Category Archives: POTA

FT4, FT8, Guest Posts, News, POTA

Conrad has a sunny and beautiful activation at Silver Sands State Park

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Editor note – Please enjoy this guest post from Conrad Troutmann N2YCH.

Thank you “deputy” Vince, VE6LK, for assisting in managing some guest contributor posts for QRPer.com. I’m so happy to hear Thomas and his family rode the storm out safely and send him my best wishes and hope things return to normal soon. Here’s my contribution to help keep QRPer.com going while Thomas gets his house back in order. 73, Conrad, N2YCH

 

September 22, 2024

Lately, the high frequency bands (15/12/10 meters) have been hit or miss, largely due to recent space weather events. Today, taking a look at WSPR beacon reception at my QTH on the Top Spotters web site, I noticed that 10 meters was open and I was spotting quite a few stations on the band.

Top Spotters Ranker – https://wspr.rocks/topspotters/

The weather here was sunny and beautiful and my batteries were all charged up, so it seemed like all signs were pointing to a POTA activation at Silver Sands State Park, US-1716. I usually activate on 20 meters, however with 10 open, I thought I’d try for some DX and give hunters that don’t normally hear me on 20 a chance to get the park. When I was trying for my Worked All States POTA award, I appreciated it when the Hawaii and Alaska activators activated on the higher bands so I had a chance to get them all the way from the East Coast. I like to return the favor when I can.

I decided to give my Elecraft KX2 a workout as well. Paired with my Buddipole vertical up 10’, I figured I would do well.

Buddipole Vertical with Elevated Counterpoise using Electric Fence Post
KX3, Samsung Computer and Bioenno Battery with a view looking towards Long Island Sound at Silver Sands State Park in Connecticut

I got set up, checked and adjusted my computer time using JTSync and started calling CQ POTA on FT8. I called and called and no one answered. I checked PSKReporter and I was being spotted, but still, no answers. I was receiving well, in fact, I was picking up stations as far away as South Africa. “Hello, is this thing working? Can you hear me now?”

Just to be sure my equipment was working, I shifted to “hunt and pounce” mode. Rather than call CQ, I started answering stations who were calling CQ. It’s not my preferred way to get the QSO’s needed to officially activate the park, but sometimes that’s what you need to do. I have JTAlert set to sort received stations from strongest received signals to weakest. I’ve found based on prior experience that my chances of completing a QSO are much higher with stations that I’m receiving with strong signals. So, I answered a CQ for a station in Texas coming in at +19 and he answered right away. One in the log.

I did this for the next 30 minutes or so and managed to get six stations, about half I called and the other half answered my CQ. I moved around the waterfall looking for openings, but it was busy and challenging. Just for grins, I decided to see if FT4 was active. Sure enough, I was receiving many stations there as well. I called CQ and immediately had stations answering. I did the rest of the activation on FT4 and had a steady stream of callers. I completed the activation with 17 total QSO’s, my map is below.  I make these maps using the Adventure Radio log analyzer. You can import the same log you upload to the POTA page and put the grid square in and it generates the map.

Activation QSO Map made with the Adventure Radio Log analyzer

Interestingly, all of the USA contacts were on FT8 and when I moved to FT4, I picked up all of the EU ones. I was happy to see after I uploaded my log to the POTA site that almost all of the hunters who got me were active POTA hunters and had accounts at the POTA web site. In fact, one was actually a park-to-park QSO. PA4PA was at the Sluiswaai Nature Reserve, NL-0219 in the Netherlands.

Equipment I used for this activation included:

 

Mission accomplished!

73 de N2YCH

Field Reports, POTA, QRP, Travel

K3ES’ Unplanned activation of Yellowstone National Park

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Many thanks to Brian K3ES who submits this awesome report.

As I write this report, we are currently visiting with my parents at their home near San Francisco, CA.  Getting here from our Pennsylvania home and back again is a continuing great adventure for my wife Becky, POTA Pup Molly, and me. You see, this is a grand road trip, complete with sight seeing, activating POTA parks in new-to-me states, and lots of driving.  While much of the trip has been planned, there have been frequent changes to the route and schedule, as better opportunities presented themselves.  One such opportunity was to deviate from interstate highway travel between Montana and Idaho, and divert to lesser-traveled highways.  This detour enabled us to fit in a drive through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.  Sadly, we were only able to take the time to see a small fraction of the natural splendor.  We did see enough to create the resolve to return for a proper exploration of the wonders that we had to miss.

