 Most viewed - 2025 |
546 viewsThis weekend April 5-6, 2025 saw the 3rd annual Georgia State Parks POTA Contest . The goal here is to have ALL of the Georgia State Parks activated at once in a contest format. Cloudland Canyon State Park US-2169 was activated by Allen KN4FKS and John KB4QXI from Cabin 7. They set up antennas and stations on Friday evening and got ready for the contest start at 8:00 am Saturday morning.
Through the weekend Allen operated exclusively on 20 meters and John stayed on 40 meters. Band pass filters saved the day with such close proximity RF.
Bright and early Saturday both operators were ready at the start. You could not buy a contact on 20 meters! The band was dead. The sun had burped. After calling CQ for 45 minutes Allen suddenly got an answer from Arizona. He said I was the ONLY signal on his band scope. Ouch. Another few minutes and a DX contact to Columbia was made then the calls started to trickle in. It was 2 contacts the first hour, then 7 more the second hour. By the end of the third hour the 20 meter total was 20 QSO's. It slowly got better and when the day was done Allen had a total of 376 contacts. John was having similar difficulty on 40 meters. He had 143 contacts on the day, We shut down the stations at 10 pm. to get some sleep and be ready to go again Sunday morning.
During the day several fellow hams came by. Harry N4VQ stopped in with his K-9 buddy. Danny AG4DW stopped by to provide adult supervision then went across the park and set up his station giving us Park-to-Park contacts. He cranked out 25 contacts and called it a day. Dean KK4EB an old friend of both John and Allen stopped in and set up on the picnic table out in the yard. He operated on 15 meters and made 81 contacts total, 31 DX and one Georgia P2P .
Allen was awakened Sunday morning by a thunderclap at 6:30 AM. Jumping up he quickly detached both stations coax from the antennas. It was raining heavily and the thunder rolled across the ridge top. Not a good beginning to the second day of the contest. Check out time for the cabin was noon so the morning was tough. Between storm fronts Allen got on the air for a few minutes and quickly got 34 contacts before having to shut down again.
Totals for the weekend Allen Had 410 contacts with 69 P2P calls and only one Georgia park contact for a contest score of 413. John had 187 total contacts, 44 P2P contacts and 31 Georgia P2P contacts which adds 155 points to his 187 for a rough score of 342.
To cap off a fun weekend of solar and terrestrial weather, packing up to leave in the rain was fun. Antenna demobilization with occasional thunder was exciting as well as wet. Then moving all the stuff out to the cars it was just as wet. Fun weekend in spite of all the challenges. Now to dry everything out.
Alan W4PLP activated Unicoi State Park. How was your weekend? Anyone else get out to POTA?
|
|
545 viewsWe activated Cloudland Canyon State Park US-2169 on Thursday May 29. We set up in the picnic shed on top of the hill at the highest point on the park next to the disc golf course. It wasn't raining when we set up but it certainly was when we were taking down.
Allen KN4FKS set up his new 25 foot tall Chameleon vertical and made a fairly quick 35 contacts on 20 meters. Then moved to 17 meters and slowed down a bit to make 19 contacts. Then moved to 40 meters to make 3 contacts. for a total of 57 contacts with 7 park to park contacts with 2 DX contacts, Mexico and Canada. The bands were wonky with signals coming and going or just non existent. The sun burped once more.
Danny AG4DW set up his elevated radial POTA performer vertical and made a total of 73 contacts, 47 on SSB, with 10 P2P contacts then 25 contacts on FT8 all on 40 meters, he then retuned and made 1 contact on 30 meters. Dan K2DTS used his mag mount HamStick and made 27 contacts on 20 meters, 16 SSB, 6 FT8, and 4 FT4.
Notable contacts on the day was first the US aircraft carrier USS Lexington W5LEX was hunting parks and gave me a call. Then later a booming signal 'park to park' came and it was David WK4DS calling from the Ascalon Trailhead in the same Cloudland Canyon Park property. He was probably two miles away. Then the next contact was in Washington state. \
The bands were odd short and then long. Did I mention it rained? I haven't packed away dry gear in over a month. I'm ready for some sunshine. Regardless a fun time was had by all.
|
|
544 viewsThis Thursday we activated Johns Mountain WMA US-3758 from the Overlook site.
