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6 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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6 viewsSeveral members of our Parks on the Air group met up at the Ascalon Trailhead, on Lookout Mountain, for a day of activation. The trailhead is part of Cloudland Canyon State Park (US-2169). The weather was perfect, albeit a little warm for those who activated out in the sunshine. 20 Meters and 15 Meters cooperated somewhat, but most of the other bands were not kind today.
The day started off with our fearless leader, Allen (KN4FKS), feeling under the weather and unable to attend. Best wishes to Allen and get some rest, plenty of fluids and feel better!
Danny (AG4DW) and Barry (W4LKT) began the day with getting Barry's new Comet antenna tuned and mounted to his car. Using a NanoVNA we were able to adjust the 6 meter and 10 meter portions of the antenna to achieve the lowest SWR in those bands. Afterwards Barry spent several hours calling CQ on 10 meters but there was just nothing happening on that band today!
Danny (AG4DW) started the day off on 20 meters SSB and made a total of 30 contacts before switching to 15 meters. There he made one SSB contact and 24 FT8 contacts. DX included Canada (2), Colombia, Costa Rico, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. He also made contact with a DXpedition to the Russian island, Franz Joseph Land (RI1FJL)! This is the northernmost DXCC location in the world in the Arctic ocean well north of Russia!
Just when Barry and Danny thought they were going to be the only two activators, they were joined by Maurice (KO4MPH), Micha (K3WGC) and “Radio Matt” (AF4MH), around 11:00 a.m. Also, bravely giving up some of his beauty sleep 🤣, John (KB4QXI) joined us around 1:00 in the afternoon!
Matt (AF4MH) worked 20 Meters with his vertical antenna and worked hard to make a total of 12 contacts with 7 park-to-parks, including one to Canada. Halfway through his activation, another ham took over his frequency and he had to QSY. To be fair, the bands were so screwed up that I don't think the other guy could hear him when he asked if the frequency was in use!
Micha (K3WGC) set up his 40 Meter vertical antenna using a drive on support stand and collapsible flagpole but was unable to make any contacts on 40 meters.
Maurice (KO4MPH) set up his tri-pod mounted vertical and called CQ on 17 Meters for a few hours but, in the end, was not able to make any contacts.
John (KB4QXI) worked from his automobile using a 40 meter hamstick and made a total of 10 contacts with one park-to-park.
In other POTA activations this week:
Ed (KM6UTC) activated on Thursday from the Brown’s Ferry Tavern Historic Site, which is a Trail of Tears site (US-3791), and It was a tough day from that location. Almost ALL of the signals coming in were registering as negative dB on the FT8 screen. Even after cleaning and reconnecting antenna connections the incoming signals were still weak. Despite that, Ed was able to make 56 contacts, mostly on 20m FT8. A scattering of FT4 and other bands were thrown in. DX included Cuba, Costa Rica, Germany, Haiti, and Canada.
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6 viewsWe activated Johns Mountain WMA US-3758 this past Thursday Sept. 3 2026 from the Overlook site. When we turned off the pavement we thought the road had been fixed. What we found was a work in progress, Lots of dirt, rocks and gravel had been scraped about. The dust was deep and loaf bread sized rocks were everywhere making travel difficult' We all got to the top without any damage (we hope) The weather was warm but as usual there was a nice breeze across the mountaintop.
Danny AG4DW set up his elevated radials vertical antenna and made 29 SSB contacts on 40 meters with 5 Park to Park contacts. One P2P was to Ed KM6UTC at the Battlefield US-0716 at the Cravens House site. Danny then moved to 17 meters and made 22 FT8 contacts.
Allen KN4FKS set up his usual end fed wire and made 41 total SSB contacts 37 on 20 meters and 4 on 15 meters with 18 P2P contacts. He had a P2P contact with Dan K2DTS who was at the picnic area site on the Battlefield US-0716
Micha K3WGC made it up the mountain and set up his drive-on mast with a two hamstick dipole.He made several contacts for an activation but did not send me a days total so how many and what are yet unknown.
Maurice KO4MPH made the trip as well. He set up his Chameleon MPAS vertical and made an activation on 20 meters. He also failed to send me a days total so I don't know his results either.
Earlier POTA activations were also held.
Dan K2DTS activated the Battlefield US-0716 on Thursday August 27 from the Picnic area site. He made 14 quick contacts on 20 meters, 12 SSB and 2 FT8 with 3 Canadian DX contacts.On Monday Aug. 31
Allen KN4FKS activated the Otting WMA US-7913 and made 35 SSB contacts with 15 P2P. 22 were on 40 meters and 13 were on 20 meters.
It was a short activation as it just got too hot to be fun. Just remember if you hold an activation and want to be included in the weekly recap you have to text or email me your totals and photos need to be included.
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6 viewsThis Thursday September 24 2026 we activated Pigeon Mountain WMA US-3742 from the South Brow Road site. There are numerous activation sites on Pigeon Mountain, Sawmill Lake Camp Area, Estelle Mine Road, Dougherty Gap, the Hood Overlook and the DNR Check Station. There are others but many places have limited cell coverage or are total dead zones so check your connectivity before setting up on Pigeon.
Allen KN4FKS set up his end fed wire antenna (it only took two tries) He then wondered why the radio would not turn on. (It helps to plug the power cable into the back of the radio, just saying) After that bumpy start he made 51 SSB contacts 44 on 40 meters, 4 on 15 meters, 2 on 17 meters and 1 on 12 meters. He had 7 Park to Park contacts with DX to Northern Ireland and Italy on 15 meters.
Danny AG4DW set up his usual elevated radial 17 ft vertical and made 64 total contacts, 28 SSB on 20 meters with 2 DX to Columbia and the Dominican Republic. He then switched to FT8 and made 36 contacts on 20 and 17 meters. He had 12 DX contacts to Canada (4) Belgium, England, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, and Switzerland (2)
Mike K3WGC and Maurice KO4MPH also activated and provided needed adult supervision for Allen and Danny.
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