In pursuit of my 60 new-to-me park activations, I headed back to Florida for six days the first week of April. The weather forecast looked promising – high temps in the upper 70s falling to the upper 60s by the end of the week. Rain might dampen my spirits on Wednesday but otherwise, the sun was likely to shine during my journey.

Daisy and I packed up the car and headed out early Sunday, May 31st. It was an easy journey – three and a half hours south down I-95 and then southwest across Florida. Of course, we stopped at the Florida welcome center and got our picture snapped, this time just the two of us.

We arrived in Branford which actually did look like a nice place to live. Lafayette Forest Wildlife & Environmental Area (US-6315) is just outside the town. Unlike the wildlife management areas in Georgia I’ve visited, this one looked more manicured. The road into the park could have been the entrance into some genteel Southern plantation.

Not far inside, we found a fenced-in parking area and kiosk. I figured this would be the easiest place to set up. Checking the kiosk, I confirmed we were out of hunting season though we would still wear our blaze orange items for our walk after the activation. (Before we arrived at the park, we actually saw a turkey crossing the road.)

I opted to use the Chelegance MC-750 on the tripod mount because I need more practice with it. That proved to be a good choice as I had to re-read the instructions to set it up – hi hi. This is what happens when you don’t use equipment on a regular basis. 

I sat in the front seat of the car and began with 40 meters. That only yielded two contacts in 5 minutes so I opted to move to 20 meters. Twenty meters was kinder to me, yielding 14 contacts in 25 minutes. I then hunted what activators I could hear. I had park-to-park contacts with Don W8PEN in Ohio, Rosti KC3FQF in Delaware, and Mark KA5TXN in Texas.

At this point, Daisy was panting in the backseat. Time to call QRT and stretch our legs.

I originally thought we’d walk a large loop through the property but that route proved to be along the road we drove into the park. There looked like very little shade along the road and, due to the sunny skies, I opted to nix that idea. Instead, we took the Chorus Frog Loop by the parking area. It was a short (we did it twice it was so short) but nice walk through the woods.

We loaded ourselves back into the car and drove 30 miles down the road to Manatee Springs State Park (US-1901). We were greeted by friendly park staff who directed us to our site. It wasn’t long before the car was unloaded, tent set up, and Daisy sacked out for a nap.

I originally scheduled my activation for Manatee Springs around 5 PM; but dinner was a quick affair and I had time to kill, so I decided to jump on early. I was itching to return to the EFRW so I could jump between bands easily.

There were no restrictions on wires in the trees at this park so that antenna was up and running in no time.  As I planned to stay at Manatee Springs for three nights, I decided to leave it up and use the AX1 or Chelegance MC-750 for my other activations. Note: What I was told at the front desk was incorrect. I was asked Monday to take down the EFRW which I did.

There were not many activators (maybe the holiday had something to do with that) on the spotting page. Since I had my EFRW, I hopped from band to band in search of hunters.

The bands yielded 15 on 20 meters, four on 17 meters, three on 15 meters, and three on 30 meters. Twenty meters gave me my one DX contact – Thomas SM3NRY in Sweden. I also had the privilege of park-to-park QSOs with Martiros W0RMX in Virginia, Ken KG4BIG in Kentucky, and Tony KD2YJX in New Jersey before I called QRT.

I experienced something in this park I did not in other campgrounds during my previous Florida trip – noise! A neighboring campsite played loud music and even though I used headphones during the activation, it was a distraction.

The campers of a neighboring campsite arrived during my activation and, when they turned on a blower to inflate their air mattress, suddenly 40 and 30 meters were unusable. As I’ve said before, expect the unexpected with POTA.

Overall, it was a good start to the trip.

The next day, I planned  to activate the Nature Coast State Trail for which the AX1 might be a good choice and then, if I had sufficient time, Fanning Springs State Park which is adjacent to the trail. The weather promised to be sunny again! Did the AX1 turn out to be my friend? Stay tuned…

Equipment Used

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• Elecraft KX2
• CW Morse SP4 POTA/SOTA Key
• Chelegance MC-750
• Tufteln 9:1 EFRW Antenna
• Tufteln RG-316 Coax
• Tufteln Knee Board
• Reflective Blaze Orange Dog Vest
• Sitka Ballistic Cap (blaze orange)
• Blaze Orange Hunting Vest
• Jackery 300 Plus Portable Power Station