Tag Archives: Micah (N4MJL)

Field Reports, News, Pedestrian Mobile, Portable, POTA, QRP, Travel

Mindful POTA: N4MJL Activates the Oklahoma City National Memorial

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by Micah (N4MJL)

March 18th, 2025, I successfully activated the Oklahoma City National Memorial (US-8115). I typically get a few activation photos and post them to the POTA Facebook group, so that hunters get the chance to see the other side of the hobby. I have always enjoyed seeing other activators’ radio setups in the parks that I just hunted. So I was very surprised when I received some very negative comments/private messages from several different individuals about my activating this park. Growing up in southeast Missouri, I am very aware of the seriousness of this memorial to many people!

I often overnight in Oklahoma City for work trips. I have walked through this park without activating it on many occasions. On my last trip through OKC, I was up early out walking, and as per my habit, I had my Elecraft KH1 in my backpack. It was an early morning weekday, and it was still chilly out.

On one of my previous trips through OKC, I had already researched the park website to see if there was anything forbidding the use of radios in the park. The park’s website states that it is open 24 hours, and it did not list any rules different from any other national park/memorial. As you can see from my photos, I was the only “civilian” in the park during my activation. I was the 11th successful activator of this park.

Since the park website rules listed nothing that would forbid use of radios in the park, I decided to check out the park.

As a responsible operator, I understand the importance of using common sense and showing courtesy to those around me. I also recognize the importance as an activator to leave a good relationship with park authorities so that I do not ruin it for the activators that will come after me.

I was the only person in this park for the entire 59 minutes that I was on the air, except for three people who I will talk about in a moment.

Let me be clear: if there had been other visitors in this park, I would have been sensitive to the situation and probably not activated.

Even though I had researched the rules for activating this park, I still activate under the premise that it is better to ask forgiveness than permission. What that means is, if rules don’t specifically say I can’t, then I am not going to be going around asking for permission. I will, however, still use common sense and NOT be sticking stakes in the ground or trying to throw wires up in the trees.

I chose the pedestrian mobile configuration for my KH-1 because other than a short counterpoise wire and my notebook, all radio gear was held in my hands.

As always, I use earbuds so that I am not making any noise with my setup.

As the contacts started trickling in, I noticed a park ranger walk out to the reflection pool in front of me. He would glance over at me, then he would stare up at the sky. He would turn, look over at me again, then stare up at the sky a while longer. The park ranger was one of the three individuals I saw in the park during my activation.

After a few minutes, I noticed that the ranger had left, but I began to feel like someone was standing behind me just out of my field of view. Sure enough, it was the same ranger now standing behind me. I thought about saying something, but I was busy as the contacts slowly kept coming. Eventually, the park ranger broke the silence coming into my field of view saying, “Good morning sir, do you have any questions for me about the park?” I replied with a polite, “No thank you sir, I appreciate it!” He replied, “Okay, by the way, what are you doing?” I explained the basics of POTA/ham radio/Morse code, and also added that “If I was doing anything wrong, I would be glad to leave immediately.” The park ranger quickly said, “No, you’re fine. Looks like fun. Have a great morning.” After the park ranger left, I did not see him again.

A few minutes later… the second person came into my field of view. This person was a uniformed armed security guard. He was wearing a gray uniform shirt and black tactical-style pants, along with the usual duty belt load-out. I believe he came over from the federal courthouse just across the street. His approach was a lot more direct. “Hey bud, you’re not flying a drone here, right?” I assured him that I wasn’t and explained POTA to him. He was actually genuinely very interested in ham radio.

During this conversation, N7MEB was calling me. I was still a little flustered by the armed officer showing up. I had to ask Beth at least five repeats before I got her call sign correct. The security guard was impressed that I was currently working an operator in Utah with my tiny radio. I politely apologized to him that I was actively getting called at that moment and was busy. He responded with a friendly, “Good luck and have fun.”

Fourteen of my contacts were on the 20M band, but after a few minutes of no responses I moved to 17M. As soon as my first caller began transmitting on the 17M band, an Oklahoma City Police officer suddenly walked up to me and said, “Good! You’re not flying a drone! Have a good day!” He was gone as suddenly as he appeared. I never even had a chance to say anything. Haha

I am guessing that someone at the federal courthouse across the street was watching me on their security cameras, and they were the ones all concerned about me flying a drone.

