 Most viewed - Parks on the Air |
564 viewsPOTA - Pigeon Mountain - 4-24-2021
|
|
564 viewsOn Thursday Sept. 5 we activated 'Sloppy' Floyd State Park US-2187. It was a wonderful day weather wise.
The bands also cooperated! Allen KN4FKS made 105 SSB contacts on 20 meters with 42 Park to Park contacts and 5 Canadian contacts. Danny AG4DW made a total of 76 contacts, 31 SSB on 20 meters, and 45 FT8 contacts on 15 and 30 meters. He had 7 DX contacts to Japan Germany Cuba and Canada. Dan K2DTS was there as well but I don't know about his contacts.
Another wonderful day in the parks.
|
|
564 viewsWe activated Chickamauga Battlefield US-0716 this Thursday September 19 which was special as it was the 161st anniversary of the battle.
The picnic area where we activated was the hotly contested battle line on the afternoon of the 19th and saw battle into the night. The Ohio artillery and the Indiana infantry held the Federal line here and attacked from here just before dark. It is a very special place to all of us.
Jeff N2YYP had a Great Great Grandfather who was a soldier with the Georgia Infantry severely wounded during this battle on the 18th near Lee and Gordon Mill and he suffered for a few days and then passed away.
Allen KN4FKS made 16 contacts on several of the odd bands. Lots of time spent calling CQ POTA. 3 on 17m, 2 on 10, and 3 on 12m, finishing out with 8 on 20 meters. He had 1 DX to France on 12 meters.
Ed KM6UTC had 75 digital contacts on 15,17,20 and 30 meters with 9 DX contacts. John KB4QXI had 19 contacts after lunch on 20 meters with 11 P2P and 2 Canadian parks in that total.
Thanks to all the other hams who came by to lend support and share our special day!
|
|
564 viewsWe activated the Zahnd WMA US-7903 this Thursday Nov. 7 from the site on Hwy 157 on top of the south end of Lookout Mountain. We had a busy day in a small parking lot.
Allen KN4FKS set up his end fed wire antenna over the entrance driveway, It worked like a champ. On 20 meters Allen made 108 SSB contacts, 19 Park to Parks, and 3 DX on 20 meters all in just over an hour. It was one continuous pileup. After a break he turned the mic over to Alan Painter W4PLP and he made 42 SSB contacts on 20 meters. He had 3 P2P and 1 DX contact.
Meanwhile on the other side of the parking lot Danny AG4DW made 49 FT8 contacts on 15 meters with 20 DX contacts into Canada, England, Germany, the Azores, Belgium, France, Italy3, Norway2, Romania, Sardinia, Spain, Switzerland, and Ukraine.
In another corner of the lot Dan K2DTS set up his vertical and made 12 SSB contacts on 10 meters with 6 DX into Belize, Venezuela, France, Italy, Austria, and England. In another corner of the lot John KB4QXI used his Ham Sticks to make 13 Contacts on 40 meters SSB before his battery died.
Danny AG4DW gets extra credit for fixing computer issues for both John and Allen. Dan and Allen walked across the road for a quick view off the cliffs overlooking McLemore Cove and Pigeon Mountain. It was a beautiful warm day in November. We also talked to three rock climbers from Canada and several other hikers visiting the area so we had an opportunity to talk about Ham radio to them.
|
|
563 viewsThe terrestrial weather was hot, the solar weather was stormy but we had fun anyway.
Activating the Otting WMA US-7913 on Thursday Aug 1 saw John KB4QXI make 27 contacts with 7 Park to Park contacts on 20 meters. Allen KN4FKS made 11 contacts on 40, 15, and finally 20 meters with 2 P2P contacts. Dan K2DTS set up on several bands both SSB and digital but did not report his tally for this report.
Otting got activated with lots of sweat on the operators and even the radio equipment got hot!
|
|
562 viewsThis Thursday we activated Johns Mountain WMA US-3758 from the Overlook site.
Allen KN4FKS set up his end fed half wave sloper antenna under the trees and Dan K2DTS warmed it up first. He made 20 contacts on 20 meters SSB. the band was wonky and contacts were either long or close. He had one in Alabama and one in California. Allen then used the same rig to make 21 contacts on 20 meters SSB with 7 P2P and 3 DX contacts which included a park to park in Bermuda before the rains came.
Danny AG4DW cranked up his rig using a vertical antenna and made 4 SSB contacts, 25 FT8 contacts and 2 FM contacts. With the two FM contacts on the 1.25 m band he accomplished a rather hard to get POTA award. The POTA N1CC award is obtained by making contacts on TEN bands in TEN different parks. He is the first of our crew to get this award, congratulations on all the hard work. John KB4QXI made 20 contacts on 20 meters with 16 P2P contacts and 2 Canadian DX contacts.
The drive up the gravel road to the overlook is rough as usual but the mountain laurel bushes were in full bloom and made the trip a bit more bearable.
We seem to be in a springtime rain shower loop as every week we seem to be taking down antennas in the rain. Luckily none of the radio equipment has gotten wet. However antennas, coax and throw string need to be dried before the next activation. Hopefully the next activation will be a dry one.