The Welcoming Committee:  I had to stop again just after the entrance plaza leading into the park.  These elk, along with a number of their friends, were standing beside the road to greet us.
Mammoth Hot Springs.  To get this picture, Becky hiked along planked walkways and climbed a great number of steps.  Sadly we could only stop and look for a few minutes during our drive.

We made a handful of stops on our drive through Yellowstone, including a couple of hours at the Old Faithful geyser.  One challenge of traveling with Molly, is that dogs are not always welcome in interesting areas.  Another challenge is that, having been rescued from an abusive situation, she can respond unpredictably to other dogs.  So, Becky and I have often taken turns with one of us exploring the sights, while the other remained in the truck with Molly.  At this stop, Becky was the designated sight-seer for an impending eruption of Old Faithful (she takes better pictures), and I stayed in the truck with Molly.

*No explanation needed*
Becky got some great action shots Old Faithful!

Continue reading K3ES’ Unplanned activation of Yellowstone National Park →

Antennas, Field Reports, Guest Posts, POTA

Uncharted Trek into Trout Creek Ecological Reserve, CA-4221

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My goal for this summer is to do more backpacked day-trip POTA activations while I’m still physically able to. This is my 4th backpacked-in activation this past week or so. And a thank you to Thomas K4SWL for letting me share my adventures from the Canadian out-back.

Today’s goal is to activate Trout Creek Ecological Reserve, CA-4221 which is about one-hour drive south of Kelowna, BC, Canada, which is where my wife Alexis (VE7LXE) and I (VE7EFF) have lived for the past 12 years. Alexis accompanies me on all my POTA activations.

It is a beautiful late August day. The temperature is expected to be about 31℃, or 88℉.  The one-hour drive is just the beginning of the day’s adventure. We were able to conveniently park at the Summerland Golf and Country Club, but this is where all conveniences end for us.

Trout Creek Ecological Reserve has never been activated before – I’ll be the first. It’s no surprise this reserve hasn’t been activated before. It’s all wilderness with no trails to follow. I have to rely on my Garmin 66sr GPS and Pixel8 smart phone with Google Maps with Satellite View to help me navigate to and through the reserve in search for an optimal operating location.

I expected the trek to only be about 1 Km in with about 600 ft elevation gain. It’s all uphill, all the way. From the golf course parking lot, the hike starts out relatively easy. At first, there appears to be some semblance of a trail.

Continue reading Uncharted Trek into Trout Creek Ecological Reserve, CA-4221 →

Field Reports, Guest Posts, Morse Code, POTA, Videos

Two in One Day for the POTA Babe

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by Teri KO4WFP

After striking out at Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge, it was time for this POTA Babe to get back on track with my goal of 60 new valid park activations for 2024. As much as I enjoyed the historic sites and the refuge I recently visited, I needed to return to activating wildlife management areas.

Wildlife management areas (WMAs), properties set aside for conservation as well as hunting and fishing, are plentiful in the state of Georgia. Georgia has 163 WMAs and 38 are located within 75 miles of my home QTH. So it makes sense I would include those in my 60 new activations pursuit.

I set my sights on Morgan Lake WMA (US-9791) and Griffin Ridge WMA (US-3752) because  they are an hour’s drive from my home and across the road from one another. Talk about convenient!

map source: worldatlas.com

Daisy and I set out early Tuesday, October 1st. During the drive, I encountered two groups of ambulances moving north on Interstate 95. At a rest stop, several EMTs from one group were taking a quick break and wore t-shirts with “Disaster Relief” on them. It was a reminder of the recent events due to Hurricane Helene.

I chose to activate Morgan Lake WMA first.  According to the map, most of the property appeared to be wetlands but there is a boat landing for fisherman to access Morgan Lake. In fact, the road you use to reach the landing is built up a good 10-12 feet, I assume, to provide access even when the area experiences flooding.

boat landing and train trestle bridge

WMAs vary in their presentation. Some are nicer than others with shooting ranges and gravel roads. Morgan Lake was, frankly, on the dumpier side. This was not the place to come to commune with nature. But no matter. I was here to do an activation, so I set about getting my equipment up and running.

Map for Morgan Lake WMA. source: GA DNR

I opted for the Chelegance MC-750 today. Attempting two parks in one day meant I needed a quick and easy set up and a vertical would provide that.