There are signs posted on both sides of the park entrances forbidding the use of drones over this memorial. I genuinely believe if I had asked permission to do an activation, that I would have been flatly refused. The very sound of asking to set up a “radio station” inside a small memorial park sounds ridiculous, even to me.

Each authority figure who approached me was completely fine with what I was doing as long as I was not flying a drone. Now that I have been vetted by a federal park ranger, federal armed security guard, and city police, hopefully, after seeing my low-profile rig in action, the idea of a ham setting up a radio station in their park will no longer sound as crazy to them.

One good impression at a time with local authorities builds the goodwill for the next op. Let’s be respectful and get out there and activate. We don’t need big antennas/1000Qs in the log, and POTA banners blowing in the breeze for a successful activation.

72 thanks for hunting
~ N4MJL

Field Reports, News, Pedestrian Mobile, Portable, POTA, QRP

Mud, Mosquitoes, and Morse: A KH1 Pedestrian Portable Activation on the Yadkin River Trail

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by Micah N4MJL

Recently, I examined the POTA app map and discovered a new yellow dot along my work commute that I had not yet activated. I have activated most of the POTA parks between Charlotte, NC and my home in Virginia that are not too far off my route of travel.

Upon further investigation, I learned that the new yellow dot belonged to the Yadkin River State Trail (US-12320). It is over 200 miles long. I chose to attempt activating from the Yadkin River Park on the Davidson County side of the river, just off I-85.

There is a nice walking bridge over the river with benches and historical signs along the walking trail. I thought about activating from one of the benches on the bridge, but there are some large power lines going over the bridge, making some heavy RFI noise on my KH-1.

After exploring the established walking trail, I found some makeshift chairs down by the riverside. It was pretty muddy, and I didn’t feel like wallowing in the mud while throwing a wire in a tree. I decided to use my Elecraft KH-1 whip antenna in the pedestrian mobile configuration.

As soon as I started calling CQ, a swarm of mosquitoes started feasting upon me. It didn’t help that I was wearing shorts and flip-flops.

I had just finished flying a four-day trip in Charlotte (CLT) and was on my way home. I had changed out of my uniform at a rest stop right before this activation. I was supposed to fly three flights today, but because of a maintenance delay, crew scheduling had already re-crewed my last two flights. I was getting home six hours early and getting paid! It usually doesn’t turn out this well for me. Normally, I’m getting junior manned into flying into my day off.

My first couple of contacts on the 20M band came quickly. I logged 8 contacts on the 20M band before they petered out. I noticed that there was a lot of QSB fading occurring. I tried tuning in other activators throughout the country who I should have been hearing just fine on 20M with no success.

My first two contacts on 20M were from Colorado and Arizona. After the 20M band died a silent death, I put on the AXE1 40M loaded coil antenna extender and threw out the longer counterpoise. I was able to log 5 more contacts on the 40M band and 1 contact on the 30M band.

After just over one hour calling CQ, I was able to get 14 contacts with two P2P.

Some people on the POTA Facebook page have commented on my activation photos that the KH-1 whip antenna is “garbage.” I do not think this is the case.

I have lost count of the number of POTA parks that I have successfully activated using the KH-1 whip antenna. Obviously, I would prefer to get a wire up in a tree when possible instead of using the whip antenna. However, many of the parks that I have activated would not have allowed a wire to be hung in a tree. I like using a very small stealth setup that does not attract much attention. I am always surprised when stations start calling me back.

I have also failed to activate many parks due to current band conditions/choice in whip antenna. But these are the things that make ham radio fun.

Small Success Story:

Before I started the activation, I noticed this sign for Davidson County. I took a picture of it so that I would remember to give credit for specific counties in the Logbook of the World for my hunters.

During the activation, after my second contact on 20M, I started getting QRM from close-by stations. The KH1 doesn’t have great filters, and the QSB from stations fading in/out was starting to get confusing. When I finally realized that a station was calling me, sending very slowly with repeats, I realized this station was asking what county I was located in. I grabbed my phone to look at this picture and sent him “QTH Davidson County” twice. The other station responded back with “RR TU 73..”

I am pretty sure it was one of the two stations I had already finished with who was calling me back. Unfortunately, the band conditions were getting bad. The RBN had not picked me up for a bit, and another POTA station started calling CQ right on top of me. The joys of activating QRP during the current solar conditions.

