Amateur Radio Station WD8RIF | POTA Activation Strouds Run State Park

On Saturday, June 21, 2025, 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.

On a lovely summer morning, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, performed his operation at Bulldog Shelter within Strouds Run State Park after bicycling from his office's parking lot on the west side of Athens, Ohio. Eric performed his ride and activation early in the day to avoid the high heat he knew would be coming later in the day.

Upon arriving at Bulldog Shelter on the edge of Dow Lake at 1338 UTC, Eric found the picnic shelter to be unoccupied. Selecting a suitable picnic table, and avoiding the danger-areas presented by the nesting barn swallows, he placed his Elecraft KX2 on the picnic table and deployed his Tufteln (link) 35' EFRW as a sloper up to the top of a Goture Red Fox Super Hard 720 carbon-fiber mast strapped vertically to his bicycle, placing three 17' counterpoise wires directly on the ground. Eric was on the air at 1357 UTC.

Don't sit under this swallows' nest...

... because this is what lies directly beneath the nest!

Eric's KX2 station.

Eric's bicycle-supported mast and antenna.

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

Starting on 20m, Eric found himself a clear frequency to run, began calling "CQ POTA", and was auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO came at 1358 UTC with N4CD in Texas. QSOs came steadily, if not quickly, with his fifth QSO coming at 1409 UTC with N3CZ who was activating Dungannon Plantation Wildlife Management Area (US-9200) in South Carolina. This run included the aforementioned P2P QSO and QSOs with operators located in Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.

Switching to 40m, Eric found himself 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 1415 UTC with K9ABR in Illinois. QSOs came steadily, with Eric's seventh QSO in this run coming at 1425 UTC with KM3STU in New Jersey. This run included a P2P QSO with W1JMA at Lovers Leap State Park (US-1691) in Connecticut and QSOs with operators located in Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina.

Switching to 30m, Eric found himself a clear frequency to run, began calling "CQ POTA", and was auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO in this run came at 1431 UTC with K4AHO in Florida. This was followed at 1432 UTC by a second QSO with N4NTO in North Carolina and a QSO with WR3G in Virginia.

Eric finished his operation by hunting for P2P QSOs. At 1437 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 40m with special-event station N2G that was activating Ringwood State Park (US-1630) in New Jersey. This was followed at 1441 UTC by a P2P QSO on 20m with special-event station K5G that was activating Buescher State Park (US-2993) in Texas. Both N2G and K5G were participating in the World Wide Flora and Fauna (WWFF) Get Your Park On! annual event. Finally, at 1443 UTC, Eric made a P2P QSO on 20m with N4CWZ who was activating Horne Creek Living Historical Farm State Historic Site (US-6845) in North Carolina.

In all, Eric made eighteen QSOs, including five P2P QSOs, in forty-six minutes of on-air time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made at five watts output.

After taking some more photos, Eric re-packed his bicycle and began his ride back to his car, pleased that the temperature hadn't yet risen high enough to be uncomfortable.

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.