Chelegance MC-750 with a train in the background
setting up on the gravel parking lot

Despite poor band conditions at some of my past activations, today the bands were great! (You’d really want that on a day you are attempting back-to-back activations.) Even better, I had internet access at this park, though it was on the slow side. I could spot myself (always a plus) and it wasn’t long before calls began coming in once I was spotted on the POTA website.

Forty meters gave me 15 contacts in 20 minutes – not bad! It was good to hear so many from the southeast, some I hadn’t heard from in a while. Given I had a second activation to attempt and I wasn’t thrilled with the site conditions at Morgan Lake, I called QRT after contact #15, packed up, and headed across the road to Griffin Ridge WMA.

QSO Map for Morgan Lake WMA (by home QTH) source: http://tools.adventureradio.de/analyzer/

Griffin Ridge is a much larger WMA than Morgan Lake. The park has two access points from the road and I chose the one farther to the north as it looked the more inviting of the two.

Map for Griffin Lake WMA. source: GA DNR

Again, given I was short on time today, I found a little area off to the side near the information kiosk by the road. If I visit this WMA again, I’ll drive further in and find a place away from the road noise.

entrance to Griffin Ridge WMA

The little place I found was somewhat shaded which Daisy and I needed given the warm weather. The day had been mostly overcast; however, I’ve learned to not trust that will persist. Nothing like being in the middle of an activation and the sun comes out from the behind the clouds to roast you.

the spot I found just perfect for parking Kai

For the North Carolina trip this past July, I purchased a Mountain Laurel Designs shelter. It was handy for my SOTA activation at Black Balsam Knob. I figured it would also be useful for POTA activations in the heat. Since I can activate next to my car for POTA, I used the front and rear wiper blades as well as the roof rack to attach three sides of the tent and the surrounding foliage to which to attach the other two. My hiking pole was not tall enough to support the center, so I used the outer rear door handle on the car to elevate the bottom of the pole to give me enough height so I could sit in my Helinox chair under the tent. It was not the best setup but good enough for today. I need to give more thought how to better support and use the tent as a shelter with my car.

Daisy relaxing

We all know band conditions fluctuate throughout the day and I hoped they would hold up for my second activation. Guess what? They did!!!

I opted for 20 meters given it was nearly noon and had 39 contacts in a little over an hour. I was thrilled! That is a “good” thing about bad band conditions. When the bands behave, you really, REALLY appreciate it.

QSO Map for Griffin Ridge WAM (by home QTH) source: http://tools.adventureradio.de/analyzer/
view from under the tent at my QTH

As I packed up my equipment, I reflected on the two activations. Of the two, I would return to Griffin Ridge. The foliage and landscape reminded me of Canoochee Sandhills WMA; however, it was nicer than Canoochee and not nearly as remote, which could be considered bad or good, depending on your perspective. I would definitely set up farther inside the property to avoid the road noise unless it had rained a lot prior to my visit. The road into the property was quite sandy and soft and deep in some spots. My car might not be able to navigate those conditions after a heavy rain.

A valid activation at these two parks put me at 41 out of the 60 new park activations for which I am aiming in 2024. There are only three more months of this year so I am running out of time to reach my goal. It would be easy to accomplish my goal if life didn’t keep getting in the way, right?

There are still plenty of wildlife management areas to consider as well as properties closer to the coast as I continue my pursuit. Where will I show up next? Stay tuned…

For those interested, visit my YouTube channel for a video about this activation.

Equipment Used

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

Field Reports, Guest Posts, Morse Code, News, POTA, QRP

Sailboats at a lakeside activation

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As always there are lots of links within the article. Click one! Click them all! Learn all the things! ?

by Vince (VE6LK)

In August and September 2024 I was travelling around Southern Ontario for some family matters and naturally I brought my radio kit with me to squeeze in some radio therapy stops along the way. This is the report of my stop at CA-5362 Fifty Point Conservation Area.

It’s my second to last day here in Ontario and, as I wasn’t needed for other things, it was time to do a POTA rove and make the best of my last full day. I’m always on the lookout for a park that is within striking distance of wherever I am that I have not activated before and/or has not been activated before in either SSB or CW. So I planned a route to get to 9 parks and managed to get to 7 and activate 5 before other matters called for my attention. All were planned to be drive-up activations given the area and time constraints I was working within.

