This afternoon, instead of venturing out to a local park, I decided to do a little POTA hunting from home—QRP portable style.
It was a fun experience and felt a bit like an at-home activation, except, of course, there was no actual activation since I wasn’t at a POTA site.
Fair warning: the video is very long and practically designed to defy YouTube’s algorithm, which favors short, highly-edited videos optimized for engagement.
My hope for this video is simple: that it is what it is—a slow TV ham radio adventure. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.
Since it’s Christmas Eve, I’m keeping things low-key and won’t be publishing a full field report—just this little intro! You’ll find gear links in the video description.
Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or Joyous Winter Solstice. No matter how you celebrate, I hope it’s filled with love and joy!
Many thanks to Eric (WD8RIF), who shares the following field report via his website WD8RIF.com:
by Eric (WD8RIF)
On Saturday, November 4, 2023, I performed a successful bicycle-portable two-fer activation of Lake Hope State Park (K-1968) and Zaleski State Forest (K-5455) in Ohio as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA) program.
On a beautiful and warm early November afternoon, I bicycled the Moonville Rail Trail, on what used to the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad (wikipedia article) right-of-way, from the tiny village of Mineral, through Zaleski State Forest, diverting from the rail trail near Lake Hope to ride to the Mountain Bike Trailhead overlooking Lake Hope within the state park, for my two-fer activation of the state park and state forest. I was carrying my KX2 Mini Travel Kit on the bicycle, and I was pulling my little dog Theo in a trailer behind the bicycle.
This 10-mile rail trail takes visitors through the beautiful woodlands of southeast Ohio, including Zaleski State Forest; the communities of Zaleski and Mineral; and the Lake Hope State Park wetland areas. The corridor holds water on both sides of the trail, creating a wetland area that is home to numerous species of flora and fauna.
Additional points of interest along this trail are two unique and historic tunnels. King’s Hollow Tunnel (also known as King Switch Tunnel) is a 120-foot structure carved through the rock and lined by a series of 12×12 wooden beams. The Moonville Tunnel is brick-lined and has a long history of train accidents, earning the tunnel a reputation for being haunted.
After parking my car at Mineral, I began my ride on the leaf-covered Moonville Rail Trail at 1645 UTC and soon encountered the first landmark of the ride: the 120′ long, timber-lined King’s Hollow Tunnel.
Riding through the very dark tunnel and continuing west on the Moonville Rail Trail, I soon came to a succession of ponds. Rumor has it that a pair of nesting bald eagles fish these ponds, but I have yet to see them.
Ponds along the Moonville Rail TrailA small bit of railroad history along the Moonville Rail Trail.More leaf-covered Moonville Rail Trail
Continuing west, and now being well inside Zaleski State Forest, I soon came upon the brick-lined Moonville Tunnel.
Entering Moonville Tunnel
After passing through the Moonville Tunnel, I was forced to divert from the Moonville Rail Trail and follow a gravel road before re-joining the Moonville Rail Trail about a mile further on. (When CSX abandoned the rail line in the early 1990s, they took everything: rails, ties, ballast, and all the bridges. Two of the bridges west of Moonville Tunnel have yet to be replaced.) I was pleased that my new narrow knobby bicycle tires were reassuring on the rough gravel road, but I can’t say Theo in the trailer enjoyed this portion of the ride much.
It was Sunday, December 24th around 7:30 AM and my brother Joseph, my dog Daisy, and I were on our way to Florida. The purpose of the trip was to knock out nine or ten parks toward my goal of 60 new-to-me park activations in 2024. The trip was also designed to test my camping skills and adjust my equipment and set-up for future POTA camping trips. The first park on the itinerary was Olustee Battlefield Park (K-3642).
The drive to Olustee was straight forward: I-95 south to Jacksonville, then I-295 to I-10. We stopped at the Florida Welcome Center and snapped a quick picture despite the rain, then bundled ourselves back into the car and on our way.
Are we there yet?
Olustee Battlefield Park commemorates the site of Florida’s largest Civil War battle. Florida was important to the Confederacy in the Civil War because of its material contributions. In fact, Florida was a vital contributor of beef and salt. The battle of Olustee was fought to repel a Union attempt to disrupt Florida’s food-producing supply routes and recruit African-American soldiers. In fact U.S. African-American troops took part in the battle including the famous 54th Massachusetts regiment featured in the movie “Glory”. A re-enactment of the battle at Olustee is held each February.
