As I mentioned in my previous field report, the afternoon I arrived in Canada, I somehow managed to pass my Basic exam with honors.

This granted me full HF privileges and I even obtained the callsign VY2SW within an hour of requesting it the following morning.

Of course, I was very eager to use the new callsign on the air!

Finding a park

A few weeks prior to our trip, I checked out all of the POTA sites within a short distance of our hotel in Ottawa.

Turns out, there are loads of parks in the Ottawa/Gatineau region so I was spoiled for choice!

Since Ottawa is the capital city of Canada, there’s no shortage of provincial and national parks in the area.  (Washington DC is very similar in this regard.)

What, at first, surprised me was the number of parks that had either never been activated or had only been activated a handful of times. Taking a closer look in advance and with the assistance of Google Street View, I could see that many of these entities are simply historic buildings/sites or formal parks in the city with no easy means of activating without special permission.

Hog’s Back Conservation Reserve (VE-1596)

Shortly after noting on QRPer that I’d be in Ottawa a few days, a reader named Andrew reached out and offered advice about local parks. He suggested the Hog’s Back Conservation Reserve since it was only a 15 minute drive from our hotel. We made plans to meet up there for the activation.

Not only was Hog’s Back convenient, but it was also a large park with loads of spots where one could set up and play radio. No doubt this is why it’s one of the most popular POTA spots in the Ottawa area. Continue reading Field Report: First POTA activation as VY2SW in Ottawa! →