Category Archives: Field Reports

Field Reports, News, Portable, POTA, QRO, QRP, Travel

Family Camping/POTA in Cloudland Canyon State Park, GA

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by Micah (N4MJL)

I strategically suggested to my family a camping trip to Cloudland Canyon State Park in Georgia (US-2169).

It is located in northwestern Georgia, just south of Chattanooga, TN. I sold the idea to the family under the premise that it was centrally located for everyone. Cloudland Canyon State Park was about six-ish hours driving for my parents from southeast Missouri, six-ish hours driving for my sister’s family from the Florida panhandle, and seven-ish hours driving for my family in Virginia.

While that sounds reasonable enough, I actually had a deeper plan. I sold the idea to my wife that she could leave my daughter and me for two days at the state park, and she could go visit one of her college girlfriends in Huntsville, Alabama. Huntsville was less than a two-hour drive from where we would be camping. She really liked that idea because she had been talking about doing a trip down to Huntsville for a while.

That was the bait, and now for the hook. My condition was if she got to visit her friend in Huntsville, then she needed to help me get two POTA activations! As one of my old flight Instructors used to say, “plan your work and work your plan.”

I am trying to do a POTA activation in every US state. At the time of the planing of this trip, I had not yet activated any parks in Georgia or Alabama. The second POTA activation that I wanted to complete was 40 minutes across the boarder in Alabama, Crow Creek Nature Refuge (US-9880).

Our three families were able to get camping spots all next to each other on the east rim at the state park. My daughter, who is five years old, was over joyed to be camping with her two cousins who are eight and nine years old along with her grandparents! My condolences to our fellow camping neighbors, because we were definitely the loudest group camping on the East and West rim combined. Haha

Side story: one week before leaving for this camping trip I had an unscheduled long layover, due to aircraft maintenance and flight duty limitations, in Atlanta, Georgia (Delta Country). I try to avoid Atlanta, but the Company put me up in a hotel in downtown Atlanta, three blocks away from Centennial Olympic State Park (US-9798). Fortunately, my Elecraft KH-1 goes every where I go, and I was able to activate that park using the whip Antenna in the pedestrian mobile configuration on 20M band.

Day 1: Camping at the park


My Dad and I rounded up the kids to hike the short Water Falls Trail. This was a beautiful hike down into the canyon to see Cherokee and Hemlock falls. The views on the hike did not disappoint!


Much to the kids’ dismay, there are signs everywhere about no swimming or wading in the water anywhere along the falls on Daniel Creek! Reading between the lines, I think it has to do with the number of rescues that took place and the amount of pedestrian traffic that was occurring. My wife talked to the ranger, and he told us about several spots further up on Daniel Creek where it was permissible to play in the water.

Day 2

We took the ranger’s advice and drove to Sitton’s Gulch Trail Head! From here, the ranger said it was about a 1/4-mile walk to the creek where swimming was permissible along Daniel Creek. We brought a hammock, chairs, and lunch, making an afternoon of swimming in the creek. The cousins enjoyed swimming in the cold mountain streams until their lips turned blue and purple! The girls would take breaks to warm up and eat snacks, only long enough to delay the onset of early stages of hypothermia before jumping back in to do it all over again!


Day 3

Since my wife was planning to leave that evening to drive to Huntsville to visit her friend for two days, I decided that after breakfast would be a great time for my dad (AC0UT) and me to get a POTA activation at the campground! Due to all the RFI interference from the trailers in the campground, we drove over to the parking lot of the Main Overlook. In front of our picnic table, you can see the railing for the Main Overlook trail, where you can enjoy some pretty incredible views! Continue reading Family Camping/POTA in Cloudland Canyon State Park, GA →

Antennas, Field Reports, Morse Code, New Products, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Reviews, Videos

Putting the New Radioddity HF-009 Portable Vertical Antenna on the Air — QRP Style!

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by Thomas (K4SWL)

The day before I left on my week-long FDIM/Hamvention trip, I received a package in the mail from Radioddity containing their soon-to-be-released HF-009 vertical antenna.

In the spirit of full disclosure: Radioddity is not only a sponsor of QRPer, but we’re also an affiliate—meaning that if you purchase items via our affiliate link, we receive a small percentage of the sale, and you get a small discount. Radioddity sent this antenna to me free of charge. I don’t know yet if they want it back after I evaluate it, but let’s assume (for future transparency) that they don’t.

