Posted by n4bky 21 days ago
Mike (N4FFF) and I have been super busy printing, building, and shipping our new keys that we just released for Pre-Orders so we decided a quick POTA break was in order! Wheeler Wildlife Refuge is our closest go to park and there are so many different places we've been, but you can't really beat right along the river.
We were testing out the key but also a new EFHW from Reliance Antennas that we are hoping works as well as the K6ARK EFHW. Generally they are sold cut for 40m with a bullet connector to drop it to 20m. But, we don't like setting up 40m antennas since they are so long! After we played around with it and explained, he's now going to start selling the 20m EFHW BUGOUT mini separately that can plug directly into our radios. Definitely going to do more testing, but it did well today. Mike activated before me and his map was literally all in the NE which is where mine started, but then slowly opened up further West and even South. It's amazing how the exact same setup can get such a different contact map.
We were both on the CFT1 and used the Flat top version of our new Duo Straight Key ONE. I activated with the Navy Knob last time and I think for POTA I like the Flat top better. The navy knob is very ergonomic and when sitting at a desk with a good height and arm position it feels great, but when conditions are a little varied, the flat top is easier to manage. Just my two cents, but so far that's my initial impressions.
Thanks to all the hunters who helped me activate. It was a steady stream of clear signals coming in and a few quiet tough ones which always makes it more fun! We sometimes record our activations, but today was just a fun trip to the park with POTA Rose in tow.
I've attached a few pictures of our location and below is the trip report!
73,
Becky N4BKY es Mike N4FFF
Trip Report
POTA Activation Report
=====================
Operator: N4BKY
Park Reference: US-0161
Start Time (UTC): Mon, 26 May 2025 21:48:00 UTC
End Time (UTC): Mon, 26 May 2025 22:54:22 UTC
Duration: 1h 6m
Time to Activate: 47m 32s
Total QSOs: 20
Number of States: 15
Number of Countries: 1
Chronological QSO List
--------------------
1. W3JPH – PA – 680 miles
2. KG4EXY – VA – 602 miles
3. K3SLH – PA – 753 miles
4. KM3STU – NJ – 834 miles
5. WA2SPL – VT – 1024 miles
6. N2DI – NJ – 794 miles
7. N4XAT – NJ – 767 miles
8. WB2MQQ – NY – 927 miles
9. N7BBQ – AZ – 1578 miles
10. K1NF – ME – 1117 miles
11. KP4MI – PR – 1652 miles
12. N2XTO – NJ – 792 miles
13. N7WPO – WA – 2075 miles
14. W6DAS – CA – 1747 miles
15. K1TH – MA – 1016 miles
16. K4NYX – FL – 637 miles
17. K9DXA – IL – 512 miles
18. K3MTO – FL – 667 miles
19. KA0LDG – ND – 989 miles
20. N0OMG – MN – 890 miles
Contact Map
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Posted by n4bky 24 days ago
The Friday before a holiday weekend is a bonus leave early day for me at work, so why not head to a park and POTA. After a rough weather week filled with tornadoes, today was absolutely beautiful.
Wheeler Wildlife Refuge didn't disappoint as always and we were able to find a new spot along the river to activate. We had planned to use our new to us Reliance EFHW that we have been working on with Matt from Reliance Antennas, but we forgot our POTA20 mast and didn't want to just hang it on a brach for our first attempt using something new .... but as always, we've got something else to use. We ended up on the 17' whip antenna with a ground spike and radials set up just beside the river bank and it worked perfectly.
We were using the CFT1 and I was using our newly designed 3D printed key, the Duo Straight Key One. I had activated on it once before, but this time used the Navy Knob variation which I really liked. How fun to get on the air with something we designed and built ourselves.
We did record this one for our channel so stay tuned and if I made contact with you, I'll email when it posts!
In the meantime you can have a look at the contact map and some pictures of our activation, which might look familiar if you read the post just before this from Mike LOL :-)
Thank you so much for hunting and following our adventure. Feel free to log in and post any of yours!
