Support-Your-Parks Summer 2021 RATpedition, Day 2; parks nine and ten of eleven

From the Lake Hope State Park website:

Lake Hope State Park offers a truly relaxing, yet rustic getaway from the high speed of modern life. The entire park lies within the Zaleski State Forest in the valley of Big Sandy Run. The park's heavily forested region is marked by steep gorges and narrow ridges with remnants of abandoned mining and iron-producing industries.

The park surrounds the lake and boasts a wooded family campground and a variety of cabins for families and gatherings of all sizes, including the roomy Laurel Lodge. No visit to the park is complete without a stop in the dining lodge for a hearty meal.

From the Zaleski State Forest website:

The 27,822-acre Zaleski State Forest is the second largest forest in Ohio's system of state forests.

Zaleski State Forest operates the only state-owned sawmill in Ohio. The mill produces rough sawn lumber for use by Ohio’s state forests and state parks as well as other government agencies.

Historic Moonville Tunnel is located within Zaleski State Forest on the Moonville Rail Trail right-of-way.

Pictures

Eric's station

Description

For the Parks on the Air program (POTA; link) Support Your Parks Summer 2021 Plaque Event on the weekend of July 17-18, 2021, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed an aggressive two-day activation schedule with an overnight stop in Portsmouth, Ohio. The route of Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, would cover over 300 miles, would include fifteen stops in two states, and would lead to twenty-one successful POTA activations with 421 QSOs made. Over the weekend, Eric would encounter rain, thunderstorms, and brilliant sunshine.

Following a successful two-fer activation of Shawnee State Park (K-1991) and Shawnee State Forest (K-5450) (link), a successful activation of Lake White State Park (K-1971) (link), a successful two-fer activation of Scioto Trail State Park (K-1990) and Scioto Trail State Forest (K-5448) (link), a successful two-fer activation of Tar Hollow State Forest (K-5452) and North Country National Scenic Trail (K-4239) (link), and a successful activation of Tar Hollow State Park (K-1996) (link), Eric sixth stop of the day was Keeton Cemetery in Lake Hope State Park for a two-fer activation of Lake Hope State Park (K-1968) and Zaleski State Forest (K-5455).

Eric arrived at Keeton Cemetery in Lake Hope State Park at about 2115 UTC. Eric quickly set up his 28½' wire vertical on his Jackite 31' telescoping fiberglass mast and drive-on mount. Because of his aggressive time schedule, Eric set up his KX3 inside his car. Eric was on the air at 2124 UTC.

The cell-signal at this location allowed Eric to use the POTA Spots website (link) to spot himself and to look for possible park-to-park (P2P) QSOs.

Eric began operations by checking POTA Spots for P2P QSO opportunities and immediately made a P2P QSO on 20m with special-event station K4P who was activating Carite State Forest (K-4671) in Puerto Rico.

Finding his own frequency on 40m, Eric succeeded in making nine QSOs by 2141 UTC.

Pausing to check POTA Spots again, at 2145 UTC Eric made a P2P QSO on 40m with N1RBD who was activating Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (K-0662) in Georgia.

Returning to run a frequency on 40m, Eric made three more QSOs by 2153 UTC.

Eric's attempt to run a frequency on 30m produced only one QSO.

Switching to 20m, Eric made four QSOs between 2155 UTC and 2213 UTC.

Finally, Eric went to 80m to make a single QSO, with his friend K8RAT, at 2217 UTC.

Because his aggressive itinerary didn't allow for much time at any of the parks, Eric tore down his station in order to proceed to his next location.

In all, Eric made twenty QSOs, including two P2P QSOs. All of Eric's QSOs 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 for Lake Hope State Park, KFF-1968.

(return)

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