My Bias

When I evaluate gear, I like to take you along for the ride—and that means actually using the gear in the field.

It took me a few weeks to get around to evaluating the HF-009. Not only was I swamped post-Hamvention, but honestly, a part of me wasn’t looking forward to tinkering with this antenna.

The HF-009 is a multi-band vertical that uses a slide‑and‑tap center coil system. I know many operators who love sliding-coil verticals, but I’m just not one of them.

Early on in my POTA days, based on reader recommendations, I purchased the venerable Wolf River Coils vertical antenna. It uses a sliding coil system—like the HF-009—though its coil is located at the base of the antenna.

I immediately saw why these antennas are so popular: they deliver multi-band performance without needing an ATU, and they’re surprisingly effective. I had some fantastic activations with my WRC TIA.

My Wolf River Coils “TIA” vertical antenna on Mount Mitchell

But I eventually sold the TIA after discovering the Chelegance MC-750, which I found much easier to deploy and use.

Sliding coil antennas can be a pain to tune. Most friends who use them also carry an antenna analyzer to help dial in the best SWR before hitting the airwaves. While I eventually learned the “sweet spots” on the WRC coil, I often had to tweak it—especially on lower bands like 30, 40, and 80 meters. The more coil you use, the higher the Q—and the narrower the bandwidth.

Personally, I prefer antennas I can just set and forget (like the MC-750), or those that are non-resonant and rely on an ATU for matching (like the Chameleon MPAS Lite).

To be clear, this is just my preference. Center- and base-loaded coil verticals are very popular for good reason: they work. The more you use them, the easier they get. They’re just not my default go-to.

Getting Started

Normally, I film the “discovery” phase of a new antenna or radio in the field—experiencing the full unboxing and set-up for the first time on video, in real time.

But with the HF-009, I wasn’t comfortable doing that. Given my previous experience and bias, I decided to first test the antenna at the QTH, identify good match points for 40, 30, 20, and 17 meters, and then take it to the field.

I set up the HF-009 at home, grabbed my RigExpert analyzer, and spent about 15 minutes finding match points on the coil. Honestly? It wasn’t as tedious as I’d expected.

Because the coil is mounted at a comfortable height—not at the base like the WRC—adjustments were easier. The coil itself is smooth to adjust; I suspect it uses a finer gauge wire than the WRC, which has a clickier feel. The HF-009 is much more fluid.

To remember the coil positions, I took photos of the slider settings and saved them in the Notes app on my iPhone for quick field reference. That turned out to be a very good idea.

Very First Impressions

Before I get ahead of myself, here are a few things I immediately liked about the HF-009:

  • It comes with everything you need, including a coax cable and an SO-239 to BNC adapter.
  • The included carrying case is well-organized and feels solid.
  • When broken down, it’s compact and easy to pack, with shorter segment sections that fit nicely into a backpack.
  • The slider mechanism is smooth, responsive, and placed at a comfortable height.
  • The loading coil is sealed—unlike my WRC vertical, whose exposed coil was affected by moisture.
  • Overall, build quality feels excellent.

On The Air: Blue Ridge Parkway (US-3378)

Of course, the best way to put the HF-009 through its paces was to take it to a park and put it on the air.

On Monday, June 9, 2025, I dropped my daughter off at a class and had well over an hour to play radio, so the HF-009 came with me to the Folk Art Center picnic area on the Blue Ridge Parkway!

Since I’d set up the HF-009 once before, it came together very quickly. In fact, I think it’s right there with the MC-750 in deployment time, which is very much a good thing.

I decided to pair the HF-009 with my Penntek TR-45L Skinny. Why? To be honest, I didn’t fully trust the SWR to be acceptable using only the photos I’d taken for the coil slider placement. The TR-45L has a beautiful analog SWR meter, which I find much easier to read in situations where I might need to fine-tune an antenna.

I also packed my RigExpert analyzer because it allows me to make adjustments as I read the SWR.

Turns out, though? It wasn’t an issue at all. During the activation (spoiler alert), I moved from band to band and—solely based on the photos I took of the slider switch position—the SWR was spot-on each time!

Gear

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  • Penntek TR-45L “Skinny”

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Key/Cable

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Logging

Camera and Audio

On The Air

I positioned the slider switch to the 20-meter position I had noted using this photo from back home.

