Amateur Radio Station WD8RIF | POTA Activation Clouse Lake Wildlife Area

On Saturday, December 23, 2023, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a successful activation of Clouse Lake Wildlife Area in Ohio as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.

While waiting for his daughter at a gathering in New Lexington on an unseasonably warm mid-Winter day that, unfortunately, promised rain, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, visited Clouse Lake Wildlife Area for an activation.

Eric arrived at the empty parking area at Clouse Lake Wildlife Area at about 1815 UTC. Quickly deploying his 28½' wire vertical on his 31' Jackite telescoping fiberglass mast on a drive-on base, and mounting his Elecraft KX3 on his car's dashboard, Eric was on the air at 1823 UTC.

Eric was pleased to find he had good cell-signal at his location, and would able to spot himself to POTA Spots (link) and to use POTA Spots to identify possible park-to-park (P2P) QSO opportunities.

Despite the band having an S5 noise floor, Eric began his operation on 20m. Finding himself a frequency to run, he began calling CQ and was quickly auto-spotted on POTA Spots. Eric's first QSO came at 1826 UTC with K4NAN in Tennessee. QSOs came very quickly, with Eric's thirty-second QSO coming at 1858 UTC with W5RKP in Oklahoma. This run included a P2P QSO with N2PDK at Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park (K-1873) in Florida and QSOs with operators located in Tennessee (2), Georgia, Wisconsin (2), Missouri (3), New Jersey (2), North Carolina, Florida (4), Washington, Utah (3), South Carolina, Massachusetts, Maine (2), Michigan, Kentucky, California, Nebraska, Oklahoma (2), Illinois, Arkansas, and New Hampshire.

Eric finished his activation by checking POTA Spots for P2P QSO opportunities and succeeded in making several P2P QSOs. At 1909 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 20m with AB1II who was activating Haley Farm State Park (K-1675) in Connecticut. At 1912 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 20m with K5PE who was activating Quebec 01 Missile Alert Facility State Park (K-10828) in Wyoming. At 1915 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 40m with KB3WAV who was performing a two-fer activation of Bellevue Woods State Nature Preserve (K-9889) and Bellevue State Park (K-1731) in Delaware. At 1918 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 40m with WA3GM who was activating Fort Washington State Park (K-1352) in Pennsylvania. Finally, at 1920 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 40m with K3RTA who was activating White Clay Creek State Park (K-1743) in Delaware.

In all, Eric made thirty-eight QSOs, with seven P2P QSO, in just under an hour of on-air time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made at the 5-watt level.

The rain arrived just as Eric got out of his car to begin tearing down his station.