On Wednesday, July 10, 2024, my wife and I were in the middle of a week-long stay in Wilmington, North Carolina, while our daughters attended residential programs at NCSU and UNCW.

That particular day, we couldn’t decide what to do because the weather was fickle! Temperatures and humidity were high, fueling a constant string of isolated thunderstorms rolling over Wilmington and the Cape Fear River area. Every hour or so, a new storm would roll past.

Heather suggested I fit in a POTA activation, and, of course, I loved the idea. I just didn’t want to play radio anywhere near thunderstorms.

We decided to drive south to one of my favorite coastal towns in North Carolina: Southport. Based on the weather radar, it looked like we could drive to Southport on the west side of the river, then return via the Fort Fisher Ferry on the east side, potentially avoiding most of the isolated thunderstorms moving north along the coast.

After stopping in Leland for supplies, we made our way to Brunswick Town/Ft. Anderson State Historic Site, directly across the Cape Fear River from where I’d activated the previous day at Carolina Beach State Park (US-2722).

En route, we drove into a thundershower with rain so intense that most cars on the road turned on their hazard lights and slowed to a crawl. Visibility was nil.

Fortunately, the heaviest rain only lasted 10 or so minutes, and by the time we were two minutes from the park entrance, it had slowed to a drizzle. As we parked at the visitor’s center, it had all but cleared up.

Brunswick Town/Ft. Anderson State Historic Site (US-6834)

Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site is unique in that it offers a blend of colonial and Civil War history along the beautiful Cape Fear River.

Founded in 1726, Brunswick quickly grew into a bustling port town known for exporting naval stores. However, the town was burned by British troops in 1776 and never rebuilt, leaving behind ruins for visitors to explore today.

During the Civil War, Confederate forces constructed Fort Anderson atop the remnants of Brunswick. The fort’s earthen walls and impressive gun emplacements now stand as a reminder of the region’s strategic importance during this turbulent period.

Visitors can explore the colonial foundations and Civil War earthworks, while enjoying the river waterfront.

There’s also a visitor’s center with exhibits detailing the area’s rich history.

I was pleased to spot a picnic area on the opposite side of the parking lot from the visitors’ center. This would allow me to set up close enough to the car that if another storm approached, I could pack up quickly.

First, I introduced myself to the staff and asked for permission to activate. I was confident they would grant it, as this site had been activated 39 times already (mine would be the 40th).

The two park rangers inside were incredibly kind and accommodating. My wife and I ended up speaking with them about history for nearly 30 minutes. I also gave them more insight into the POTA program and asked if activators were following their rules. Fortunately, they gave a very positive report. NC State Historic Sites protect both the archaeology of the site and the natural resources, so I always ask for permission to activate because some sites have restrictions about putting lines in trees or stakes/spikes in the ground. Fortunately, this was not an issue at the picnic area.

Setting up

Since weather was iffy and since Heather and I wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon in nearby Southport, I decided to pair my Elecraft KX2 with my AX1 antenna.

This also gave me a chance to try out a new 3D-printed bipod that my friend Mike (KE8PTX) sent me.

This Bipod consists of a 3D-printed clip and knob designed by Adam (K6ARK) and two legs designed by Mike.

I was really amazed at 1.) how easy it was to attach the clip to the antenna’s BNC base and 2.) how incredibly stable this Bipod felt even compared with the OEM bipod.

Thank you, Mike (and Adam)!

With the radio set up, I was ready to activate!

Gear

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• Elecraft KX2 with Windcamp X2 Side Rails and Cover
• Tufteln KX2 Protective Cover
• Elecraft KXBT2 Li-Ion Battery Pack
• LowePro CS60 Hard Side Case
• Elecraft AX1 with 3D-printed bipod clip and legs
• QRPworks KX2/3 paddle mount (I’ll post a direct link when this is in production)
• Bamatech TP-III paddles
• Packtenna Mini EFHW antenna
• ABR Industries 25’ RG-316 cable assembly with three in-line ferrites (Use Coupon Code ABR10QRPER for 10% Discount!)
• GraphGear 0.9mm 1000 Automatic Drafting Pencil
• Rite In The Rain Top Spiral Notebook
• Camera: DJI OSMO 4 action camera with Sensyne Phone Tripod
• DJI Wireless Microphones
• Tablecloth (thanks Bob and Allana!)
• Nemo Chipper Foam Seat

On The Air

I assumed 20 meters would be the best place to start and, frankly, I hoped it would be productive enough to cap off my activation in short order so that my wife and I could continue our travels.

