The First 100 Years Are The Hardest

Received the Platinum Activator Certificate today after activating US-3001 Copper Breaks State Park in North (West) Texas.   60 activations, 40 unique parks, and looking forward to many more.   This was the third activation that I took my dad on.  He listened to a few CW QSOs, then asked if we could switch over to voice mode so that he could record the convo!   There’s a lot of history in each location, and a lot of learning if you stop to look.  We make an effort to go into the visitor center to learn a little bit about the park and its history.  We visited with the park ranger during the registration.  The ranger was super nice- when she saw my Texas State Park Pass, she asked “POTA, huh?”  Turns out her husband is also a ham and president of the local amateur radio club and does his share of activations! 73,  Chris de WX7V.

I travelled to Salt Lake City for a strategy and planning session in July and was able to spend the afternoons exploring all that Utah has to offer - which includes more than 654 State and National Parks registered thru POTA!  The elevations ranged from 4700ft to 6200 ft.  Solar flux (SFI) each day was above 200 which helped the QRP signals immensely,  even with the compromise AX-1 antenna. 81 contacts made at 4 parks over the past 5 days, all CW and with QRP from my Elecraft KX3: US-5926 Fort Douglas National Historical Park: Established in October 1862 to protect the overland mail services and telegraph lines as part of the Central Overland  Route.  Also served as an internment camp for both World Wars.  The fort was transferred to the University of Utah who maintains the properties and historic buildings. US-3080 Jordanelle State Park created in 1993 with completion of the Jordanelle Dam which resulted in the submergence of the towns of Keetley , Hailsto...

Combined the traditional summer family vacation with portable radio operations,  this year in Broken Bow Oklahoma.   Made 130 FD contacts on Saturday and Sunday, and another 26 at a second park on Monday before heading home.    On Saturday,  I dropped the family off to hike and swim near Broken Bow lake while I spent an hour to activate US-2771 Beavers Bend Resort State Park.   Combined the POTA activation with annual field day activity using 1B - OK class and section.  Only got 22 contacts SSB in an hour even tho the bands were so full!    Sunday,  used the Maestro-C to operate my remote station in NTX section to continue Field Day.  Mostly CW on Sunday,  and the battery in the Maestro worked great - was still at 25% Sunday evening since charging it Friday morning.  130 total contacts logged for Field Day. Monday,  got up early to activate one more park north of the cabin - US-6367 McCurtain Wildlife Management Area ...

On June 8th I was able to combine a grand opening of the newest  CUTX branch in East Texas with a park activation.     Paris is a neat town with its own version of the Eiffel Tower.  Paris is also home to the Main Trading Company (MTC). US-6600 Sam Bell Maxey House State Historic Site in Paris Texas.  Nice place to visit but noise floor was s9 so thank you to the operators were able to break thru the noise. I used  Ham2K PoLo for the first time and old man am I impressed!   Very easy and intuitive to use on my phone.  Lots of neat features designed with the activator in mind.    13 QSOs in 56 minutes.   Yeasu FT-857D.  ATAs-120a antenna at 100w.   73, Chris de WX7V Chris de WX7V