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 Most viewed - 2026 |
36 viewsThis past Thursday June 11, we activated Cloudland Canyon State Park from the Nickajack Trailhead site. The new concrete driveway was a welcome relief from the old bumpy gravel hill.
Allen KN4FKS set up under the picnic shelter and deployed his end fed half wave wire into a nearby pine tree. The rough bark nearly snagged his throw bag string but careful maneuvering finally got everything working. He then made 68 SSB contacts with 20 being on 20 meters and 48 more on 15 meters. He made 23 Park to Park contacts with 4 DX contacts to Slovenia, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. While on 15 meters Allen heard a DX call, it was HF0PAS at the Polish Antarctica research station. He was working split because of the pile up coming from both Europe and North America. Try as he will 100 watts and a wire was not going to bust that pile up on this day. The cool thing if he had made the contact it would have been a P2P contact as that part of the continent is designated as a park with a POTA number.
John KB4QXI set up his roof mounted Hamstick on 20 meters and made 63 SSB contacts with 19 P2P as well.
Danny AG4DW set up his Pota Performer 17 ft. vertical with the elevated counterpoise and made 68 contacts, 34 SSB and 34 FT8 on 40, 30, and 17 meters. He had 9 P2P contacts and 3 DX to Canada.
Alan W4PLP came by just to visit everyone for a while and give encouragement.
Soon after we had arrived a young couple showed up at the trailhead to go hiking and the lady expressed having an interest in Ham radio over the years. So, quickly we gave her a tour of Danny's set up and explained about the different facets of the hobby. Luckily we had prepared information sheets to give her concerning an introduction to ham radio, an overview of the TSARC and what POTA is all about. Hopefully we'll see this young hiker again on the radio. We are all ambassadors so it is helpful to always be prepared with a smile and information.
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36 viewsThis past Thursday June 11, we activated Cloudland Canyon State Park from the Nickajack Trailhead site. The new concrete driveway was a welcome relief from the old bumpy gravel hill.
Allen KN4FKS set up under the picnic shelter and deployed his end fed half wave wire into a nearby pine tree. The rough bark nearly snagged his throw bag string but careful maneuvering finally got everything working. He then made 68 SSB contacts with 20 being on 20 meters and 48 more on 15 meters. He made 23 Park to Park contacts with 4 DX contacts to Slovenia, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. While on 15 meters Allen heard a DX call, it was HF0PAS at the Polish Antarctica research station. He was working split because of the pile up coming from both Europe and North America. Try as he will 100 watts and a wire was not going to bust that pile up on this day. The cool thing if he had made the contact it would have been a P2P contact as that part of the continent is designated as a park with a POTA number.
John KB4QXI set up his roof mounted Hamstick on 20 meters and made 63 SSB contacts with 19 P2P as well.
Danny AG4DW set up his Pota Performer 17 ft. vertical with the elevated counterpoise and made 68 contacts, 34 SSB and 34 FT8 on 40, 30, and 17 meters. He had 9 P2P contacts and 3 DX to Canada.
Alan W4PLP came by just to visit everyone for a while and give encouragement.
Soon after we had arrived a young couple showed up at the trailhead to go hiking and the lady expressed having an interest in Ham radio over the years. So, quickly we gave her a tour of Danny's set up and explained about the different facets of the hobby. Luckily we had prepared information sheets to give her concerning an introduction to ham radio, an overview of the TSARC and what POTA is all about. Hopefully we'll see this young hiker again on the radio. We are all ambassadors so it is helpful to always be prepared with a smile and information.
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35 viewsThis past Thursday June 11, we activated Cloudland Canyon State Park from the Nickajack Trailhead site. The new concrete driveway was a welcome relief from the old bumpy gravel hill.
Allen KN4FKS set up under the picnic shelter and deployed his end fed half wave wire into a nearby pine tree. The rough bark nearly snagged his throw bag string but careful maneuvering finally got everything working. He then made 68 SSB contacts with 20 being on 20 meters and 48 more on 15 meters. He made 23 Park to Park contacts with 4 DX contacts to Slovenia, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. While on 15 meters Allen heard a DX call, it was HF0PAS at the Polish Antarctica research station. He was working split because of the pile up coming from both Europe and North America. Try as he will 100 watts and a wire was not going to bust that pile up on this day. The cool thing if he had made the contact it would have been a P2P contact as that part of the continent is designated as a park with a POTA number.
John KB4QXI set up his roof mounted Hamstick on 20 meters and made 63 SSB contacts with 19 P2P as well.