In my day job, I’m a Project Manager in IT, thus my style is that I plan before I arrive. You’ve already seen evidence of this with my POTA and Checklist tools that I’ve spoken about before. I usually do an in-depth study of a site before I depart, including reviewing linked webpages from the pota.app site, a satellite view and street view of the entrance on maps.google.com, and if it’s available, a 3D view of the area from maps.google.com. Let me know in the comments about the other ways you review a park before your arrival.

However I was pleasantly surprised when I found picnic tables with a view of the water at more than one of them! Balancing the good with the not-so-good, there were also some frustrations… I could not locate one of my planned stops despite driving up and down the road with two different GPSs blaring at me. My experience has shown that the smaller the park, the harder it is to find mapping, and this one from the Conservation Authority was no exception, and thus I abandoned it and drove onwards. Another site was right beside the roadway and high-voltage lines, and I didn’t have time to do a walk-in and get away from the noise floor. I always have a back-up site in my list for situations like this.

The Hamilton/Burlington/Niagara area is very pretty and, with a late summer happening around the time of a harvest moon, I didn’t mind the extra driving. For those of you who have been to Hamvention at Xenia it will be somewhat familiar as the area is full of gently rolling hills and lush green pastures. The humidity is also familiar, ugh, and one of the main reasons I moved away from this area in 1997. But nothing beats the view of sailboats out on the water; I have always found serenity in this -even knowing I get boatsick if I get on board!

The view from my “shack” at Fifty Point Conservation Area looking northwards onto Lake Ontario. On a clear day Toronto can  be seen in the distance. Today wasn’t a clear day, but still quite serene.

Fifty Point is a sprawling 80 Hectare (198 acre) area located on the southern shore of Lake Ontario at Winona. It has a top-tier restaurant, multiple beaches, pavilions and 330 slips for boaters, along with a camping area. It truly is a multi-use area! You can read all about it here (.pdf warning).

After locating the day use/beach area, I found a table overlooking the lake. As it was a mid-week day, there were plenty to choose from. The view was quiet with a few boaters enjoying the beach in the small bay directly in front of me.

A slip loop style bungee holds the feedpoint in place on the picnic table. My new-to-me Tiger-Cats hat proudly on display.

I set up my 40-30-20m trapped EFHW given the solar conditions. I’m so very pleased with the performance of this antenna and it has become the one I reach for the most when activating on this trip. It is about half the length of a conventional 40m wire and is resonant on 3 bands. It has me musing about adding 17m and 15m to it… perhaps N7KOM will offer such a kit?

When I built this antenna, I tuned it so that best resonance was in the middle of the CW portion of each band, and with the feedpoint located just a few feet off the ground and then sloped upwards at the endpoint. That’s how I deployed it this time around. As you see in the prior photo, my newly acquired Fishing Butler bungee strap held the entire thing firmly in place without any movement once I set up the mast. You can get them at Fishing World in Hamilton as they ship around North America. They stock multiple sizes so a phone call may be needed as their online store shows only one size. Ask for the assorted pack.

Trapped 20-30-40m EFHW to my Goture mast and spiral rod holder

Because I never was a Boy Scout and able to know where north is based on the position of the sun and time of day or how many chirps the cricket is giving <grin>, I consulted the compass on my smartphone. I unfurled my antenna and clipped it to the stop of the mast, walked the mast out to the length of the antenna and anchored it into the ground beside some Sumac bushes. With enough repetition, I’ve gotten pretty good at estimating where the far end of my antenna will be. It comes in helpful for parking lot activation and operating out of the trunk or your vehicle with a mast supporting the far end.

For these activations, and when I can, I’ve been orienting my antenna east and west so that it radiates broadside north and south so that I can capture the most number of hunters in North America. This is a contrast to how I normally operate from Alberta when my antenna is oriented to be broadside from southeast to northwest.

The activation itself was pleasant and I was surprised with visits from QRPer.com comment regulars KQ4CW and K5KHK – and I appreciate hearing from them often! 45 minutes after arriving I was packed up and on the road to my next stop.

List of gear used for these activations:

Note: All Amazon links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.

Summary

We do POTA (and other programs) for various reasons. On this trip, it’s a break from life’s stresses. As I reflect upon my visits with various people, I realize that I’m quite blessed to know so many friendly hams no matter where I am travelling.

