From the Strouds Run State Park website:

Strouds Run State Park is located in the scenic forested hills of Athens County, in the midst of the unglaciated Appalachian Plateau. Although untouched by the vast ice sheets that moved across portions of the state over 12,000 years ago, Strouds Run displays the effects of the glaciers -- in the deep ravines and high hills -- where the valleys served as outlets for torrents of glacial meltwaters. The erosive power of these waters carved the valleys and hillsides, creating the familiar topography Ohioans know today. Large deposits of glacial outwash, primarily sand and gravel, were deposited along these streams and strongly affected the type of biological communities present today.

Pictures

Eric's operating location at Bulldog Shelter
Eric's antenna before and after he repositioned it better for the wind
Eric's KH1 station
Eric's logsheet

Description

On Sunday, December 8, 2024, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a successful bicycle-portable activation of Strouds Run State Park (US-1994) as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.

Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, had originally planned to drive his automobile to either Strouds Run State Park (US-1994) or Desonier State Nature Preserve (US-9404) in order to perform a POTA activation while using his KX2 Mini Travel Kit to test a WB3GCK-inspired no counterpoise speaker wire antenna he had built the day prior, but when he realized how warm the day was to be, he chose, instead, to bicycle to Strouds Run State Park for an bicycle-portable POTA activation using his tiny KH1 Micro Travel Kit, leaving his test his new antenna to a future outing. What Eric hadn't taken into consideration when deciding to perform a bicycle-portable activation was the blustery wind that came with the unseasonably warm temperatures...

Wishing to avoid two significant hill climbs, Eric chose to start his ride at his workplace parking lot instead of at home. He began his ride at 1528 UTC, when the temperature was already an unseasonable 50°F, and arrived at Bulldog Shelter at 1558 UTC, finding the picnic shelter to be entirely unoccupied. The wind during this ride was gusting to 20mph but, surprisingly, Eric wasn't bothered by it much.

Eric's had carried with him on this ride his KH1 Micro Travel Kit, a Whiterook MK-33 single-lever paddle and cable, clipboards, and his Goture Red Fox Super Hard 720 carbon-fiber mast. Eric deployed the kit's ad hoc 35' EFRW antenna as a sloping inverted-L, with the near end supported on a picnic shelter post and the far end supported on his Goture Red Fox Super Hard 720 telescoping carbon fiber mast bungied vertically to his bicycle. Eric placed his KH1 on a picnic table, placed the 13' counterpoise wire directly on the ground opposite the radiator, plugged in earbuds and the MK-33 paddle, and was on the air at 1611 UTC.

"A Study on Lens-Flare in a Cheap Lens", or
Eric's operating location at Bulldog Shelter.


Eric's KH1 station.


Eric's bicycle-supported antenna.

As he had expected, Eric had cell-signal and he would be able to access POTA Spots to spot himself and to find Park-to-Park (P2P) QSO opportunities.

Eric began his operation on 20m by finding himself a clear frequency to run. After calling "CQ POTA" only a few times, he was auto-spotted on POTA Spots, and his first QSO came at 1614 UTC with KI4DEF in North Carolina. QSOs on 20m came very quickly, with Eric's twelfth QSO coming at 1622 UTC with K4ARQ in Florida. This run included a P2P QSO with AE0PL at Branched Oak State Recreation Area (US-5647) in Nebraska and QSOs with operators located in North Carolina, Idaho, New Jersey, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Nebraska, and Florida.

Switching to 40m at 1624 UTC, Eric found a clear frequency to run, began calling "CQ POTA", and was again auto-spotted on POTA spots. His first QSO in this run came at 1631 UTC with N8JY in Michigan. This was followed at 1632 UTC by a QSO with AC3IE in Pennsylvania and at 1634 UTC by a QSO with K8ETA in Ohio. It was during this short run that Eric was surprised to notice his 35' antenna wire lying on the ground and was even more startled to see his bicycle and mast also lying on the ground—he had been so focused on CW that he had completely missed the sound of his bicycle falling over due to a strong wind-gust. Eric rushed to right his bicycle and mast and to re-hang the antenna wire. Returning to his transceiver, Eric began calling CQ again, only to have his bicycle be blown over immediately by another strong gust. Eric again righted his bicycle and re-deployed the antenna radiator and, this time, he re-oriented his bicycle so the wind would be less likely to blow it over.

Eric's bicyle and mast re-oriented for
better stability in the blustery wind.

Returning to his transceiver, Eric chose to hunt for P2P QSOs and, at 1641 UTC, he completed a P2P QSO on 40m with WA3GM at Fort Washington State Park (US-1352) in Pennsylvania.

Attempting another run on 40m, Eric returned to his spotted frequency, verified it was still clear, and began calling "CQ POTA". His first QSO in this run came at 1642 UTC with NG2E in Virginia. This was followed at 1644 UTC by a QSO with N2AK in New Jersey, and at 1646 UTC by a QSO with KD3CA in Pennsylvania.

Partially because of the gusty winds that would slow his bicycle ride back to his car, Eric chose to end his operation at this time.

In all, Eric made nineteen QSOs in just over a half-hour of on-air time.

Eric's log.

After the operation, Eric took some more photos, loaded his bicycle, and began the blustery ride back to his car. By this time, the temperature had risen to 54°F and winds were gusting to 22mph.

Eric was pleased to have been given the opportunity to perform a bicycle-portable POTA activation during an Ohio December. (The Monday and Tuesday following this activation were forecast to remain unseasonably warm but were also forecast to have high probability of rain, so these days probably won't be good for bicycling.)

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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