Allen KN4FKS set up his end fed half wave sloper antenna under the trees and Dan K2DTS warmed it up first. He made 20 contacts on 20 meters SSB. the band was wonky and contacts were either long or close. He had one in Alabama and one in California. Allen then used the same rig to make 21 contacts on 20 meters SSB with 7 P2P and 3 DX contacts which included a park to park in Bermuda before the rains came.
Danny AG4DW cranked up his rig using a vertical antenna and made 4 SSB contacts, 25 FT8 contacts and 2 FM contacts. With the two FM contacts on the 1.25 m band he accomplished a rather hard to get POTA award. The POTA N1CC award is obtained by making contacts on TEN bands in TEN different parks. He is the first of our crew to get this award, congratulations on all the hard work. John KB4QXI made 20 contacts on 20 meters with 16 P2P contacts and 2 Canadian DX contacts.
The drive up the gravel road to the overlook is rough as usual but the mountain laurel bushes were in full bloom and made the trip a bit more bearable.
We seem to be in a springtime rain shower loop as every week we seem to be taking down antennas in the rain. Luckily none of the radio equipment has gotten wet. However antennas, coax and throw string need to be dried before the next activation. Hopefully the next activation will be a dry one.
Again, congrats to Danny on the award.
|
|
544 viewsWell the day started off dark and rainy. Everyone except me (Allen KN4FKS) bailed for one reason or another. When I arrived at the Nick A Jack trailhead for Cloudland Canyon SP US-2169 the rain let up long enough to get everything moved to under the picnic shed. Then it rained hard while I watched and waited.
A hiker came out of the trail and we chatted for a while and the rain stopped for a bit, he left and I set up my new 25 foot Chameleon vertical. Back under the shed and the bottom fell out again. I got on 20 meters SSB and made 52 contacts before lunch. The band was busy and the adjacent QRM was bothersome at times. Had lunch by myself (the usual peanut butter jelly) the rain tailed off and eventually the sun came out. After lunch I went to 17 meters to avoid the crowd and made 9 contacts there. One DX from Sweden. Went back to 20 meters and made several more Park to Park contacts. Finished up with one park to park on 40 meters and called it a day with 69 QSO's and 25 P2Ps.
After I got home and uploaded my log I checked my totals for Cloudland Canyon SP and suddenly realized I had gone QRT early and was only 18 QSO's away from my double KILO on the park. Could have made that easy in a short bit. Oh well next time will be the clincher. No pressure.
Peter KX4BE ventured out close to home at Harrison Bay SP US-2951 today. He used the mini Tarheel antennal on the car and made 18 quick contacts on 20 meters with 4 P2P and no DX. He reported a beautiful day there with a nice breeze. Oh well.
Field Day is coming up next weekend June 28-29. Just think of it as a looong POTA activation with better food and air conditioning ! If you haven't signed up yet RSVP now! Go to the club website https://tristatesarc.com/club/ and sign up. See you there.
|
|
542 viewsIt's been a busy week. This Thursday June 12 we gathered at Chickamauga Battlefield US-0716 over on the west side of the park at the 'recreation field' parking lot.
Danny AG4DW set up on the west end at the picnic tables. Jody W4LWC assisted him with logging duties. Danny made 91 total contacts. 74 SSB contacts and 7 FT8 contacts on 20 meters, then went to 15 meters FT8 and made 10 more including one DX to Spain. Allen KN4FKS set up on the east end of the parking lot under the shade trees. He had 29 SSB contacts, 26 on 40 meters and 3 on 20 meters with a total of 9 Park to Park contacts. Max N4NWD completed his first activation the hard way. He used his ICOM-705 QRP rig and was using 5 watts. He made 1 SSB contact on 40 meters and 9 on 20 meters for a successful POTA activation. Welcome to the 'dark side' Max. POTA has now claimed a new believer. John KB4QXI set up around the corner at the Wilder tower parking lot to avoid the heavy RF with us. He ran SSB on 20 meters for ?? contacts. We even got a Park to Park with him.