72 and dit dit,
…Vince

First introduced to the magic of radio by a family member in 1969, Vince has been active in the hobby since 2002. He is an Accredited examiner in Canada and the USA, operates on almost all of the modes, and is continually working on making his CW proficiency suck less. He participates in public service events around Western Canada and is active on the air while glamping, mobile, at home or doing a POTA activation. You can hear him on the Ham Radio Workbench podcast, follow him on Twitter @VE6LK, check out his YouTube channel, and view the projects and articles on his website.

Field Reports, Guest Posts, Morse Code, News, Portable Power, POTA, QRP

Big ships and 78GHz by chance!

4 Comments

As always there are lots of links within the article. Click one! Click them all! Learn all the things!

by Vince (VE6LK)

In August and September 2024, I was travelling around Southern Ontario for some family matters and naturally I brought my radio kit with me to squeeze in some radio therapy stops along the way. This is the report of my stop at CA-6341 Welland Canal System National Historic Site along with CA-6096 Battle of Beaverdams National Historic Site.

This activation took a bit of research to figure out the intersection of the two given that the landscape had been dramatically altered from the time of the Battle of Beaver Dams in 1813. For example, at that time, the Welland Canal did not exist! So the town of Thorold has a park located at the west end of the battle site, and I was able to locate a monument at the east end, thus I was able to extrapolate and see that Lock 7 was in a direct path between the two. Thus I settled at Lock 7 for the activation.

A borrowed grocery cart serves as a mast support given the hard soil. Antenna runs off to the vehicle on the right.

This activation was done later in the day after my “Cross-Border Activation between Friends” and I was pleased to note the conditions had improved a fair bit.

I started off on CW, hunting other friends that were activating (shout-out to Ed W4EMB!) and then switched to SSB QRP where Steve KO4AFL found me and we had a brief chat before we both moved on. I stayed on 20m for this activation.

A quick drive-up activation means operating from the trunk

The Welland Canal is an engineering marvel that allows lake freighters to traverse the 100m/326′ height difference between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

Opened in 1833, it sees an average of 3,275 freighters during the shipping season which runs about 9 months of the year. With that sort of traffic, you can be reasonably assured that you’ll see one of these huge freighters on the day and time that you visit the area.

List of gear used for these activations:

Note: All Amazon links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.

Summary

After my earlier activation with N2MAK, we drove down the Niagara Parkway past Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake before arriving at the Welland Canal. It was a pleasant day and not terribly humid.

VA3ELE, Peter, with an attempt to set a new distance record on 78GHz

One last ham radio related story to the day was running into Peter (VA3ELE) about 1km from our home-away-from-home as he was attempting to set a new distance record with a friend who was well over 100km away.

Peter explained to me that his radio was 3W and the dish yielded 47dB of gain thus his ERP was around 14,000W see below. Needless to say that I did not stand in front of the dish.

[EDIT Sept 26] with gracious thanks to the math wizardry of David VE7EZM, the result of 47dB of gain with 3W of input is approximately 150,356W ERP.

All in all, labour day 2024 was full of beautiful scenery and lots of Ham Radio – exactly how a vacation day should be in my books.

72 and dit dit,
…Vince

First introduced to the magic of radio by a family member in 1969, Vince has been active in the hobby since 2002. He is an Accredited examiner in Canada and the USA, operates on almost all of the modes, and is continually working on making his CW proficiency suck less. He participates in public service events around Western Canada and is active on the air while glamping, mobile, at home or doing a POTA activation. You can hear him on the Ham Radio Workbench podcast, follow him on Twitter @VE6LK, check out his YouTube channel, and view the projects and articles on his website.

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

QRP POTA: Pairing N3CZ’s Homebrew Transceiver with the TennTennas 49:1 EFHW!

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On Monday, September 2, 2024, my good friend Vlado (N3CZ) and I spent Labor Day morning playing POTA.

Our first activation was at Lake James State Park, using the new CFT1 QRP transceiver. It was a lot of fun–you can read the field report and watch the video by clicking here.

For the second activation, I wanted to take Vlado to a site I’ve activated numerous times—one of my favorites—that he had yet to visit:

Table Rock State Fish Hatchery (US-8012)

We arrived on-site around 11:00 AM and, no surprise, had the place to ourselves. Honestly, I was hoping we’d see the three dogs that often pop by for a visit, but I believe they were on vacation with everyone else!

We both figured 20 meters would be our bread-and-butter band for this activation. More importantly, our transceiver was a 20-meter monoband (more on that below), so I deployed my new 20-meter end-fed half-wave antenna.

This particular EFHW is built on a  transformer by Walter (NE4TN) at TennTennas.

