by William Eric McFadden

From the park website:

As one of Ohio's resort parks, Burr Oak State Park blends modern convenience with Ohio's wilderness spirit. Miles of forested ridges and hollows can be found here. The park offers a rustic full-service lodge with family suites and a cozy campground with easy access to the lake. A substantial trail system ranges from moderate to difficult with portions intersecting the statewide Buckeye Trail.

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Description

Eric's station under the water tower -- click to enlarge On Sunday, March 7, 2021, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a successful activation of Burr Oak State Park Ohio as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.

Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, performed the activation of Burr Oak State Park on a beautiful, Spring-is-almost-here late winter day under the state park's water tower. Eric was accompanied by his little dog, Theo.

Eric and Theo arrived at the Burr Oak water tower at about 1725 UTC and Eric quickly deployed his 28½' wire antenna on his 31' Jackite telescoping fiberglass mast and drive-on base. Choosing to operate inside the car, Eric installed his KX3 on the car's dashboard and was on the air at 1738 UTC.

With the expected good cell-signal at this location in Burr Oak State Park, Eric was able to use the POTA Spots website to look for possible park-to-park (P2P) QSOs and to self-spot himself.

Eric began operations by looking for P2P QSOs but found none at that particular moment. Finding a clear frequency on 40m, Eric spotted himself to POTA Spots and began calling "CQ POTA" and was almost immediately rewarded with a response. QSOs came very quickly, with Eric putting twenty-two QSOs in the log in about thirty-five minutes. This run included P2P QSOs with KN4RBN who was activating Guilford Courthouse National Military Park (K-0718) in North Carolina, with K0BWR who was activating Perry State Park (K-2347) in Kansas, and with KB3WAV who was activating Avondale Wildlife Management Area (K-7724) in Maryland.

Following the nice run on 40m, Eric again checked POTA Spots and made a P2P QSO on 40m with KU8T who was activating Barry State Game Land (K-6621) in Michigan and a P2P QSO on 40m with N9PUZ who was activating Lincoln's New Salem National Historical Park (K-8306) in Illinois.

In all, Eric made twenty-six QSOs, including five P2P QSOs. All of Eric's QSOs were on 40m, were CW, and were made at the 5-watt level.

Eric also submitted his log to the World Wide Flora and Fauna in Amateur Radio (WWFF; link) program.

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