73
Becky
Trip Report
POTA Activation Report
=====================
Operator: N4BKY
Park Reference: US-0161
Start Time (UTC): Fri, 23 May 2025 22:46:36 UTC
End Time (UTC): Fri, 23 May 2025 23:36:20 UTC
Duration: 0h 49m
Time to Activate: 14m 48s
Total QSOs: 30
Number of States: 20
Number of Countries: 3
Contacts List:
1. NN3D - Chris - PA - 767 mi
2. WA2SPL - Joe - VT - 1024 mi
3. WB0L - Jay - MN - 789 mi
4. N0MRK - Mark - CO - 1065 mi
5. VA3UZ - Allan - ON - 645 mi
6. N2EI - Thomas - NJ - 764 mi
7. VA3UZ - Allan - ON - 645 mi
8. KZ2O - Frederick - NY - 729 mi
9. K5OHY - Tim - TX - 893 mi
10. AB0BM - Gary - IA - 729 mi
11. K0BUF - Chris - PA - 735 mi
12. W2UD - Anthony - NJ - 820 mi
13. KG4EXY - John - VA - 602 mi
14. WM2V - Jerry - AZ - 1397 mi
15. N3RC - Roger - CA - 1996 mi
16. W8AJF - Daniel - OH - 542 mi
17. KE8PTX - Mike - MI - 621 mi
18. K2MMT - Chris - CA - 1671 mi
19. W6CSN - Matthew - CA - 1981 mi
20. WK1V - Des - NH - 1007 mi
21. KO4JPR - DJ - VA - 596 mi
22. AA0GP - Tom - SD - 754 mi
23. K7EA - William - UT - 1422 mi
24. NA4A - Ian - AL - 15 mi
25. NN3E - Kevin - MD - 654 mi
26. N0ANE - Michael - MN - 770 mi
27. XE1UYS - Alejandro - VE - 1178 mi
28. KC0ZPS - Ron - CO - 1054 mi
29. KC3IEU - Adam - VA - 612 mi
30. W3ZRW - Joel - MD - 633 mi
Contact Map
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Posted by n4fff 24 days ago
Today we visited Wheeler Wildlife Refuge in Alabama. What a beautiful spot! We'd been at this spot before, right by the river for another sunset POTA, and this time was just as beautiful. Just as we got started, an owl let out it's characteristic WHO-WHO-ha-WHO, which was his best Q in morse code. I learned a good lesson today, but more on that in a minute.
For the antenna, we used a vertical 17' whip and ground spike mounted right by the water's edge. The radio was a CFT1 running QRP. Becky activated right before me with our new custom design straight key, the Duo Straight Key One, but I used my paddles.
When I started, I had only about 15 minutes to activate on the Friday UTC day. I set my paddles for 18 wpm and decided I'd only give each thing 1x instead of 2x. As I got started, I'm not sure what happened. We're used to there being some other stations occasionally that can't hear us because we're QRP and sometimes we need to move frequencies. Just as i got started, there were multiple very strong stations and what sounded like multiple people tuning up. I was trying to move fast to get in my 10 so I quickly QSY (changed frequencies) up a little bit. I got a few more, rushing all the while, and it happened again. I suspect a contest was starting up. In my haste, I don't even remember if I switched frequencies again, before I settled in but eventually, I knew that I was past the UTC deadline. Somewhere in there I'd gotten Alejandro from Mexico and Jean from France. I slowed down to my normal pace. As I was making contacts, I realized that it was a mistake to even try to go fast just to try to get my 10. I don't care if I activate or not. I love getting to connect with you all, make new friends, while enjoying being outside.
When Becky and I POTA, we often love to exchange names in addition to signal reports. We know some hunters are still learning and don't copy what we send, but we remember barely getting our own names also. It's the personal touch that we love about radio. Also, we know signals come and go, fading in and out. We like to give signal reports and states twice, so that everyone can enjoy the contact. In the end, I realize that I just want to go at my own speed. Ultimately, it isn't about the points for activating. It's just an excuse to get outside and meet all of you!
