Many due to Matt (W6CSN) who shares the next publish from his weblog at W6CSN.weblog:
The Journey you get shouldn’t be all the time the journey you count on. Just lately I’ve been plotting a singular activation of the De Anza Nationwide Historic Path, however that specific POTA activation goes to wish a superb antenna and simply as importantly, time.
This present day afforded a couple of hours within the morning for out of doors radio however not sufficient to retrace the steps of the De Anza expedition. As an alternative, I headed all the way down to the San Francisco Bay facet for a fast out of doors beginner radio session.
Because it was was a Saturday, my typical spot at Presidio East Seashore was closely impacted by weekend recreation fans, so I continued for 1 / 4 mile to the virtually empty car parking zone east of the St. Francis Yacht Membership.
Thence on foot previous the outdated stone gentle tower and the clubhouse of the Golden Gate Yacht Membership, you end up of the trail to the tip of the breakwater the place a singular artwork set up sits.
The Wave Organ is a curious sculpture that makes use of tubes and cavities between outdated cemetery stones to channel and amplify the watery sounds of waves because the tides transfer out and in of the Bay.
Surrounded by saltwater on the finish of this jetty, which by my reckoning is throughout the boundary of the Golden Gate Nationwide Recreation Space (US-0647), this location was good for the “no impression” operation afforded by the Elecraft KH1.
My plan was to see if I might full an activation of constructing 10 contacts totally by looking different POTA activators, completely affordable given it was a weekend with no geomagnetic storms to disrupt radio propagation.
What I didn’t depend on was that it was a contest weekend with each 20 and 15 meters wall-to-wall with fast hearth contesters. As a QRP station, discovering the POTA needles in that haystack was going to be robust.
I retreated to 17 meters which ought to provide good daytime propagation and no contesters. There on 18 MHz, I used to be was capable of accumulate 5 park-to-park contacts in a span of 23 minutes.
At that time I’d exhausted all the 17m energetic CW stations on the POTA spots web page and didn’t actually have time to attend for extra to indicate up. Subsequently the “all looking” activation technique was deserted and I commenced calling “CQ POTA.”
The activation was “validated” with a name from Dave, AA7EE because the tenth QSO after which accomplished with yet another park hunted, K9DXA in US-1001. Many of the contacts have been with stations east of the Rockies.
One factor I discovered from earlier outings with the KH1 was to not lower the log sheets too small, as could be urged by the traces printed on the web page. With out sufficient paper underneath the highest and backside tabs of the logging tray the sheets can simply be caught and snatched away by the wind.
Depart sufficient margin on the logging sheets and they’re simply secured within the tray, even within the face of brisk Bay breezes.
The “looking solely” activation plan didn’t fairly work out nevertheless it was a good time out taking part in radio at scenic spot in San Francisco Bay.
Whereas I didn’t count on to activate from the wave organ at the moment, it turned out to be a enjoyable journey and a very good spot from which to get on the air with the KH1.
73 de W6CSN