Dan K2DTS came by and we fixed his 'leak' He moved over across the park to activate for a bit before leaving to have lunch with his wife. He had ?? contacts on the day. Ed KM6UTC set up on the Battlefield as well but he was at the Cravens House site. He had 70 total FT8 contacts 6 DX contacts to the East. The the magic band opened up and he had 4 contacts on 6 meters.
Three of us were able to make a special POTA Park to Park contact today. Dom NC4XL was activating and passed the 200,000 POTA contacts milestone. He started this personal quest in April of 2021 and in 836 activations is now passing the 200K contact mark. An amazing ride and an amazing old man. You can see his YouTube video here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZurxQY6oQvs (just for contrast I started POTA a year before Dom and I have 247 activations with 12,471 contacts)
Earlier in the week several folks were POTA active as well. Allen KN4FKS activated Cloudland Canyon SP US-2169 from the Ascalon Trail Head site on Saturday June 7. He made 50 SSB contacts with 26 Park to Park contacts. John KB4QXI was a bit further afield over near Helen GA where he activated Hartman Farm State Historic Park US-3718 on Friday June 6 and made 24 SSB contacts with 8 P2P contacts. Then on Saturday he activated Unicoi SP US-2204 with 11 SSB contacts with 6 P2P contacts.
|
|
541 viewsThis past Thursday was 'one of those days'. The activation site was the Chickamauga Battlefield US-0716 using the Cravens House site on the front slope of Lookout Mountain. This site overlooks downtown Chattanooga and is a convenient spot to activate for many of the crew. The terrestrial weather started out cloudy and overcast but later cleared to a mostly sunny day.
John KB4QXI could not come because he had to wait at home for a package delivery. Ed KM6UTC stopped by but then had to leave to also go wait for a package to be delivered. Dave KQ4GLQ came and he and Allen KN4FKS worked setting up the N3FJP logging software on his new computer to work easily with POTA activations. Then Dave got a phone call from his boss and was off to Nashville for work. Danny AG4DW was traveling to grandkids graduation. Dan K2DTS was available for a short while so he set up his mag mount ham stick and gave it a go. Allen KN4FKS set up his vertical over near the old park ranger residence.
The space weather went from bad to worse. Band conditions were dismal. Dan had one contact when he had to leave. Allen chased parks and called CQ on several bands and after 3 hours had 13 contacts. At that point you couldn't buy a contact. So I enjoyed the view for a bit, talked to several park visitors about ham radio and packed it up and went home. POTA even on a horrible day is still fun and I look at it this way, I didn't have to stress over working a chaotic pile up.
|
|
539 viewsIt has been a busy POTA week.
The week started with John KB4QXI activating Chattahoochee Bend State Park US-2168 on Sunday. He made 34 contacts with 7 P2P and 3 DX contacts.
Then on Tuesday Allen KN4FKS activated J. Sloppy Floyd State Park US-2187. He made 97 contacts with 41 P2P and 12 DX contacts.
On Wednesday John KB4QXI and Danny AG4DW activated the Zahnd WMA US-7903. John made 33 Contacts with 15 P2P and2 DX. Danny made 17 contacts with 1 DX contact.
On Thursday the crew gathered at Cloudland Canyon State Park, Nick A Jack trailhead to activate US-2169. Allen KN4FKS operated mostly on 40 meters SSB and made 64 contacts with 16 P2P on a total of seven bands, 40,15, 80, 6. 2, 1.25, 70cm.
Dan K2DTS made 15 contacts with all of them being P2P contacts. John KB4QXI made a total of 113 contacts, 10 on 15m SSB and the rest on 20m SSB. He had 30 P2P contacts and 6 DX. Danny AG4DW had 50 contacts, 10 SSB and the rest FT8 with 11 DX contacts. Danny also participated in the multi band effort. He is leading the pack in the POTA N1CC award ( N1CC is making contacts on ten bands in ten different parks )
Lots of peanut butter and jelly was consumed and all had a fun time on difficult bands this week.
|
|
538 viewsThis Thursday we activated Johns Mountain WMA US-3758 from the Overlook site.