As you all know, I am a very green op! Anything outside of the canned POTA QSO does get difficult for me to copy. I can run my POTA exchanges at 18–20 WPM, but in order to keep up with a ragchew, I’m operating at about the 10–12 WPM range. So for me to copy a message outside of the canned CW POTA exchange during an activation is a small victory for me on my CW journey.

Since the bands have been in pretty rough shape lately, I have been practicing more CW copying with ARRL QST Bulletins from the W1AW archives. It is an awesome resource for new CW ops like myself. You can listen to parts of QST magazine sent in CW, ranging in speeds as slow as 5 WPM up to 40 WPM. After you listen to the message, you can click on the text file to read/grade yourself on what was sent.

13 WPM Code Archive

I give myself an 80%–90% accuracy score at 13 WPM copy. Unfortunately, my copy accuracy takes a giant nosedive when I go up to the next speed of 15 WPM.

In addition to listening to W1AW, I have been playing a lot of MorseRunner. It is a free program that simulates running a contesting station with or without a simulated pile-up. I have been practicing receiving stations from 18–26 WPM. I enjoy trying to break my previous scores copying international and domestic callsigns.

During my long drives commuting to/from work, I have been using Morse Code Ninja.

Practice · Morse Code Ninja

This has been instrumental in my pursuit of head copy. There are numerous exercises, with hyperlinks to many different speeds. The hyperlinks’ default setting opens YouTube, where you can listen to the sessions.

I recommend doing the bulk downloads. This gives you the option to do a bulk download at your chosen speed to your media player of choice. I have downloaded all of the 20 WPM lessons into my iPhone podcast app for offline use. This allows me to access them without being connected to cell or Wi-Fi. I have been working my way through all of the 20 WPM lessons.

The 5-letter word lesson that I am currently working through is just over 5 hours of riveting CW material! I’m definitely not near the land of head copying, but I’m slowly working my way there!

72 and thanks for hunting!
~ N4MJL

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 →

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 →

Articles, News, People, POTA, Travel

Three Generations of CW Ops: Battleship North Carolina Activation and a Family Legacy

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by Micah (N4MJL)

It’s not every day that I get the chance to do a POTA activation from the radio room of a battleship. But thanks to the Azalea Coast Amateur Radio Club, I was able to do a POTA activation of US-6831 from the radio room of (BB-55) USS North Carolina in Wilmington, NC.

If you would like the chance to be a guest radio operator for the BB-55, check out http://ac4rc.org to set up your activation.

The below-deck self-guided tour takes you through Radio Central. The radio room that the radio club utilizes can be seen from Radio Central; however, it is separated from public access by a clear plexiglass bulkhead door. Because the public can watch from the other side of the glass, be aware that it can be very noisy.

To make things more distracting, there is a loudspeaker in the radio room central playing pre-recorded Morse code for ambiance.

Radio Central is located a couple of floors down in the belly of the iron-armored beast, so be sure to schedule your activation on the POTA page. There is no cell phone reception below decks.

The radio club has an IC-756 Pro III available for use. I am not sure about the status of the other WWII vintage radios. I definitely recommend you bring your own key! They had a Bencher paddle thrown in the filing cabinet; it was not usable due to the contacts being bent way out of position. Fortunately, I brought my BaMakey TP-III key with me. If you are using a 3.5mm stereo plug, make sure to bring a 1/4” plug adapter for use with the IC-756 key/headset jacks.

The radio club has the IC-756 and external tuner hooked up to one of the battleship’s original long wire antennas. During the activation, I only operated on 20M. I did attempt to tune 17m and 15m, but I was unsuccessful in getting a match. However, that may have been operator error on my end since I was unfamiliar with the radio and that particular external tuner.

After a minute or so of calling CQ, the Reverse Beacon Network did its magic, and I was blown away by an insane pileup. I realized that I am used to operating QRP with somewhat compromised antennas. In sheer panic, I started looking to see how to turn the power down from 100 watts to, say, 2 watts!!!!

In that moment, I saw a vision of a seasoned Navy Radio OP sitting beside me. He reached over and smacked me on the back of my head and said, “Listen, kid, you’re not some hippie tree hugger operating QRP on some windswept mountaintop. You are operating from the battleship USS North Carolina. She has participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific area of operation during WWII. Now stand tall, run full power, and work ’em all!”

