as a valid POTA contact. Make a contact with a DXExpediton? It counts!
Armed with the new knowledge, Ed activated US-0716, Chickamuaga and Chattanooga National Battlefield, from the Cravens House location on the North side of Lookout Mountain, on Thursday. hw wound up with 85 contacts for the day with a number of DX. The DX included the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Romania, Spain, France, Canada (eh), Puerto Rico, Italy, Azores, & Hungary.
Ed noted that the views from Cravens House were wonderful due to the excellent weather. He also commented on what appears to once have been a beautiful Mansion and adjacent Coach House at the Cravens House location and noted that the Nation Park Service seems to have allowed these structures to deteriorate, probably past the point of no return!
Ed asked if anyone had any information about this and someone sent a link to a 13-year old link to the Chattanoogan.com that sums it up quite well! A copy of the link is attached if you want to find out more!
https://www.chattanoogan.com/2013/3/25/247432/John-Shearer-History-Of-The-Hardy-Home.aspx
Before heading out of town Allen (KN4FKS) got away Tuesday afternoon for a few hours to Estelle Mine Road on Pigeon Mtn.WMA (US-3742). He set up his 25 ft vertical with the faraday cloth radials and mainly chased parks for P2P contacts. He had 22 SSB contacts with 20 P2P and 2 special event stations. Also one P2P to Puerto Rico. On 20 meters he had 16 contacts and 6 more on 40 meters.
AND… a bug congratulations to Dan Strickland (K2DTS) for achieving a Kilo (1000 activator contacts) from US-0716 on Wednesday. Dan has been working on this goal for a while and he can finally put that notch in his belt!
As for me, Danny (AG4DW), I had to travel to Florida for the weekend but did manage to activate two new-to-me parks in Florida on the trip down. Payne’s Prairie Preserve State Park (US-3647) and Price’s Scrub State Park (US-10463). These two parks are about 4 miles apart and are totally different! Payne’s Prairie has luscious tropical foliage and Spanish Moss everywhere and a large lake and picnic pavilions. Price’s Scrub is a relatively new park and is pretty primitive and expected to remain that way. One picnic table, one porta-potty and one trash can! I managed 25 SSB contacts on 20 meters at both parks!
And, in a first for me, we saw a park ranger pull in at Price’s Scrub in an unmarked truck and headed towards a small trailhead. He saw us watching him and backed up to us, identified himself, and told us he was there on official business! He was afraid we were going to call the cops and report HIM! You hear reports of rangers investigating POTA activators but usually not the other way around! We had a good laugh and he was very familiar with Parks on the Air. He said if the apocalypse ever happens, he is getting in touch with us POTA guys!
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