Joseph and I arrived at Olustee Battlefield Park under cloudy skies. Right after our arrival, a gentleman pulled up from the local area and began chatting with us. He owns some of the timber plantations in the surrounding area and was killing time at the park while a relative visited someone at the nearby prison.
I located a pine tree and installed the Tufteln EFRW antenna. Meanwhile, Daisy found a pine cone or two to deconstruct. It was nice to be at a location at which she could be off-leash and wander.
I began with 40 meters as usual but the noise on that band was horrendous – S7! So I moved to 20 meters figuring that would be quieter. NOPE! Again, S7! Well, shucks! I told myself to just call CQ and see what I could hear. Only the strongest calls broke through the noise and even then, I sometimes lost a hunter as the band appeared to be shifting. After twenty minutes on 20 meters, I switched to 17 meters hoping the noise might be better there. Nope – S7 AGAIN! I needed a few more contacts for a valid activation so I hung in there for five more minutes getting four contacts and then called it QRT.
QSO map for Olustee Battlefield HSP http://tools.adventureradio.de/analyzer/
What the heck could have caused such noise on all three bands I tried? There were power lines but I was nowhere near them. There were no other sources of noise I could see at the site. And then I remembered the nearby Baker Correctional Institution, the prison the gentleman’s relative was visiting. It was a large facility. Surely there was a lot of electric equipment with surveillance cameras, etc. That must have been the noise source.
It was time to move on. We drove secondary roads which took us through pine forests in the Osceola Wildlife Management Area and Gainesville, FL, home of the University of Florida. Continue reading A Journey Through Florida Begins→
Many thanks to Brian (K3ES) who shares the following guest post:
The National Park Service welcomes you to Waco Mammoth National Monument
Activating K-0975, Waco Mammoth National Monument
by Brian (K3ES)
At the end of November 2023, my wife and I loaded her minivan, and headed out into the first significant snowfall of the season. I had already been out that morning in my 4WD truck to pull a friend’s car out of a ditch, so I was driving carefully. Our drive took us from our home in northwest Pennsylvania to Baltimore, MD. Happily, weather conditions improved as we went south and east. We were meeting our son, daughter-in-law, and 2-1/2 year old grandson for a family trip to Waco, TX (we flew out of Baltimore-Washington International Airport early the next morning). My wife and daughter-in-law are particular fans of Fixer-Upper and Chip and Joanna Gaines, all based in Waco. Us men-folk were to be educated in the finer points of appreciating this pop-culture phenomenon. Ultimately, we certainly did appreciate the finer points of dining in Waco.
One side-trip that amazed us all was a 10 minute drive up the road to Waco Mammoth National Monument. This relatively new addition to the National Park system is also listed as Parks on the Air (POTA) entity K-0975. Back in the days when the area occupied by the National Monument was private land, two exploring teenagers, who may not have had proper permission, found a bone, a big bone. This bone was delivered to a local museum for identification, and ultimately determined to have been the femur of a female Columbian Mammoth. Legalities being as they are, it took a while longer for the location of the discovery to be made public. An interested and civic-minded land owner made the process less traumatic than might have been, particularly for the wandering teenagers. He also started the process to preserve the site and its archaeological treasures for the public, ultimately leading to its designation as a National Monument. Over subsequent years, archaeological excavation discovered a lot more bones – skeletons from an entire nursery herd of Columbian Mammoths, along with skeletons from other species that visited what was apparently a dangerous waterhole during the last ice age.
A view of the interior of the building constructed to protect the archaeological site. Near the entry door is a full-sized artist’s rendition of a Columbian Mammoth. Standing up to14 feet high at the shoulder, Columbian Mammoths were significantly larger than their better known Woolly Mammoth cousins. This site is unique in that the bones of an entire nursery herd, including multiple females and their young, were found together here.Some of the partially excavated mammoth skeletons contained in the enclosure building.Also found in this excavation site was a Western Camel skeleton. It is thought that the large number, numerous species, and wide range of ages of the skeletons discovered at this site resulted from entrapment in thick mud that formed the bottom of a persistent waterhole.
Since the discovery, many skeletons have been excavated and removed for study, but many more remain at the site awaiting future recovery. A building has been constructed to cover the excavation and protect the remaining skeletons, and this building is the amazing focal point of the Waco Mammoth National Monument. Ranger-led tours are available, and very much worthwhile.
Operating QRP CW on a beautiful afternoon at K-0975, Waco Mammoth National Monument. My station is set up in a grassy field sometimes used for overflow parking.