My 20 meter setting photo

When I checked the SWR on the TR-45L’s analog meter, it was nearly perfect. I was surprised.

I then hopped on 20 meters and started calling CQ POTA. Continue reading Putting the New Radioddity HF-009 Portable Vertical Antenna on the Air — QRP Style! →

Field Day, Field Reports, Morse Code, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Travel, Videos

A Peaceful POTA Stop at Lake James with the Penntek TR-45L

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by Thomas (K4SWL)

On Tuesday, May 20, 2025, I was on the final leg of my trip back home from Dayton. After spending some time with my father—who was in the hospital at the time (happy to report he’s now home and doing much better!)—I performed a pedestrian mobile activation of Tuttle Educational State Forest (US-4861). Here’s the field report.

After wrapping up that activation, I realized I could likely squeeze in another hour of POTA on the way home. Without a doubt, the best nearby site was Lake James State Park, so I made the 25-minute drive from Tuttle to the Catawba River Access.

Lake James State Park (US-2739)

When I arrived, the park was blissfully quiet—I was one of the only people there. That meant I had my pick of activation sites!

I grabbed my Red Oxx Micro Manager pack, which contained my Penntek TR-45L Skinny, specifically packed for Hamvention.

Inside the bag, I also had my 40-meter end-fed half-wave antenna—homebrewed years ago by my friend Steve (MW0SAW).

I made my way down to one of the lakeside picnic tables. These sites can be hit or miss: they’re close to the boat dock, and when the boats show up, some of them have brutal inverters that wipe out the bands.

But being a quiet Tuesday, I wasn’t too concerned about heavy traffic.

I deployed the antenna quickly, fired up the TR-45L, crossed my fingers that propagation would hold—and hit the air!

Gear

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  • Penntek TR-45L “Skinny”

Antenna System and Throw Line

Key/Cable

Pack/Cover

Battery

Logging

Camera and Audio

On The Air

I started calling CQ POTA on 20 meters and was quickly rewarded with a string of friendly hunters.
Continue reading A Peaceful POTA Stop at Lake James with the Penntek TR-45L →

Field Reports, Morse Code, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Travel, Videos

Memorial Day POTA activation in Maine

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by Micah (N4MJL)

As a junior pilot on the seniority list at American Airlines, it was no surprise to me when my May schedule had me flying all of Memorial Day weekend.

Fortunately, it was a pleasant surprise to see that I had a decent overnight in Portland, Maine. I was scheduled for 15 hours on the ground in Portland, and I was determined to make the most of it. I have overnighted in Portland many times over the last decade, but the overnight was either too short, too cold, or I was too lazy to try to do a POTA activation.

My schedule had me landing in Portland at 23:30 the night prior, and my van time for leaving the hotel to head back to the airport the next day was scheduled at 14:30. It was going to be tight, but I was determined to get a POTA activation completed.


Looking at Google Maps, my hotel location in downtown Portland, was only 4.5 miles from Mackworth Island State Park (US-2395). I knew that I would be able to Uber out to the park, but I wasn’t completely sure about getting back. I decided that worst case scenario, I could walk 4.5 miles in about 1.5 hours back to my hotel.

My window to be on the air was going to be from 0900 to 1200. That would leave me enough time to walk back to my hotel if a return Uber did not work out, and still give me enough time to get showered and looking pretty in my uniform before flying.

I had a workable plan, so it was time to go give it a try.

I woke up early Memorial Day, packed my radio gear, and summoned an Uber. I had the Uber drop me off at the beginning of the bridge heading out to the state park. It was an absolutely beautiful day. I was just hoping the solar storms that have been hitting us would allow me to get at least 10 contacts in the 3 hour window I had available.

The trail around the perimeter of the Island is amazing and already pretty busy for 0930 in the morning. I realized that even if I didn’t activate the park, it was still worth coming out here. I headed up the trail around the north side of the island. The further I walked, I started to worry that I would not find a good place out of the way to hang my wire antenna in a tree. I did not feel comfortable about going off the established trail in such a beautiful and busy park.

I could use my KH1 in pedestrian mobile configuration, but due to the recent solar conditions I would not be as confident in getting my 10 contacts using the whip antenna. Continue reading Memorial Day POTA activation in Maine →

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This Rig Was Made For Walking: Pedestrian Mobile POTA with the Elecraft KH1!

