I just spent four of the last seven days operating Parks on the Air (POTA). I did some roving for the first time, operated old and new parks, and just generally had a blast.
Rover Rhino
Thom, W8TAM, has been a great friend of mine since he took my General Class course years ago. He’s one of those guys that just does things. When the ARRL began the National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) program in 2016, he, and his wife, Julie, WT8J, jumped in with both feet. When the ARRL dropped the ball after the year was over, Thom was one of the hams that picked it up and set up the Parks on the Air program. He’s now in charge of developing the software that runs POTA.
We had been trying to arrange a joint POTA operation for quite a while, but the stars never seem to align. Week before last, though, I suggested that we do it on Monday, and as luck would have it, Thom had the day off. The operation was on!
Little did I know what I had in store for me. Thom had arranged a 10-park rove, including the following parks:
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I did all the operating from the front seat of Thom’s Chevrolet Traverse. He’s turned this car into a true “POTAmobile.” It’s perfect for roving. As you can see from the photo above, he has mounted an IC-7300 in the console, which is powered by a second battery that he’s installed in the vehicle. The antenna is a screwdriver antenna mounted on the front bumper.
The key I’m using is the American Morse Equipment Ultra Porta Paddle. As you can see in the photo, I’m holding it in my left hand and operating it with my right hand. At first, I thought it was going to be kind of awkward, but I got the hang of it right away. Of course, I was only operating at 18 wpm.
Here’s how a typical activation goes. Thom would roll into a park, park the car, hit the tune button to tune the antenna, and then I’d start sending CQ. Thom took care of spotting me. Depending on band conditions, a legal activation could take less than 15 minutes!
One of the keys to making enough contacts in such a short period of time is that Thom and I would make four contacts with each other at each stop. To accomplish this feat, Thom brought along two four-band VX-7Rs. They were programmed for the 6-meter, 2-meter, 1.25-meter, and 70 cm band simplex frequencies. Cycling through all four bands took less than a minute.
We made seven stops in all, with one of the stops actually counting for four parks. Don’t ask me how, but Thom assures me that it’s all on the up and up. We left my house at 8:30 am and returned about 2:45 pm.
This little excursion earned me the Rhino Rover award. See below. Thanks, Thom!
Phone fun
Tuesday’s activation couldn’t have been more different. That morning, Paul, KW1L, and I headed back to K-3315.
We intended to use our normal setup, my doublet antenna and either the Elecraft KX3 or the Xiegu X6100. As soon as we got out of the car, though, I knew that I had forgotten something, namely the fiberglas mast that we use to raise the antenna.Fortunately, we were able to find a nail, sticking out of the pavilion roof’s flashing to hang the antenna from. The center of the antenna was up in the air less than 10 feet, but we figured that we’d be able to make a few contacts at least.
Paul wanted to try out the X6100 on phone, so I brought along the microphone. We connected the radio to my battery, allowing us to run 10 W. Even so, I was leery that we’d be all that successful. Thanks to good band conditions, however, this setup worked surprisingly well. We were able to make 14 SSB contacts in just a little over an hour.
One memorable contact was with a fellow in Virginia. He had a great signal into Michigan, and he gave us a respectable 57 report. I tend to be a bit chatty on phone, and since we’d already made ten contacts, I exchanged some pleasantries with the fellow.
After signing with him, I went back to calling CQ, only to have him give us another call a couple minutes later. He said, “Hey, Dan. Sorry for the interruption, but I knew I recognized your name and call sign from somewhere. I listen to you on the ICQPodcast!” I replied that it was no interruption at all, and that we love to hear from listeners. I also mentioned that I’m always surprised when people tell me that they love to listen to us babble on the podcast.
At the lake
Thursday’s outing took Silvia and I to Seven Lakes State Park, K-1573. That morning, we had driven up to the Great Lakes National Cemetery to pay our respects to Silvia’s parents, who are buried there. On the way home, we stopped at the park. We also stopped for lunch on the way, so I didn’t get all set up until 12:30 pm.
It’s a beautiful park, as you can see from the photo above, and the weather was just perfect. The bands were in pretty good shape, too.
This time, I started out on 20 meters, and after making ten contacts decided to try 17 meters. After making three contacts on 17, I decided to give 15 meters a try.
My first contact on 15 meters was with DL1AX. All told, I made eight contacts on 15 meters, including another DX contact, ON4VT. The signals were good and strong that afternoon.
Discovering Waterloo
This morning, Silvia and I headed back to the Waterloo Recreation Area, K-3331. This spot was a lot different from the spot that Thom and I had activated Monday. This only makes sense, as the 20,000-acre Waterloo Recreation Area is the largest state park in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.
I set up in a pavilion near the Eddy Discovery Center. As the park’s website notes, “The Gerald Eddy Discovery Center introduces visitors to the fascinating world of geology and to the diverse natural habitats found within Waterloo.” It’s a pretty interesting place in its own right. This area is heavily wooded, as you can see from the photo below.
I made 21 contacts this morning, including some on 40 meters and 20 meters. I was going to try 15 meters, but I didn’t see any 15 meter spots on pota.app, and the band didn’t sound all that great.
One thing that I took away from this week’s activations is that you can enjoy POTA however you see fit. If you’re more competitive, you can do what Thom and I did on Monday and activate as many parks as you can in as short a period of time as possible. If you’re more laid back, you can fool around with antennas and different modes, as Paul and I did on Tuesday. If you just want to enjoy some time in a park with a loved one as I did on Thursday and today with Silvia, you can do that, too. It’s all good.