Setting Up to Activate K-0975
After the tour and a look at the excavation site, I excused myself and set up to activate K-0975. Before the trip, I had sent an email to Phil – WA5PQL, who is the most frequent activator at K-0975. He was gracious and helpful in providing information about the park, the staff, and the locations most suitable for activating. His assistance made a quick, low-stress activation a near certainty. After checking in with the Park Rangers, I had directions and permissions, so all that remained a concern was HF propagation.
While the previous day had been overcast with drizzle, Friday, December 1, 2023, was sunny and warm. It was perfect for walking around the site, and for an outdoor activation. Unfortunately, the same sun that gave us the bright, warm day, had been active producing solar flares that could interfere with radio communications. The only way to know for sure that I could make contacts was to set up my station and call CQ, so that is the path I chose.
Field kit contained in a re-purposed Peltor 4” x 6” x 9” padded headset pouch. This compact kit was easily packed in a carry-on backpack for airline travel. The pouch’s integral handle also made for easy transport to the activation site.
Field kit contents from the upper-left (click image above to enlarge):
33 gal trash bag for dry seating,
15 ft RG316 feedline with BNC male connectors,
Two pieces of nylon cord,
Medium-sized pill bottle to be filled with dirt or stones and used as a throw weight,
80 ft of Marlow Excel 2mm arborist’s throw line,
BaMaTech TP-III paddles with connecting cable carried in an Altoids tin,
Nail clippers as a TSA-approved tool,
Elecraft KX2 transceiver with SideKX end-panels and polycarbonate cover,
Tufteln 9:1 end-fed random wire antenna with 35 ft radiator and 17 ft counterpoise,
Generic ear-bud headphones,
Homebrew VK3IL-designed pressure paddles with adjacent protective sleeve sitting atop a plastic ziploc bag,
Rite in the Rain notepad for logging,
Pentel Twist-Erase 0.9mm mechanical pencil,
Miscellaneous cable ties.
Not pictured is a Packtenna 10m collapsable fiberglass mast that was available, but not used for this activation.
I brought a very small, but capable, field kit based on my Elecraft KX2 and a Tufteln End-fed Random Wire antenna. A couple of CW keys, a short feedline, and generic earbuds completed the station. I also brought a notepad and a pencil for logging, a plastic garbage bag for seating, and some cordage. The most peculiar part of my kit was a small pill bottle with a hole in its lid. I filled the pill bottle with dirt, passed the end of a 2mm line through the lid and secured it with a knot. I was able to use the dirt-filled bottle as a throw weight to get the line over a tree branch for raising the antenna, then I detached the bottle and returned the dirt. All elements of the kit worked as intended, and TSA asked no questions during my trips through airport security. Continue reading K3ES Activates Waco Mammoth National Monument→
On Sunday, August 20, 2023, en route to check in with my parents, I popped by Lake James State Park for a little early evening POTA fun.
In the car, I’d pack the Elecraft KX2 kit and I still had the REZ Ranger 80 vertical antenna system on loan from REZ Antennas (it’s since been returned to them).
The last time I deployed the REZ was on Mount Mitchell in some pretty sketchy weather. While I recorded a couple of short videos, I didn’t record a full activation video since we were having a family picnic that day.
Before sending the Ranger 80 back, I wanted to fit in a proper activation showing how I deploy the antenna, how I tuned it for the first time, and how it might perform on the 40 meter band.
Lake James State Park (K-2739)
It was golden hour at Lake James and the park was bustling with activity. There were kids running around, parents chasing them, and several families cooking out at the numerous picnic sites.
I sought out a location that was private and quiet mainly because the Ranger 80 antenna has four 31 foot radials, thus a large footprint; I didn’t want children, pets, or anyone tripping on the ground radials.
Fortunately, one of my favorite spots overlooking the lake was free, so I could simply set the Ranger 80 up in the woods where folks weren’t walking.
The Ranger 80 is super easy to deploy: simply extend the vertical, attach it to the top of the base, then attach the stainless spike to the base and plunge the entire thing into the ground. Next, you deploy the four radials and connect it to the base of the antenna.
It only takes a couple of minutes especially since the counterpoises are wound using the over-under method. I simply tossed each line into the woods and didn’t worry if they were all lying perfectly on the ground.
Note to REZ: Consider offering optional high-visibility counterpoise wires–for those of us setting up in busy parks, it would make the ground radials more conspicuous to passersby.
Next, I needed to tune the Ranger 80 for the forty meter band.
