POTA Field Report: Pairing the FT-817ND with the EFT Trail-Friendly antenna at Lake Norman

Last week, I thoroughly enjoyed taking the Yaesu FT-817ND to the field.

While the ‘817 lacks features I’ve come to appreciate during field activations like voice and CW memory keying, it’s still an incredibly fun and capable radio.

Last Monday (January 18, 2021), I had an opportunity to visit Lake Norman State Park (K-2740) and perform an activation around lunchtime. Lake Norman is convenient to my hometown of Hickory, NC and these days I typically spend at least a couple nights there doing a little caregiving for my parents. It’s rare my schedule is clear at lunchtime to fit in an activation–typically it’s later in the afternoon.

As with my recent activation at Lake Jame State Park, I paired the Yaesu FT-817ND with my Par End-Fedz EFT Trail-Friendly 40/20/10 meter resonant antenna.

Gear:

It was an incredibly fun activation and one of the few recently where I racked up some great QRP contacts across the 20 meter band before moving to 40 meters.

Here’s my QSOMap of the activation (red lines are phone, green are CW):

As with most of my activations, this one was relatively short. Rarely do I have more than 45-60 minutes of on-air time during a POTA sortie.

I also made another real-life, real-time, no-edit video of the entire activation. If interested, you can view it via the embedded player below or on YouTube:

I’m long overdue a multiple park run, so will start strategizing soon! The Parks On The Air program has also added a few new park in North Carolina, but none appear to be in the western part of the state.

Oh, and Phillip, thanks for prompting me to take the ‘817 to the field again. It is a gem of a rig and I think it might suit your needs very well!

73,

Thomas (K4SWL)

4 thoughts on “POTA Field Report: Pairing the FT-817ND with the EFT Trail-Friendly antenna at Lake Norman”

  1. Another terific activiation, I was amazed by the number of SSB contacts you made with 5 watts! I guess 20M was good to you on that day!
    I know I’ve said it to you before, but will say it again, I really appreciate your videos and they have opened my eyes to another whole aspect of the hobby I never really thought about.
    I do enjoy amatuer radio a lot and now I am looking to integrate it into my other passtimes like mountian biking. So planning some rides to parks and some summits here in New England this spring!

    Thanks Again!

    1. Pairing radio with mountain biking? Now that’s a plan! There are a few spots here where I can do that in western NC. A few trails venture into national park boundaries.

      Thanks so much for the kind comments, Bill!

      Cheers,
      Thomas
      K4SWL

  2. I enjoyed this video very much Thomas, thanks you. The FT-818 was purchased a week ago and is aching for some action…!

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