Unfortunately, propagation was not compliant.

I called CQ POTA on 20 meters for a long time with no replies at all, so I decided to QSY to the 17 meter band.

Typically if 20 meters isn’t healthy, 17 meters won’t be either but I thought it’d be worth a go.

In quick succession, I worked three stations: K5OHY, N5ILQ, and SM2SUM in Sweden. The AX1 was showing off despite the unstable conditions.

After those three contacts, all I heard was static so I moved back to 20 meters for a bit of P2P hunting only to find the band was still dead.

I then decided to shake things up by switching from my AX1 to my PackTenna 20 meter End-Fed Half-Wave.

The EFHW is a higher gain antenna and I thought with conditions as they were, anything might help.

After deploying the PackTenna, I hopped back on the air and started calling CQ on 20 meters. Eventually, I received a reply from my friend Alan (W2AEW) and then seven more hunters in fairly rapid succession. Sometimes when propagation is fickle, you’ll have windows of opportunity like this where signals pop through, then they might disappear again without warning.

Thank you, hunters!

With eleven stations logged and having spent more time in the activation than I had hoped, I called QRT and packed up quickly. What a fun activation with some serious QRP DX despite the games our local star was playing!

QSO Map

Here’s what this five-watt activation looked like when plotted out on a QSO Map:

Activation Video

Here’s my real-time, real-life video of the entire activation.  As with all of my videos, I don’t edit out any parts of the on-air activation time. In addition, I have monetization turned off on YouTube, although that doesn’t stop them from inserting ads before and after my videos.

Note that Patreon supporters can watch and even download this video 100% ad-free through Vimeo on my Patreon page:

Click here to view on YouTube.

Post-Activation

Heather and I drove the short distance from Brunswick Town SP to Southport, NC.

We sat on the waterfront, enjoyed a nice picnic lunch, and watched sailboats pass by. Very relaxing.

I love all of the historic homes in Southport–some date from the 1800s which might not seem that historic to my friends in Europe, but keep in mind that these have endured numerous hurricanes and resulting storm surge flooding during that time. Pretty impressive!

Heather and I then popped in the NC Maritime Museum.

I picked up a brilliant book by Jay Barnes: Fifteen Hurricanes That Changed the Carolinas [yes, an affiliate link].

I’ve almost finished it already (amazing considering my lack of free time!) and must say that it’s superb! Barnes does a brilliant job providing fascinating historic context around each storm and why each had long-term impact on the Carolinas.

Heather ducked into a thrift shop next, so I took the opportunity to cool off with an iced latte and blueberry scone. I maybe have one iced coffee every year as I’m very much a hot coffee kind of guy. That said, it was in the mid 90s and super humid, so this chilly beverage was much appreciated!

We eventually drove to the Fort Fisher Ferry and made the short crossing to Fort Fisher.

Later, we capped off the evening with a nice, long walk on Wrightsville Beach as the sun set.

All in all, a brilliant, memorable day out and we somehow managed to avoid most of the heavy weather!

Thank you

Thank you so much for joining me during this activation!

I hope you enjoyed the field report and my activation video as much as I enjoyed creating them! I love reliving these activations when writing up the field report.

Of course, I’d also like to send a special thanks to those of you who have been supporting the site and channel through Patreon, and the Coffee Fund. While not a requirement, as my content will always be free, I really appreciate the support.

As I mentioned before, the Patreon platform connected to Vimeo makes it possible for me to share videos that are not only 100% ad-free but also downloadable for offline viewing. The Vimeo account also serves as a third backup for my video files.

Thanks for spending part of your day with me! I hope you have an opportunity to play radio soon!

Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)