Amateur Radio Station WD8RIF | POTA Activation Joe Wheeler State Park

On Tuesday, April 14, 2026, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a successful activation of Joe Wheeler State Park (US-1043) in Alabama as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.

After arriving in Athens, Alabama, late on Monday evening to adopt a small dog, but before visiting the dog-rescue to meet the dog and complete the adoption process, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, visited nearby Joe Wheeler State Park to perform his first POTA activation in Alabama. Eric was accompanied by his wife Vickie and their small dog Theo.

Eric, Vickie, and Theo arrived at Joe Wheeler State Park at about 1430 UTC.

After a bit of exploration, Eric decided to perform his operation on a picnic table at the First Creek Boat Ramp. Eric deployed his Tufteln (info) EFRW as a 29' sloper up to the top of his Goture Red Fox Super Hard 720 carbon-fiber mast held upright on a spike stuck into the very hard soil, placing two 17' counterpoise wires directly on the ground. Placing his Elecraft KX2 on the picnic table, and connecting his Whiterook MK-33 paddle, Eric was on the air at 1949 UTC.

Eric had cell-signal and would be able to access POTA Spots to spot himself and to find Park-to-Park (P2P) QSO opportunities.

Eric started his operation on 20m. After finding himself a clear frequency to run, Eric began calling "CQ POTA" and was auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO came at 1451 UTC with AD2II in Massachusetts. His second QSO came at K2JVB who was activating Bethpage State Park (US-2014) in New York.

When QSOs on 20m seemed to stop coming, Eric paused to hunt for P2P QSO opportunities. At 1500 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 30m with WA1VEI who was performing a two-fer activation of Wekiva National Wild and Scenic River (US-0896) and Lower Wekiva River Preserve State Park (US-3634) in Florida.

Finding himself a clear frequency to run on 40m, Eric began calling "CQ POTA" and was auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO in this run came at 1502 UTC with his good friend K4SWL in western North Carolina. QSOs came steadily, if a bit slowly, with his fourth QSO in this run coming at 1511 UTC with NE4TN in Tennessee. This run included QSOs with operators located in North Carolina (2), Ohio, and Tennessee.

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 came at 1517 UTC with KA8TNK in Michigan. QSOs came steadily, with Eric's fifth QSO in this run coming at 1525 UTC with AB0BM in Iowa. During this run, the internal battery in his KX2 died, but Eric was able to connect his second battery externally without losing much time. This run included a P2P QSO with NA2B at Moody Branch Wildlife Area (US-6317) and QSOs with operators located in Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Eric finished his operation by hunting for P2P QSO opportunities. At 1529 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 40m with N4EX at Cedar Point Wildlife Management Area (US-7755) in Maryland.

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

After finishing an activation, Eric took photos of his station and of the park; re-packed his gear; and he, his wife, and their dog drove to TVA Wheeler Dam Public Park National Recreation Area (US-13083).

Two views of Wheeler Lake.

Eric and Theo posing in a driftwood
teepee; photo by Victoria McFadden.

Eric also submitted his log to the World Wide Flora and Fauna in Amateur Radio (WWFF; link) program for an operation at Joe Wheeler State Park, KFF-1043.