by Teri (KO4WFP)
Sunday, July 14 lastly arrived, a day for which I ready the previous 5 weeks. It was time for Daisy and the POTA Babe to go to North Carolina for per week of POTA, SOTA, and tenting. The drive was straight-forward and straightforward – Interstate 95 to Interstate 26.
About 4 hours after leaving Savannah, we arrived at my first POTA location: the Carl Sandburg Nationwide Historic Web site (US-0804) in Flat Rock, NC.
I LOVE visiting North Carolina. Practically in all places you look you within the countryside you see inexperienced, inexperienced, GREEN. There are ferns (considered one of my favourite crops) within the understory. There are wildflowers within the fields I don’t see again dwelling. There’s a sure earthy scent when one walks trails. And the roads! Don’t get me began on how a lot enjoyable I’ve driving the winding mountain roads with their banked curves! (Are you able to inform I really like visiting North Carolina?)
Again to the story at hand, the Carl Sandburg Nationwide Historic Web site is 264 acres and incorporates the house of Carl Sandburg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and poet. He and his household moved to the positioning in 1945. It suited his want for seclusion and his spouse’s wants for elevating her prize-winning goats. In truth, the park service truly maintains roughly fifteen goats in a historic herd on website at the moment.
The Sandburg dwelling sits atop a hill and one will get glimpses of the home as you stroll alongside the prolonged driveway winding up the hill towards it. The drive is shaded and benches dot the pathway beckoning one to take a seat and benefit from the quiet. I longingly checked out them as an activation website however the intermittent presence of pedestrians nixed that concept.
Each Daisy and I had been shocked by the warmth of the day. The temperature was 91 levels! Fortunately, exterior the home I spied some bushes with shade beneath them. Their orientation would permit me to run my antenna towards the northwest and their shade was a welcome respite from the warmth.
Given I noticed no restrictions on antennas within the bushes when studying the foundations of utilizing the property, I promptly set about getting the EFRW up. Belief this interest to maintain you humble, although. On my final activation at Tuckahoe Wildlife Administration Space, it took only one excellent throw to snag the department I wished. Immediately, it took 4! Some days you’ve gotten it and others you don’t.
The activation proceeded slowly, I believe largely because of the inconsistent band situations. It took an hour to log twelve stations. There have been a number of stations I heard however they had been too faint or they disappeared on me.
The majority of the QSOs had been on 20 meters with an extra one every on 30 meters and 17 meters. As I had cell service at this park, I did hunt different activators however the one station with which I may have a QSO was Joe K5KUA in Texas at park US-3030.
Given we had but to test in at our campsite and arrange our tent, it was time to name QRT regardless of solely having 12 QSOs. It will have been good to tour the home however canine are usually not allowed inside, so Daisy and I contented ourselves with having fun with the grounds.
Once I solicited enter from QRPer readers as to the place to go to in North Carolina and Virginia, Keith W4WKS beneficial I keep on the Davidson River Campground contained in the Pisgah Nationwide Forest.
The campground was simple to search out (simply exterior Brevard, NC) and my website clear and conveniently situated close to the bathhouse. Daisy relaxed beneath the brand new Ruffwear hitch system whereas I arrange our tent and made supper for each of us.
Whew! Between the drive, the warmth of the afternoon activation, and the exercise of the previous week preparing for the journey, this POTA Babe was bushed on the finish of the day. Nevertheless, not too bushed to cease for ice cream at Dolly’s Dairy Bar in Brevard. (Doesn’t that look delicious?!) Now whupped AND sated, I recharged my KX2 and wound down for the night time.
Monday, July 15 could be an enormous day for me with my first SOTA activations. I had a tough concept of what to do however frightened I’d journey throughout myself truly doing it.
Ham radio is experiential, although. You possibly can learn and analysis all you need; in some unspecified time in the future, you simply must step as much as the plate and do it. Will my first SOTA activations be good, dangerous, or ugly? Keep tuned…
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