by William Eric McFadden

From the Strouds Run State Park website:

Located outside of the city of Athens and within easy driving distance of Ohio University, Strouds Run State Park surrounds Dow Lake and draws a mix of trail and lake users. Miles of hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding provide scenic views from rugged trails. The lake offers boating, paddling, swimming and a shaded campground.

Pictures

Description

Eric's station On Sunday, January 15, 2023, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a successful activation of Strouds Run State Park (K-1994) as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.

On a beautiful but cold (27°) morning, following a visit to the SCARF Hamfest, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, visited the swim-beach at Strouds Run State Park, arriving at 1515 UTC. After taking photos while the light was good, Eric deployed his 28½' wire vertical on his 31' Jackite fiberglass telescoping mast on his drive-on base and deployed his Elecraft KX3 inside his car. Eric was on the air at 1523 UTC.

As expected, Eric found he had good cell-signal at this location and he would be able to spot himself on the POTA Spots website and to use POTA Spots to identify possible Park-to-Park (P2P) QSOs.

Because of the elevated solar numbers (SFI=228, SN=173), Eric decided to start his operation on 15m. Finding himself a frequency to run, Eric began calling CQ and was pleased to see he was quickly auto-spotted on POTA Spots. Eric's first QSO came at 1527 UTC with K7UPJ in Florida. This was followed at 1528 UTC by a QSO with KJ7DT in Idaho. Eric's third and final QSO in this run came at 1535 UTC with K5UV in Oklahoma.

Pausing to check POTA Spots for P2P QSO opportunities, at 1540 UTC Eric made a P2P QSO on 20m with NA4A who was activating William B. Bankhead National Forest (K-4452) in Alabama.

Finding a frequency to run on 20m, Eric began calling CQ, and was again quickly auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO in this run came at 1543 UTC with K1NGZ in Texas. QSOs came quickly on 20m, with the twenty-second QSO in this run coming at 1609 UTC with K5VWW in Nevada. This run included a P2P QSO with K5PE who was activating South Toledo Bend State Park (K-2375) in Louisiana and QSOs with operators located in Texas, New York, Wisconsin (2), South Carolina, Illinois, Louisiana (2), Florida (2), Arizona, Maine, Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Mississippi, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Nevada.

'Polar Bears'
Young men taking a "polar bear" plunge.

Pausing to check POTA Spots for P2P QSO opportunities, at 1611 UTC Eric made a P2P QSO on 30m with W2LCW who was activating Bethpage State Park (K-2014) in New York.

Finding himself a frequency to run on 30m, began calling CQ and was again auto-spotted on POTA Spots. Eric's first QSO in this run came at 1618 UTC with KE2LW in New York. This was followed at 1619 UTC by a QSO with K4SP in Virginia, and at 1620 UTC by a QSO with KC1MXB in Maine.

Eric finished his activation by using POTA Spots to hunt for P2P QSOs. At 1625 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 17m with NA4A who was still activating William B. Bankhead National Forest (K-4452) in Alabama. At 1629 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 17m with WB0RLJ who was activating Chalco Hills State Recreation Area (K-4011) in Nebraska. At 1634 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 15m with AA5WZ who was activating Castlewood Canyon State Park (K-1211) in Colorado. Finally, at 1642 UTC Eric made a P2P QSO on 30m with N8TI who was activating Mike Levine Lakelands Trail State Park (K-1513) in Michigan.

A view of partially-frozen Dow Lake
A view of partially-frozen Dow Lake.

In all, Eric made thirty-four QSOs, including seven P2P QSOs, in about eighty minutes of operating time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made at five watts output.

Eric also submitted his log to the World Wide Flora and Fauna in Amateur Radio (WWFF; link) program for an operation at Strouds Run State Park, KFF-1994.

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