Tuesday, July 9, 2024, was a really radio-active day!
I used to be in Wilmington, North Carolina, and that morning, I had the privilege of activating the Battleship North Carolina from contained in the battleship. Click on right here to learn the sector report and watch the video.
Briefly? It was wonderful and definitely a superb technique to begin the day.
We had been in Wilmington as a result of one in every of my daughters was attending a week-long program at NC State College, and the opposite was attending the same program at UNC Wilmington.
That Tuesday afternoon, after dropping my daughter off on the campus of UNC Wilmington, my spouse advised we hit Carolina Seaside State Park for a POTA activation. It didn’t take me a microsecond to comply with that plan!
Carolina Seaside State Park, positioned simply south of Wilmington, is a novel spot filled with pure wonders. The park covers over 760 acres of Pleasure Island, with various habitats starting from the spectacular 50-foot Sugarloaf Dune (which was once used as a navigational support) to the fascinating limesink ponds, every with its personal particular plant group.
The park can be residence to the Venus flytrap, a uncommon carnivorous plant discovered solely in a small a part of the Carolinas. You’ll be able to discover the park’s trails, winding by means of maritime forests and perhaps even catching a glimpse of those fascinating crops in motion. The park additionally has a marina for simple entry to the Cape Concern River and the Intracoastal Waterway, making it an important spot for boating and fishing.
We arrived on the park just a little earlier than 4:00 PM native time. Had it not been so scorching and humid, we might have hit one of many park’s trails earlier than discovering a spot to do POTA, however the climate being what it was, each of us had been blissful to spend time within the shade.
We pulled into the primary picnic space and rapidly discovered a spot to arrange. As I pulled out my radio and digicam gear, my spouse, Heather, pulled out her journey watercolor package, all packed in a Tom Bihn HLT1 (we’re a pack geek household!).
When Heather joins me on POTA activations, she nearly at all times units up someplace and paints whereas I activate. I really like the truth that we each benefit from the expertise in several methods.
In reality, my buddy Steve (KC5F), who can be an avid POTA activator, performs nearly all of his activations together with his spouse, who additionally paints whereas he prompts. He advised me that she likes a very good couple of hours of portray, so he sometimes racks up a number of contacts in that period of time.
The very first thing I did was arrange my Thermacell mosquito repeller–it wants a couple of minutes to do its factor and filter out the mozzies. The mannequin I carry, the “backpacker,” matches a typical backpacking range canister. I’ve really helpful this one to many different POTA ops who function in areas with mosquitoes–to this point, it’s by no means let me down!
Additionally, I wish to ship an enormous shout-out to Alanna (K4AAC) and Bob (K4RLC) for making this activation even extra civilized.
After watching an activation earlier this 12 months at Tuttle Instructional State Forest, the place I positioned my KX2 and logbook on a moist and soiled picnic desk–coated in pollen and different tree bits–Alanna ordered a blue Gingham picnic tablecloth and whisk and had it despatched to me.
I’ve had this tablecloth packed within the go-box I hold within the Subaru, and this activation was the right time to place it to make use of as a result of the desk I selected wanted cleansing!
Thanks, Bob and Alanna!
Subsequent, I deployed my PackTenna 9:1 Finish-Fed Random Wire antenna and paired it with my Elecraft KX2.
I did (lastly) get to check out a brand new piece of package within the area: a newly-designed paddle mount from Steve (KB3SII) at QRPworks.
Steve handed this prototype mount to me at Hamvention this 12 months. It’s an up to date design of 1 we examined final 12 months.
You principally connect the mount to the entrance of the KX2 (or KX3) and place a paddle just like the Bamakey TP-III that has robust uncommon earth magnets. The paddle locks onto the steel pad and makes for a rock-solid, ergonomic keying expertise.
Steve additionally despatched me two quick 3.5mm angled cords to attach the important thing to the radio, however I forgot to pack them for the journey. My commonplace paddle cable labored positive, though I needed to angle the TP-III barely.
Notice that Steve plans to have these paddle mounts in manufacturing and obtainable on the QRPworks web site within the coming weeks. After they’re obtainable, I’ll put up a direct hyperlink.
With the KX2 arrange and able to go, it was time to hit the air!
Gear
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I began calling CQ POTA on 17M and found that it was a reasonably quiet band. Nonetheless, I labored two stations in about six minutes. Secretly, I hoped there is likely to be a 17M path into Europe, however then once more, it was a bit late within the day for that (and it appeared 17M wasn’t terribly energized).
I then moved to the 20 meter band and labored seven stations in about 13 minutes. Not unhealthy in any respect. That introduced my complete as much as 9 hunters logged.
Subsequent, I moved to the 30 meter band and it was in glorious form.
I labored a complete of fifteen stations on 30M in about seventeen minutes, bringing my complete as much as 24 stations logged.
Heather was nonetheless engaged on her portray, so I made a decision to hunt on the 20 meter band earlier than packing up. Inside ten minutes I snagged one park-to-park with W3PYF for a grand complete of 25 contacts logged.
Right here’s what this five-watt activation seemed like when plotted out on a QSO Map:
Right here’s my real-time, real-life video of your complete activation. As with all of my movies, I don’t edit out any elements of the on-air activation time. As well as, I’ve monetization turned off on YouTube, though that doesn’t cease them from inserting adverts earlier than and after my movies.
Notice that Patreon supporters can watch and even obtain this video 100% ad-free by means of Vimeo on my Patreon web page:
Click on right here to view on YouTube.
Our week in Wilmington was flanked by a number of household exercise: serving to my sister with a transfer, promoting her home, and transferring my father again residence after a few months in a talented nursing facility. We had been busy up-to-the-minute of loading the automotive and heading to the coast, and busy instantly after returning late on July sixteenth .
We actually felt like we had been shoe-horning our journey into the month of July, however my daughters’ residential applications at NCSU and UNCW, adopted by two college excursions (Duke and UNC), had been set in stone, so there was no pushing off this journey.
This was a very good factor: our time in Wilmington was a welcome respite. It gave my spouse and I an opportunity to calm down and revel in life a bit earlier than the hustle and bustle began up once more.
Oh, and the QRPworks paddle mount? Yeah, I adore it. Once more, my mannequin is a real prototype, so some slight design enhancements could possibly be carried out previous to its launch, however I really feel prefer it’s a winner for certain. If you connect a paddle mount to the KX2 or KX3, it make for a really steady base to pound the brass.
Thanks for becoming a member of me on this NC coast activation!
I hope you loved the sector report and my activation video as a lot as I loved creating them!
After all, I’d additionally prefer to ship a particular due to these of you who’ve been supporting the positioning and channel by means of Patreon, and the Espresso Fund. Whereas not a requirement, as my content material will at all times be free, I actually admire the help.
As I discussed earlier than, the Patreon platform linked to Vimeo makes it doable for me to share movies that aren’t solely 100% ad-free but in addition downloadable for offline viewing. The Vimeo account additionally serves as a 3rd backup for my video recordsdata.
Thanks for spending a part of your day with me! Have an excellent weekend!
Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)
