The First 100 Years Are The Hardest

 The XYL and I took a trip to West Texas. Marfa, that is.  We stopped along the way for a few POTA activations.   We stayed overnight in San Angelo, home of Angelo State University, my mothers Alma Mater from back in the late 1970s.   We activated US-3053 San Angelo State Park on Thursday morning and got 20 QSOs in an hour, mostly CW.  The wife wanted to hear a few QSOs beyond the DITs and DAHs so I squeezed in a few SSB contacts to keep the peace.  We got to see the state bison herd on the way out, a highlight of the park and everyone left happy!   We reached Marfa late Thursday afternoon in time for some good food and checked into the Hotel Paisano, where they filmed parts of the movie Giant which starred Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean.  I headed out Friday morning to activate US-11900 Blackwell School National Historic Site.  Not much to see but an important part of our state's history that marked the end of se...

 I took a rental car on this week's work trip along with my KX3 in hopes of getting a few QRP POTA activations under my belt after work.   The trip did not disappoint, but operating QRP with a compromise antenna (ok, don't call it a compromise) is a really tricky challenge. My first activation on Monday evening was US-0746 Morristown National Historical Park, specifically the Jockey Hollow area of the park.   This site has been on my list for several years, and its less than 10 minutes from the corporate office in Basking Ridge NJ.  Ironically there is no cell service in the park, lots of areas my phone had SOS or barely 1 bar of service which added to the QRP challenge.  I activated the park as second time on Tuesday, for a combined 23 QSOs and about 90 minutes of operating time across both days!  Morristown National Historical Park commemorates the sites of General Washington and the Continental Army’s winter encampment from December 1779 to Jun...

Found some to get back to Richland Creek WMA this morning.  We're well into summer here in north east Texas.   Sunny outside and the temp at 10am was already 88F.   But the breeze made if feel much cooler than that, I hardly broke a sweat!    I had a small panic when I reached into my backpack and realized I'd left my laptop at home, used for most POTAL logging.   I switched to Ham2K Portable Logger on my iPhone and really appreciate how easy it is to use, especially because cell service was fine at the WMA.   Rig was the Yaesu FT-857D, with ATAS-120A mounted to the truck.   16 contacts, all CW with a cootie (straight key), including those I made on the Sideswiper Net on 20M and 17M.  Chris de WX7V

POTA  Activation #68 was a success, with last week's trip to Indiana.   Big Walnut - Tall Timbers Trail State Nature Preserve is about 45 minutes west of Indianapolis, surrounded by large corn fields.   11 states down, and 39 to go but no rush! I only made 1 QSO in the first 30 minutes, before deciding to shut down or try another area in the park.   As I was packing up I realized I had forgotten to attach the counterpoise to the Elecraft AX1 antenna.  That made a huge difference!   30 minutes later and I had 14 contacts, all on CW before my quick hour ran out and I had to leave to visit extended family.  Not a record outing by any means but happy to get Indiana in the books. 73,  Chris de WX7V Rig - Elecraft KX3,  AX1 antenna, 20M, CW.  3d Printed Antenna Window Mount

I'll be QRV in Indiana this weekend, and wanted to freshen up my POTA travel rig, especially after the challenges on my last few trips activating NM and NV.  Finding a place to activate, in a limited amount of time calls for rapid deployment capabilities to maximize time on the air. I'll be taking the Elecraft KX3, a 3AH Bioenno LiFEPO4 battery, and will be using the "compromise" AX1 antenna.  I've also set up my laptop with flrig to enable CAT control for the KX3.   Finally, I've also printed the AX1 antenna window mount from Printables.com .   The mount worked perfectly with my KX3 and AX1 combo.  Made a test run at the local city park just down the street from my house in Dallas.   Called CQ on both 20 and 17M. Got good RBN spots in US and EU.  Spun the dial and heard a lot of strong signals.    Loaded HAMRS Pro, flrig on the laptop and made some very quick POTA hunting contacts with good signal reports from MI, UT...