With that old-school counseling session complete, I began to work the pileup. After being on the air for one hour and fifty-three minutes, I worked 67 stations, with two duplicates and one busted call sign (that I know about). Eventually, no one responded back to my CQ, and I sent “Last call fer POTA de N4MJL” twice. After no one responded to my second message, I quickly sent QRT and started breathing again!!!!!!

In addition to working SA4BLM from Sweden, one of the coolest contacts I got that day was from my dad, AC0UT, located in Missouri.

It’s not every ham that can say that their dad called them using CW while on a battleship.

CW actually runs in my family. I am a third-generation CW op. Continue reading Three Generations of CW Ops: Battleship North Carolina Activation and a Family Legacy →

Accessories, Antennas, Articles, Field Radio Kits, Field Reports, Grab And Go, Guest Posts, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, SOTA, Travel

Flying High and Keying Low: A Pilot’s QRP Adventures Across the USA

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Many thanks to Micah (N4MJL) who shares the following guest post:

Elecraft KH1 Anytime and Anywhere Adventures

by Micah (N4MJL)

Anywhere and anytime—that’s how I like to describe my Elecraft KH1. This radio goes everywhere I go. As an airline pilot, I bounce from coast to coast and everywhere in between almost daily. Since I’m constantly on the move, my radio gear has to be small and compact.

I’m a third-generation ham radio CW operator. Anyone who’s heard me on the air knows I’m still quite new to CW. I only started running CW activations with POTA/SOTA in the spring of 2024. Here’s the gear that’s been working well for me, along with a few photos from the locations I’ve had the pleasure of activating.

I’ve found that the Pelican M50 micro case is the perfect “shack in a box” for my KH1. This setup goes everywhere with me. Here’s what fits perfectly in the M50:

  • Packtenna 9:1 random wire
  • 20 ft BNC coax
  • Panasonic ErgoFit earbuds
  • SP4 paddles from CW Morse
  • KH1 (fully loaded with internal battery and tuner)
  • 30 ft throw line
  • Write-in-the-Rain notebook
  • High Visibility Orange Cap-O-Matic Fisher Space Pen (with lanyard)
  • Desiccant silica gel pack

In pedestrian mobile configuration, the KH1 is a solid system. I’ve done several activations this way. That said, after 45 minutes of holding the KH1 in this setup, I’m ready to wrap up! Having a portable shack that lets me deploy a random wire that tunes 40-15m and a more ergonomically designed key drastically improves my capabilities.

In many urban environments where I activate POTA, pedestrian mobile is essential. Unfortunately, the security in urban parks can be unpredictable, and the KH1 allows me to operate on the go and quickly move if needed.

Some of you may be wondering what I did to the inside of my M50 case. Well, in my defense, it’s my wife’s fault. She left me unsupervised with a glue gun and a bit of alcohol. When my KH1 arrived this spring, solar conditions were poor, so I had a few days to think and decided to turn the case into a makeshift Faraday box. I used Polyken aluminum tape, cardboard, and a glue gun to line it. Now, I know what you’re thinking: there’s no electrical bonding between the lid and lower box due to the rubber seal, so will this really work as a Faraday cage? Maybe, maybe not—but it sure looks cool! What do you think?

In addition to the M50 case, I carry a support pouch (Magpul DAKA, size small). This heavy-duty, water-resistant pouch contains:

  • 31 ft counterpoise wire
  • AXE1 40m antenna extender
  • Bioenno battery 12V 3Ah (backup battery—“1 is none, and 2 is 1” if you know, you know!)
  • KH1 power cable
  • KH1 right-angle antenna mount

These items aren’t essential but are nice to have for longer activations.

When I’m done flying and ready to play radio, I pack all this gear into my Flash 22 day pack. This compact, minimalist pack takes up almost no room in my flight bag and even has a built-in whistle on the chest strap, which is perfect for California!

When conditions allow, I enjoy using the full five watts of power. My go-to antenna is the SOTAbeams Band Hopper III, which is a versatile half-wave linked dipole:

  • Rated 125 watts
  • Center-fed with 33 ft RG174 coax
  • Guying system included
  • Resonant on 20m, 30m, and 40m (no tuner needed, though the KH1 tuner will also tune up 17m and 15m)
  • Built-in balun
  • Weighs only 14 oz

The wire/guying winders are excellent, and I’ve used this system in all kinds of environments, from sandy beaches to mountain tops above the treeline. I replaced the aluminum tent pegs with plastic ones to keep TSA happier.