POTA Activation Report
=====================
Operator: N4FFF
Park Reference: US-0161
Start Time (UTC): Fri, 23 May 2025 23:46:22 UTC
End Time (UTC): Sat, 24 May 2025 00:33:11 UTC
Duration: 0h 46m
Total QSOs: 25
Number of States: 18
Number of Countries: 4
Contact Summary by Country
------------------------
United States: 22 QSOs
Canada: 1 QSOs
Mexico: 1 QSOs
France: 1 QSOs
Contacts by Distance
-------------------
1. F4ILH (JEAN BAPTISTE, DX) - 4454 miles
2. N7JTT (John T, WA) - 2046 miles
3. K2MMT (Chris, CA) - 1671 miles
4. XE1UYS (Alejandro, VE) - 1178 miles
5. K1NF (Nels, ME) - 1117 miles
6. N0MRK (Mark A, CO) - 1065 miles
7. KC0TAF (Mike, MN) - 884 miles
8. W2ELS (Ron, NY) - 765 miles
9. AA5CF (Ken M, TX) - 742 miles
10. WB3DDJ (MICHAEL E, PA) - 727 miles
11. K5COL (Chad O, IA) - 678 miles
12. WK0E (Marty, NE) - 674 miles
13. K3MTO (Christopher L, FL) - 667 miles
14. NN3E (KEVIN J, MD) - 654 miles
15. WZ3J (Lou, MD) - 646 miles
16. VA3UZ (Allan Timothy, ON) - 645 miles
17. WE5K (Stephen L, TX) - 627 miles
18. KG4EXY (JOHN L, VA) - 602 miles
19. KE4Q (Frederick, FL) - 551 miles
20. N0FRC (Christopher A, MO) - 547 miles
21. KM4JEG (Bobby, NC) - 539 miles
22. K4MW (PETER D, VA) - 538 miles
23. W4AFB (KEITH A, FL) - 534 miles
24. KB4LCI (DAVID B, VA) - 521 miles
25. K4KVC (Kenneth A, FL) - 155 miles
Contact Map
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Posted by n4fff 30 days ago
That was a fun but tough one! That was probably the hardest POTA we've had yet. We almost gave up twice, but glad we didn't because we had 4 countries, if you include the US!
We were at a beautiful Park in Athens Alabama along the trail of tears. With the sun setting in the background and a cute little pond, we were also surrounded by historic buildings in this neat little town.
We were QRP. We started on the CFT1 and then switched to the qcx mini, just trying to roll the dice for a little bit more luck. The antenna was a K6ARK EFHW. We must have gotten it since we got several of y'all from so far away!
Operator: N4FFF
Reference: US-3791
Grid: EM66gu
Date: 2025-05-18
Total QSOs: 11
Contacts by Distance
-------------------
1. EA2BD (Spain) - 4369 miles
2. PJ7AR (St Maarten) - 1970 miles
3. KI7QCF (UT) - 1322 miles
4. XE2MWY (Mexico) - 1076 miles
5. WA2SPL (VT) - 931 miles
6. N1CMD (NH) - 927 miles
7. N4XAT (NJ) - 721 miles
8. K9ALT (WI) - 504 miles
9. K8LJG (MI) - 474 miles
10. N8JY (MI) - 448 miles
11. NA4A (AL) - 176 miles
Contact Map
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Posted by km3stu about 2 months ago
I can't believe it took me this long, but I finally activated POTA on 40 meters. I started activating POTA in July 2024, but only on 20 meters using a hamstick. Today I used an EFHW made by Ed W4EMB, and got help setting it up from Marcos K8ARE. I started the activation on 20 meters, but things got a little quiet so I switched over to 40 meters. Wow, I had no idea there would be so many hunters on 40 meters. It was great to hear from a whole new group of hunters.
Operator: KM3STU
Reference: US-2149 Tallman Mountain State Park, NY
Grid: FN31ba
Date: 2025-04-29
Total QSOs: 23
Rig: QMX
PWR: 5 watts
Antenna: EFHW
Contact Map
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Posted by k8are about 2 months ago
Operator: K8ARE
Reference: US-4239
Park: North Country Trail
Type: National Scenic Trail
Location: Ohio
Grid: EN70ud
Date: 2025-04-27
Total QSOs: 21
Rig: ICOM 705 - 10W
A Simple Activation Turned Special
This was just a normal, ordinary activation—until it wasn’t.
I was out on the North Country National Scenic Trail, doing a simple CW activation. Since it’s a popular trail, lots of people were out walking and biking. That’s when a new friend named Josiah stopped by.
He was very curious about what I was doing and started asking questions.
I asked if he wanted to give it a try, and he seemed eager. So I switched over to a 2-meter repeater and called out that I had a new friend who wanted to make a contact. N8BCM came back first and was happy to help Josiah make his very first radio contact.
Then KB8VVK jumped in with a radio check.
What struck me most was how kids like Josiah don’t have the fear we adults sometimes do when trying something new. He spoke a little fast, but honestly, he did great—especially for his first time on the radio.
