My First POTA Adventure
by Alan (WB0ZJJ)
With trepidation, I ventured to Arthur Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge (Boynton Beach, Florida US-0232) with my tiny QRP-Labs QMX radio and CW Morse Pocket Paddle key.
The temperature and humidity were both over 90 (90F and 90% plus). My eye glasses were constantly fogging over as I exited the car to set up a mag-mounted Gabil 7350 antenna atop my Prius Prime, (so I could sit with the A/C cooling and dehumidifying my first ever POTA park adventure).
I adjusted the coax, the counterpoise, and the antenna coil for the best SWR for the 20m QRP frequency of 14.060 MHz, and managed to get it to 1.7:1 this time.
Next, I setup the station in the back seat of my car. The station consists of:
- QRP-Labs QMX 5W “Mid-band” (60-15m) Radio
- CW Morse Outdoor Pocket Double Paddle
- Bestnule Professional Steel Bench Block
- Anker Soundcore Mini Powered Speaker (wired)
- Cable Matters Retractable Aux Cables
- TalentCell 3000mAh Li-Ion Battery
- DROK variable power buck
- Apple iPad Mini using an iPhone hotspot
- Folding “TV Table” across the seat
The Prius Prime has an 11 KWh battery which will allow sitting with the A/C set on 75F for many hours without needing the gas engine to run.
A little about me – a year ago I was reading the Sci-Fi book “SevenEves” by Neal Stephenson where a miner’s daughter saved humanity because she knew Morse code. I decided I wanted to refresh my CW and get back on the air, (under no illusions I could save humanity).
I successfully built the QRP-Labs QMX rig, participated in the CW Academy Fundamentals class, and became CW buddies with Tim – VA3UZ.
Tim is very active in POTA and helped prepare me for hunting and the “icing-on-the-cake” situation of park-to-park contacts while hunting from a POTA park.
Fully setup in my car at Arthur R Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, I started my iPad VoiceRecorder app, and scanned the Pota.app spots page for 20m CW activators, tuning the radio for each one until I could hear a strong signal.
The band condition was terrible, sounding like a snoring dragon was eating my speaker, but there was a readable signal on 14.044 MHz. The app said W4TRA was in US-2743 North Carolina, and I heard “CQ POTA CQ POTA W4T<missed chars> K” screaming along at 19 WPM.
I paddled my call out at 15 WPM hoping, but also fearing, my south Florida QRP signal would make it to North Carolina.
From deep in the snoring dragon I could just barely hear “??”, so I sent my call again and waited to see if the question marks were for me or someone else.
Oh boy, I heard my call, caught “TU” and then suffered complete panic as the dits and dahs suddenly were passing faster than my brain could swallow.
Only from the recording could I later learn they sent:
“WB0ZJJ TU UR 22N 22N BK”
When I heard the “BK”, I relaxed somewhat to send my formulated park-to-park response:
“TU UR 559 FL FL P2P P2P US 0232 US 0232 BK”
(Thankful that I didn’t make any sending mistakes!)
It was a great relief when I heard “BK RR”. They continued sending but I only caught “TU” and my call from: “BK RR US0232 TU <fading WB0ZJJ DE W4TRA K>” (per the recording).
After a moment I could just barely pick out “CQ” from the snoring dragon and breathed a dragon size sigh of relief. My very first park-to-park adventure was complete.
Summary
This first foray into POTA was brief, but definitely memorable. After that initial park-to-park contact, I managed one more QSO—a “cell-phone assisted” two-fer with my CW study buddy in Canada. Conditions were so rough that I could only complete it because I already knew his call and park numbers, and had him on the phone to confirm what I was hearing. Not exactly a habit I plan to get into, but it worked!
Shortly after, the thunder started getting a little too close for comfort, so I broke camp. Two QSOs total—one solid, one barely legit—but that first park-to-park was enough to make the outing a win in my book.
My confident CW copy is only around 10 WPM, and every QSO feels like a full cardio workout. I made six during the Florida QSO Party over two days and felt like I needed a week to recover! But this first POTA adventure was a big step forward, and I’m already looking forward to the next one.
Alan (WB0ZJJ)
Alan, this was absolutely a successful first outing! Not only did you log two contacts—including a park-to-park—before the storms rolled in, but you did it under tough conditions with challenging propagation. That’s no small feat for any operator, let alone on your very first POTA activation!
You also put your portable/mobile QMX setup through its paces in the real world—and it delivered. That first contact is always a milestone, and you handled it like a pro.
I really enjoyed reading about your journey from SevenEves to the back seat of your Prius, logging CW QSOs from the refuge. Here’s to many more adventures ahead!
Welcome to the wonderful world of POTA and CW!
72,
Thomas (K4SWL)
(Oh, and I love both the Pruis and Rav4 Primes. Amazing vehicles!)