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by Thomas (K4SWL)

On Tuesday, May 20, 2025, I was on the final stretch of my journey home after spending a full week on the road for FDIM and Hamvention.

The previous day—Monday—I had driven from Dayton, Ohio, to Hickory, North Carolina, so I could be with my father during his surgery. Thankfully, the operation was a complete success and wrapped up late that afternoon. I spent the evening with him and opted to stay overnight in a hotel in Hickory so I could check on him again early the next morning.

By Tuesday morning, he was doing well, and the doctors gave me the all-clear. So, I packed up and began the final leg of my trip back to the QTH.

Instead of heading straight home, though, I wanted to fit in a bit more POTA. Due to my father’s surgery, I had left Dayton a day early, missing a planned activation day with my Ham Radio Workbench friends.

The weather was wonderful, and I was curious to see if Tuttle Educational State Forest had reopened yet. The park had been closed since late September 2024 due to storm damage from Hurricane Helene. A quick call to the Tuttle office confirmed they were indeed open that Tuesday morning!

Tuttle Educational State Forest (US-4861)

If you’ve been a reader here for a while, you’ll know that Tuttle is one of my favorite POTA sites in the region. I’d really missed popping by for activations, so it felt like a bit of a homecoming when I pulled into the site entrance.

The first thing I noticed was the excellent progress on their new educational building. Thankfully, no trees had fallen on it during Helene.

There were still a number of roped-off areas in the park—spots the staff hadn’t yet cleared of tree debris.

I parked my car with one goal in mind: to film a true pedestrian mobile activation.

QRP POTA in Motion

Photo from my activation of Samuel Gross Memorial Woods on May 20, 2024.

Exactly one year ago to the day, I activated a park in Ohio completely pedestrian mobile—walking the entire time. It was a blast, even though band conditions were truly horrendous.

I wrote about that activation in this field report.

The only downside? I wasn’t able to take you along for the ride because I had no way to mount a camera and record the activation.

Several months ago, I purchased a clip-on camera mount for this very purpose. I first tested it while activating a park in western NC this past February, but the resulting footage was almost unwatchable—my arms and hands blocked the view the entire time. I realized I’d need to mount the camera much higher (near my shoulder) to make the video useful and enjoyable.

This activation at Tuttle gave me the perfect opportunity to properly test my new pedestrian mobile setup.

The funny thing is, setting up the KH1 for a pedestrian mobile activation is super, super easy—it literally takes about 20 seconds.

But if you’re making a video? That’s another story.

First, I pull the audio directly from the KH1 by connecting its headphone output to my Sony digital recorder. I then plug my earphones into the recorder. The audio cable from the radio to the recorder is long enough that I can comfortably walk with the recorder in my pocket.

Next, I mount the camera on my shirt and do a quick check to make sure it’s capturing video properly (which isn’t easy—the camera’s so close to my head that I can’t see the screen!).

An unflattering selfie of me managing the camera and radio.

Finally, I take a few extra moments to make audio and video cues to help me synchronize everything in post-production.

All told, it took me an additional 10 minutes to get the camera and audio gear set up and verified. Time well spent, though—I’ve always wanted to film an activation in motion!

Horrible Propagation

Propagation in and around Hamvention (and even today as I write this) has been pretty unstable.

It was so bad two days prior that some of our friends had to complete their POTA activation by working a number of us Park-To-Park using dummy loads. If that doesn’t make a lot of sense, I suggest you check out this (funny) video my friend Vince (VE6LK) made of the whole thing.

So, did it make sense to attempt a POTA activation in these conditions, pedestrian mobile, using a 5-watt handheld radio and a 4-foot whip antenna? Probably not, but I didn’t care. As Farragut put it, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”

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On The Air

While Tuttle has a really nice single-track trail network, I did not hike these for this pedestrian mobile activation for a couple of reasons (reasons I’d suggest you pay close attention to if you decide to walk and operate at the same time).

First off, it’s a bad idea to try to operate radio on a track that is uneven with rocks and tree roots along the entire route. It’s a recipe for tripping, twisting an ankle, and (even worse) falling flat on your face while holding a $1,000+ radio.

Secondly, the whip antenna needs clearance; otherwise, it’ll hit branches. Tuttle’s paths have low-hanging branches in many parts, so I would also need to pay careful attention to this while hiking and operating the radio. I’m well aware that I’m not nearly coordinated enough to do this!