Typically, when I use a sliding-tap tuning coil style antenna like this one, I turn on the radio and move the coil until I hear an audio peak, then I fine tune it by sending a “dit” on the radio, checking the SWR, and adjusting the coil slider.
That evening, though, I had my RigExpert AA-35 Zoom antenna analyzer so I set it to continuous SWR monitoring and adjusted the coil until I achieved a good match. Easy.
I should add here that when you use an antenna like this frequently, you learn where the best tap points are on the coil thus tuning becomes easier. My friend Alan (W2AEW) actually made a PVC rig for his coil antenna (click here to check it out).
With the antenna all set up and ready to rock-and-roll, I simply hooked up the Elecraft KX2, my VK3IL pressure paddles, and prepared the logs.
On January 26, 2022, I fit in multiple park activations in one day as a RaDAR (Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio) run. My hope was to activate four or five sites between 14:00 – 21:30 UTC.
Here are the field reports and videos of my first three activations:
The next park in my run (#4) was either going to be my last activation, or second to last depending on my available time.
After visiting with my buddy, Hamilton, at his ceramics studio in Morganton (read about that in the previous report) I looked at the time and decided I could fit in a very quick activation of Johns River Game Land (#4) en route to Tuttle Educational State Forest (#5).
I made up my mind en route that I’d use my fastest-to-deploy combo: the Elecraft KX2 and Chameleon CHA MPAS Lite.
I really wanted to be in and out of the site within a 20 minute window. That’s actually very doable as long as I could rack up at least ten contacts in 10-15 minutes. Some days, propagation can make that a tall order, though!
Johns River Game Land (K-6916)
Johns River actually has a number of access points and, frankly, none of them are exactly “bucolic.” Other than the river itself which is beautiful and the main access point for the river which is well-maintained, most of the game land parking areas are filled with litter.
I chose a parking area for this activation which has, in the past, looked like a dumping ground. I was pleased when I pulled into the parking lot this time to find it much cleaner (no old refrigerators or sofas dumped at the far end of the lot) but then again the snow on the ground was likely hiding quite a bit of litter! My philosophy is to always leave a site cleaner than I found it, but Johns River often has so much littler, I could spend a week picking up trash.
After doing a very short intro for my activation video, I set up the Elecraft KX2 and MPAS Lite antenna in a matter of two minutes.
I started calling CQ POTA (with my fingers crossed!) on 40 meters and was very pleased that chasers were out and about!
I worked my ten contact in 9 minutes and then went QRT! Woot! Here’s the log sheet:
In this short activation, there was actually a P2P with Max (WG4Z) who was just up the road at Tuttle Educational State Forest. We were definitely working each other via ground wave.
The contacts were flowing so well, that I wanted to stay on the air a bit longer, but I knew to fit in Tuttle and a hike, I really needed keep moving. As soon as I worked my ten, I hopped off the radio.
While I like putting more contacts in the log–especially when they’re flowing so freely–it was actually kind of fun to validate this activation in somewhat of a “sprint.”
QSO Map
Here’s what 5 watts and the MPAS Lite yielded in nine minutes on the air:
Activation video
Here’s my real-time, real-life video of the entire activation. This must be one of the shortest activation videos I’ve ever made:
Thank you so much for reading this short report and coming along with me on this RaDAR run! I’ll be posting Park #5–Tuttle Educational State Forest–soon where I catch up with Max (WG4Z) and we work park-to-park once again.
As always, I’d like to send a special thanks to those of you who have been supporting the site and channel through Patreon and the Coffee Fund. While certainly not a requirement as my content will always be free, I truly appreciate the support.
These are crazy times we’re living in these days (at time of posting). I wish all of you good health, safety, and peace–especially our good friends in Ukraine.
Let’s all treat each other with kindness and respect this week as we remember that all we’ve got on this old planet is each other.
Being the hopeless pack geek I am, when David (AG7SM) shared photos of his many Tom Bihn bags and how he packed for a recent radio outing, I asked if he’d mind if I shared them here on QRPer.com. He very kindly agreed!
The comments below are my own, but I’ve put David’s descriptions in each image caption:
Brain Bag
The Tom Bihn Brain Bag.
I’ve often considered grabbing a Tom Bihn Brain Bag in the past for one-bag travel, but frankly it’s a little roomier than I needed so overlooked it. I never thought about using it for field radio, but it makes so much sense
“The writing implements and log I’ve stuffed into the Brain Bag.”
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