Two weeks in the past, my household and I loved a brief trip in beautiful Beaufort, NC.
Though POTA wasn’t the main focus of this journey—household time was—I managed to squeeze in two great moveable activations.
The primary was a pedestrian cell activation on Cape Lookout Nationwide Seashore. It was merely magical. I’ve at all times wished to attempt a pedestrian cell activation with my antenna counterpoise dangling in saltwater, so this was a primary for me.
The second activation occurred the next day, on Wednesday, December 18, 2024.
That morning, I had an activation website in thoughts however didn’t wish to set something in stone. I wished my spouse and daughters to take pleasure in their day doing no matter they wished.
After all, as we walked out the door, I introduced alongside my EDC backpack, which contained my Elecraft KH1 and KX2 compact subject kits—simply in case!
Our first cease was the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. Whereas we’ve visited the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher quite a few instances, this was our first journey to Pine Knoll Shores, and we had been glad we went!
The aquarium was lovely, with a powerful quantity of variety.
Better of all, because it was low season, we virtually had the place to ourselves, save for one faculty group.
Curiously, the aquarium is positioned inside a POTA website: Theodore Roosevelt State Conservation Space (US-3868). The conservation space will be accessed through a footpath that winds by way of the encircling woodlands and marshes.
Whereas I briefly thought-about activating there, I knew we solely had time for one activation that day, and I had one other website in thoughts!
We devised a plan: I dropped off my spouse and one among my daughters at a big thrift retailer (my spouse loves thrift buying), whereas my different daughter, Neva, Hazel (our canine), and I drove eight minutes to the primary Fort Macon State Park seaside entry level.
Fort Macon State Park is an actual gem on North Carolina’s Crystal Coast. It’s bought slightly little bit of every thing—beautiful seashores, a historic Civil Conflict-era fort, and loads of spots to benefit from the outside. The seashores are good for strolling, looking for seashells, or simply soaking within the ocean views, whereas the fort itself is filled with historical past and attention-grabbing displays. It’s additionally an incredible spot for birdwatching or fishing if that’s your factor.
I had scouted out the seaside entry parking zone earlier and found a picnic shelter that supplied a much-needed wind break for the blustery day.
The purpose? To be gone now not than one hour. Factoring within the 16-18 minutes of driving (spherical journey), that left me about 40 minutes to deploy my station, full the activation, pack up, and return.
Each time I devise a plan to finish an activation inside a set period of time, I get a little bit of a thrill. It jogs my memory of Darren McGavin’s character, the daddy in A Christmas Story. When the automotive’s tire blows out, he doesn’t see it as an inconvenience; he sees it as a problem and instances himself changing the tire.
Like “The Outdated Man” Parker, I get a kick out of timing myself throughout activations. I can virtually hear Jean Shepherd narrating my efforts!
Since I used the KH1 yesterday at Cape Lookout, I made a decision to deploy my Elecraft KX2 at Fort Macon.
Once more, I’d already scouted the picnic shelter throughout a quick go to our first night in Beaufort. It was in a fenced space surrounded by protected dunes, with no pure antenna helps like bushes or brush. Since I had packed gentle with simply my EDC backpack, I didn’t have my carbon fiber mast or a self-supporting vertical like my MC-750.
Prior to now, I’ve been recognized to easily cling a random wire antenna over the roof trusses of a picnic shelter, and it has labored fairly effectively in a pinch. Whereas this was actually an possibility, I additionally knew from expertise that threading the antenna by way of the trusses is usually a bit finicky and time-consuming.
There was no must fiddle with a wire antenna once I had my uber-portable Elecraft AX1 antenna within the KX2 subject equipment case.
Establishing the KX2 and AX1 takes two minutes at an off-the-cuff tempo. If I’m in a rush, I can get them paired and able to function in underneath a minute. With the gear prepared, it was time to see if propagation would cooperate!
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Humorous sufficient, as I began my activation, Neva took Hazel for a stroll on the seaside. Nonetheless, Hazel had different plans—she placed on her brakes and refused to enterprise far. She insisted on staying with me on the shelter, so Neva tied her leash close by and went off on her personal gusty seaside stroll.
I began on 17 meters, the place propagation was glorious.
In simply 10 minutes, I logged 9 stations. Whereas I may have stayed longer to achieve a tenth, I used to be keen to check the AX1 on 10 meters.
The AX1 is optimized for 20, 17, and 15 meters, however with the KX2’s ATU, I can normally get a suitable match on 12 and 10 meters. On 10 meters, I achieved a 2:1 to 2.5:1 SWR—a manageable vary for the KX2 at 5 watts.
I used to be thrilled to log two stations there (thanks N7CCD and AI5DD!).
Subsequent, I switched to fifteen meters and labored 4 extra stations, together with N7CCD once more. In whole, I logged 15 hunters throughout three bands. Not dangerous for five watts and an AX1!
It was time to pack up and head out!
Right here’s what this five-watt activation seemed like when plotted out on a QSO Map. For enjoyable, I added within the distance in miles to every hunter (click on picture to enlarge):
Right here’s my real-time, real-life video of the whole 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 advertisements earlier than and after my movies.
Notice that Patreon supporters can watch and even obtain this video 100% ad-free by way of Vimeo on my Patreon web page:
Click on right here to view on YouTube.
From dropping off my spouse and daughter to finishing the activation and choosing them up—I managed all of it inside one hour. Woo hoo!
On prime of that, I discovered the activation to be extremely enjoyable.
I’m sure that if I had carried out the activation on 20 meters, I’d have labored extra stations and certain stayed on that band because of the excessive exercise. Then once more, my buddy Mike (K8RAT) famous after the activation that 20 meters was in rougher form than the upper bands I selected.
Admittedly, I take pleasure in utilizing the upper bands when propagation permits, and this time was no exception—it was a blast!
My solely remorse was not having time to correctly discover the precise fort website and customer’s middle. No worries, although, as I believe we’ll be again to the Crystal Coast, for a for much longer keep, within the not-so-distant future!
Thanks for becoming a member of me throughout this coastal QRP activation!
I hope you loved the sphere report and my activation video as a lot as I loved creating them!
After all, I’d additionally prefer to ship a particular because of these of you who’ve been supporting the positioning and channel by way of Patreon, and the Espresso Fund. Whereas not a requirement, as my content material will at all times be free, I actually respect the help.
As I discussed earlier than, the Patreon platform related to Vimeo makes it attainable 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 information.
Thanks for spending a part of your day with me!
Right here’s wishing you and yours an exquisite, glad New 12 months!
Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)