We had a quick chat afterward about what he had just accomplished, and I congratulated him on his first contact.
Hopefully, that little spark of excitement will stick with him, and he’ll keep exploring the hobby.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gJ4QFoy5TPs
Contact Map
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Posted by n4fff about 2 months ago
Every contact that makes an activation possible is a treat. Today I got to extra special treats with contacts from over 4k miles away on QRP and a wire.. Radio is magic!
For this activation, we were at Fort Toulouse National Historical Park. Fort Toulouse was built in 1717 by France so its soldiers could trade with the Creek Indians and keep British traders away. After France lost a war in 1763, the soldiers left and the old fort fell apart. In 1814, American forces led by General Andrew Jackson built a new fort here called Fort Jackson after winning a battle in the Creek War.
It was super neat to accidentally come by during a weekend of re-enactment. People were dressed historically with relics from the era and even stayed there using traditional methods throughout the weekend! Another great example of how POTA and SOTA gets you outdoors and to places you wouldn't have otherwise visited!
For the actual activation, we both went on a hike with our backpacks. We had everything including 2 chairs, table, and all the radio stuff in our backpacks. After our hike, we found a giant tree in the middle of the field that provided perfect shade to enjoy the activation with a light breeze and nature all around.
73 Mike N4FFF
https://www.youtube.com/@HamRadioDuo
Operator: N4FFF
Reference: US-6460
Grid: EM62um
Date: 2025-04-27
Total QSOs: 11
Contact Map
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Posted by n4fff about 2 months ago
This activation was special because we normally like to be portable qrp outdoors somewhere. This time we were in our truck. We are in the process of designing an antenna for vehicles, with a standard 3/4" mount. This was our first time using it for an activation!
We've been calling this the "Just OK" antenna. It's the most just okay gets the job done antenna you could imagine. At less than 2 ft, it's almost ridiculous as a 20 m antenna. We built it so that we could leave the antenna on all the time and not have to take it on and off getting into an hour garage or parking garages. It seemed to get the job done today!
I'm sure our full-sized ham stick could have done better. I'm sure any of our portable antennas would have done much better. Sometimes, for us it's less about maximizing and more about unlocking being able to play radio when you otherwise wouldn't. This is the antenna we intend to use all the time for CW on road trips and around town. At some point I'm sure we're going to be looking for beta testers if anybody has a similar problem that would be solved with a 2 ft antenna.
Send us a message if you want to be part of the early testers for this antenna!
Yeasu ft891
30 w
HamRadioDuo "Just OK" antenna (less than 2 ft)
Operator: N4FFF
Reference: US-1043
Grid: EM64hs
Date: 2025-04-19
Total QSOs: 16
73 Mike N4FFF
https://youtube.com/@hamradioduo
Contact Map
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Posted by n4fff about 2 months ago
This was part of our Joe Wheeler Easter adventure. We were camping in our RV camper and did multiple activations. For this one, we found a picnic table by the water.
We were using our CFT1 with about 5 watts of power. The antenna was a K6ARK EFKHW on a POTA20 mast. We had POTA Rose with us, our dog, and a very curious wasp that kept visiting and making it hard to send!
73 Mike N4FFF
https://youtube.com/@hamradioduo
POTA Activation Report
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Operator: N4FFF
Park Reference: US-1043
Total QSOs: 14
Number of States: 10
Contact Map
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Posted by n4fff about 2 months ago
This was a fun one! We got lots of contacts from states we don't often get and Chris from Bonaire! Part was the magic of 10m..
It was pretty slow compared to normal. When it was working, it was really working! Got lots of far away contacts including Chris in Bonaire! We don't often get CA but got 8 of you in CA! So many far away states we don't normally get! I started off on the G90 on 10m and pretty sure its due in part to the magic of 10m.
Some familiar "fists" and some new ones! We got our friend W1WC who lives nearby and was actually P2P in the exact same park!
My ham wife, Becky N4BKY and I are camping in our RV camper. This activation was right next to our camper. I started on our G90 at 20W and ended on our QCX-mini 5W QRP. The antenna was an XTenna EFHW.
Operator: N4FFF
Reference: US-1043
Grid: EM64hs
Date: 2025-04-18
Total QSOs: 46
73 Mike N4FFF es Becky N4BKY
https://youtube.com/@hamradioduo
Contact Map
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End of initial posts... more loading coming soon!