 Most viewed - 2024 |
598 viewsWe activated Johns Mountain WMA US-3758 Thursday afternoon and the sun was out. However the wind was howling and the temperature was dropping fast. Setting up antennas got everyone chilled then it got worse.
We had an old friend Dean Harris KK4BE join us for the activation and he set up outside on a table. John KB4QXI and Allen KN4FKS set up inside their vehicles to escape the wind. Dean quickly realized sitting outside was just too cold. While he was moving into his truck cab the wind blew over his folding chair.
John KB4QXI operated on 20 meters SSB using his Hamstick on top of his car. He made 105 contacts with 11 Park to Park contacts and 4 Canadian DX contacts. Dean KK4EB used his end fed sloper and made 22 contacts on 10 meters. two were P2P and 4 DX to Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and Wales. Allen KN4FKS used his vertical with the single long counterpoise to make 31 contacts on 15 meter SSB with 3 P2P and 6 DX contacts to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Alaska, and 3 Canadians.
It was a fun day but challenging due to the weather but we POTA'd on!
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597 viewsThis Thursday Feb. 22 we activated the Zahnd WMA K-7903 which is in the middle of nowhere on the South end of Lookout Mountain. The small wildlife area consist of woodland, cliffs, and large sandstone boulders. The only public facility is a 10 car gravel parking lot just off the side of GA Hwy 157 south of Hwy 136.
Allen KN4FKS set up his station using an end fed half wave rigged as a sloper. on 20 meters and had 61 contacts, 11 P2P, and 3 DX. Ed KM6UTC set up his mag loop antenna and worked digital on 40 meters with 40 contacts, 4 P2P, and 14 DX. Ed was "slightly" delayed getting on the air searching for his cell phone which was hiding under his wallet in his back pocket. John KB4QXI set up his Ham Stick on top of the car and made 7 contacts on 40 meters and 25 on 20 meters with 12 P2P contacts. Danny AG4DW used the end fed rig to make 19 contacts with 3 contacts back to back from Spain, then 1 Mexico and 1 Canadian.
While there we had occasion to introduce two rock climbers and two hikers to Ham radio and POTA. Before we left Allen and Ed crossed the highway and walked a short distance to the top of the cliff line overlooking McLemore Cove and Pigeon Mountain to the East. The view is amazing even on an overcast day. Fun day once again.
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594 viewsThe Rambler Radio Club W4LMS activated Cloudland Canyon State Park US-2169 today from the park interpretive center.
We set up two stations, one on 40 meters and one on 20 meters. Band conditions were tough with a solar storm arriving this morning. In spite of everything the 40 meter station made 36 contacts with 20 P2P and no DX with kids as operators and Danny AG4DW as the Elmer. The 20 meter station made ??? contacts with ??? P2P and ??? DX.
With Jody W4LWC as Elmer. Allen KN4FKS acted as the visitor welcoming person answering questions and handing out HAM radio information. The park was very busy today and the parking lot stayed full all day with a steady stream of folks coming into the interpretive center. Several licensed hams dropped in and several prospective Hams were helped along the way.
Matt AF4MH came by as did John KB4QXI. John visited a bit then went up the hill to our usual POTA site and made 21 Contacts on 20 meters with 15 P2P and 2 Canadian parks contacted.
The bear wanted to work some DX but we were trying to make P2P contacts so he just stood quietly in the corner.
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593 viewsWe had a fun relaxing activation at the Chickamauga Battlefield US-0716 this Thursday Nov. 14. We started at 1 pm and caught the afternoon POTA hunter crowd.
Danny AG4DW made 28 contacts on 10 meters using his vertical antenna. He had 17 FT8 contacts and 11 SSB with DX to Canada, Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Uruguay. Allen KN4FKS used his Chameleon vertical whip with the extender section. He had a total of 38 SSB contacts. 10 on 40 meters, 24 on 20 meters, 1 on 15 meters, and 3 on Ten. Included in those totals were 23 Park to Park contacts with no DX other than Canada.
Tony WA4TW, Matt AF4MH, and Alan W4PLP stopped by to hang out and simply enjoy the day in the park. They helped with checking spots and providing adult supervision for the two operators. My bad I didn't take the first photo of this activation. However I have attached a photo of our latest line throwing gun we will use to get that long wire set in a distant tree.
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589 views
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587 viewsThe Rambler Radio Club W4LMS activated Cloudland Canyon State Park US-2169 today from the park interpretive center.