Instead, I opted to walk Tuttle’s access road that crossed the entire length of the park. The road is gravel, even, and there are no low-hanging branches or limbs. Perfect for this type of activation! Continue reading This Rig Was Made For Walking: Pedestrian Mobile POTA with the Elecraft KH1! →

Field Reports, News, POTA, QRP

From Book to Key: A CW Beginner’s First POTA Foray

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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.

Imagery 2025 NASA, Map Data 2025 Google, INEGI

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:

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)

Field Reports, Morse Code, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Videos

Post-Hamvention POTA: A Challenging but Relaxing Activation with Friends in Dayton

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Sunday, May 18, 2025, was the final day of Hamvention. It’s typically the slowest day, and I’ve even been known to skip it in favor of doing POTA with friends instead.

This particular Sunday, though, my dear friend Vince (VE6LK) was giving a mid-morning presentation about building go-boxes, so Eric (WD8RIF), Miles (KD8KNC), Len (W8VQ), and I headed to the Greene County Expo Center to attend.

Vince’s presentation was well-attended—most impressive for a Sunday morning!

As tempting as it was, I didn’t abscond with any of Vince’s radio kit!

Carillon Historic Park

Around 12:30, Eric, Miles, Len, and I left Hamvention and ventured into Dayton. We planned to do an activation at one of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park sites (US-0732).

Eric chose Carillon Historical Park as our activation site for US-0732. It’s an ideal POTA spot in many respects, with a large open field, several trees, and plenty of parking. That said, when we pulled into the site, we realized there was a public event underway and the parking lot was nearly full.

Fortunately, the parking attendants motioned us to park in a field close to where we would set up our stations. The music event was taking place on the far side of the park, so it didn’t interfere with our activation.

Eric, Miles, and Len made their way to a clearing and set up my Chelegance MC-750 antenna.

I picked a broad maple tree that provided a perfect shady spot for my station. The canopy not only kept me cool, but also offered a bit of stealth—not that stealth was necessary at this site, but with so much activity in the park, I wanted to keep my entire station contained in a safe, tidy space that wouldn’t trip up children running around nearby.

I set up my Helinox chair next to the trunk and deployed my throw line nearly vertically using the “granny shot” method—a technique I rarely use. It took two tries to get the line placed in a way I felt would support the antenna well. By shooting the line upward from underneath the canopy, both the antenna and throw line stayed in a tight footprint right beside me and entirely under the tree.

My antenna

Speaking of antennas, I was using a homebrew end-fed random wire sent to me by one of my readers and subscribers, Bryan (AD8HK). I believe Bryan may eventually offer a variation of this design commercially, but at present it’s still in development. He sent me this one purely for evaluation.

This particular antenna features a 9:1 transformer with a 17 ft 9 in radiator and an 8 ft 10.5 in counterpoise. With a wide-range ATU—like the one built into my KX2—it matches from 40 meters and up.

With my full station deployed, it was time to hit the air and see if the ionosphere had any charge left in it.

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On The Air

Band conditions during Hamvention weekend were pretty dismal. I’ll admit, I was fully prepared to call CQ for a couple of hours, if necessary, to complete the activation (Eric felt the same way). We had no other plans for the afternoon, so time was on our side.

The great thing about pairing a small random wire antenna with my KX2 is the incredible frequency agility I get using its internal ATU. And during this particular activation, I definitely needed it. Continue reading Post-Hamvention POTA: A Challenging but Relaxing Activation with Friends in Dayton →

Field Reports, Guest Posts, News, POTA, QRP, SSB

James’ first POTA activation with the IC-705

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Many thanks to James (KI5OEB) who shares the following field report:

My First POTA Activation with a New Radio

by James (KI5OEB)

I decided, thanks to the influence of many people, mainly Thomas K4SWL and Steve KM9G, to purchase my first-ever new transceiver. I purchased an ICOM IC-705 from a retailer that had an open box item for sale. This was just before the 2025 Dayton Hamvention, when the new Yaesu FTX-1F was to be premiered. Many hours of evaluating specifications and performance numbers went into my decision, with a bit of influence from other videos as well. Most of the video footage that is available is actually from four years ago when this radio was first released.

Before going into the field, I unboxed the transceiver and made a few clicks on the new transceiver. I charged the attached battery during the week prior to use. A few other things I did were to prep an Apache Case and make sure I had the appropriate external batteries. I wanted to be ready to take this out for a successful first park activation.