The SOTAbeams Tactical Mini Mast fits diagonally in my 22″ roller board. I wrap heavy rubber-coated wire around it to secure it to posts or shrubs when needed.

Along with this radio gear, I also manage to pack a change of clothes—usually enough for a five-day trip. I typically fly three trips a month, each lasting four to five days. My roller board carries me and my radio gear from plane to plane all week long.

On a short backpacking trip along the Appalachian Trail (June 3, 2024), I activated SOTA summit W4V/BR-007 Three Ridges and the Three Ridges Wilderness area (POTA US-9959). The mountain in the distance is The Priest (W4V/BR-002), which I activated earlier this year with my LNR Precision MTR4B.

The summit of Three Ridges is a densely wooded area, so I stopped below the summit to enjoy the view, grab a quick snack, and play some radio. I snagged two POTA-only QSOs with W8WZ in Louisiana and KU8T in Indiana using the KH1’s whip antenna. Once I reached the summit, I used the Packtenna 9:1 random wire for my activation. Continue reading Flying High and Keying Low: A Pilot’s QRP Adventures Across the USA →

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

Climbing Grandeur Peak: Micah’s SOTA Adventure in Utah’s Wasatch Range

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Many thanks to Micah (N4MJL) who shares the following guest post:

Activating Grandeur Peak (W7U/NU-065)

by Micah (N4MJL)

Emboldened by my successful activation of W7U/SL-022 (7,500ft MSL) a week earlier, I decided to up my SOTA game and try to activate Grandeur Peak (W7U/NU-065).

Grandeur Peak is located in the Wasatch Range (POTA Entity US-4398) just to the east of Salt Lake City. It is approximately three ridges south of my last weeks SOTA activation. Which you can read about here.

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, that should be true for climbing a mountain right?……

After conducting an area study, I decided to take the “West Ridge Route” it is a short 2.2 mile trail to the top of Grandeur Peak. Some of the comments on the hiker forums described this route as “undoubtedly one of the steepest hikes on the Wasatch Front.” Another commenter said, “this short but brutally-steep hike gains over 3,300ft elevation in a mere 2.2 miles to reach the summit. Adding up to just a 4.4-mile round trip, this is a quick jaunt for the most accomplished climbers.”

Reading in between the lines I deduced that this was a short 2.2 mile jaunt to the top, with a bit of elevation gain. After all, we know how these drama queens…I mean hikers…sometimes embellish hiking stories. Either way, this looked like a good way to stretch my legs after flying almost 8 hours the day before. There was a significantly longer trail with lots of switchbacks and more gentle elevation gain, that I could take, but I’m a millennial and delayed gratification is apparently not a strong suit for me. Looking at the SOTA page for this summit, it had only one QSO logged this year, even though this summit had been activated 14 times since April 2011.

On the morning of 25 August 2024 I got up at 0700 and packed up my REI Flash 22 day pack. I was taking with me a full 2 liter hydration pack along with 2 more 1 liter water bottles (4L water total), along with assorted snacks and electrolyte additives. Based on my last SOTA activation in the area, I decided I should bring some emergency gear just in case. I brought my trusty Surefire EdCL2-t flashlight [QRPer affiliate link], a few raps of duck-tape around a stick of chapstick, a box of matches, and a few feet of toilet paper. After all some things just happen, like the effects of coffee on an empty stomach. Don’t leave without toilet paper.

Since the temperature in Salt Lake City was projected to be around 85F, I decided to bring a flannel shirt and wool cap for the summit. There is virtually no humidity in UT and the temperature at 8,300ft could easily be 15 degrees cooler with possible wind chill. I’m bad enough sending CW without being chilled.

My radio gear consisted of the following:

During my 15 minute Uber ride from the hotel to grandeur Peak West face parking lot my driver was incredulous that anyone of sound mind would ever voluntarily climb such a mountain. He was convinced that I was going to be eaten by mountain lions.

After my first 5 minutes on the trail I started to question whether or not I actually was of sound mind.

After 15 minutes on the trail I began to think that there may have been some truth to what was written on the hiker forums about this trail.

