Somedays, I simply want a bit of POTA and radio-active remedy to energise the day. And this was a kind of days.
On Thursday, July 18, 2024, I awakened nonetheless feeling fairly drained as a result of I had been out the whole day earlier than serving to my sister with a transfer–my spouse and I didn’t get again residence till midnight.
I used to be exhausted!
That Thursday, although, I nonetheless wanted to hit the highway once more pretty early to assist my sister along with her residence closing after which carry my dad residence (lastly) from the expert nursing facility the place he’d spent the earlier 2.5 months!
It was an enormous day, and I used to be feeling fairly low on the power reserves even after the morning espresso. We’ve all been there, proper?
I didn’t assume I might have time to slot in a POTA activation, however my father’s nursing facility contacted me and requested if I may decide him up after lunch as an alternative of earlier than. Unexpectedly, I had a two-hour chunk of time, so, in fact, I used to be going to get radio-active!
Happily, I had my GoRuck GR1 within the automobile, after my journey to the NC coast, full of the KX2 and some antenna choices!
Trying on the time, I knew Tuttle Academic State Forest could be my finest guess for a fast activation. Accounting for journey time and lunch, I might have a few one-hour window to function.
I arrived at Tuttle and wasn’t shocked to search out the place practically empty. Tuttle caters to highschool teams, and since colleges had been nonetheless in summer time break, I didn’t anticipate to see any college buses or massive teams.
My plan was to aim this activation utilizing the AX1 antenna–simply to maintain issues easy.
I selected a picnic desk within the shade and arrange my gear briefly order!
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I hopped on the air hoping that propagation wouldn’t be too tough, however seems, it was not within the biggest of form. Anybody lively in POTA these days is aware of this battle!
Utilizing the AX1 for a number of minutes, the one contact I made was Evan (K2EJT)–thanks, Evan!–so I made a decision to shortly deploy my PackTenna 20M EFHW very similar to I did the earlier week at Brunswick City/Fort Anderson State Historic Web site.
Deploying the PackTenna took the higher a part of three minutes.
Again on the air, I began accumulating extra hunters. The tempo wasn’t fast, however the EFHW appeared to be doing the trick.
I added 5 extra to the log over the course of about 9 minutes.
I then observed that my buddy, Mike (N7CCD), was activating Quakertown on Brookville Lake State Recreation Space (US-4161) in Indiana. He was on 40 meters, which I felt was seemingly doable, so I QSYed to his frequency.
Observe {that a} 20M EFHW is just resonant on 20, 15, and 10 meters. To work Mike on 40 meters, I needed to take the KX2 inside ATU out of bypass mode and use it to discover a match on 40 meters, which it did with ease.
I used to be stoked to work N7CCD Park-to-Park. Usually, he’s in Washington State which makes it far more difficult.
Subsequent, I moved again as much as the 20-meter band and hunted extra parks earlier than calling CQ POTA once more for some time.
In the long run, between searching and calling CQ, I logged 15 contacts over 47 minutes.
QSO Map
Right here’s what this five-watt activation appeared like (noting that N7CCD was really in IN as an alternative of WA) when plotted out on a QSO Map:
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 components 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.
Observe that Patreon supporters can watch and even obtain this video 100% ad-free by Vimeo on my Patreon web page:
Click on right here to view on YouTube.
By the top of the activation, I had far more power than I did getting into. Getting outdoor and working–even when propagation is unstable–actually does raise the spirits.
Put up-activation, I grabbed a fast curried hen salad wrap at Meals Issues in Morganton and made my solution to the expert nursing facility to maneuver my father again residence.
He was so joyful to be again residence, and I used to be joyful to see him settling again into his routine and in a lot better form than he was three months earlier than.
I spent the afternoon with my dad till my sister arrived residence, then made my method again to the mountains to eat dinner, watch a bit of Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds with the household, then hit the sack a bit of sooner than common!
All in all, a superb day with a superb ending!
Thanks for becoming a member of me throughout this activation!
I hope you loved the sphere report and my activation video as a lot as I loved creating them! Thanks for following alongside on my radio journey.
In fact, I’d additionally prefer to ship a particular because of these of you who’ve been supporting the location and channel by Patreon, and the Espresso Fund. Whereas not a requirement, as my content material will at all times be free, I actually admire the assist.
As I discussed earlier than, the Patreon platform linked to Vimeo makes it attainable for me to share movies that aren’t solely 100% ad-free but additionally 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! Have a superb week!
Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)