Last Saturday, Memorial Day Weekend, I had some free time at about noon to go to a park, POTA US-7687 Drummond Flats Wildlife Management Area, to give this radio its maiden activation. It takes less than 20 minutes to drive there from my house, so this is my second most frequent location for activating. The site is a zero noise floor site on any band, which I have observed in the past, and today was no different.

Some quick history, I have a few years under my belt using both ICOM and Yaesu transceivers. I still ask others about things, but I can usually figure it out if given enough time. I have regularly used IC-7600, IC-7100, IC-706 MKIIG and IC-703+ transceivers with success. My standard antenna setups are 40m-10m EFHW from Coffee and Ham Radios with a 10m mast for a sloper configuration, 17’ Chameleon Whip on a Spike, and if I’m going to be activating for a longer time I use a DX Commander Classic 40m – 10m.

Today was only going to be a short, 1 to 3 hour activation, giving plenty of time for the QRP Single Side Band propagation to get out and be heard, much like I have done with the IC-703+ in the past. I set up the CHA-17 on the spike like normal, driving the 18” spike into the hard dirt with a hatchet from the truck. Nothing difficult, just spread out the nine radials on two crimped alligator clips, raise the mast for 17m to start, connect the RG-8x, and I was ready.

Next, I hooked up the external battery to the new transceiver, but wait, I need to make sure the nanoVNA has the perfect tune for 17m. Let me think, the IC-705 has an SWR sweep function like the IC-7100, let’s try that first and see. Bam, first try I was near 1:1 throughout the entire 17m band.

I placed the microphone and transceiver on the table where I’m set up and ready to go. Opened the screen to start the logging software on the laptop. Opened my phone to the POTA APP and self-spotted. I’m ready, but I’m not. In the 10 minutes it took to set up all the things I wanted to use, I got warm in the midday sun. So, I put the tailgate down, slid the canopy out, and proceeded to put up my 10×10 Sun shade, to include 16” nail spikes on each corner for the wind. Placed the beverage tote next to my chair, and now I was ready.

I turned the transceiver back on and listened. Okay I don’t know how to really run this new gadget, but it probably needs AF gain and RF gain, that is the same knob on this radio. Yes, they were nearly zero; now, with a flick of the knob, they are at 60% each. I am concerned that the waterfall is not showing signals. Well, it was learn as you go day here in the park, but the gain being raised made a difference on the waterfall, too. I saw a few faint signals; this will be okay. I hit the center/fix button and have the entire 17m band in view. Looking at the POTA APP, there are only two stations besides me on the band.

I zeroed in on an open spot that wasn’t being occupied and listened for about a minute. I asked a few times, like I’m supposed to, to find if the frequency was in use, but I heard nothing. Spotted that frequency, and we are off. I called CQ for over five minutes, and no reply. Then, I got two contacts back-to-back! Cool! This is going to be easy. Nope, someone moved in 1k below me and made it impossible. I moved up 3k and listened. Spotted on The POTA APP and started calling. Then, I get a few more contacts, and another intruder moved in above me this time by 2k. So I moved down 7k, to complete my activation. Frustrated a bit, but i now had 10 contacts and that was an activation.

So, I decided to move into the 20m space and hunt there for a bit. Went and extended the 17’ whip and got back to the radio to verify. I did something wrong on the screen, so no worries, I still have the nanoVNA handy, and Bam SWR near 1:1 again this time on the 20m band.

I was ready to hunt now. I did a little fiddling with the screen to let me see the Center instead of the fixed view from 17m. 20m band is packed with signals from 14.225 MHz through the top of the band edge at 14.350 MHz. This should be easy, but I’m hunting QRP!

After zero contacts, I wound up selecting a frequency between two QRO stations and parked on 14.291 MHz. I managed to make quite a few contacts here for the next 30 minutes. Great fun, and I had an ‘almost’ pile-up. Then, for 15 minutes, I used the spots page to find other stations.

In the end, I had made 38 contacts in two hours and twenty minutes. The real takeaway, though, was a realization that this is the finest receiver I have ever used. Through the front-firing speaker, I heard stations that I know no other radio in my collection would receive. I had to adjust my AF gain many times due to the fact that a 100-watt station sounded like they were sitting next to me, yelling. Then, I would hear a whisper, turn up the gain, and talk to a station in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan from Oklahoma, that is a big ask for 10 watts. In those 38 contacts, I was amazed, learning new things about the technology that allows a serious communication jump. This only took 38 contacts and a little over two hours.

