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602 viewsMade it ! Reached a POTA milestone for Cloudland Canyon State Park K-2169 Thursday. The 'KILO' award is for making one thousand contacts from a specific park. (see attached photo)
The space weather cooperated for an exceptional day and the terrestrial weather cooperated as well by not being to hot in our shady location at the Ascalon Trailhead.
In addition to our radio gear we had two 12 volt fans running off battery power. Allen KN4FKS started off on 20 meters with Danny AG4DW logging.. Fred KQ4JXX provided adult supervision for the crew. Allen KN4FKS made a total of 107 contacts with 12 P2P and 13 Canadian contacts. After lunch Danny AG4DW got on 20 and made a quick 14 contacts before it just was getting too warm to be fun. Even on top of the mountain and in the shade it was 90 degrees F.
The rig we used was my trusty old ICOM 706 Mk IIG at 100 watts with 50 ft of RG-8-X coax feeding and end fed half wave rigged as a sloper with the balun on the ground stake. To make 107 contacts the battery meter showed only 6.5 amp hours of the 20 Ahr battery used. Fun day was had by all even after getting wasp stung.
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602 viewsWe activated Booker T. Washington State Park TN K-2933 yesterday Thursday Nov 30 2023. It turned out to be a wonderful weather day in a really nice park. The park is one of those reminders of a segregated past. Now used by everyone we had a great time. For the activation we established four stations. Peter KX4BE worked CW on 12 m and 15m using the 'screwdriver' antenna on his van. Danny AG4DW worked FT8 mostly on 10 meters. One SSB contact was a park to park contact in England. He had a total of 26 contacts, for DX he also had 2 Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, and Canada. Danny used his elevated vertical antenna set up. Tony WA4TW worked 20 meters SSB with his Chameleon vertical and had 50 contacts with 9 P2P and 2 Canadians. After Tony got 50 QSO's Allen took over the rig and made 21 contacts also on 20 meters with 3 P2P's and 3 Canadians. After Allen Fred KQ4JXX took over and made 12 contacts on 20 meters SSB with 3 P2P's . John KB4QXI finally arrived and made 10 contacts with 2 P2P's on 40 meters using his 'Buddystick' on top of the car. Ed KM6UTC provided the needed 'Adult Supervision' necessary to keep the POTA crew out of trouble.
Band conditions were "wonky" all day signals would be strong then fade to next to nothing and suddenly be back strong in the midst of one QSO. You might see a 5-9 signal go to 4-3 on the next over then back to 5-9 mid sentence. Everyone just worked through the fading and made a successful activation. We utilized the loop road in the 'Recreation Area 2' and Pavillion 2 on top of a small hill and it made an excellent place to set up with some distance between stations yet close enough to enjoy visiting with each other We wondered about the odd layout of the hill top site.
While there the Park Ranger came by and stopped to chat. Very friendly fellow and he mentioned he had seen other folks like us in the past and wondered what it exactly was. We explained the Parks on the Air Program (gave him a brochure) then explained HAM radio in general and about our equipment. We then asked about the history of the hilltop and he said it was originally a campground, not for RV's but for tents. He also said they built a boat marina but neither were used much as back then the folks who came here didn't have a lot of boats or camping equipment. Times have changed he said. Well spoken. He then recruited us to help him with the parks Junior Ranger program next June. We'll be there whatever it takes!
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602 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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602 views
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602 views
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602 views
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602 views
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602 views
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602 viewsAllen KN4FKS headed over to Calhoun to activate New Echota State Historic site US-3722 and at the same time activate the 'Trail of Tears' US-3791.
He made 135 contacts, with 13 Park to Park contacts and 5 Canadians plus one Cayman Islander. 20 meters was hopping and contacts came quick and heavy. Had a nice chat with the park naturalist who was very familiar with Ham radio from her CERT experience in Paulding County GA.
ED KM6UTC made the trip to New Echota but as soon as he arrived got a call and had to leave. Bummer.
John KB4QXI was in West Virginia for an event and activated Coopers Rock State Forest US-5585 on Thursday as well. He made 26 contacts with one Canadian park to park three fer. (1 contact but three park numbers)
From Danny AG4DW
Having airport shuttle duties this Thursday morning, and a necessary trip to Dunlap, TN, to pick up a custom part I ordered, I decided to go a few miles further past Dunlap to Savage Gulf State Park, US-9718, in Grundy County. This is a new-to-me, gorgeous park with lots of trails, meadows and a large picnic area with massive wooden picnic tables. And the cicadas were deafening! 20 meter band conditions were not too bad and I got 9 SSB contacts, all park-to-parks, and 21 FT8 contacts in a little under two hours.
On the way home I took a little detour and stopped at another new-to-me park, North Chickamauga Creek Gorge State Park, US-11879, on Montlake Road, near Soddy-Daisy, TN. This was a very difficult park to activate as it was basically a large hole in the ground (I guess that's why they call it a gorge) and not only did signals not want to get out, they didn't want get in either. After about two hours I only had six contacts and was about to give up and chalk up my first missed activation. Then I got a 3-fer park, in South Dakota, with two operators and it saved my bacon! I had a total of 14 contacts, 9 SSB and 5 FT8, all domestic.
I tried to make contact with KN4FKS, Allen, at New Echota State Historic Site, and KB4QXI, John, at Coopers Rock State Forest, in West Virginia, but I couldn't hear either one of them. Even tried to get AD4FM, Fred, via groundwave on Signal Mountain, just a few miles away, but no joy.
Band conditions this week were 100% better than last week. New Echota had a noise floor of about S-5 and nearby highway traffic was at times loud and a few times old cars came by with a bad spark plug wire and you would certainly know it. If you head there to activate take headphones so you can hear over the traffic noise.
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