Danny AG4DW set up his Pota Performer 17 ft. vertical with the elevated counterpoise and made 68 contacts, 34 SSB and 34 FT8 on 40, 30, and 17 meters. He had 9 P2P contacts and 3 DX to Canada.
Alan W4PLP came by just to visit everyone for a while and give encouragement.
Soon after we had arrived a young couple showed up at the trailhead to go hiking and the lady expressed having an interest in Ham radio over the years. So, quickly we gave her a tour of Danny's set up and explained about the different facets of the hobby. Luckily we had prepared information sheets to give her concerning an introduction to ham radio, an overview of the TSARC and what POTA is all about. Hopefully we'll see this young hiker again on the radio. We are all ambassadors so it is helpful to always be prepared with a smile and information.
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34 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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6 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.
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5 viewsI think Danny AG4DW said it best " we had great weather till we didn't"
This Friday Aug. 7 we activated Cloudland Canyon State Park US-2169 from the Nickajack trailhead. At about 1:30 pm we notice the air getting cooler, we hear thunder in the distance and over the treetops see a huge black cloud coming our way. Quickly we went into demobilization mode. It started a light rain as we finished packing up then the bottom fell out, It rained a lot. Oddly as we drove home we drove right out of the storm onto dry pavement. Our luck. However before the storm hit we all had a good day on the radio.
Danny AG4DW set up his 17 ft vertical with elevated radials and made 59 contacts, 44 SSB on 20 meters then 15 FT8 contacts on 17 meters. He had 15 Park to Park contacts as well. It was an odd twenty meter propagation day. The usual contacts weren't there but the entire west coast was there.
Allen KN4FKS set up his end fed wire half wave and made 36 contacts on 40 meters with 5 P2P contacts. After lunch he turned the rig over to Jonathon AA6H who cranked out 15 SSB contacts on 20 meters with 5 P2P contacts before the storm came.
David WK4DS set up his truck mounted 17 ft vertical and made 17 total contacts on 17,15, and 10 meters, 6 were CW and 11 were FT8 with 1 P2P.
Staying closer to home, Ed KM6UTC activated the Trail of Tears US-3791 at the Browns Ferry Tavern site. He had 60 FT8 QSO's on 6,17, and 20 meters. He had DX contacts in Cuba, France and Canada.
Just a heads up to put on your calendar. The 163rd anniversary of the battle that took place at the site in the Chickamauga Battlefield where we activate often will be on Saturday September 19 2026. We plan to activate that day from the picnic area site where on that day many years ago cannons roared, rifles fired and men died. It is a special hallowed place in our nations history. Plan to come join us on this special day.
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5 viewsI think Danny AG4DW said it best " we had great weather till we didn't"
This Friday Aug. 7 we activated Cloudland Canyon State Park US-2169 from the Nickajack trailhead. At about 1:30 pm we notice the air getting cooler, we hear thunder in the distance and over the treetops see a huge black cloud coming our way. Quickly we went into demobilization mode. It started a light rain as we finished packing up then the bottom fell out, It rained a lot. Oddly as we drove home we drove right out of the storm onto dry pavement. Our luck. However before the storm hit we all had a good day on the radio.
Danny AG4DW set up his 17 ft vertical with elevated radials and made 59 contacts, 44 SSB on 20 meters then 15 FT8 contacts on 17 meters. He had 15 Park to Park contacts as well. It was an odd twenty meter propagation day. The usual contacts weren't there but the entire west coast was there.
Allen KN4FKS set up his end fed wire half wave and made 36 contacts on 40 meters with 5 P2P contacts. After lunch he turned the rig over to Jonathon AA6H who cranked out 15 SSB contacts on 20 meters with 5 P2P contacts before the storm came.
David WK4DS set up his truck mounted 17 ft vertical and made 17 total contacts on 17,15, and 10 meters, 6 were CW and 11 were FT8 with 1 P2P.
Staying closer to home, Ed KM6UTC activated the Trail of Tears US-3791 at the Browns Ferry Tavern site. He had 60 FT8 QSO's on 6,17, and 20 meters. He had DX contacts in Cuba, France and Canada.
Just a heads up to put on your calendar. The 163rd anniversary of the battle that took place at the site in the Chickamauga Battlefield where we activate often will be on Saturday September 19 2026. We plan to activate that day from the picnic area site where on that day many years ago cannons roared, rifles fired and men died. It is a special hallowed place in our nations history. Plan to come join us on this special day.
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5 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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