On Wednesday, May 14, 2025, my good friend Eric (WD8RIF) and I started our drive from Athens to Dayton, Ohio. We left Eric’s QTH early that morning—not because it’s a long drive (it’s only about 2.5 hours)—but because we wanted to activate at least two new-to-me parks en route and still arrive early enough to stop by the Commissary at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, check into our hotel, and meet up with friends for dinner.

The day before, I wasn’t able to activate a park in West Virginia as planned due to thunderstorms in the area. I also heard that propagation was incredibly poor—something we’ve seen off and on lately—so if you’re planning to validate an activation, be sure to budget extra time to reach your ten contacts.

That Wednesday morning started off foggy and misty, but the clouds quickly burned away and gave way to a beautiful day.

Since I was firmly in WD8RIF’s activation territory, I let him do all of the planning for us that day. (Let’s be honest—I tend to let Eric do all of the planning no matter where we’re roving! Don’t tell him that, though.)

Lake Alma State Park (US-1967)

Our first stop was Lake Alma State Park near Hamden, Ohio.

Lake Alma is a beautiful park with large parking areas, great lake access, and numerous ideal spots for a POTA activator to set up.

Eric suggested we check out the gazebo, but I was keen to use one of the picnic shelters because it sat right beside an old-growth hardwood tree—just the kind I like to use to support my antennas!

Often when Eric and I do joint POTA activations, we activate at the same time to save time. In this case, we decided to take turns—me first at the key.

I knew Eric had never used a Penntek TR-45L, so I brought along my “skinny” version of this magnificent little rig. Paired with a 40-meter EFHW deployed next to the shelter, I figured we’d have nearly ideal conditions—even if propagation wasn’t.

Setup was quick and easy!

Somehow, I managed to go first, so I prepped my log and aimed to get ten contacts to validate this new park.

Gear

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Radio

• Penntek TR-45L “Skinny”

Antenna System and Throw Line

• MW0SAW’s Homebrew 40M EFHW built on a SOTAbeams Winder
• ABR Industries 25’ RG-316 cable assembly with three in-line ferrites (Use Coupon Code ABR10QRPER for 10% Discount!)
• Weaver arborist throw line/weight and storage bag

Key/Cable

• CW Morse “Pocket Paddle”
• Key cable: Cable Matters 2-Pack Gold-Plated Retractable Aux Cable – 2.5 Feet

Pack/Cover

• Red Oxx Micro Manager
• TR-45L Transport Cover

Battery

• Bioenno 3 Ah LiFePo Battery (Model BLF-1203AB)

Logging

• Rite In The Rain Top Spiral Notebook
• GraphGear 0.9mm 1000 Automatic Drafting Pencil

Camera and Audio

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

On The Air

I started calling CQ POTA on 20 meters. Fortunately, the band had some life in it!

Within 10 minutes, I had worked nine stations. When my CQs slowed down, I moved to 40 meters, which at that time of day might’ve been even more productive than 20.

Since we were on the move that morning, I didn’t persist with CQs—after logging eleven, I called QRT and let Eric take over.

Eric took the reins and mixed calling CQ with a bit of hunting.

In the end, Eric logged 11 QSOs in about 30 minutes—not bad at all, especially considering less-than-ideal band conditions.

Near the end of Eric’s activation, I opened up his Elecraft KX3 field kit, attached a dummy load, and worked him park-to-park!

Check out Eric’s full field report by clicking here.

My logs for this short activation:

QSO Map

Here’s what my five-watt activation looked like when plotted out on a QSO Map. The pattern, this time, was pretty amazing. It’s as if the propagation openings were almost surgically-directional. Click on the map 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 YouTube monetization turned off, 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.

Did Eric like the TR-45L?

Here’s what Eric noted in his field report on WD8RIF.com:

“Eric found that the TR-45L was as sweet a transceiver as Thomas had made it out to be. The radio has superb audio, smooth CW break-in, and excellent analog characteristics.”

I knew he’d like it! What’s not to like? It’s such a wonderful field radio—both aesthetically appealing (to me!) and with brilliant operating characteristics. It’s also just plain fun to use.

Thank you

Thank you for joining us during this new-to-me park 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.

The Patreon/Vimeo combo also allows me to share videos that are 100% ad-free and downloadable for offline viewing. It also gives me a third backup for all of my video files.

Thanks again for spending part of your day with me!

Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)

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