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543 viewsPOTA, Nick A Jack Trailhead - Cloudland Canyon - 12-17-2020. W4TDH, N9MJH, N9ZEN
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POTA 2022-07-21, Desoto State Park K-1039 in Alabama543 viewsPOTA this week was to Desoto State Park K-1039 in Alabama. We set up in the recently renovated picnic area in the Desoto Falls portion of the park. The falls just below our operating position is right at 100 feet tall. This time of year the water flow is low but it is still impressive. We had many interested park visitors come by and Karen assisted one curious young man in making three contacts around the country. The 40 meter band was hopeless so we took turns on 20 meters.
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542 viewsKN4FKS, Allan - POTA, Sloppy Floyd Lake 5-13-2020
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542 viewsPOTA - Pigeon Mountain - 1-05-2022
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541 viewsW4TDH, Tony - POTA, Johns Mountain Overlook 4-30-2020
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541 viewsCrockford-Pigeon Mountain - 05-27-2020
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541 viewsPOTA - Chickamauga Battlefield - KO4DRX, Matt and KN4FKS, Allen
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541 viewsJohns Mountain WMA K-3758 4-28-2022. It was a beautiful blue sky spring day. John KB4QXI even showed up on his 3 wheel bike with a trailer hauling his ham gear. Allen KN4FKS had 25 contacts with 3 P2P and one Saskatchewan Canada DX on 20 meters before lunch. Then Tony WA4TW hopped over to 40 meters and cranked out 31 contacts with 4 P2P. After that John KB4QXI got on 40 and got 18 contacts with 3 P2P. In the mean time Peter KX4BE worked CW on both 40 and 20 and grabbed 79 contacts, 5 P2P, and 3 DX.
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541 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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541 viewsWe activated Cloudland Canyon State Park US-2169 from the Ascalon Trailhead location this past Thursday Oct 31 2024.

Danny AG4DW, John KB4QXI, Dan K2DTS, Allen KN4FKS and new General Dave KQ4GLQ all showed up. Allen got Dave's logging software set up for POTA, Danny had a cold so he operated digital only, John cranked out the SSB contacts on the Ham Stick and realized his new 110 v inverter was very NOISY! Dan made several contacts with his vertical and used some jumper cables to create elevated radials. Wonderful idea and they come with handy clamps to attach them to the antenna base.

We also discovered that those fancy electric bicycles come with a ton of electric motor noise. You find out these things by activating at a popular trailhead. Horses however have no electric noise but can create hazards to laying out radials.

BTW only Danny AG4DW sent me any contact information. He had 50 contacts, all FT8 Mostly on 15m but a few on 30m and 10m. He had 19 DX contacts. Austria, Belgium, Canada 2, Dominican Republic, Russia, Germany, France, Hati, Hungary, Netherlands 2, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Puerto Rico, Spain 2, and Switzerland.
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541 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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540 viewsPOTA, Nick A Jack Trailhead - Cloudland Canyon - 12-17-2020. KN4FKS, KB4QXI
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