ACØPR, ham radio blog: POTA Little Black Mt. Petroglyphs (K-6071), 1st Activation QRP CW

Just south of St. George, and just across the border into Arizona, is this historical site. I've been there twice before (never for radio though). We've been under an extreme heat watch which continues on (supposed to be 100 degrees today). I knew I wouldn't stay on long. Plus, this is my first activation that is POTA only and is not a World Wide Flora & Fauna site.

At the site:

I drove in on the ATV since it's rough desert road--no need to take the pickup all the way in. I went extra early because I didn't want to be there after 9:30am really. I pulled up just as the sun came up. Of course, that early, no one was there. There's a pavilion there which is perfect for setup because the the upper edge doesn't extend so I used one of the legs to hook the mast to and put it straight up. I used a bush one on end of the wire and a rock on the other. As with past parks, I was going to show other pictures of the area, but after the activation was over.

I was worried I would be too close to the mountain and it would affect my signal, but it was far enough away, and directly north, so just right for operating. Oh, and the pavilion did have a picnic table as well.

On the radio:

I started on 40m as usual. I got two contacts and then moved over to 20m. There was a contest of some

type today (most weekends there's something going on) and I had my frequency taken over a couple of times. It's very annoying, but being QRP, it's just the way it is. I was a little worried I wouldn't make the required 10 before it started getting hot. It was 40 minutes before I got the minimum. My number 10 was a park-to-park I went after and finally got, NA9M in Illinois. I chase a number of parks, but often they can't hear me and if I wait, I lose anyone trying to find me on the frequency I had been on.

I continued on and got several more. I was going to go after some SOTA stations as well, but none were on a good frequency to catch them from my distance at the time I looked. Plus most SOTA operators aren't on quite that early, they're still hiking. My last contact of the day was my second park-to-park I also went after myself, W9KM, also in Illinois.

After I packed up, I took pictures of the site and headed back to the pickup. I did a little scouting on the way home as well. Good activation, done early, cool place. It turned out my audio did NOT record, so I didn't make a video this time.

Call	Date / Time	Bnd	Frequency	Mode	Name	ST	SIG_INFO	Rec	Snt
K8MH	8/15/2020 13:40	40	7.038	CW	Marc	MI		559	579
VE3LDT	8/15/2020 13:46	40	7.038	CW	David Wg	ON		559	579
K1RO	8/15/2020 13:54	20	14.047	CW	Mark	NH		559	599
AC0A	8/15/2020 13:56	20	14.047	CW	William	KS		559	599
AA5UZ	8/15/2020 14:03	20	14.047	CW	JUDY	LA		559	599
VE3LDT	8/15/2020 14:04	20	14.047	CW	David Wg	ON		559	599
KG8P	8/15/2020 14:07	20	14.047	CW	Thomas	MI		559	599
NE4TN	8/15/2020 14:13	20	14.047	CW	WALTER	TN		449	599
W5GDW	8/15/2020 14:14	20	14.047	CW	GARY	NC		539	599
NA9M	8/15/2020 14:20	20	14.065	CW	Paul	WI	K-4109	449	579
W9AV	8/15/2020 14:23	20	14.050	CW	Julien	WI		559	599
N4EX	8/15/2020 14:28	20	14.050	CW	RICHARD	NC		439	579
N8II	8/15/2020 14:29	20	14.050	CW	Jeff	WV		559	599
KB3WAV	8/15/2020 14:30	20	14.050	CW	Kerri	MD		599	599
W5ZDW	8/15/2020 14:42	20	14.050	CW	LEONARD	LA		599	599
W9KM	8/15/2020 14:56	20	14.030	CW	Andriy	IL	K-0987	599	599