After 30 minute on the trail I was definitely working through the five stages of grief!

1) Denial: how was I sooo stupid to be hiking straight up a mountain
2)Anger: I’m an idiot for NOT listening to those hiker forums
3)Bargaining: if I can just make it ten more feet further I’ll take another selfie
4)Depression: if I don’t get to the top, I won’t have a selfie at the summit and I’ll never get a dopamine rush from public accolades.

Seriously, the first 0.8 mile was brutal. The trail was completely straight up the ridge, and it was all loose gravel with little to no vegetation to stabilize the trail. If I started to slide down, I would be sliding aloooong way down. My plan if I tripped or started to slide was to go flat on my stomach like a star fish In hopes of stopping my down hill slide. I tried to get pictures to show how “brutal” this section of the climb really was. Unfortunately, pictures really don’t do justice.

It’s a 3,346 ft elevation gain in 2.2 miles; what more needs to be said? Looking ahead, I realized that if I could make it a bit further up, the mountain started to look more green indicating some shrubbery. I hoped this meant the trail would stabilize for me. Being young and bullet proof, I pushed on. Continue reading Climbing Grandeur Peak: Micah’s SOTA Adventure in Utah’s Wasatch Range →

Field Reports, Guest Posts, News, Pedestrian Mobile, Portable, POTA, QRP, Travel

24 Hours in San Francisco: Three POTAs in One Activation!

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Many thanks to Micah (N4MJL) who shares the following guest post:

Fort Point (3-Fer POTA activation) San Francisco 1 June 2024

by Micah (N4MJL)

What do you do with 24 hours off in San Francisco? Well, as a card carrying FCC certified nerd, I hit the streets and headed off to Fort Point with my brand new Elecraft KH1 for an afternoon of sightseeing and history.

Fort Point is the only brick fort on the west coast of the United States. Construction on the fort was from 1853-1861. Shortly after completion of Fort Point, the Civil War began. By the end of the Civil War, advances in military technology had rendered the fort less effective.

Cannons were finally removed from the fort in the 1890s. Brick fortifications were simply no match for rifled cannons and iron clad war ships. In the 1930s, the fort was used as a command center, cafeteria, and barracks for the engineers building the Golden Gate bridge.

Leading up to WWII, Fort Point would continue to play a key roll in San Francisco harbor defenses. Durring WWII fort point was a control center for the submarine net across the harbor. In the 1970s Fort Point would finally be officially categorized as a Notional Historical Site (POTA US-0819).

ATTENTION: Full disclosure here!

The sexy photo (above) with my KH1 on the ramparts of the fort, with the American Flag and Golden Gate Bridge in the background was a staged photo.

Yes, I’m sorry, not a single QSO was made from that position. It was simply too loud, too cold, and too distracting to operate from that position. Best of luck to anyone attempting to operating from there.

The vehicle traffic noise, venture affect off the wind, and the constant flow of tourists made it a very difficult spot. Instead I operated on a bench next to the bathrooms outside the walls of the fort but well within the confines of the Historical Park site. The single brick column next to the road in the picture above is the boundary line for operating in Fort Point US-0819. Just to the right of the brick column in the grass area against the hill is the bench (next to the bathrooms) where I operated for all my contacts.

The operating area for Fort Point is rather small and challenging. It gets very busy there. Be prepared to be asked regularly if you are tracking whales are trying to communicate with aliens….. Space aliens to be exact…..

All my contacts for this activation were from hunting park to park on 20m using whip antenna.

With the noisy distracting environment combined with my compromised antenna I did not feel comfortable calling CQ. Instead I focused on hunting parks I could hear very well in hopes they would be able to hear me with my compromised antenna. My first contact was at 1610z and my 10th contact was at 1754z. It was very slow going, but I really wanted to activate Fort Point. Not to mention the fact that Fort Point is a 3-Fer activation.

A 3-fer means that with one activation you get credit for 3 different park activations. Looking at the map above of the San Francisco area you can see that Fort Point US-0819 (#6) falls inside a much larger park entity (#7) Presidio (POTA US-7889). Both Fort Point and Presidio also both are located in an even bigger park entity known as the Golden Gate National Recreational Area GGNRA (POTA US-0647).

