Oregon Coast POTA Rove

by Dan (N7CQR)

Last December (2024), I was planning a trip with friends to Tucson, AZ, while my wife was traveling abroad. I enjoy the opportunity to go somewhere warm during the winter if possible. Alas, the trip fell apart, and I decided to take the opportunity to spend a week traveling on the Oregon coast and activating as many parks as possible. My plan was to start on the central coast around Newport and travel as far south as time permitted. Sometimes we get a nice stretch of warmer weather in this region in December and January. The coast is blessed with many small and medium-sized state parks, and many are oceanside, so I would have plenty of options for daily activities within a relatively short distance from where I would be staying.

I picked four towns to stay at as I drove south: Yachats, Coos Bay, Bandon, and returning north to Newport. I compiled a list of about 25 potential POTA sites between Newport and Bandon on the southern end of my route. Obviously, I wouldn’t be likely to activate all of these for various reasons such as temporary closures, weather conditions (especially as related to exposure to rain or wind—very common on the coast), access to a good area to set up, or other unforeseen circumstances. And there’s always variable propagation to deal with.

Here on the West Coast, we just don’t have the population density and thus fewer active hams than the rest of the country. My goal was to activate three parks per day. Sometimes it was a very short distance to do this, but often I had to drive a fair amount to get to some of the more remote locations.

The other challenge was planning what gear to bring, as I might be operating in a couple of different conditions depending on the weather. Ideally, I wanted to set up outdoors when possible, but realistically, I had to have a plan for also operating in my car. Since I’m a dedicated portable CW/QRP operator, I don’t have any permanent radios or antennas mounted in my car.

My two main portable radios are my KX2 and KH1, which are small enough to use in the car without taking up a lot of space. For an antenna, I had a Diamond K400 door/hatch mount that I mounted on the rear hatch of my Kia Sorento, and I had a telescoping whip that would extend to a quarter wavelength on 20 meters and could be adjusted for 17, 15, and 10 meters depending on which band I was using. I had to get an adapter (McMaster Carr hardware) from the 3/8×24 thread of the mount to the M10 metric thread of the whip.

The tuner in the radios would make up any mismatch. I ran RG 316 to the front seat and attached a couple of 13-foot counterpoises to the antenna mount for good measure. The mount was grounded to the car body through the mounting bracket as well. I almost always got a very good match, so SWR wasn’t a problem, especially since I only ran 5 watts.

For outdoor operation, I had the KH1 with the whip, the KX2 with the AX1/AEX1, my Chelegance MC-750 vertical, and my K6ARK end-fed random wire with the 9:1 balun built into the BNC connector.

Here, particularly in western and coastal Oregon, we have an abundance of trees, but they’re often Douglas Fir with very thick foliage that makes it tricky to toss a line into a tree. Especially at the coast, it’s often quite steep and rocky, such that you don’t have a long stretch of level ground to toss and retrieve a line. Or, if it’s an open wayside, there might not be any trees close by to use. Options are always a good idea.

When I had to activate from my car, I found that using the KH1 was easier than wrestling with the KX2 on my lap or the console, especially for CW. I could hold it in my hand and log using the tray with the little log sheets. However, I know there are some good solutions for using trays or shelves that mount in the vehicle for larger radios. Still, most of my operating is outdoors whenever possible.

As expected, sometimes I’d arrive at a park and encounter situations that made it difficult to activate. In a couple of cases, the parks (actually more like small waysides off the highway—usually on the coastal side) were closed due to maintenance issues or, in a couple of cases, flooding. 

One spot I really wanted to activate had a horrendous noise level that I never was able to pinpoint. My best guess was that the shelter/restroom structure had a problem with a power line or LED lighting. I’ve also noticed that some of the buildings in the larger parks have remote cameras and maybe other security sensors that might be using some sort of RF connection. Many of the facilities are pretty remote from any towns or communities.

Some of the larger parks may have a campground host or monitor who is living in a trailer or camper to help manage the facility. If so, I usually try to check in with them and explain what I’m doing, and they’re always really receptive. Some are familiar with ham radio, and they often have CB rigs or FRS/GMRS to communicate with campers and truckers.

I managed to activate 19 separate parks over 7 days and also a number of ‘2 fers’ by being close to the Oregon Coast Trail. It meanders along some existing paths, sometimes on the beach (see proper), and sometimes through the parks or along the shoulder of Hwy 101.

A couple of highlights included the activations at Bandon—the southernmost point I got to. I activated at two different parks at the mouth of the Coquille River—one on the south side and then a very large park (Bullards Beach State Park) on the north side of the river mouth. The contrast between the two locations couldn’t be more pronounced. On the south side, the wind was blowing steadily at 30-35 MPH with really high seas. I managed to find a parking spot next to the shelter/restroom building that blocked the wind, allowing me to put up the antenna. The view of the storm was very impressive (see attached photo).

After I completed that activation, I headed back around the river to the park on the north side. It’s a very large park with many different areas and facilities. I drove clear to the end where the original lighthouse is situated and walked around the area, but it was still very windy. I drove back to the center of the park, about 3 miles (I said it was big!), and found a nice picnic shelter in a small meadow that was sheltered from the wind by a stand of trees. It was the perfect place to set up and enjoy lunch. The temperature was in the 60s, and with very little wind, it was quite pleasant. The southern coast of Oregon can be very nice in the winter months between storms.

I’m also an avid golfer, and Bullards State Park borders on the southern edge of the world-class Bandon Golf facility, which I’ve had the privilege to play numerous times. I know firsthand it can be 65 and sunny one day and the next day 40 degrees with torrential rains and 30 MPH wind! Fortunately, for this activation, the weather was great, and I set up my KX2 and the Chelegance MC-750 vertical. I had cell phone reception and posted my spot on 20M, and my first two contacts were with Swedish hams, which was a long haul from Oregon to Sweden at 5W! After having a great experience at Bandon, I headed north to finish the trip in Newport, where I stayed two nights and activated a number of spots around the area. I must give recognition to AL7KC, who worked me for all 19 activations. Thank you for your support!

Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I indulged myself in as much fresh seafood and local beer as possible in the towns I stayed in. Activation is hungry and thirsty work! Fresh crab, salmon, halibut, oysters, shrimp, and clams are all readily available up and down the coast and are not to be missed.

I had a great time, and I highly encourage you to make your way to the coast for some serious radio fun if the opportunity presents itself.