TennTennas 49:1 QRP Transformer

I may have mentioned before that Walter gave me this little 49:1 transformer at Hamvention this year when I met him in person. Walter is one of my top hunters in POTA, and I can often count on hearing his call when I’m on 40 meters.

Walter handed me this little transformer as a thank you, with no obligation to promote it—in fact, he didn’t even tell me where they could be purchased.

But I’m a sucker for home-grown mom-and-pop ham radio businesses, so of course, I’m going to plug it! He sells these on eBay (partnership link) for $39 each as a small side business. Not a bad price for a solid little 49:1!

As I mentioned, I trimmed this one for 20 meters, but I’ll likely make it a linked antenna with 30 and/or 40 meters as well someday.

Vlado’s Homebrew Transceiver

I was also excited that Vlado brought along his homebrew 20-meter QRP transceiver.

I had seen this radio in his shack during various stages of development, but I had never had an opportunity to use it in the field.

I’m not sure if Vlado had used it for a POTA activation yet, in fact.

His little transceiver is super simple but sports proper filtering, an OLED display, and, despite the large battery he connected to it, has modest power requirements.

He built it into an old Kenwood VHF radio chassis he found at a hamfest. I’ve been with Vlado before when he’s hunted for chassis for his various homebrew projects. The OM is always building or repairing something in his shack.

We were really looking forward to putting this little transceiver on the air!

Gear

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

On The Air

As with our first activation that day, we decided to take turns with one radio instead of setting up two stations. Vlado was the first op to start calling CQ POTA! Continue reading QRP POTA: Pairing N3CZ’s Homebrew Transceiver with the TennTennas 49:1 EFHW! →

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

Trekking into POTA Heaven: Wrinkly Face Provincial Park Activation

10 Comments

Many thanks to Jeff (VE7EFF) who shares the following guest post:

2.5 km Trek into Wrinkly Face Provincial Park, BC, CA-4307

by Jeff (VE7EFF)

My goal this summer is to do more backpacked-in POTA activations. This is my 3rd POTA outing over the past week.  Being in Canada, I don’t have much time left this season to do this before the weather turns too wet, cold or snowy for my liking.

I attempted to activate Wrinkly Face Provincial Park, CA-4307 last summer.  However, I couldn’t get there because the FSR forestry service road was washed out about halfway to the park.  My Subaru Forester is an amazing SUV on outback FSR roads, but this washout was too much to even attempt.

So, this year I decided to attempt to hike to the park on foot which turned out to be a 2.5 km trek with about 653 ft elevation gain.  As always, my wife Alexis (VE7LXE) is my travel companion.

Our trailhead starts about an hour’s drive north of Kelowna, BC which is where we live.  We park on the side of a gravel road near the trailhead. We will be following a 2.5 km segment of the Okanagan High Rim Trail, which will take us to our destination in the middle of Wrinkly Face Provincial Park.

We aren’t sure exactly where the trail starts from here.  But just around the corner ahead of the car, is an adjoining FSR road. Here we find a sign and map of the Okanagan High Rim Trail (OHRT).

A closer look at the sign shows the OHRT trail starts near the sign.  I have circled our starting point and ending point on the map photo, marked in yellow.  (We ended up setting down about midway in Wrinkly Face Prov. Park.)   So, off we go.

We found the trail!

Apparently, there was a heavy rain downpour early this morning. So, the trail is quite soggy and damp for most of the trek up.  It’s also feeling quite cold this morning.  We actually felt the need to put gloves on.

The beginning of the trail is a steady uphill trod.  However, it also crosses a couple of FSR roads, which gives us some flat areas to walk on.  While most of the trail is well marked with small markers, there were a few areas where we got off track for a short distance and had to backtrack.  There are also free-range cows up here and they tend to create their own network of trails which often crisscross the OHRT trail, which causes periodic confusion as to which one for us to follow.

Thank goodness, I pre-plan these trips on my Garmin GPS and Google Maps to help with navigation.

I don’t think the OHRT trail is very heavily traveled.  In some areas, the pathway is almost overgrown with vegetation.

Along with overgrown vegetation, fallen trees can also create an occasional obstacle.  Often, the trail doesn’t amount to much more than a game trail.

Finally, some open views to the south!  This could be a viable operating area.  One problem though – we haven’t crossed the park boundary yet.  Good news – the sky is starting to clear!  Onwards and upwards…

Making good progress.  We are now crossing into the park boundary.

