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13 viewsPOTA 01-12-2023 - Crockford-Pigeon Mtn. WMA K-3742. Tony WA4TW was on 20 meters and made 82 contacts, 24 P2P, 7 Canadians, and 1 Maritime Mobile, a 30 ft. sailboat on the Mississippi River. Allen KN4FKS handled logging. John KB4QXI was on 40 meters and made 37 contacts with 3 P2P. Operating was tough with the ever increasing lightning crashes on both bands. Before the storm hit we shut down operations, disconnected coax and laid down the vertical antenna. We enjoyed a long lunch while the storm passed over. The wind blew, and the rain came down in buckets but we were high and dry inside the check station. The power stayed on the entire time as we kept a watch on the storm. We got back on the air after the storm passed but the bands were still noisy. I'm glad to report, no one overslept, no gear was left at home, and all batteries were fully charged.
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13 viewsPOTA 01-12-2023 - Crockford-Pigeon Mtn. WMA K-3742. Tony WA4TW was on 20 meters and made 82 contacts, 24 P2P, 7 Canadians, and 1 Maritime Mobile, a 30 ft. sailboat on the Mississippi River. Allen KN4FKS handled logging. John KB4QXI was on 40 meters and made 37 contacts with 3 P2P. Operating was tough with the ever increasing lightning crashes on both bands. Before the storm hit we shut down operations, disconnected coax and laid down the vertical antenna. We enjoyed a long lunch while the storm passed over. The wind blew, and the rain came down in buckets but we were high and dry inside the check station. The power stayed on the entire time as we kept a watch on the storm. We got back on the air after the storm passed but the bands were still noisy. I'm glad to report, no one overslept, no gear was left at home, and all batteries were fully charged.
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13 viewsWe activated Johns Mtn. WMA K-3758 today from the Johns Mtn. overlook. On his way up the gravel mountain road Tony looks into the woods and sees a large black bear ambling along. Tony had 15 contacts with 7 P2P. One park to park was in Canada and another was in Italy. The bands were open and he had 7 DX contacts: Cuba, Italy, Slovenia, Guadeloupe Czech Republic, and Canada. Ed

KM6UTC showed up, set up his magnetic loop and worked digital on 20 and 30 meters.

In the meantime an Army fellow (Special Forces) showed up and set up his military radio. He was operating in military frequencies just above our 20 meter band. He was also a ham but he just played on the mil frequencies. 

The occasional hikers came by today They stopped and were all amazed by just how far away we were communicating with our simple little rig. 

Allen Got on 10 meters. Contacts were W1AW/7 in Arizona and the second was RW1A in Russia. The total for the day was 28 contacts with 4 P2P and 5 DX, European Russia, two in Italy, Canada, Canary Islands and Australia! Yes I nearly fell out of my chair when I heard VK4NH come back to my CQ. That was a first for our POTA contacts distance wise. 
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13 viewsWe activated Johns Mtn. WMA K-3758 today from the Johns Mtn. overlook. On his way up the gravel mountain road Tony looks into the woods and sees a large black bear ambling along. Tony had 15 contacts with 7 P2P. One park to park was in Canada and another was in Italy. The bands were open and he had 7 DX contacts: Cuba, Italy, Slovenia, Guadeloupe Czech Republic, and Canada. Ed

KM6UTC showed up, set up his magnetic loop and worked digital on 20 and 30 meters.

In the meantime an Army fellow (Special Forces) showed up and set up his military radio. He was operating in military frequencies just above our 20 meter band. He was also a ham but he just played on the mil frequencies. 

The occasional hikers came by today They stopped and were all amazed by just how far away we were communicating with our simple little rig. 

Allen Got on 10 meters. Contacts were W1AW/7 in Arizona and the second was RW1A in Russia. The total for the day was 28 contacts with 4 P2P and 5 DX, European Russia, two in Italy, Canada, Canary Islands and Australia! Yes I nearly fell out of my chair when I heard VK4NH come back to my CQ. That was a first for our POTA contacts distance wise. 
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13 viewsThursday August 17 we activated Chickamauga National Battlefield K-0716. Tony WA4TW did the talking and Allen KN4FKS kept the log. They recorded 50 contacts with 16 P2P's and 4 Canadians on 20 meters SSB. Danny AG4DW had 21 contacts, 8 SSB on 17 meters and 12 FT8 on 15 meters. Fred KQ4JXX came by and probably was overwhelmed by everything that was said and done. Luckily we did not have to use the line gun to get the antennas up both stations used ground mount verticals. (see the photos for our line gun) 
A fun day was had by all. It's always great to have a new face and coax them over to the dark side of POTA
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13 viewsOn late Monday afternoon (Oct 23, 2023) we gathered at the Johns Mountain WMA (K-3758) overlook to activate the park, cook a hotdog and watch the sunset. All three objectives were met. We set up three stations and played radio! Danny AG4DW made 43 SSB contacts with 3 P2P, 2 Alaska and one Venezuela mostly on 15 meters. John KB4QXI made 61 contacts with 9 P2P, 5 Canadian contacts plus one North Africa and one Venezuela mostly on 20 meters. Peter KX4BE made 20 contacts on CW with one FM contact for DX he had 2 Japan and one Chile. Allen KN4FKS had 12 contacts with 5 FM contacts on 70 cm. The other 7 were on 40 meters.

As it got close to sundown at about 7 pm we took a break for supper and to watch the sunset from the overlook. We had hotdogs with the fixins cooked over charcoal, chips, macaroni salad, and smores for desert. There was supposed to be another desert cooked over the fire but someone (Karen KX4KM) forgot the essential ingredient, butter. We were assisted by our mascot dog I4ZZY.

The sunset was spectacular and the company was the best. Thanks to all the hunters who make our fun possible.
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12 viewsPOTA - Pigeon Mountain - 4-24-2021
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12 viewsWe activated Cloudland Canyon State Park K-2169 at the Nickajack Trailhead on 3-11-2022. Peter had some antenna gremlins but still made 71 CW contacts on 20 and 30 meters with 4 DX contacts and one P2P. John had 37 contacts on 20 meters SSB with 5 P2P and had to shut down early with logging computer issues. Tony went first on 40 meters SSB, ran a pile up for over an hour and logged 89 contacts with 4 P2P. Allen got on 40 meters after lunch and made 45 contacts with 3 P2P.
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12 viewsWe activated Chickamauga National Battlefield today, K-0716 Georgia. Made 70 contacts on 20 meters with 9 P2P and 5 DX contacts. One of the contacts actually had ancestor who fought in the battle fairly near where we were operating from. I stopped at lunch and then Tony WA4TW took over operating and cranked up on 40 meters He made 18 contacts with 5 P2P. The band came back then after a few minutes faded away again then came back. We checked and North America was center of large solar flare hit.
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12 viewsJ. Floyd State Park K-2187 on 04-27-2022. We set up down by the dam of the lower lake. John KB4QXI worked 20 meters with a ham stick on the roof of his car and made 60 contacts, 4 P2P, 6 Canadians and Spain. Tony WA4TW went first on 40 meters using the End Fed Half Wave wire rigged as a sloper fed from the bottom. He made 60 contacts before lunch. After lunch Allen KN4FKS took over the microphone and Tony logged. Allen made 42 contacts with 2 P2P before the battery was almost gone at 7% remaining.
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12 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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12 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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