ACØPR, ham radio blog: Awesome Desert Scenery at Beaver Dam Wash, POTA/WWFF Activation

Out in the desert as the sun comes up, Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area (POTA K-6096; WWFF KFF-4966) for its first activation. I had been out there before on the way to SOTA summits, so I was familiar with the area and knew a couple of spots to use to set up. There aren't really trails out there so it would be close to my pickup.

In the area:

Being a conservation area and the desert, there are lots of cool cacti and other plants. It's one of the few areas with Joshua trees and looks very typical of desert terrain, one of my favorite places actually. I pulled up and took a few preliminary pictures and then started looking for a place to setup. The one I had in mind, right off the main road, was taken by a vehicle that had obviously spent the night there. I kept going and went to a little road that goes north. I followed that and found an even better area--large, out of the way, running north-south (for the antenna setup), so I got setup quickly.

On the radio:

I was going to try a new antenna I had made (an end-fed random length wire), but when I went to hook

it up to the radio it wouldn't go in. It turns out the center insulator, a little piece of plastic, had warped from the heat used to solder the parts together and wouldn't allow the connector to go on the radio--major bummer. Of course, I had my regular linked dipole so I switched those out and spotted myself.

I started on 40m so I could finish it quickly and move on to 20m, where I usually get more action. I actually got a few there, so that's good. While recording though, my external speaker was causing interference so I had to shut it off quickly in order to hear the qso. It wasn't too long when I decided it was time to move to 20m. It took about a half an hour to reach the 10 required by POTA. I stayed on for another 25 minutes or so and got a few more, but it was slow going again. Not sure if it's being QRP, low to the ground, not tons of hunters on weekdays, or few CW ops, but it's nowhere near as much action as I'm used to. It's still fun though.

I didn't stay on for a long time, it started getting hot and I didn't want to take the time to put up any kind of shelter. No park-to-park contacts either. I explored the area a little bit and took some more pictures. After that, it was time to head back home.

Video of the activation

Call	Date / Time	Bnd	Frequency	ST	Mode	Rec	Snt
W6LEN	8/11/2020 14:05	40	7.037	CA	CW	579	559
KI5WA	8/11/2020 14:06	40	7.037	TX	CW	559	559
W6OUL	8/11/2020 14:07	40	7.037	CA	CW	599	599
VE3LDT	8/11/2020 14:08	40	7.037	ON	CW	339	559
W5ZDW	8/11/2020 14:16	20	14.047	LA	CW	599	599
N0RZ	8/11/2020 14:17	20	14.047	KS	CW	559	599
KD1CT	8/11/2020 14:19	20	14.047	NH	CW	559	599
NG5E	8/11/2020 14:24	20	14.047	TX	CW	449	599
N4MJ	8/11/2020 14:25	20	14.047	TN	CW	579	599
W5GDW	8/11/2020 14:30	20	14.047	NC	CW	559	599
N7GHG	8/11/2020 14:35	20	14.047	ID	CW	559	599
K7MK	8/11/2020 14:41	20	14.047	ID	CW	449	599
VE3LDT	8/11/2020 14:45	20	14.047	ON	CW	449	579
K8RAT	8/11/2020 14:56	20	14.047	OH	CW	559	339