One of the things that makes Parks on the Air (POTA) so successful is the way that they use their database to keep folks involved. It’s very easy for activators to upload their logs, and once uploaded, the website takes it from there, generating myriad awards for participants. There are awards for all kinds of things including activating or hunting early in the day (Early Shift) and later in the day (Late Shifter). There are “rover” awards for operators who like to operated from many different parks and “repeat offender” awards for those that tend to operate from a single park or a small handful of parks.
And, if you’re a repeat offender—which I tend to be—there are awards for making at least 1,000 contacts from a particular park. They call these the “Kilo” awards. Earlier this year—June 20, to be exact—I earned my first kilo at Island Lake State Recreation Area, US-3315. Today, I earned my second at the Pinckney State Recreation Areas, US-3322.
I worked fairly hard to do this. Since June 20, when I completed my first kilo, I activated US-3322 14 times, making a total of 667 contacts, almost all of them on CW. My most productive activation was 82 contacts on August 2. My least productive activation was 11 contacts on August 17.
This activation was a short one because of the weather. Just after I made the seventh contact, it started to sprinkle. Thinking that it might blow over, my wife handed me an umbrella (see above). Just as I made the ninth contact, however, it started to pour. I was just able to squeeze in two more contacts before I decide the best course of action would be to shut everything down before it was drenched.
My 51 contacts today put me over the top.
What’s next?
Now that I’ve made it to 1,000 at two parks, I’m pondering what I should do next. I could go for 2,000 at US-3315 or US-3322. US-3322 is really a pleasant place to operate.
I could also expand my park selection. There are several nice parks that are only a little further away than Island Lake or Pinckney. I have, for example, 52 contacts from Waterloo State Recreation Area, US-3331, and Maybury State Park, US-1518, is purported to be a nice place to operate from.
Something else that I’m working on is coming up with some new gear for POTA. I’m currently working on building a QRP Labs’ QMX transceiver kit. Last night, I managed to wind and install the first toroid, T501 (see below). Only 10 more to go!
I’m also going to have to purchase or assemble a tuner to go along with the radio. Maybe once I get it all built, I can start on my first 1,000 using only gear that I’ve built. Maybe I could suggest that POTA add an award for making so many contacts with homebrew or kit rigs.