On Friday, October 24, 2024, I performed my first POTA activation exactly one month (to the day) after Hurricane Helene swept through western North Carolina.

It felt oh so good!

As many of you know who’ve been following my Post-Helene updates, I simply haven’t had time to do POTA or SOTA activations. And even if I wanted to, most of the POTA sites around me are temporarily closed due to damage from Helene.

Truthfully, I didn’t start my day expecting a POTA activation. I’d planned, if anything, to make a short field radio video somewhere on my property, chase some POTA/SOTA stations, and make any other random contacts.

However, my daughter’s Shakespeare class decided to meet in person, so after dropping her off at 12:30, I had about two hours of free time. Before leaving home, I packed a couple of radio bags just in case I could find a spot for a POTA activation, or at least visit a local park to play radio for a bit.

I realized I was only a 20-minute drive from the Sycamore Flats picnic site in Pisgah National Forest (US-4510), where I’ve activated many times before. This site is in Transylvania County, which wasn’t hit as hard by Helene.

Google Maps showed the site as open, so I decided to drive over. Thankfully, it was correct! When I arrived, the front gate was open and there were a few visitors around.

I could tell the site had some storm damage—some tree limbs down and evidence of flooding from the Davidson River, which wraps around the area. The park service recently upgraded the picnic table pads, but the gravel had washed away, and many tables had either shifted or washed away.

That said, this site fared well compared to parks in Buncombe County. (Chimney Rock State Park is still inaccessible due to major flooding in the town of Chimney Rock.)

I hopped out, grabbed my backpack and TR-45L, and started recording my activation video.

Since no one was using the picnic shelter at the northeast end of the park (and it had no reservation sign), I set up there. I deployed my MM0OPX End-Fed Half-Wave antenna on a nearby tree, connected it to my TR-45L, and was ready to go!

Gear

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• • Penntek TR-45L
  • ABR Industries 25’ RG-316 cable assembly with three in-line ferrites (Use Coupon Code ABR10QRPER for 10% Discount!)
    
  • MM0OPX End-Fed Half Wave
  • CW Morse Outdoor Double Paddle With Steel Base
  • Key cable: Cable Matters 2-Pack Gold-Plated Retractable Aux Cable – 2.5 Feet
  • Weaver arborist throw line/weight and storage bag
  • GraphGear 0.9mm 1000 Automatic Drafting Pencil
  • ‎Rite In The Rain Top Spiral Notebook
  • NEMO Resolve 25L Backpack
  • Camera: DJI OSMO 4 action camera with Joby Telepod Sport Tripod

On The Air

I hopped on the air and started calling CQ POTA. After the RBN picked me up and the POTA website auto-spotted me, the contacts started rolling in!

The moment the RBN spotted me, many of my friends received HamAlert messages that I was on the air.

Vince (VE6LK) even sent me a HamAlert notification via Ara (N6ARA) with the message: Nature is healing!

I worked my first ten stations in eight minutes.

The pileup stayed steady.

It felt incredible to be back in a park, connecting with my POTA family!

In total, I logged 41 stations in 39 minutes.

Had I not run out of time, I would have continued logging all afternoon—and likely switched to 40 meters—but I had to wrap up for the day.

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.

Note: the preamble in my activation video is longer than usual, as I explained why it’s been so long since my last 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.

W1RMW’s first CW contact!

Sometimes, I’m fortunate enough to be someone’s first CW contact. After this activation, I received an email from Robert (W1RMW). Here’s an excerpt:

I am a fairly new ham… who is finally venturing into HF a bit, with a kit radio a local ham buddy gave me.

I just finished building a KM4CFT EFHW QRP antenna cut for 20m today… and did my best to tune it up before getting on the air for the first time on 20m since getting my general license back in 2020 (during covid)… and for the first time, in a very long time, with CW. (I had a novice license nearly 40 yrs ago.)

I was surprised that:
a) my antenna worked (or seemed to) … and

b) one of the first people I saw while hunting activators was you!

Finally, I was shocked when after calling you, you came back with my call!

Yes!! You were my first CW QSO!! And first on any HF band since getting my general…. and first QSO with my new QCX kit radio!

I hope you got me in the logs… I’m excited to see confirmation on POTA. I was able to hunt 3 total activators before I had to stop to head back to work.

Needless to say, I’m hooked. Can’t wait to get on the air again!

Thank you so much for all you do. Hope to connect with you again soon.

Way to go, Robert! Thank you for reaching out. There’s no greater honor as a CW op than to be someone’s first CW contact. I look forward to logging your P2P someday!

Post-Helene

I’ll be posting a Post-Helene update this week, as life slowly returns to normal. This activation was a huge step; it was the first time in weeks that I’ve felt ready for a purely recreational radio outing.

It felt amazing!

As always, I truly appreciate your support during this time!

Thank you

Thank you for joining me during this activation!

I hope you enjoyed this field report and my activation video as much as I enjoyed creating them! And, oh boy, was it fun creating this one!

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!
Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)