Many thanks to Christian (IX1CKN) who shares the following field report:

Activation of I-0395

by Chris (IX1CKN)

Hey folks, I just wanted to share my activation at the Les Iles Nature Reserve (I-0395) on Christmas Eve (December 24, 2023)!

It’s been a while since I last visited (in July). The weather was perfect, around 20 degrees Celsius, and I was in the mood for a real outdoor activation.

I decided to go with the manpack Plessey PRC-320, a trusty companion delivering a solid 25 watts. I wanted to be one with nature, so no benches or bird-watching huts this time.

Got off to an exciting start on 20 meters with two stations from the UK recognizing my gear. One even complimented the excellent modulation with a whopping 9+10 signal strength, giving me hope for the rest of the activation. Then came a Spanish station, the always attentive IX1VKK Rinaldo (following me from home), a colleague from the Netherlands, another Brit, and then… silence. I kept calling for another 5 minutes, but no luck.

Could it be the morning flare that affected propagation? Who knows, but I noticed on the POTA cluster that another Italian colleague was activating on 28 MHz and being spotted by several American Hams. I decided to give it a try, found a clear frequency locally, and started calling. And guess what? Responses from across the Atlantic started pouring in – Massachusetts, Georgia, and even a park-to-park with Jim KC1QDZ from Brenton Point State Park in Rhode Island.

Short video:

Maybe not my first contact with a U.S. park on 10 meters, but definitely a memorable one.

Signal reports weren’t super strong, hovering around 5/3-5/4, but hey, as long as the noise floor isn’t sky-high, that signal is enough to complete the QSO. Moved to a different frequency as the band was buzzing with North American stations – Kentucky, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Maryland.

An hour in, and I’ve logged 12 contacts. Pretty incredible considering that what “saved” my activation were stations on the other side of the ocean. Europe on 20 meters was a bit challenging, but hey, that’s ham radio for you. You’d think POTA, with its simple and not-so-full-power setups, is a local affair, and then, on Christmas Eve, you realize DX is very much on the table.

I turn around, a duck dives in, and the last rays of sunlight caress the wetlands. Perfect way to end it.

It’s the beginning of 2024 (Happy New Year everyone!) and a lot of my radio friends have been setting goals and asking what mine are for the year.

Truth is, I’ve had so much going on during the latter half of December, I hadn’t stopped to think about 2024 goals.

This morning, with a cup of coffee fueling my brain cells, I came up with a few ideas.

Here are the goals I’ve pieced together for 2024:

Complete a CW satellite contact
Complete a POTA activation using FT8
Add 20 more parks to the number of unique POTA sites I’ve activated
Add 5 new summits to the number of unique SOTA summits I’ve activated
Update: One more…build that QCX+ a good friend Bob gave me, then put it on the air!

Out of these goals, I think the second, completing an FT8 POTA activation, will be the easiest. I’m mainly making it a goal for 2024 so that I actually carry through with doing it.

The CW satellite contact? I’ve got the gear to do it now, I believe, but this will take me well outside of my comfort zone. That’s a good ting. Making it a goal for 2024 will encourage me to bite the bullet.

The last two POTA and SOTA goals will actually be the toughest for me simply because we haven’t ironed out our travel plans for 2024 as of today. Funny part is I know some leaderboard POTA and SOTA activators that would knock these goals out in the month of January without breaking a sweat!

I’ve activated all of the low-hanging POTA fruit around my QTH (with three exceptions) so any new unique parks will be further afield and more easily achieved if we take some family road trips.