Many thanks to Rich (KQ9L) for sharing the following field report:
Activating K-7839 with lessons learned from my last portable POTA activation
by Rich (KQ9L)
Here in Chicago, we have been blessed with unseasonably warm weather these past two days. I decided to build on my last successful POTA activation and apply some of the lessons I learned from that activation while working this one.
Close to my home is Park K-7839, the Santa Fe Prairie State Nature Preserve (K-7839) in Cook County, IL.
The preserve was established in 1997 and is staffed and maintained solely by volunteers. The park’s mission is to preserve a section of land for people to observe and admire the natural Illinois Prairie Landscape before it was altered by man.
The park itself is a thin sliver of land west of Chicago and is boarded by the Des Plaines River to the south and the rail yard / industrial park on the other there sides. If you look carefully in the second picture below, you can see some Sante Fe trains in the distance.
The park is easy to reach by car and right off the main park road are several picnic tables which I’m sure a ham in a wheel chair can easily access.
There are a number of features of the park which facilitate a POTA activation.
For example, in the picnic area, a Boy Scout Eagle Scout project resulted in the building of a 22ft flagpole. The flags are long gone, but the sturdy pole has been made available to hams for the hoisting of antennas. There are pulleys and easy tie down points to erect and inverted vee antenna.
To the east most section of the park is a lookout deck and at the east and west of the deck are trees with pulleys and lines permanently mounted. I’ve been told by the staff that the distance between the trees is a perfect fit for a 20m dipole. Continue reading Rich activates the very POTA-friendly Santa Fe Prairie State Nature Preserve (K-7839)