Allen KN4FKS set up his end fed half wave sloper antenna under the trees and Dan K2DTS warmed it up first. He made 20 contacts on 20 meters SSB. the band was wonky and contacts were either long or close. He had one in Alabama and one in California. Allen then used the same rig to make 21 contacts on 20 meters SSB with 7 P2P and 3 DX contacts which included a park to park in Bermuda before the rains came.
Danny AG4DW cranked up his rig using a vertical antenna and made 4 SSB contacts, 25 FT8 contacts and 2 FM contacts. With the two FM contacts on the 1.25 m band he accomplished a rather hard to get POTA award. The POTA N1CC award is obtained by making contacts on TEN bands in TEN different parks. He is the first of our crew to get this award, congratulations on all the hard work. John KB4QXI made 20 contacts on 20 meters with 16 P2P contacts and 2 Canadian DX contacts.
The drive up the gravel road to the overlook is rough as usual but the mountain laurel bushes were in full bloom and made the trip a bit more bearable.
We seem to be in a springtime rain shower loop as every week we seem to be taking down antennas in the rain. Luckily none of the radio equipment has gotten wet. However antennas, coax and throw string need to be dried before the next activation. Hopefully the next activation will be a dry one.
Again, congrats to Danny on the award.
|
|
537 viewsYesterday Thursday Jan. 23 we activated Crockford-Pigeon Mtn. WMA US-3742 from the check station on Rocky Lane. It was warm inside but getting the antennas up was COLD !
Danny AG4DW set his rig up on the dining area table and Allen set his rig up in the front entry room. The coax was passed through a window and a piece of foam pipe insulation was used to keep the cold out and prevent damage to the wire.
With room for only two operating positions inside Ed KM6UTC opted to use his back seat shack to operate on 15 meters. He made 64 FT8 contacts with 22 being DX into Europe. Inside Tony WA4TW used Allen's rig and quickly made 44 contacts in 30 minutes on 20 meters with 3 P2P and 2 DX to Canada.. Allen handled the logging and helped grab callsigns out of the nonstop pileup.
After a bathroom break Allen KN4FKS got on 20 meters and again quickly made 48 contacts in 32 minutes. He had 4 P2P and 1 DX to Canada. Tony handled the logging which helped maintain the fast pace contacts. Later John KB4QXI got on the 20 meter rig and made 48 contacts with 5 P2P and 2 DX to Canada. Dan K2DTS fired up the 20 meter rig later and made ??? contacts. So after 4 successful activations of over 140 contacts the 100 watt radio had used less than 10 amp hours from the battery.
In the other room Danny AG4DW set up his station and operated on 10 meters. he made 35 total contacts with 17 SSB and 18 FT8. 22 contacts were DX with contacts made to Argentina, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Canary Islands, Maderia Island, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Puerto Rico, and Spain.
Just think in about six years we'll remember how 10 meters was super hot and even open for dx after 10 pm local. Now we are in the good times so get on 10 meters and talk to the world.
Matt AF4MH got on Danny's 10 meter rig and using SSB made 15 contracts with 2 P2P and 7 DX to Canada, Brazil, England, Chile, Spain, Argentina, and Puerto Rico.
At lunch we were joined by four of the DNR wildlife folks who were our host and also wanted to enjoy a warm place to have lunch. Thanks for letting us "play radio" in the check station. Another fun day of activating POTA!
|
|
536 viewsWe activated J. 'Sloppy' Floyd State Park US-2187 on Thursday Jan. 30 2025 from the lower lake site. The terrestrial weather was mild with mostly cloudy skies and only about 10 drops of rain at one time. The space weather cooperated as well and we all had a good day.
