By Teri KO4WFP
January and February have been such busy months that not much POTA has happened for this POTA Babe since my trip to southwest Georgia. Wednesday, February 26th was too gorgeous a day to sit inside. I set aside my projects and Daisy and I headed to a new park – Mead Farm Wildlife Management Area (WMA).
Mead Farm WMA (US-9776) is a two-hour drive from Savannah, GA, my home QTH. I visited this area last year when I activated Yuchi WMA (US-3778) in January 2024. Within sight of Yuchi WMA is Plant Vogtle, a nuclear power plant on the Savannah River managed by Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company. I spied the four cooling towers (all complete and now active) in the distance during the drive.
Mead Farm is one of the smaller WMAs. It consists of 200 acres, almost equally split between uplands and wetlands. Unlike other Georgia WMAs I’ve visited, the roads back into the park were blocked so I opted to set up in the parking area. Thankfully, the road near the entrance to the park was not busy so vehicular noise didn’t present an impediment to my activation.
The weather in southern Georgia has been uncharacteristically warm – high temperatures in the upper 70s. With clear skies overhead, I parked on the eastern side of the parking area taking advantage of shade provided by pine trees. Those pines would also allow me to orient the Tufteln EFRW antenna toward the northwest.
POTA, at this point, has become comfortable. (Notice I didn’t say easy because you never know what unexpected event will happen during POTA as noted in my past QRPer.com articles.😉) In an effort to shake things up, I decided to use all three keys currently in my POTA kit: the VK3IL-design paddle gifted to me by Brian K3ES, the BaMaTech III paddle, and the CW Morse Pocket Single Paddle/Cootie key.
Once my antenna was installed, Daisy was comfortably lounging in the shade, and I was seated in my Helinox chair, it was time to have some fun!
I began with the VK3IL-design paddle on 20 meters. I like this paddle as it is lightweight and easy to hold. The two issues I have with it is you absolutely cannot use it in the rain (which I discovered during my July 2024 NC trip) and my fingers do not always contact the pads precisely. I think this is in part because of my smaller finger size but also my tendency to move my fingers a fair amount due to working with cootie keys.
Twenty meters did not disappoint, though it was a bit on the squirrelly side today. I often give RSTs of 599 but during this activation, more stations than usual had a 559 or lower RST because they were fainter and more difficult to hear.
After warming up with contacts from twelve stations, I switched to my favorite key – the cootie. I LOVE using a cootie! I’m not sure exactly why – maybe because it feels like playing jazz or dancing due to the swinging motion as one moves horizontally back and forth while sending.
For this, I used the CW Morse Pocket Single Paddle. The key is a bit large for holding it with one hand but still comfortable due to the rounded corners on the sides of the key. The single lever moves easily back and forth though it requires more effort than the W1SFR Titan cootie key I have in my shack. I gave this cootie a whirl for twelve stations and decided it was time to share the love with the BamaTech III paddle.
The BaMaTech III paddle is new to me. This activation was my first opportunity to put it into action in the field though I’ve been using it in my shack for code buddy QSOs with Caryn KD2GUT and Glenn W4YES. The key is so responsive and the more I use it, the more I agree with others who recommend it.
While using the BaMaTech III key, I moved to 17 and 15 meters. On both bands, I worked Laurent F5MQU in France and Thomas SM3NRY in Sweden. (Thanks guys!)
By this point, I’ve been on the air for an hour and a half. As I had cell service and could access the POTA page at this park, it was time to hunt other activators. Unfortunately it was slim pickings due to band conditions and proximity. However, I had QSOs with Tom N2EI at US-8060 and Larry W4LPH at US-1855 on twenty meters as well as Tim K5OHY at US-10272.
Before calling it a day, I moved to 30 meters and back to the cootie key to see what local callers I could pick up. I managed three before I called QRT. By this point, I had spent two hours on the air and it was time to pack up and head home.
I’ve come to favor activating in WMAs and this one was no exception. Two hours is quite a way to drive for POTA; however, the drive through rural Georgia is always scenic and the time passes quickly. Cell service and access to the POTA site is always a welcome bonus. Those things combined with gorgeous weather and the absence of insects made for a winning combination today. Seriously, what is not to love in this scenario?
With this successful new activation, I have five parks toward my goal of 30 new parks this year. There are still several parks within a two-drive of Savannah I have yet to activate. Which will I choose next? Stay tuned…
Equipment Used
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WMA’s are excellent, far easier to activate than parks in some areas.