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0 viewsThis Thursday July 23 we activated the Otting WMA US-7913. The weather cooperated and was not too hot and the bands were rather active and low noise.
John KB4QXI made 14 Park to Park SSB contacts on 20 meters using his end fed half wave wire rigged as a sloper.
Danny AG4DW used his elevated radial pota performer 17 ft. vertical antenna to make 57 total contacts. He had 55 FT8 and 9 SSB contacts on 40, 80, 17,and 12 meter bands, with dx to Brazil and Canada.
Ed KM6UTC set up his backseat shack and used his ATAS 120 A antenna to make 79 total FT8 contacts. He worked 40, 30, 17, 15 and 6 meter bands and had 13 contacts on 6 meters (and the 6m band was supposed to be dead) He had DX to Canada, Brazil, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Allen KN4FKS had 65 total SSB QSO's with 26 P2P contacts and DX to Canada (5) Puerto Rico, and the Cayman Islands. He used his 17 ft vertical with the faraday cloth radials
In other POTA news Ed got his POTA KILO award for making 1000 activator contacts from the Trail of Tears US-3791. Way to go Ed ! Danny AG4DW on his third try actually found the Dekalb County State Public Fishing Area US 13340 open for visitors. He made 32 contacts all SSB on 20 meters with 25 P2P. One P2P contact had two operators and was a "five fer" site as well He also had DX to France and Canada.
Just as a side note would you know what to do if on the way to a POTA activation site you came across an elderly man laying in the grass on the side of the road? Just such a similar thing occurred Tuesday evening. The Walker County Cave Cliff team was gathering for a training session on the South Brow Road on top of Pigeon Mountain. The first team member headed down the road came across the man in the grass. Stopping she rendered aid to him and was quickly joined by other team members, The 81 year old man had been reported missing Sunday evening in Lafayette. He had left home in a white Honda sedan. It was not anywhere near him. I quick call to Walker 911 got an officer to come and take him home. The elderly man advised his vehicle was stuck on a road somewhere. He did not know where. He was taken home and the family was glad to have him back. The vehicle was located by an equestrian group on a trail deep in the woods the next day. He had driven the sedan over a berm adjacent to the gate where we often set for POTA on South brow road. The DNR folks were able to get the vehicle out of the woods successfully. Would you have water, electrolyte drink with you to give someone in need? Would you know how to describe to the 911 dispatcher where you actually were located? The nearest address in their computer system was over 5 miles away. Could you decide whether an ambulance was needed? What if you had no cell service to call 911. Could you relay the needed information via Ham radio to the dispatcher? What if you were the Ham sitting at home and heard the emergency traffic call on the local repeater. Would you know who to call and what information is needed?
Stay safe POTA friends, remember look up before you set up. Hazards come in many shapes and sizes. Jul 27, 2026
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0 viewsWe activated Johns Mountain WMA US-3758 from the Overlook site Thursday July 16 2026. The road up the mountain is getting rougher every day so it is a bouncy ride.
Allen KN4FKS set up his end fed wire as a sloper and made 106 contacts on 20 meters SSB. He had 22 Park to Park contacts and no DX.
Ed KM6UTC used his mobile rig with the back seat ham shack set up to make 102 FT8 contacts. He had 9 contacts on 6 meters and the rest on 15,20 and 40 meters.
The Johns Mountain site is also a 'two-fer' as it is also Chattahoochee National Forest US-4473. In spite of the bad road we had some visitors, a couple interested in Ham radio for his drone hobby arrived in a Honda sedan and a family showed up in their mini-van. We also had a couple of hikers pass through.
On Friday July 17 Allen KN4FKS decided to travel a bit further out and activate two parks over near Ellijay. First stop was Rich Mountain Cartecay Tract WMA US-12417 from the archery range parking lot where he made 14 quick Park to Park contacts on 20 meters then packed up to head to the second site. About two miles away there is an access point on Owl Town Road for the Rich Mountain WMA US-7452. With storm clouds building Allen made 27 contacts on 20 meters SSB with 9 P2P contacts and no DX. As the thunder started to rumble he got packed up and headed out for home. Two quick new activations in the log.
I know other folks were also active this week so feel free to post to the group about what you did as well. Jul 21, 2026
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2 viewsJul 21, 2026
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1 viewsOur plan worked for once. This week we activated Pigeon Mountain US-3742 from the South Brow site. It was nice and shady, a light breeze blew and it never really got that hot. The bands also cooperated enough to make it a fun day.
Allen KN4FKS set up his end fed wire as a sloper and worked 40 meters SSB. He made 47 contacts with one Park to Park and no DX. A useful accessory for POTA this time of year is a small clamp on 12 volt fan.
Danny AG4DW set up his POTA Performer 17 ft vertical and made 69 total contacts. 21 SSB contacts on 20 meters, then 41 FT8 contacts also on 20 meters. Then he made 7 FT8 contacts on 15 meters. He had 4 P2P contacts and DX to Canada (5) Cuba, France, and the Netherlands.
Jim K4WWE set up his Horizon Antennas Vertical Dipole and made 11 contacts for a successful activation.
Doug W4LAW came by to check on us and provide some adult supervision.
It was a fun day proving you can actually successfully activate a park in the summer heat if you pick your spot carefully. Jul 09, 2026
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1 viewsOur plan worked for once. This week we activated Pigeon Mountain US-3742 from the South Brow site. It was nice and shady, a light breeze blew and it never really got that hot. The bands also cooperated enough to make it a fun day.
Allen KN4FKS set up his end fed wire as a sloper and worked 40 meters SSB. He made 47 contacts with one Park to Park and no DX. A useful accessory for POTA this time of year is a small clamp on 12 volt fan.
Danny AG4DW set up his POTA Performer 17 ft vertical and made 69 total contacts. 21 SSB contacts on 20 meters, then 41 FT8 contacts also on 20 meters. Then he made 7 FT8 contacts on 15 meters. He had 4 P2P contacts and DX to Canada (5) Cuba, France, and the Netherlands.
Jim K4WWE set up his Horizon Antennas Vertical Dipole and made 11 contacts for a successful activation.
Doug W4LAW came by to check on us and provide some adult supervision.
It was a fun day proving you can actually successfully activate a park in the summer heat if you pick your spot carefully. Jul 09, 2026
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1 viewsOur plan worked for once. This week we activated Pigeon Mountain US-3742 from the South Brow site. It was nice and shady, a light breeze blew and it never really got that hot. The bands also cooperated enough to make it a fun day.
Allen KN4FKS set up his end fed wire as a sloper and worked 40 meters SSB. He made 47 contacts with one Park to Park and no DX. A useful accessory for POTA this time of year is a small clamp on 12 volt fan.
Danny AG4DW set up his POTA Performer 17 ft vertical and made 69 total contacts. 21 SSB contacts on 20 meters, then 41 FT8 contacts also on 20 meters. Then he made 7 FT8 contacts on 15 meters. He had 4 P2P contacts and DX to Canada (5) Cuba, France, and the Netherlands.
Jim K4WWE set up his Horizon Antennas Vertical Dipole and made 11 contacts for a successful activation.
Doug W4LAW came by to check on us and provide some adult supervision.
It was a fun day proving you can actually successfully activate a park in the summer heat if you pick your spot carefully. Jul 09, 2026
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4 viewsJul 01, 2026
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