Again, congrats to Danny on the award.
|
|
561 viewsPOTA - Chickamauga Battlefield - KO4DRX, Matt and KN4FKS, Allen
|
|
561 viewsPOTA - 20021027 - What a great activation! Ham radio, picnic, friends, and sunset, nothing better.
Allen KN4FKS was on 17 meters SSB and had 36 contacts with 4P2P, and 4DX. John KB4QXI had quite a run on 40 meters with 102 contacts and 8 P2P. He was still busy when he went QRT for supper. Peter KX4BE was on 20 meters CW and had 68 contacts, 4 P2P, and 3 DX. Karen KX4KM had 31 contacts on 20 meter SSB with 8 P2P. Ed KM6UTC worked digital QRP on 30 meters and had 19 contacts with 1 P2P and 1 DX
|
|
561 viewsShort video of John Law, KB4QXI making a POTA contact from Cloudland Canyon State Park K-2169 on Jul 20, 2023 - You MUST download the file here and play it on your local device: https://tristatesarc.com/club/pic/albums/userpics/10001/IMG_5563.mov
|
|
561 viewsWe activated Booker T. Washington State Park TN K-2933 yesterday Thursday Nov 30 2023. It turned out to be a wonderful weather day in a really nice park. The park is one of those reminders of a segregated past. Now used by everyone we had a great time. For the activation we established four stations. Peter KX4BE worked CW on 12 m and 15m using the 'screwdriver' antenna on his van. Danny AG4DW worked FT8 mostly on 10 meters. One SSB contact was a park to park contact in England. He had a total of 26 contacts, for DX he also had 2 Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, and Canada. Danny used his elevated vertical antenna set up. Tony WA4TW worked 20 meters SSB with his Chameleon vertical and had 50 contacts with 9 P2P and 2 Canadians. After Tony got 50 QSO's Allen took over the rig and made 21 contacts also on 20 meters with 3 P2P's and 3 Canadians. After Allen Fred KQ4JXX took over and made 12 contacts on 20 meters SSB with 3 P2P's . John KB4QXI finally arrived and made 10 contacts with 2 P2P's on 40 meters using his 'Buddystick' on top of the car. Ed KM6UTC provided the needed 'Adult Supervision' necessary to keep the POTA crew out of trouble.
Band conditions were "wonky" all day signals would be strong then fade to next to nothing and suddenly be back strong in the midst of one QSO. You might see a 5-9 signal go to 4-3 on the next over then back to 5-9 mid sentence. Everyone just worked through the fading and made a successful activation. We utilized the loop road in the 'Recreation Area 2' and Pavillion 2 on top of a small hill and it made an excellent place to set up with some distance between stations yet close enough to enjoy visiting with each other We wondered about the odd layout of the hill top site.
While there the Park Ranger came by and stopped to chat. Very friendly fellow and he mentioned he had seen other folks like us in the past and wondered what it exactly was. We explained the Parks on the Air Program (gave him a brochure) then explained HAM radio in general and about our equipment. We then asked about the history of the hilltop and he said it was originally a campground, not for RV's but for tents. He also said they built a boat marina but neither were used much as back then the folks who came here didn't have a lot of boats or camping equipment. Times have changed he said. Well spoken. He then recruited us to help him with the parks Junior Ranger program next June. We'll be there whatever it takes!
|
|
561 viewsThis past Thursday was 'one of those days'. The activation site was the Chickamauga Battlefield US-0716 using the Cravens House site on the front slope of Lookout Mountain. This site overlooks downtown Chattanooga and is a convenient spot to activate for many of the crew. The terrestrial weather started out cloudy and overcast but later cleared to a mostly sunny day.
John KB4QXI could not come because he had to wait at home for a package delivery. Ed KM6UTC stopped by but then had to leave to also go wait for a package to be delivered. Dave KQ4GLQ came and he and Allen KN4FKS worked setting up the N3FJP logging software on his new computer to work easily with POTA activations. Then Dave got a phone call from his boss and was off to Nashville for work. Danny AG4DW was traveling to grandkids graduation. Dan K2DTS was available for a short while so he set up his mag mount ham stick and gave it a go. Allen KN4FKS set up his vertical over near the old park ranger residence.
The space weather went from bad to worse. Band conditions were dismal. Dan had one contact when he had to leave. Allen chased parks and called CQ on several bands and after 3 hours had 13 contacts. At that point you couldn't buy a contact. So I enjoyed the view for a bit, talked to several park visitors about ham radio and packed it up and went home. POTA even on a horrible day is still fun and I look at it this way, I didn't have to stress over working a chaotic pile up.
|
|
560 viewsPOTA 11-23-2022 - Zahnd WMA K-7903 on Lookout Mountain. We had a fun day playing radio and chatting with rock climber. Across the road a short distance there is an amazing view from a clifftop of McLemore Cove. You can see where we have field day and the Christmas Party.
Allen had 20 contacts with 19 Park to Park contacts. Tony had 17 contacts with 5 Park to Parks and two Canadian contacts. John had 12 contacts with 1 P2P. It was a fun day and the weather was great.
|
|
| 811 files on 68 page(s) |
 |
|
|
|
|
46 | |
|
|
|
|
