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497 views
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497 viewsWe activated Johns Mountain WMA US-3758 on Wednesday July 9 2025 from the overlook site. It was hot but there was as usual a breeze to make it barrable.
Allen KN4FKS set his usual end fed wire antenna and worked 40 meters SSB. He had 77 contacts with 6 park to park contacts and just 1 Canadian contact. John KB4QXI had 59 contacts with 18 P2P's on 20 meters SSB using his rooftop ham stick. Danny AG4DW set his 'POTA Performer' vertical and worked 17 meters with 8 SSB contacts and 62 FT8 contacts. He had several DX contacts 1 to Spain, 2 to the Dominican Republic and 4 to Canada.
The handy thing about operating from the overlook is that you can keep an eye on the developing weather to the west. When we arrived there was not a cloud in the sky. Then a line of small puffy clouds developed over the far ridgeline. Then as the morning moved into afternoon the clouds got bigger and then darker. About 1:30 we noticed a few far off static crashes. My shade moved and I was about to be in full sun. Enough fun, time to pack up and call it a day. We all got packed up and off the mountain then ran into heavy rains on the way home. Excellent timing. Fun day.
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497 views
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497 views
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496 views
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496 views
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496 viewsTo view the video file, right click on the video icon and then choose either "save as" or "download" the file (depending on your browser)
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496 views
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496 viewsThis Thursday Nov. 21 we activated J. 'Sloppy' Floyd State Park US-2187. It was a bit chilly and at times very windy, One gust blew over Dave's antenna tripod and nearly tipped over my table. In spite of the weather we had a fun day.
John KB4QXI was the only smart one as he activated from inside his car .He made 46 contacts on 20 meters SSB with 17 Park to Park contacts in that total. The rest of us sat out in the wind. The sun was bright and the bands were good. Dave KQ4GLQ made 11 contacts on 10 meters SSB using his tripod vertical. Allen KN4FKS used his end fed wire to make 39 SSB contacts on several bands with 4 P2P contacts one to a park in Barbados. He had thirty contacts on 20 meters, six contacts on 17 meters, two on 12 meters and one on 6 meters. DX contacts were in Italy, Barbados and Canada. Danny AG4DW had 26 total contacts with 5 P2P contacts. Two SSB contacts on 6 meters, and 23 on FT8 on 15 meters. He had 7 DX contacts in Alaska, Canada, Czech Republic, Russia, Spain and Germany. By making his two contacts on 6 meters Danny qualified for the POTA "Activator N1CC" ten band activation award. He is the first of the crew to accomplish this award. Congratulations.
Dan K2DTS stayed closer to home and activated Chickamauga Battlefield US-0716 where he made 15 contacts, 14 on 20 meters and 1 on 2 meters. He used a homebrew tripod vertical with elevated radials This antenna set up shows great promise in really projecting a signal well.
This coming week Thursday is Thanksgiving so we'll not schedule a planned POTA activation. However there are lots of parks and everyone can slip away sometime this week and get in an activation.
A famous Thanksgiving activation is shown in the video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UOoXJhXzlw Enjoy!
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496 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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496 views
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