If I am asked which transceiver I recommend to an amateur operator, I can’t say any other transceiver than the IC-705. This was a huge eye-opener for me. I hope other people in our hobby/service get the opportunity to use such modern equipment. Please, folks, take the time in the near future to peel the plastic off something new or at least go to a retailer or hamfest to try something new!

James Popham KI5OEB

Field Reports, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Travel, Videos

En Route To Dayton: WD8RIF and I Activate Great Seal State Park near Chillicothe, Ohio

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This field report picks up where we left off after my last post earlier this week at Lake Alma State Park (May 14, 2025).

Eric and I planned to hit two parks en route to Dayton, Ohio. Lake Alma was a successful park number one. The next park we planned to activate—another new-to-me park—was Great Seal State Park.

The skies opened up beautifully during our Lake Alma activation, so the drive to Great Seal was under clear, sunny skies.

Great Seal State Park (US-1954)

We arrived at the park around 11:45 AM EDT.

Great Seal State Park is tucked away in the hills just outside of Chillicothe, Ohio, and it’s steeped in early state history. In fact, the park gets its name from the Great Seal of the State of Ohio, which was inspired by this very landscape. Back in 1803, when Ohio was becoming a state, early leaders—including Thomas Worthington—looked out over the sunrise from Mount Logan and used that iconic view as the backdrop for the state seal: rolling hills, a rising sun, a bundle of arrows, and a sheaf of wheat symbolizing Ohio’s natural beauty and agricultural roots.

This area also has deep Indigenous history. Before statehood, the Scioto River Valley was home to the Shawnee, with several towns named Chillicothe located nearby. Later, Chillicothe became Ohio’s first state capital. These hills have seen a lot of history, and today I’m sure they make for some incredibly scenic and rewarding hikes.

Eric and I didn’t have enough time in our schedule for a hike that afternoon, but if I pass by here again, I’ll make time for one.

We first made our way to the main picnic area of the park but quickly discovered a large outdoor gathering for local utility workers. They absolutely filled that part of the park, so we checked out the campground area instead.

The campground was completely void of campers, so we felt it would be safe to set up without any issues. It was a beautiful site with numerous options for station setup.

I found a camping spot and parked there.

We decided I would set up at the picnic table at the site while Eric would use his folding chair and my Chelegance MC-750 antenna in the central island of the campground.

Poor Eric, though. When I started filming my activation video, I realized just how close we were to each other—and how much interference that could cause. I walked over to him (camera in hand) and helped him move a bit farther away.

As I was setting up my gear, Eric came back to my site and said the fellow doing the lawn mowing was about to work in the area where he had originally set up. So, Eric moved—again—a few campsites down from me. This time, he decided to use his fiberglass Jackite pole to support a random wire antenna.

This actually worked out quite well—the distance between us was just enough that we didn’t interfere with each other at all.

Gear

Note: All Amazon, CW Morse, ABR, Chelegance, eBay, and Radioddity links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.

Radio

  • Penntek TR-45L “Skinny”

Antenna System and Throw Line

Key/Cable

Pack/Cover

Battery

Logging

Camera and Audio

On The Air

I hopped on 20 meters and started calling CQ POTA. Fortunately, as with our earlier activation, the band had a little life in it. Continue reading En Route To Dayton: WD8RIF and I Activate Great Seal State Park near Chillicothe, Ohio →

Field Reports, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Travel, Videos

QRP POTA: A Pre-Dayton Activation at Lake Alma State Park with WD8RIF!

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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.

Amish farmers are not an uncommon site in rural Ohio.

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.

MW0SAW’s 40M EFHW ready for action!

Setup was quick and easy!

My Red Oxx Micro Manager has become the TR-45L Skinny’s pack of choice!

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

Gear

Note: All Amazon, CW Morse, ABR, Chelegance, eBay, and Radioddity links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.

Radio

  • Penntek TR-45L “Skinny”

Antenna System and Throw Line

Key/Cable

Pack/Cover

Battery

Logging

Camera and Audio

On The Air

I started calling CQ POTA on 20 meters. Fortunately, the band had some life in it! Continue reading QRP POTA: A Pre-Dayton Activation at Lake Alma State Park with WD8RIF! →