We set up two stations, one on 40 meters and one on 20 meters. Band conditions were tough with a solar storm arriving this morning. In spite of everything the 40 meter station made 36 contacts with 20 P2P and no DX with kids as operators and Danny AG4DW as the Elmer. The 20 meter station made ??? contacts with ??? P2P and ??? DX.
With Jody W4LWC as Elmer. Allen KN4FKS acted as the visitor welcoming person answering questions and handing out HAM radio information. The park was very busy today and the parking lot stayed full all day with a steady stream of folks coming into the interpretive center. Several licensed hams dropped in and several prospective Hams were helped along the way.
Matt AF4MH came by as did John KB4QXI. John visited a bit then went up the hill to our usual POTA site and made 21 Contacts on 20 meters with 15 P2P and 2 Canadian parks contacted.
The bear wanted to work some DX but we were trying to make P2P contacts so he just stood quietly in the corner.
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586 viewsWe activated Chickamauga Battlefield US-0716 this Thursday September 19 which was special as it was the 161st anniversary of the battle.
The picnic area where we activated was the hotly contested battle line on the afternoon of the 19th and saw battle into the night. The Ohio artillery and the Indiana infantry held the Federal line here and attacked from here just before dark. It is a very special place to all of us.
Jeff N2YYP had a Great Great Grandfather who was a soldier with the Georgia Infantry severely wounded during this battle on the 18th near Lee and Gordon Mill and he suffered for a few days and then passed away.
Allen KN4FKS made 16 contacts on several of the odd bands. Lots of time spent calling CQ POTA. 3 on 17m, 2 on 10, and 3 on 12m, finishing out with 8 on 20 meters. He had 1 DX to France on 12 meters.
Ed KM6UTC had 75 digital contacts on 15,17,20 and 30 meters with 9 DX contacts. John KB4QXI had 19 contacts after lunch on 20 meters with 11 P2P and 2 Canadian parks in that total.
Thanks to all the other hams who came by to lend support and share our special day!
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585 viewsWe activated Cloudland Canyon State Park US-2169 from the Ascalon Trailhead location this past Thursday Oct 31 2024.
Danny AG4DW, John KB4QXI, Dan K2DTS, Allen KN4FKS and new General Dave KQ4GLQ all showed up. Allen got Dave's logging software set up for POTA, Danny had a cold so he operated digital only, John cranked out the SSB contacts on the Ham Stick and realized his new 110 v inverter was very NOISY! Dan made several contacts with his vertical and used some jumper cables to create elevated radials. Wonderful idea and they come with handy clamps to attach them to the antenna base.
We also discovered that those fancy electric bicycles come with a ton of electric motor noise. You find out these things by activating at a popular trailhead. Horses however have no electric noise but can create hazards to laying out radials.
BTW only Danny AG4DW sent me any contact information. He had 50 contacts, all FT8 Mostly on 15m but a few on 30m and 10m. He had 19 DX contacts. Austria, Belgium, Canada 2, Dominican Republic, Russia, Germany, France, Hati, Hungary, Netherlands 2, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Puerto Rico, Spain 2, and Switzerland.
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583 viewsWe activated Johns Mountain WMA US-3758 this Thursday from the overlook site on top of the mountain. The breeze kept up so the day didn't get too hot. Allen KN4FKS had 61 SSB contacts on 20 meters, 14 P2P and 6 DX with one P2P to the Dominican Republic and 5 Canadian stations. Ed KM6UTC had 58 digital FT8 contacts with 9 DX contacts and three contacts in a row to Indonesia. John KB4QXI had 11 contacts with 1 P2P. Danny had 16 contacts on 2 meters, 70 cm, 20 Meters and 15 meters. He had a DX SSB contact with Saint Petersburg Russia.
As usual at the overlook we had several visitors. First was the US Forest Service radio service technician checking on their repeater site 100 yards from the parking lot. They had erected a chain link fence around the tower and repeater house to hopefully slow down the copper thieves who steal the grounding wires from the tower legs and the radio equipment. Sad but true. We also had a Pinhoti Trail long distance hiker stop by and we helped him resupply his water bottles. ( He's in the background of one of the photos.) As we were getting ready to leave and elderly gentleman drove up and he was actually a HAM operator from the Villanow area. I didn't get his call sign but we had a nice chat.
