ACØPR, ham radio blog: Old Hwy 91 Rec. Area within Beaver Dam Conservation Area--POTA 2fer/WWFF 1

Operating from the pickup

I went out to get an all-time-new-one (ATNO) activated, Old Hwy 91 (K-6094), which is in Beaver Dam Conservation Area, which I activated a while ago (K-6096) which is also KFF-4966. Since the highway itself was the area, I decided to operate from the pickup (and have A/C) and use 100 watts from my go-kit with a Yaesu FT-857.

In the area:

I drove along the highway looking for a good place to pull off. I found a good place, fairly flat, the fence line was far off so I had plenty of room to lay out the six radials I had for the vertical. Getting all the radials out took the longest. I had the go-kit in the front seat, the coax already connected and just

put it out the window. It was morning, but not as early as I had been--that was because of heat and I wasn't going to have that as a concern this time. Everything seemed to be ready and in order.

On the radio:

I tuned up with the autotuner in the go-kit on 40m to start out and started calling CQ. I got no one. It was kind of frustrating--I was expected more being a full 100 watts as opposed to 5 watts I usually do. Maybe it just wasn't a good day for propagation. I changed to 20m and tuned up again.

After 40 minutes of absolutely nothing (although I could hear some signals in there), I decided to check online the Reverse Beacon Network (a great tool for CW operators). It did not show a single spot, meaning I was not getting a signal out. I checked all the connections. I found one that was loose. I tried

again and started getting contacts. Man! I hate that.

The main problem is those who tried, heard nothing and decided it wasn't worth the trouble to go listen again. After that I made several contacts, but still needed more. Being Saturday, I checked for SOTA operators to contact. I found NA6MG and got him. Then as I was tuning around I heard someone call CQ SKCC (Straight Key Century Club). I had an "emergency" straight key I had made to keep with me, really small and not very good, but it works. I switched out keys and got him.

Finally I made a couple more contacts and called it a day. It was two hours total and only 11 contacts,

even with 100 watts, of course with the first hour that wasn't productive at all. That rough start I'm sure set me back. It also made me think the new vertical I got was not very efficient as I could and have done better with my own homemade antenna and running 5 watts. One of these times thing will work and run smoothly from the start.

Video from the activation

Call	Date / Time	Bnd	Frequency	ST	Country	Mode	POTA	Rec	Snt
VE3LDT	8/22/2020 14:52	20	14.047	ON	Canada	CW	K-6094	339	559
W0ZAP	8/22/2020 14:58	20	14.047	KS	USA	CW	K-6094	559	579
KG8P	8/22/2020 15:02	20	14.047	MI	USA	CW	K-6094	539	599
WD9Q	8/22/2020 15:03	20	14.047	IN	USA	CW	K-6094	559	599
K1RO	8/22/2020 15:04	20	14.047	NH	USA	CW	K-6094	539	579
N1HN	8/22/2020 15:10	20	14.047	ME	USA	CW	K-6094	319	559
K6ICS	8/22/2020 15:20	40	7.037	CA	USA	CW	K-6094	559	599
NA6MG	8/22/2020 15:28	40	7.061	CA	USA	CW	K-6094	359	559
VE3KZ	8/22/2020 15:38	20	14.051	ON	Canada	CW	K-6094	559	579
WK2S	8/22/2020 15:53	20	14.046	NJ	USA	CW	K-6094	339	559
W9AV	8/22/2020 16:00	20	14.046	WI	USA	CW	K-6094	559	579