Welcome to Wrinkly Face Provincial Park, CA-3407.  You won’t find any parking stalls, camp sites, picnic tables, or outhouses here.  But what I do hope to find here is… POTA heaven!

After trekking about halfway into the park, we finally came across an open meadow.  Looks like this could be our POTA ops spot.  In the far distance is a glimpse of Kelowna and part of Lake Okanagan.

It’s nice to finally offload our packs.

Time to start breaking-out my shack-in-the-pack. Continue reading Trekking into POTA Heaven: Wrinkly Face Provincial Park Activation →

Articles, Field Reports, Guest Posts, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Travel

Bob and Alanna’s POTA Adventures Along the Cabot Trail!

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Many thanks to Bob (K4RLC) & Alanna (K4AAC) for the following field report:

Cabot Trail Activations on Cape Breton Island Nova Scotia  – August 2024

 By Bob K4RLC & Alanna K4AAC

In August 2024, K4AAC, my YL Alanna and I took a trip to magical Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. It was Alanna’s suggestion to celebrate my 74th birthday in July. She knew my “Bucket List” had a goal to visit and hopefully activate the two Marconi sites east of Sydney, the Parks Canada Marconi Memorial Site and the original 1905 Marconi House National Historic Site, both POTA sites.  Thomas K4SWL kindly published the write up of this adventure a few weeks ago.

After initially activating the Marconi Park station at Glace Bay, we decided to drive the beautiful 300 kilometer Cabot Trail, which circles Cape Breton Island and parallels the rugged Sea coast on both the East and West sides, allowing you to have the steep mountains on your left and the Sea coast on your right – if you make the decision to drive the trail counter-clockwise.

As this was a last minute trip and we had complications with Air Canada delaying our trip by a day, we decided to follow the major points of a clock, and visit sites at the 3:00, 12:00, 9:00, and 6:00 PM positions. The major problem is that there are so many wonderful sites, it’s hard to decide where to visit.

The first day after we left Sydney (see Marconi write-up), we drove to Ingonish Beach Campground on the East, an easy drive from Sydney. You take the the Trans Canada Highway to pick up the northward Cabot Trail in South Haven. The Ingonish area has many places to visit. Alanna had done much Internet research and really wanted to visit Ingonish Beach at the campground. This is a very pleasant white sandy beach, bordered by smooth, rounded glaciated stones and views to the south of Cape Smokey Provincial Park.

As someone who lives part time in North Myrtle Beach SC, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lifeguard but even more surprised to see lots of people enjoying the very cold waters of the north Atlantic, with water temperature almost 20 degrees cooler than SC. It’s not even that cold when we do the Polar Bear Plunge on New Year’s at North Myrtle!

Less than a mile north of the beach, you enter the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, an almost 1000 sq KM park that spans from the east side to the west side of the island and has some of the most pleasant  hiking and camping possible,  including 27 different hiking trails.

We decided to hike the Middle Head Trail starting near the historic Keltic Inn. The trail is on a mile plus long narrow finger of land that juts into Ingonish Bay, separating its North and South parts. Middle Head is a rocky, up and down trail, very similar to parts of the Appalachian Trail back home in North Carolina. (While the Scots settled in Cape Breton, many also settled in Western North Carolina, as both areas reminded them of their Scottish Highlands home).

The trail ended in a high rock outcropping. We spent time there enjoying the beautiful ocean view and seeing one lone seal, but it is very popular so we went off to the side and set up the radio on a flat-top boulder. The radio was again Rhett KB4HG’s KX2 (as mine was in the shop), with the modified MP1 base loaded coil Vertical on a camera tripod. Unfortunately, our timing was bad as there was another major solar flare. We only had a few contacts on 20 CW. Nevertheless, the beautiful view and hike was well worth it. We spent the night at a country inn there, overlooking the Bay, and enjoying fresh local lobster tacos.

Figure 1 Middle Head Trail Cape Breton Highlands National Park
Figure 2 K4AAC at Middle Head Trail
Figure 3 Middle Head Trail End Ingonish Bay

The next morning, we resumed driving north toward Bay St. Lawrence with a few possible activation sites in mind.  The first was in the very small fishing village of Neils’ Harbor, where the 1899 Lighthouse is both a POTA site (Neil’s Harbour Lighthouse National Heritage Site) and a Canadian Heritage Lighthouse. There is a small fenced in area around the Lighthouse, keeping you from falling over the cliff to the ocean below, and two picnic tables.

