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5 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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5 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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5 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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5 viewsChickamauga National Battlefield US-0716 is a special place for Georgia POTA. 163 years ago today the bloody battle started. The picnic area where we activate was the frontline of the Union Army defense on Saturday September 19, 1863. The Ohio artillery was booming and the Indiana infantry was firing and people on both sides were dying. Today Sept. 19 2026 we made over 150 contacts with POTA folks from the park and explained POTA and ham radio to visitors using the picnic area with us. The two activators were Danny AG4DW and Allen KN4FKS. Dave KQ4GLQ and Dan W2DTS dropped by to provide adult supervision.
Allen KN4FKS set up his usual end fed wire and made 51 SSB contacts total with 20 on 20 meters and 31 on 40 meters. He had 22 Park to Park contacts with no DX contacts.
Danny AG4DW set up his usual elevated radial 17 ft vertical and made 103 contacts total. 31 were SSB on 40 meters and 72 were Ft8 contacts on 40,20, and 15 meters. He had 8 P2P and 8 DX contacts, 5 to Canada, 2 to Italy and 1 to the Czech Republic.
Earlier in the week Danny also activated the battlefield on Tuesday making 107 contacts with 28 P2P contacts. 39 were SSB on 40 and 20 meters and 68 Ft8 contacts on 40,20,17, and 15 meters. He had DX to Canada (7) France Netherlands, and the Dominican Republic. Then again on Thursday he activated the battlefield making 130 contacts with 26 P2P contacts. 63 were SSB on 40 and 20 meters. and 67 FT8 contacts on 40,20 and 15 meters. He had DX to Canada (9) Spain (2) and Cuba.
Allen on Thursday activated the Otting WMA US-7913 starting early to avoid the heat and made 118 SSB contacts with 11 P2P's. 107 were on 40 meters and 11 were on 20 meters with 6 DX contacts 5 to Canada and 1 to the Bahamas.
Since January of 2016 Chickamauga Battlefield US-0716 has been activated 734 times with a total of 25,974 contacts made. We keep doing our part to raise that number and have fun doing it.
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4 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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