Allen KN4FKS rigged the end fed wire as a sloper and used the trusty old ICOM 706 MKIIG to run 100 watts. 20 meters SSB was active as usual and 71 contacts were made in short order. !5 P2P contacts and one Canadian contact. During the almost constant pile up I heard a partial of KC3 so came back with 'KC3go ahead' had another pile. To my amazement I had FOUR folks with prefix of KC3 calling me. Never had that happen before. John KB4QXI had a logging computer issue and had to work through that. Once he got set up with his Hamstick and YAESU 891 he went to work on 20 meters SSB making 87 contacts with 18 P2P and 3 Canadians. Danny AG4DW worked 15 meters and had 9 SSB contacts and 30 FT8 contacts. He had 15 DX contacts.to Canada, EH9 Ceuta & Melilla (a part of Spain in N. Africa) Columbia, Germany, France, Hawaii, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Also in other POTA news this week on Wednesday John KB4QXI went to Pigeon Mtn. US-3742 and made his 3,000th contact as an activator on that area. A TRIPPLE KILO ! Also as a POTA 'hunter' Allen KN4FKS has now contacted 2,000 distinct parks. So now he has a DOUBLE KILO as a hunter.
Hunting from the home shack or activating from a nearby park POTA has Ham radio fun for everyone.
|
|
536 viewsWe gathered this past Thursday at Red Clay State Park US-2970 for an activation day. It was a pleasant day weather wise with lots of shade and a nice breeze.
Danny AG4DW set up his POTA Performer vertical antenna for Jody W4LWC to use. A Rambler Radio Club graduate Emma Gillenwater who lives near the park now joined us. They made 72 contacts on 20 meters SSB with 4 DX to Canada and 1 to the Netherlands. It was great to see Emma once more.
Allen KN4FKS set up his 17 meter folded dipole and made 17 contacts on 17 meters SSB with 1 P2P and DX to Canada, France, England, and 2 Italians. Dave KQ4GLQ set up in the picnic shed and worked 40 meters SSB. I don't have his totals, but he had a good day. Dan K2DTS stopped by and without band pass filters could not get but 1 contact on 15 meters. However he moved away from us and ended up with 15 contacts on 20 meters. He was amazed that he actually heard stations in Bulgaria and Vietnam. They were strong but he was unable to break the pile up. Cool nonetheless.
John KB4QXI arriving fashionably late managed 11 contacts with 3 P2P after moving to another parking lot on the park to escape all the RF.
Red Clay State Park is a small historic park. It was the capital of the Cherokee nation for many years. So for POTA it is also a Trail of Tears US-3791 location.
Fun day on the bands, we also were able to introduce ham radio to several park visitors.
|
|
536 viewsWe gathered this past Thursday at Red Clay State Park US-2970 for an activation day. It was a pleasant day weather wise with lots of shade and a nice breeze.
Danny AG4DW set up his POTA Performer vertical antenna for Jody W4LWC to use. A Rambler Radio Club graduate Emma Gillenwater who lives near the park now joined us. They made 72 contacts on 20 meters SSB with 4 DX to Canada and 1 to the Netherlands. It was great to see Emma once more.
Allen KN4FKS set up his 17 meter folded dipole and made 17 contacts on 17 meters SSB with 1 P2P and DX to Canada, France, England, and 2 Italians. Dave KQ4GLQ set up in the picnic shed and worked 40 meters SSB. I don't have his totals, but he had a good day. Dan K2DTS stopped by and without band pass filters could not get but 1 contact on 15 meters. However he moved away from us and ended up with 15 contacts on 20 meters. He was amazed that he actually heard stations in Bulgaria and Vietnam. They were strong but he was unable to break the pile up. Cool nonetheless.
John KB4QXI arriving fashionably late managed 11 contacts with 3 P2P after moving to another parking lot on the park to escape all the RF.
Red Clay State Park is a small historic park. It was the capital of the Cherokee nation for many years. So for POTA it is also a Trail of Tears US-3791 location.
Fun day on the bands, we also were able to introduce ham radio to several park visitors.
|
|
| 175 files on 15 page(s) |
 |
|
|
5 | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