Great post. So relatable. As the song goes, ‘I’m a man in constant struggle….’ Thanks for sharing.
On the e-car, I know the need for cooling the operator but found the battery adds a lot of noise.
You’ve got it now.
Hi. Have had a general class license W6STL since 1951. Had been off the air since 1970, and came back 4 years ago using a hand held 2 meter 5 w rig. Could copy 30wpm in the USAF but only 10 or so now. Reading your QSO attempts seems like ham radio has passed me by.
Congrats Alan! Thanks for sharing your awesome POTA story! It is never easy to complete a contact while sitting beside a snoring dragon, let alone completing a P2P contact. Well done, and be prepared, because CW QRP POTA is more than just a bunch of acronyms. It is really addictive!
Congratulations on your first CW POTA operation! There is a lot of fun in your future and I hope to work you very soon.
One question: what is the black rectangular device between the two BNC connectors near your Nano-VNA?
That’s an N6ARA TinyCMC (kit) QRP common mode choke.
Congratulations on a life-changing successful activation.
You have taken the first step on a wonderful adventure, and you will enjoy every one of the many future steps you will take.
— n4gf
Alan,
Great job. US-0232 is my go to park. I have done many a POTA activations at that park. Look forward to catching another POTA activation and possibly running into you. -73
Woo-woo: P2P for your first time out? That’s amazing and hard-core!
Noisy bands are no fun.
My POTA kit is also based on a QMX: terrific POTA device.
A local buddy and I are committed to the idea that there are only mini-activations and full-activations. Getting out into the field at all is automatically a success!
Great write-up: thank you!
72 de Todd W2TEF
FANTASTIC!!! Great job and a great start to more POTA fun. As you have now discovered, you don’t need to get “ten” to have a fun and successful POTA outing. Even when you don’t get credit for an “activation,” you got on the air, possibly learned something new, and had fun. And the operator on the other end got your park in his Hunter Log. (Be sure to submit your log, even for a single contact.) Looking forward to catching you on the air for a P2P!
Yes, I learned important lessons submitting the log:
– Don’t forget the hyphen in the P2P park ref
– How to ask for a wrong log to be deleted – (went quick)
– Log a two-fer P2P (on the other end) as two separate QSOs
Love it when computers actually do what we want from them, and hope the POTA.app system a long life.
I really appreciate the manual entry feature on the POTA website. Since most of my “activations” have only a handful of contacts and I log on paper, that makes it really quick and easy to get my log uploaded.
Congrats Alan on a successful foray into CW QRP POTA. The QMX paired with the 7350T on the car roof is a great combo for mobile POTA activating. I use the same setup frequently for activating US-7889.
I hope to see you on the air someday!
I loved this article as it perfectly sums up how a simple act like send a few characters can turn into a an adrenalin fueled, heart pumping moment full of doubt and excitement all at the same time.
I am still very much a beginner and I still get worried, excited on every QSO.
73
Good times! I suspect that the adrenaline helps with the learning process.
I do almost nothing but CW and though I can copy at a higher speed, the reverse beacon almost always says I’m sending at 11 wpm. I use a straight key.
I really don’t enjoy contests or the contest format but I have been gaining in appreciation for POTA folk because the activity is helping both the cause of QRP and CW. For me, to work someone just getting into CW is better than DX, any day, and POTA raises tht possibility. Next to working a new CW op, the next most exciting thing I know is simply doing QRP to QRP QSOs, which is pretty common when I work a POTA station.
72
George KG8DA
Are you sure the snoring dragon was due to propagation effects? I drive a Chevy Volt, and when my car is on, it’s like a heard (or gaggle?) of snoring dragons. I have to turn the car off and suffer heat or cold while activating from within the car. I prefer a picnic table.
Try turning your car off and see if that quiets the dragon.
I do remember the ham radio references in SevenEves.
de Karl Heinz – K5KHK
I am terrified of even doing a CW QSO, let alone a POTA activation.
But I’m working toward that.
Maybe someday before I croak.
Bernard, the trick is to zoom with a CQ study buddy and work on it. If you’d like to give it a try – send me an email with a good morning around 9:30?
A good starting place is to be a POTA hunter. All you have to do is look at the pota website to find who is on which frequency. Listen, then respond to the activator’s CQ POTA with your call, KT4BCS.
If/when the activator responds to you, send
599 FL (replacing FL with whatever state you are in)
If you want, you may be able to program these into you transceiver in advance.
It’s minimal and simple. You can do it.
Try it today. Enjoy. –n4gf
Congratulations on your first POTA CW contact! I love your story and especially the details you kindly shared including the equipment you used!
Keep going – I hope to read more of your POTA adventures in future postings!
’73 – Brent – N0ATR