Restating what is written in the picture above for easier reading: After six generations, coastal defenses were made obsolete by intercontinental ballistic missiles. The Golden Gate National Recreation Area GGNRA was created largely from surplus coastal defense military reservations.



So much can be said about Presidio of San Francisco (US-7889). It served as a military out post for the Spanish Empire(1776-1821ish), Mexican Republic(1821-1846), and United States Army (1847-1989).

As a pilot, I have to mention Crissy Field. Crissy Field is part of the Presidio park, and played a huge part in the fast development in aviation technology. The first successful dawn to dusk trans con (east coast to west coast) flight landed at Crissy Field June 1924. In addition to military operations, the airfield played a major role for Coast Guard Search & Rescue, AirMail, and Forest Fire Surveillance.

The Presidio is a very large park, that’s offers many stunning views of the area. There are plenty tucked away picnic tables near tall trees that are just begging you to hang a wire antenna.

As an airline pilot, I am in San Francisco often. I am always operating QRP and much of the time I’m having to use a whip antenna due to busy/small operating area. As my CW skills improve I hope to get more of you in my log in some of these hard to activate parks.

PS Don’t quote me on this history stuff. Remember I’m a pilot not a history major, so I’m just kind of winging it.

Until then 72 . .

~ Micah J. LaVanchy

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

Maximizing a Layover: From the cockpit to the summit of W7U/SL-022

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Many thanks to Micah (N4MJL) who shares the following guest post:

Activating W7U/SL-022 on a Layover

by Micah (N4MJL)

As an airline pilot, I’m always on the lookout for POTA/SOTA sites that are near me when I have long layovers in different cities across the country. Salt Lake City, Utah is no exception. I always carry a modest assortment of ham radio gear with me when I travel.

I jumped at the chance to knock out a SOTA and POTA activation when a 23 hour layover showed up on my schedule for Salt Lake City. A month earlier, I was in Salt Lake City on a shorter overnight, and I had scouted out a SOTA activation for W7U/SL-022 which is located just to the east of Salt Lake City inside the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, which happens to be POTA US-4398.

I plotted my route on Gaia GPS–a free app that I highly recommend.

In fact, you can look up my route that I used for this activation.

My route to the summit started at the Natural History Museum of Utah and would be a 5.6 mile one way ruck up to the summit with 2,800+ ft Ascent. I would leave the museum heading towards the Living Room trail head, but then branch off towards Mount Wire.

Mount Wire has an elevation of 7,110ft MSL and provides incredible views of Salt Lake City. Once you make it to the fire tower located at Mount Wire your ascent is almost over. However you still have another 3.1 miles traversing the ridge line before reaching the real summit located at 7,500ft MSL. The activation zone is very easy to determine since it is at the very end of the ridge line.

Sunday morning (11 August 2024) I got up at 0700 and packed up my REI Flash 22 day pack. I was taking with me a full 2 liter hydration pack along with 2 more 1 liter water bottles (4L water total), along with assorted snacks and electrolyte additives.

My radio gear consisted of the following:

I scheduled an action for both SOTA and POTA on their websites. I knew from my previous trip here that I would have cell reception to at least Mount Wire, but I wasn’t taking any chances that I may not have cell reception on the summit. I would be depending on the reverse beacon network to get me spotted.

I also made sure I sent my wife and my captain my planned route, and when I should be back in contact with them. After all, this was going to be a solo 12 mile ish round trip with some modest elevation gain. I am an experienced backpacker, and I am not going to take unnecessary risks without a backup plan.

It was a beautiful day to go hiking. It was forecast to be 93F in Salt Lake City that afternoon. I live in Virginia where the humidity is absolutely gross when it’s 93F, but out here, there is essentially no humidity which makes it very pleasant.

Not to mention up in the mountains it’s typically about 15 degrees cooler. Rucking up the gully, there is some shade on the way up the Living Room trail, but once you get out of the gully heading up to Mount Wire you will be in direct sun for the majority of the ruck.

Mount Wire has amazing 360 view of the area at 7,110ft MSL. The fire watch tower is a favorite location for some “extra curricular activities” from the local college kids. It affords amazing views of the city. The tower also represents the end of the strenuous elevation gain for this hike. The picture above shows the ridge that I will now follow for the next 3.1 miles to the real summit of 7,500ft MSL. Continue reading Maximizing a Layover: From the cockpit to the summit of W7U/SL-022 →