Then even the drive home was eventful. Danny's truck kept overheating and he had to stop and cool down several times to limp home. Probably a water pump issue. Allen got within a mile of home and Winston just sputtered and quit running. It wasn't the heat it simply is not getting spark for some reason. Karen came and towed Winston home. Sort that out later when it cools off a bit. I hope Ed and John made it home without incident there seems to be a trend starting here. I hope not.
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578 viewsWe activated Chickamauga Battlefield US-0716 this Thursday September 19 which was special as it was the 161st anniversary of the battle.
The picnic area where we activated was the hotly contested battle line on the afternoon of the 19th and saw battle into the night. The Ohio artillery and the Indiana infantry held the Federal line here and attacked from here just before dark. It is a very special place to all of us.
Jeff N2YYP had a Great Great Grandfather who was a soldier with the Georgia Infantry severely wounded during this battle on the 18th near Lee and Gordon Mill and he suffered for a few days and then passed away.
Allen KN4FKS made 16 contacts on several of the odd bands. Lots of time spent calling CQ POTA. 3 on 17m, 2 on 10, and 3 on 12m, finishing out with 8 on 20 meters. He had 1 DX to France on 12 meters.
Ed KM6UTC had 75 digital contacts on 15,17,20 and 30 meters with 9 DX contacts. John KB4QXI had 19 contacts after lunch on 20 meters with 11 P2P and 2 Canadian parks in that total.
Thanks to all the other hams who came by to lend support and share our special day!
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578 viewsWe activated Johns Mountain WMA US-3758 Thursday afternoon and the sun was out. However the wind was howling and the temperature was dropping fast. Setting up antennas got everyone chilled then it got worse.
We had an old friend Dean Harris KK4BE join us for the activation and he set up outside on a table. John KB4QXI and Allen KN4FKS set up inside their vehicles to escape the wind. Dean quickly realized sitting outside was just too cold. While he was moving into his truck cab the wind blew over his folding chair.
John KB4QXI operated on 20 meters SSB using his Hamstick on top of his car. He made 105 contacts with 11 Park to Park contacts and 4 Canadian DX contacts. Dean KK4EB used his end fed sloper and made 22 contacts on 10 meters. two were P2P and 4 DX to Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and Wales. Allen KN4FKS used his vertical with the single long counterpoise to make 31 contacts on 15 meter SSB with 3 P2P and 6 DX contacts to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Alaska, and 3 Canadians.
It was a fun day but challenging due to the weather but we POTA'd on!
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577 viewsDespite our fearless (underground) leader, Allen (KN4FKS), being otherwise engaged in the process of counting bats in a nearby belfry (cave), we had good attendance today as we activated K-2933, Booker T. Washington State Park, in Chattanooga. The weather was perfect, a warm sunny day. We found spots near Picnic Pavilion #2 overlooking Chickamauga Lake! The bands were up and down and otherwise kinda' funky but we managed to make some good contacts anyway!
Danny (AG4DW) had a total of 35 contacts (including 6 park-to-parks) working the 10 meter band. 9 contacts were SSB with five US contacts and three DX, including Bermuda (a park), Spain and Belgium. There were 26 digital (FT8/FT4) contacts with 12 US contacts and 14 DX, including Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Spain and France.
Ed Dionne (KM6UTC) worked FT8/FT4 on 20 meters using his loop antenna out of the back of his car and made 84 contacts. Two of those were DX to Canada and probably a few park-to-parks but we won’t know how many until the POTA databases work that all out.
Fred Mahler (AD4FM) worked 15 meters out of his truck using hamsticks and made 18 contacts, including 2 park-to-parks and 2 DX to Spain!
Dan Strickland (K2DTS) also worked out of the back of his car but his purpose today was to work out the kinks and configuration of some new equipment and antennas! He did not activate but nonetheless made a few contacts, including one to the Dominican Republic!
KJ4AFL, Tom Hill, crashed our POTA party. Tom lives just on the other side of the lake from the park and showed up to do a solo activation. Surprise! We welcomed him into our group. Tom worked out of his car and was having to work out some issues with an antenna that wouldn’t tune properly. It wound up being a bad piece of coax cable and he was able to take a quick trip home to replace the cable and got up and running. It was fun having Tom join us!
We had at least one visitor that was curious about what we were doing and we spent some time demonstrating POTA and Ham Radio.
We certainly missed having Allen there but we managed a good outing even without proper adult supervision!
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