by William Eric McFadden

Seven Days in Florida Sunshine!

From the park website:

A unique experience of how some opted to live, Koreshan State Park is a fascinating journey back in time.

Koreshan State Park offers a window into the lives of a unique and eccentric pioneer group that chose to make their home under towering oaks on the banks of the Estero River. In 1893, the Koreshans, a religious sect founded by Dr. Cyrus R. Teed, moved here and built a settlement based in a commitment to communal living and a belief that the universe existed on the inside of the Earth. Living celibate lives, the enterprising Koreshans established a farm, nursery, and botanical gardens.

The park is home to 11 immaculately restored and nationally registered historic buildings erected by the Koreshans between the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century. A quiet and peaceful refuge amid busy Fort Myers, the interpretative and natural resources of the park provide great opportunities to learn and unwind.

Pictures

Description

One member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team succeeded in performing a valid activation of Koreshan State Historic Site, K-3633, in Florida on November 13, 2018, as part of the the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program. Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, visited the park on a nice weekday morning and was accompanied by wife Vickie, KC8MAJ, who explored the park while Eric performed his activation.

The pair arrived at the park about 1600 UTC and drove to the park's picnic area. Eric quickly set up his station in the covered picnic shelter, choosing to operate under a roof to avoid sitting too long under direct Florida sun. Eric's station consisted of his Enhanced KX3 Travel Kit and an N2CX-inspired 20/30/40m wire vertical supported on a Black Widow 20' telescoping pole and fed though 25' of RG-58 coax. Eric was on the air by 1635 UTC.

Eric started operating on 20m and, thanks to spotting support by fellow-RAT K8RAT, managed eight QSOs in just about half an hour while running a frequency. Eric changed to 40m to discover that the tri-band vertical didn't provide a good SWR match on 40m and he was forced to use the KX3's internal ATU to tame the high SWR presented by the antenna. Eric struggled to make just a single QSO on 40m before returning to 20m to finally make a tenth QSO.

Eric was pleased to make QSOs with his good friend K8RAT, and with fellow POTA participants N4EX and N8XX.

Eric also submitted his log to the World Wide Flora and Fauna in Amateur Radio (WWFF; link) program although his ten QSOs were not sufficient to achieve a valid activation within the program which requires 44 QSOs be made.

All of Eric's QSOs were made at the 5-watt level. Alas—due to severe brain-fart, Eric managed to inadvertently format his camera's memory card and lost all the photos made at the park.

(return)