Two weeks ago, my family and I enjoyed a short vacation in lovely Beaufort, NC.

Although POTA wasn’t the focus of this trip—family time was—I managed to squeeze in two wonderful portable activations.

The first was a pedestrian mobile activation on Cape Lookout National Seashore. It was simply magical. I’ve always wanted to try a pedestrian mobile activation with my antenna counterpoise dangling in saltwater, so this was a first for me.

The second activation took place the following day, on Wednesday, December 18, 2024.

A Flexible Plan

That morning, I had an activation site in mind but didn’t want to set anything in stone. I wanted my wife and daughters to enjoy their day doing whatever they wanted.

Of course, as we walked out the door, I brought along my EDC backpack, which contained my Elecraft KH1 and KX2 compact field kits—just in case!

The NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores

Our first stop was the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. While we’ve visited the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher numerous times, this was our first trip to Pine Knoll Shores, and we were glad we went!

The aquarium was beautiful, with an impressive amount of diversity.

Best of all, since it was off-season, we practically had the place to ourselves, save for one school group.

Interestingly, the aquarium is located within a POTA site: Theodore Roosevelt State Conservation Area (US-3868). The conservation area can be accessed via a footpath that winds through the surrounding woodlands and marshes.

While I briefly considered activating there, I knew we only had time for one activation that day, and I had another site in mind!

Fort Macon State Park (US-2730)

We devised a plan: I dropped off my wife and one of my daughters at a large thrift store (my wife loves thrift shopping), while my other daughter, Neva, Hazel (our dog), and I drove eight minutes to the first Fort Macon State Park beach access point.

Fort Macon State Park is a real gem on North Carolina’s Crystal Coast. It’s got a little bit of everything—stunning beaches, a historic Civil War-era fort, and plenty of spots to enjoy the outdoors. The beaches are perfect for strolling, hunting for seashells, or just soaking in the ocean views, while the fort itself is packed with history and interesting exhibits. It’s also a great spot for birdwatching or fishing if that’s your thing.

I had scouted out the beach access parking lot earlier and discovered a picnic shelter that provided a much-needed wind break for the blustery day.

The goal? To be gone no longer than one hour. Factoring in the 16-18 minutes of driving (round trip), that left me about 40 minutes to deploy my station, complete the activation, pack up, and return.

Time challenge

Every time I devise a plan to complete an activation within a set amount of time, I get a bit of a thrill. It reminds me of Darren McGavin’s character, the father in A Christmas Story. When the car’s tire blows out, he doesn’t see it as an inconvenience; he sees it as a challenge and times himself replacing the tire.

Like “The Old Man” Parker, I get a kick out of timing myself during activations. I can almost hear Jean Shepherd narrating my efforts!

KX2 + AX1 to the Rescue

Since I used the KH1 the previous day at Cape Lookout, I decided to deploy my Elecraft KX2 at Fort Macon.

Again, I’d already scouted the picnic shelter during a brief visit our first evening in Beaufort. It was in a fenced area surrounded by protected dunes, with no natural antenna supports like trees or brush. Since I had packed light with just my EDC backpack, I didn’t have my carbon fiber mast or a self-supporting vertical like my MC-750.

In the past, I’ve been known to simply hang a random wire antenna over the roof trusses of a picnic shelter, and it has worked quite well in a pinch. While this was certainly an option, I also knew from experience that threading the antenna through the trusses can be a bit finicky and time-consuming.

There was no need to fiddle with a wire antenna when I had my uber-portable Elecraft AX1 antenna in the KX2 field kit case.

Setting up the KX2 and AX1 takes two minutes at a casual pace. If I’m in a hurry, I can get them paired and ready to operate in under a minute. With the gear ready, it was time to see if propagation would cooperate!

Gear

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Radio

• Elecraft KX2 with Windcamp X2 Side Rails
  • Tufteln KX2 Protective Cover
  • KXPD2 Paddles
  • Elecraft KXBT2 Li-Ion Battery Pack

Antenna

• Elecraft AX1with 3D-printed Bipod (clip and knob by K6ARK and  bipod legs by KE8PTX)

Pack/Case

• Trakke Bannoch Backpack (Note: mine is a discontinued model with G-Hooks.)
• LowePro CS60 Hard Side Case

Camera/Audio Gear

• • DJI OSMO 4 action camera with Joby Telepod Sport Tripod

On The Air

Funny enough, as I started my activation, Neva took Hazel for a walk on the beach. However, Hazel had other plans—she put on her brakes and refused to venture far. She insisted on staying with me at the shelter, so Neva tied her leash nearby and went off on her own gusty beach walk.

I started on 17 meters, where propagation was excellent.

In just 10 minutes, I logged nine stations. While I could have stayed longer to reach a tenth, I was eager to test the AX1 on 10 meters.

The AX1 is optimized for 20, 17, and 15 meters, but with the KX2’s ATU, I can usually get an acceptable match on 12 and 10 meters. On 10 meters, I achieved a 2:1 to 2.5:1 SWR—a manageable range for the KX2 at 5 watts.

I was thrilled to log two stations there (thanks N7CCD and AI5DD!).

Next, I switched to 15 meters and worked four more stations, including N7CCD again. In total, I logged 15 hunters across three bands. Not bad for 5 watts and an AX1!

It was time to pack up and head out!

QSO Map

Here’s what this five-watt activation looked like when plotted out on a QSO Map. For fun, I added in the distance in miles to each hunter (click image to enlarge):

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.

I did it!

From dropping off my wife and daughter to completing the activation and picking them up—I managed it all within one hour. Woo hoo!

On top of that, I found the activation to be incredibly fun.

I’m certain that if I had performed the activation on 20 meters, I would have worked more stations and likely stayed on that band due to the high activity. Then again, my buddy Mike (K8RAT) noted after the activation that 20 meters was in rougher shape than the higher bands I chose.

Admittedly, I enjoy using the higher bands when propagation allows, and this time was no exception—it was a blast!

My only regret was not having time to properly explore the actual fort site and visitor’s center. No worries, though, as I suspect we’ll be back to the Crystal Coast, for a much longer stay, in the not-so-distant future!

Thank you

Thank you for joining me during this coastal QRP activation!

I hope you enjoyed the field report and my activation video as much as I enjoyed creating them!

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!

Here’s wishing you and yours a wonderful, happy New Year!

Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)