While picturesque, this area had the worst electrical noise I’ve ever heard, ranging from S 6-8. Consequently, I only made two 20CW contacts with Ontario, using the stock KH1. Some may consider this as “failed” activation but, to me, it’s a success to operate in a beautiful, historic site by the ocean. On the positive, inside the Lighthouse is an ice cream shop, selling local flavors, but Cash only.

Figure 4 K4RLC & KH1 Neils’ Lighthouse

Driving 10 KM north off the Trail, we stopped at another POTA site (CA-0454), Cabot’s Landing Provincial Park,  on the shore of Aspy Bay. The park has a white sandy beach coastline, and a monument to John Cabot, who allegedly landed there in 1497. The location also marks the 1856 western terminus of the proposed Transatlantic Telegraph cable from Cape Breton to Newfoundland. It was another Kodachrome day by the ocean, with a scenic vista of the steep face of the Pollets Cove-Aspy Fault Wilderness Area to the north of the coastline.

Having gotten there before lunch, I was really happy to see few beach-goers and several high posts around where I hoped to erect an EFHW for 20 meters. Unfortunately, just as we began setting up, the park became filled with sunbathers, of course walking through the planned antenna area. Thankfully, the trusty KX2 and Modified MP1 on the camera tripod by the picnic table did fine. Propagation was decent for a change, and I soon was working a pile-up of other Canadian stations and into the US on 20 CW. But the most amazing aspect was that there was absolutely no electrical noise to interfere with this activation. It was a wonderful experience to operate in a really quiet and picturesque area, so far off the electrical grid. Continue reading Bob and Alanna’s POTA Adventures Along the Cabot Trail! →

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The POTA Babe Spreads Her Wings at Pinckney Island

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by Teri KO4WFP

Friday, September 13th, I headed to Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge (US-0265) for a POTA activation and was without Daisy as dogs are not allowed at this refuge. Pinckney Island is a 4,000+ acre wildlife refuge off Highway US 278 on the way to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The refuge consists of four islands and numerous small hammocks with Pinckney Island being the largest of the islands and the only one open to the public.

The refuge is named after Major General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and is one of seven refuges managed by the Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex in Savannah, Georgia. Prior to my time as a ham radio operator, I volunteered for the US Fish and Wildlife Service and spent time at four – Savannah, Harris Neck, Wassaw Island, and Blackbeard Island – out of the seven refuges they manage. I never made it to Pinckney Island so I was excited to finally see this property.

Portrait by James Earl. Source: Wikipedia

Most of Pinckney Island is accessible by foot or bicycle only. After parking my car in the designated lot, I began hiking to my destination – Ibis Pond, a large pond for waterfowl about a mile from the parking lot.

Just before I reached the information kiosk, I got a great look at an armadillo doing what most gardeners and lawn aficionados hate – tearing up the ground in search of food. This mammal eats mostly invertebrates including insects and especially likes grubs. They have horrible eyesight but keen hearing and I was surprised this guy or gal let me get as close as he or she did.

information kiosk

Pinckney island is an important link in the chain of wildlife refuges along the Atlantic Flyway and attracts thousands of migratory birds each year, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The Atlantic Flyway is a major north-south route for migratory birds and it generally follows the Atlantic Coast of the US.

source: North Dakota Fish & Game Department

I saw and heard many birds while visiting the refuge including a flock of White Ibis feeding in the marsh and tidal flats, a Great Blue Heron fishing with a Snowy Egret walking nearby, American Coots, a molting male Painted Bunting, crows flying overhead, and I swear I heard a pair of Sandhill Cranes calling to one another at Ibis Pond. I could have spent all day watching the comings and goings of the refuge inhabitants let alone do a POTA activation.

White Ibis feeding in the marsh
American Coots at Ibis Pond
White Ibis in the trees at the pond during my activation
Trail into Pinckney Island

However, I was here for POTA and, in short order, arrived at Ibis Pond. It is one of five manmade ponds on the island and exists to preserve feeding and nesting areas for birds. The pond has cattails around its edges and much of the water is covered by duckweed.  I figured I would be less likely to have any human visitors if I followed the trail around the pond to the far side. But I was wrong. Ten to twelve people walked by my station while there, more than I usually encounter at any park. Continue reading The POTA Babe Spreads Her Wings at Pinckney Island →